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Clearing up the Confusion on Regions - Regional Differences in Pokémon Games
Clearing up the Confusion on Regions - Regional Differences in Pokémon GamesNote: OK I'd just like to say first of all that I'm basing this off pure speculation and logic, including some past experiences. Do also note that this post is in constant evolution, and whenever there's something new, I'll report it here. Right, so I've noticed a recent hassle in these boards due to misunderstanding of how regional differences on the DS work - I live in Europe, should I buy Diamond in the US? Will it work? Will the online feature work? How about trading? What about somebody with a Japanese game? etc. I'm here to clear that up. OK, so first of all, DS games are not region-restricted. For example, you buy Elite Beat Agents for your European DS; everything will work fine. This advantage has led many people to think about importing. I will talk about the compatibility to the different-regioned games (US, EUR, and JP) and whether or not they can interact with each other under various circumstances. Let's start with local wireless. Local WirelessSo far, no problem whatsoever has been encountered when it comes to Local Wireless. If you have a US game and your friend owns a Japanese one, everything will work fine, including battles, trades, making poffins/contests together etc. - The local wireless feature shouldn't in any way be affected by the region in which the game has been bought in. When it comes to compatibility with European games, however, we can only speculate that the same thing will happen to them: no problems at all. However, we're not very sure whether or not Nintendo of Europe will decide to imply a regional blocking in local wireless. Worry not, however, since this is very unlikely to happen, especially with a game that supports online gameplay. Mystery Gift also works between different regioned-games. Wi-Fi
Pal ParkA little bit of confusion has risen about Pal Park. The question is, will you be able to get Pokémon off a European GBA game into a US D/P? The answer is yes, but under very special circumstances. You CAN import Pokémon from your European GBA game, as long as it's English. If the game is French/Spanish/etc. then you won't be able to to get them off the game. You'd have to trade them onto an English GBA game and then do the importing from there. The reason as to why this needs to be done is because Diamond and Pearl and instructed to respons to a GBA game's language. Even though GBA games DO feature region coding (a demographic location code contained within most games), that doesn't affect Diamond/Pearl. Compatibility with Pokémon Battle Revolution, and PBR ItselfPokémon Battle Revolution has been available in Japan since December 16th 2006, and is scheduled to release in the US June 25th of this year. This is why I'd like to give out one big warning to our European gamers out there: Do not import Pokémon Battle Revolution if you bought your Wii in Europe. The reason for this is that Wii games are actually region-locked, and will not work in any way if they're inserted on a Wii of a region that does not match that of the game's. Sorry guys, but it looks like you'll actually haev to wait for the European release date for playing online in full 3D. When it comes to compatibility between D/P, intially everything SHOULD work fine, regardless of regions. However, I can't guarantee this, and as soon as I get a chance of actually proving this and getting more details about this situation, I'll post it here as soon as possible. Stay tuned. (Many thanks to Hiroshi Sotomura for the help on compiling facts for this list) |
I think you have cleared it up for our European friends about importing.
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Although I don't know if it will be similar with Pokemon Diamond and Pearl. But as far as tetris goes, (It is made by Nintendo) it works. |
And why would they allow two different-region games to be compatible over Wi-Fi and not over local wireless?
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you're using logic, waka, but we'll have to wait and see how things turn out.
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Interesting ideas, and logically sound. But you never know, Nintendo may just let this one off and form an all round compatible game.
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Will my american GBA pokemon games work on a european revolution?
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I applaud you for actually using logic in your argument, though. |
^It's what I do. =P Thanks for the comment though. I can't really be too sure about the second example listed because I've yet to test this, but note my word - I'll be sure to give a certain opinion and update on this as soon as it's possible to be clarified for me.
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What about Pal Park?
It's never been clear, whether US D/P would work with an English game. I know it doesn't with different language games, but what about games from the same language but different regions? IIRC I read somewhere, that Pal Park is a little bit special concerning regions. |
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...aaand I don't believe you on that Pal Park thing, since GBA games are seriously just not region-restricted. They're just not. However I'll keep a lookout for that one as well, so thanks. Quote:
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Otherwise, I would have had a lot of fun transferring^^ Some (not me) said that Pal Park is region restricted, I might look for the post. He meant Pal Park itself, not the GBA game. |
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As for the second part, how can Pal Park be region-restricted if it can't detect the region of GBA games? Like I said before, the fact that GBA games don't have a region affects the fact that Pal Park is region-restricted. If games don't have a region, then its accessory can't be region-restricted. Also, languages don't play a role in this. Languages are just changes in text and images. That won't affect anything. I've traded a Zapdos from my Japanese LeafGreen to my English FireRed and everything worked out just fine. Why, it even kept its Japanese nick I gave it! XD |
I doesn't work with different language games, I already stated that...
My Diamond doesn't recognise my German Sapphire and I'm not the only one with that problem. |
^Eh? Really? Ah, well sorry about that. Maybe it is restricted to regions. Ah well, I'm gonna have to check that out.
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Serebii.net stated that D/P wouldent work with games of a diffrent language, but said nothing about the same.
So my American GBA games will be able to transfer and trigger wild pokemon to appear in any D/P because they don't use Wi Fi. But nothing official has been stated about using an American D/P on a PAL region Battle Revoultion as long as the Wii is using the same Wi Fi network as the ountry your in so your DS should be able to sense that. And im not sure but if I put my GBA game cartridge in my DS could I use that team on Battle Revolution without having to trade to D/P? Becuase the GBA games arent region locked in any way. So I geuss ill wit until they come out and try them, if they don't ill just buy 'em again. |
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As fopr your 4th, you won't be able to use your GBA team on Battle Revolution, because there's no way Battle Revolution can communicate with the GBA. End of story. You'll need to use the Pal Park to get your team on the DS. |
Well now I no that, I dont need to buy a new emerald and Sapphire!!
I could buy D or P from America and a prima guide complete it. then when they come out in England ill buy both and link to battle revolution and probably sell my 1st D/P. Well it's not 100% that it wont connect to Battle rev, so ill just wait until it comes out. So the plan is buy Diamond (better colour) and the guide (I love looking at the pokedex's) of the internet. |
Attention!!! the ds games arnt region sealed but gba games are region sealed! so it wont work the euopean gba game will just deny the transfer/detection of the ds game!
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My American Sapphire and emeralds work on my european ds.
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My Pokemon Ranger is american, becuase pokemon ranger isant out in England yet.
Would that be able to trade the manaphy to an english diamond or pearl? 1 last queston, if theoraticly I can play an american Battle rev on my wii would it be able to link up to my american d/p on a english ds and wii? |
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All questions well be answered in 11 days! :D
Thanks btw! This cleared up alot of things. I (the smart one) is getting one from USA and my friend pre-ordered it for the Uk. Will be interesting |
Thanks for clearing this up Wakachamo. Now I can tell my cousins in england about this.
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^XD No prob, in fact I myself learnt something with all this.
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importing from the US
i live in UK and i am considering importing the US version, however i have a couple of queries, i know it will work on my DS but i need to know:
1. Will i be able to trade from my UK version of emerald 2. will i be able to trade to UK versions of the game when they come out |
First off, you don't trade from the GBA games, you "import the Pokémon". I can almost 100% guarantee you that that will work with absolutely no problems, since GBA games are also region-free.
As for your second question, we can't really guarantee first off. The thing is, we don't know if it depends on the region of the game, or the region of the DS. However, some people say that it actually depends on the region of the DS, which means that you might be able to trade effortlessly with UK versions of the game. Hope I helped. |
I live in the UK, and preordered and ordered Diamond and diamond guide book of prima of ebay.
If I get my Wii chiped I can play Battle Rev from america and use my american diamond team on it. |
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But, in regard to connecting Diamond to it, you won't need to get the american PBR to get it to work. I can't tell you surely, but it might just work with the UK PBR. |
It is possible, I know a guy who knows a guy who can do it, they made a chip for it.
Even if PBR does work ill chip it any way so i can get games earlier. (about 1 year earlier.) |
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Wait I still got a question. My mom is going to U.S. and A. to go for my aunts graduation(shes only 18 and in highskool). And she said shes going to get me pokemon Pearl. And I have my DS here in canada. Will Pokemon Pearl work on my DS?
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^Undeniably, yes you will. The USA and Canada are considered to be one sole region, since they both use NTSC. Everything will work smoothly.
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Oh sweeeet! Thanks for telling me this. I might even get Pokemon Diamond...just to be greedy!
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^No prob.
Update: OK, just to update on some questions about the Pal Park. Pal Park in the US version Diamond does work with European English GBA games, from what I've heard. I've updated the first post with some details on the regions of Pal Park. Note that I'm still basing this off logic, and might not be 100% true, true fact. Not for long, though, as on the 29th, I'll revise this and update. (Thanks to Forest Grovyle for the suggestion) |
You are right, it does.
SPP has confirmed that it isn't region locked, but only langauge locked. So you can transfer Pokémon from your UK GBA games to the US D/P. |
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Now we no that Pal Park is only language locked and not region locked, the same thing might happen with Battle Rev.
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There is also "GBA Pokémon Insertion". However, if pal park workd this should work too. (I belive)
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I've got Japanese Diamond and German GBA games and it's working for me. |
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Well well well, looks like wakachamo you was right after all.
I'm still not getting the USA d/p, I'm still happy to wait. |
I've updated the first post with more accurate examples and some stuff based on personal experience, seeing as I've got the game as well now. =P
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its ur decison?
o_0???? =D |
...could you please try to make sense in your post? XD
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Ok, this makes sense. I think I'll hang fire until a European release date happens for D/P and PBR.
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So just to clear things up, you can trade if one person is using a EU DS and the other an US DS?
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^No. You can trade if you have an EU and US D/P. The DS's region needs to be the same.
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But you said you could...
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I got Uk DS and American pokemon pearl and it works fine
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So I need an American copy of Pearl/Diamond to trade people in the US region?
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You can trade with people from everywhere with every version. You can trade between a Japanese D/P and an US one for example. |
So example:
I have an EU DS and game, I can trade with someone with a US DS and game? |
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EU DS and any game, with EU DS and any game. Get it now? |
Nintendo DS units appear to be the same worldwide. There shouldn't be any physical "regions" between the units.
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I really don't want to read this thread. Most of it is filled with worthless "will XXX work with YYY?" BS. I hope you can understand.
Now Wakachamo, I'm going to have to disagree with you in regards to the DS region locking portion. To the best of my knowledge, there's no difference between the software on different DSes from different regions. The same generally holds true for same-language games from different regions. (This is also the basis for the Pal Park Language Lock as opposed to a Region Lock.) So, a US D/P should be compatible with a UK D/P over local wireless. I'd even go so far as to say that different-languaged games ought to be compatible over local wireless but I can't confirm this. What I can confirm is that I was able to race my brother, who was using a Japanese MKDS game, with my US MKDS game, over local wireless without difficulty. Diamond/Pearl are much more complicated in their communications protocols, so they may not be locally compatible, but, seeing as Japanese and English Pokémon can be exchanged freely over the internet (as well as 3rd-gen link trading between versions), it would appear that the language barrier has already been broken, so it's possible that the communications protocols for local wireless are the same as well. (This needs confirmation. Anyone have an English D/P, a Japanese D/P, and 2 DSes?) So, to summarize: -The DS has NO region locking. -DS games have NO region locking. -Communications protocols are determined entirely by the game. The DS unit has nothing to do with them. -There may be language barriers between games, but this is on a per-game basis, and most games are compatible between different-languaged versions. (This thread provides testimony that MKDS and Tetris DS work.) -Because the DS has no region locking, a Wii has no idea what the region of a DS wishing to connect is. Therefore, any DS can connect with any Wii. Language barriers may apply on a per-title basis. (I would expect a language barrier with PBR.) -Treat Slot2 connectivity the same way you would DS-DS connectivity. Language barriers may exist, and it's been confirmed that Pal Park is language-restricted. I believe this is due to technical constraints rather than malice, as the Japanese D/P developers didn't know what the English D/P data structures would look like, so they couldn't properly handle English-version Pokémon. I have no idea why English D/P versions can't handle Japanese carts. Maybe to keep it fair? |
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Plus, you have to stop thinking that language = region. They're two completely different things. And do note that I'm basing this off just pure logic, since I can't confirm this. (yet, btw) This also has a bit of personal experience. When I talk about that "experience", it's when something weird happened to me. I tried to play against my friend. I had a US Metroid Demo, and he had a UK one. Since I knew at that time that DS software was in no way region-restricted, it must've been because of the DS. My DS was American, and his was European. So, even though this might contradict many people on the fact that the DS isn't actually hardware-locked (which I'm almost sure is true, like you said in your post), I think it's still possible that NoE might screw with things every once in a while. However, don't get offended with what I say, since I can't confirm this. I'm still, as of now, basing this off logic and basing it off of this little happening as well. Nonetheless I will try to confirm this ASAP when D/P comes out here. Quote:
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Once again, I can't confirm this due to many obvious contradictions, but I'll go ahead with what I think.
It depends of both the consoles you guys have are the same region. Forget about the game, that doesn't matter. What matters is the the place where you bought the actual system. |
Ah! <kisses the PC screen> Thank you for posting this thread. I was wanting to know about whether or not my GBA games would work with a US D/P. (Yes, I live in UK and my DS has been bought from a shop in the UK).
You see, I own a US Pokemon G/S and I was able to use it with an Australlian version of Pokemon Stadium 2 (and it worked on my N64 since it is a PAL machine). So I'm glad there aren't many problems so far. I hope... <crosses fingers> |
thanks
Thanks this board has helped clear up so much! :)
I have one question.. what is the difference between language lock and region lock i dont fully understand... :/ |
^Region = Continent where the game is bought.
Language = Text language inside the game. All DS and Wii European games should have English, Spanish, French, German and Italian in them. There is no language lock for DS games, but to some extent there is for GBA games, I think. For example a GBA game with Spanish in it can't communicate with a GBA game with English in it. However, it's highly probable that this is completely wrong. |
like you have said before as long as both games are the same region they are fine me and my friend had a wireless battle at school and it was fine :)
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Sorry if I'm going off topic, but I had thought of this when I was out looking for Pokemon Ranger...
Does the European Pokemon Ranger have the secret Manaphy Mission? And if yes, will it work with a US Pokemon D/P? Has anyone else thought of that? |
So if I have a EU DS and an EU Pokemon D/P, I can use Wi-fo to trade with people in the US?
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Red X, please read my first post. Wi-Fi doesn't matter; you can use any old combination.
And Kraka-chan, I'm not much of an expert when it comes to Ranger, so unfortunately I can't really help you with that. ^^; |
That’s awesome news. I appreciate the help Wakachamo and I do aplogoise about all the questions. I just needed to know if I would need to inmport D/P to trade with you guys in the US. And now I know I don’t :)
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Thanks for clearing this all up! I would have imported a Battle Revolution from the US if I hadn't known.
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Sorry if this has been mentioned I'm in a hurry but What about the GBA insirtion? Like say a USA Pearl. European DS and European Sapphire/Emerald ECT.? Will I still be able to get Pokes that way? (EG a Lotad on route 203 w/ Sapphire inserted.)
Thanks. |
I haven't actually tried that yet, but initially it should work like a charm. =D
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Sure, thanks. I'll add it asap.
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I really want to buy this game no matter what. The new features seem awesome!
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Wakachamo: I think the only situations where we disagree are in matters of speculation, so let's not turn this into a needless fight.
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Demos, even more than finished games, would tend to be different between releases because they're unfinished. Maybe Retro Studios decided to change the MPH communications protocols after the US demo release but before the UK one? Quote:
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Can I still pal pak, if my PEARL is a US Region copy and my DS and EMERALD are EU Region?
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Are you 100% certain? Coz I'm importing pearl next week.
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^I can guarantee you it'll work, since it works for me and I have the same circumstances as you. Don't worry; it will.
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so i can put my fire red pokemon (pal) into an nstc pokemon pearl? great, i wasn't sure weather to get the American game or not.
i have a pal wii and DS, the american ver. of D/P would still work on the battle revolution (pal) wouldn't it? |
Question 1: Yes it will.
Question 2: I'm not sure yet, but initially it should be able to work fine. |
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http://www.serebii.net/diamondpearl/palpark.shtml :( You see my problem; I don't want to pay for the game and pal pak not work. |
^That's because Serebii himself hasn't updated the page's summary in order to reflect the new updates. It works fine for me, and it's been confirmed that it will work with no matter what region you have.
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Thats great news, thanks again.
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OK guys, I've updated the first post with a more tidy and uncluttered layout. I've also completely revamped it with more up-to-date facts and accurate regional differences information. Remember that I'm always editing it whenever I get some news regarding regions, so stay tuned!
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Waka, I have a clarification: I just got Pokemon Battle Revolution today (NTSC version, of course), and the instruction booklet specifically says that it will NOT work with Diamond/Pearl games of a different language. So,...this would mean that US PBR does NOT work with EU D&P, wouldn't it?
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Hmm. This means I'm screwed, lol. I'm not sure why it wouldn't work, though. Maybe it's just compatibility with the Japanese version that gets screwed up. All I can do is wait until PBR comes out until I actually find out whether or not it does block out different-regioned D/P games.
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hi!
well, I've got a Japanese Pkmn Pearl and an Italian FireRed/LeafGreen...but I can't import any Pkmn from Italian GBA games to the JAP Pearl!!! Help me!!! |
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can the manaphy egg be transfered from an american pokemon ranger to a japanese pokemon diamond? o_O
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With all due respect, ~Monty Kensicle |
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