Region locking...why?

[RedComet]

Main reasons are legal/licencing issues and differences in sales taxes as far is I know. The main reason games are more expensive in Europe is because we have much higher taxes. Importing from beyond the EU is evading taxes.

How much are sales taxes in the EU? Here in Kentucky, USA, it's 6% on the dollar. If I go down to Tennessee, it's something like 8% on the dollar (or was the last time I was there about 5 years ago).

[David J.]

How much are sales taxes in the EU? Here in Kentucky, USA, it's 6% on the dollar. If I go down to Tennessee, it's something like 8% on the dollar (or was the last time I was there about 5 years ago).

I don't live in the EU, but it looks a lot higher over there, than in the states. Now, I live in the poorest part of New York state, and our sales tax is among the most expensive in the state - it's around 8% percent. If the part of NYS I live in had those taxes than our friends have in Europe... holy shit.

[animefan]

Wasn't Nintendo the company who invented region locking?
I guess it was one of their "innovations".

[108 Stars]

In Germany it´s 19% taxes; and it goes up to 25% in other EU countries.
So, new PlayStation 2 games for example cost 50,- - 60,- € here.
That means we have to spend like 80,-$ on new games.
So, if there was no region lockout many people would rather buy imports from the US. They are released earlier most of the time, more RPGs, uncut versions and they cost less.

[system]

Wasn't Nintendo the company who invented region locking?
I guess it was one of their "innovations".

Not sure if they did, but primary purpose of the 10NES-chip was actually not keeping people from importing, but rather to ensure that the NES wouldn't suffer the same fate as the Atari 2600 (i.e. third party developers flooding the market with unlicensed "low quality" games that would result in customers losing faith in the system).

[Psy]

Not sure if they did, but primary purpose of the 10NES-chip was actually not keeping people from importing, but rather to ensure that the NES wouldn't suffer the same fate as the Atari 2600 (i.e. third party developers flooding the market with unlicensed "low quality" games that would result in customers losing faith in the system).

But Nintendo licensed games just as crappy for the NES.

[system]

But Nintendo licensed games just as crappy for the NES.

There was the fact that Nintendo wanted to control the supply, reserve profits for itself, have third party developers pay them (in advance, with all the risk on the developer) to manufacture cartridges etc. as well...

[Rusty Venture]

I am still amazed at some of the shit games that managed to get the "Nintendo Seal of Quality".

"Oh! Nintendo approves of the game 'Total Recall'? It must be great!"

[j_factor]

Not sure if they did, but primary purpose of the 10NES-chip was actually not keeping people from importing

It's not the 10NES, it's something else. The only region lockout was on European systems. Between Japan and the US, importing was hindered by the different cart size and different pinouts, but there was no further lockout. PAL NES systems have a lockout to prevent you from playing US games on them.