Kotaku: Region

Army of Two Has Region Protected Multiplayer

Mark Wilson — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 10:40:43 MDT

When Army of Two launched with decent reviews, we thought all was well in the world of mercenary combat simulation. But none of us expected the game to ship with region-locked multiplayer. Apparently, European Xbox 360 owners are unable to play he game with their US friends. Originally outed by gamers, the PAL Xbox 360 manual confirms the rumor:

The online game modes in Army of Two are not cross region compatible and is only supported between PAL discs.

An EA developer on the official EA forum speculates that the choice was made to reduce server loads (no word yet if PAL PS3s are similarly inflicted). Needless to say, it's an unpublicized annoyance that we hope does not become a pattern.

Army of Two: No EU-US Play (CONFIRMED) [SarcasticGamer and EA Forums] Thanks Linus!

Stranglehold on PS3 - REGION LOCKED

Mark Wilson — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 10:40:55 MDT

John Woo's anticipated Stanglehold will be region locked on PS3, following the logic that, since the collector's edition comes with a movie (a cool, HD remastering of Hard Boiled) , it needs to be region locked. Okay, we're with you so far. So that means the standard edition, without any bundled movie, will be region free. Right? Midway? Sony? Anyone there??

No, the standard edition will be region locked as well. And while this is but one title in a quasi-special circumstance, the precedent is cause for alarm. Every step back to region distinctions empowers companies to falsely inflate their entertainment enterprises. And in a global marketplace filled with educated consumers, we know when things really aren't "new" (I can't even stand seeing games at E3 that have been in Japan for months).

Sitting on my porch in my rocker, watching region-restricted content whiz by...I don't like this situation one bit.

Midway Forums [via ps3fanboy]

Region Free Xbox Live Marketplace Hack

Brian Crecente — Fri, 06 Jan 2006 00:00:23 MST

Gamers Reports has a very cool work around for people who want access to some of the Xbox 360 demos only available in certain countries via Xbox Live Market. It s not exactly easy, but would likely be worth it for getting your hands on things like the Wrestle Kingdom demo. It basically entails creating a second Silver (read free) Xbox Live account on your Xbox 360 and then setting up your passport on a second email address and choosing a different home country.

Check out their full-on hands on and don t blame us if you do this and your Xbox 360 stops speaking English to you after you do the swapolla.

Circumvent The Xbox Live Demo Download Region Lockout! [Gamers Reports]