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Country Switch: Difference between revisions
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{{
Video games are often released in different versions in different territories. The obvious way to do this is to program a different version of the game for each territory. But there's also a shortcut: release the exact same game in different locations, and program it so that the game does different things depending on what system it's played on.
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In some cases (not, unfortunately, the PS3), it's possible to modify a game system with a switch (or even in some cases a converter) that lets the user ''select'' whether the system is domestic or imported. The user can then buy one game locally and make it play as either a domestic or import version by flicking the switch. This first became widely known during the [[Sega Genesis]] era. A decent [[Emulation|Emulator]] will let the user pick what country the emulated system pretends to be.
{{examples|Systems which do this include:}}
== [[MSX]] ==
* ''[[Gradius|G Gofer no Yabou Episode II]]'' becomes ''Nemesis 3: The Eve of Destruction''
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* ''Aztec Adventure'' becomes ''Nazca '88''.
* ''Power Strike'' becomes ''[[Aleste]]''.
* ''Super Wonder Boy: Monster World'', the Japanese version of ''[[
** Playing ''[[
== [[Game Gear]] ==
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** ''Truxton'' becomes ''Tatsujin''.
* ''[[Mystic Defender]]'' may be one of the most extreme cases. This is really a ''[[Peacock King]]'' adaptation. Running it in Japanese mode changes the name of the main character to Kujaku, gives him a robe, makes fetus-like enemies flesh colored instead of green, gives the levels names, changes the effect of some of the magic, and uses a picture with the opening text, never seen if the game is played normally.
* Even some [[Fan Translation
* ''Dashin' Desperadoes'', when played on a Japanese [[Mega Drive]], changes the game's title ''Rumble Kids''. The curious thing about this is that ''Rumble Kids'' was never actually released in Japan.
== [[Neo
Just about everything for these systems uses the same ROM or disk in Japan and America. Neo-Geo games were notorious for censorship (particularly of red blood, as in ''[[Samurai Shodown]]'') that could be avoided by switching your system to the Japanese version.
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Yes, even [[Atari]]'s last gasp system did this. The game ''[[Sensible Soccer]]'' had fake player names when played on an American system and real ones on a European system, because of licensing restrictions.
== [[
The Playstation 3 brought this feature to the modern era (the PS1 and PS2 couldn't run imported games at all without a [[Mod Chip]], so there was never a chance for it to happen there). There's no known way to make a switch, but games will play differently on a Japanese and an American machine. Since the Genesis era, Japanese censorship has gotten stricter while American censorship has gotten looser, so now the American version may be the less censored one.
* ''[[Uncharted]]'' notoriously is censored in Japan to not show blood. Early adopters of the PS3 sometimes bought Japanese systems; if they bought the American version of the game it would run as the censored Japanese version. Some reports claim that a patch changed this.
* ''[[Resistance]]'' had this problem too, but it could be worked around by using a US save file.
* Playing the Japanese version of ''Super [[
== [[Game Cube]] ==
* Switching to the Japanese language option on ''[[Super Smash Bros Melee]]'' is a neat trip into localization. It even reveals the origin of the Motion Sensor Bomb item if you can read the text on its trophy entry (which in English is only given as "TOP SECRET").
== [[Nintendo DS]] ==
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This system is region-free, but can do something similar by checking the menu language. Of course, no switch needs to be installed in order to change the menu language and see the other country's version. (Unfortunately, this doesn't extend to the DSi, which doesn't let you change the menu language.)
* Due to Capcom's unusual release schedule of the second and third [[
** But the language of the (imported) game itself was still selectable at the start.
* Sonic Rush and Rush Adventure both have English text if the language is English, the voice acting varies from the Japan and the rest of the versions.
* All versions of [[Metal Slug]] 7 are identical and contain Japanese, English and all European languages, yet somehow it took them 4 months to release the first non-Japanese version.
* Playing ''Konami's Collectors Series: Arcade Hits'' on a console set to Japanese will change the menus and text to Japanese. It will also change the version of ''Gradius'' included in the compilation from the "USA" version (which is actually the ''Nemesis'' variant with the logo on the title screen changed back to the ''Gradius'' one) to the Japanese original ([[Difficulty
== PC ==
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* Of course, people figured out that you can use this to add another layer of [[Region Coding]] protection.
== [[Blu-
Blu-Rays can use the menu language for similar effects within the same region. Note that Japan and the USA are in the same region. The changes need not have anything to do with menus.
* Setting the menu language to Japanese on ''[[Batman Begins]]'' and ''[[Batman Gotham Knight]]'' magically adds a Japanese track, removes most other languages, and forces subtitles in some places. If the menu language is English, the Japanese track is completely invisible and can't be seen or selected in any way.
== [[
* [[Captain Obvious|If you're using a Japanese PS2, and have the system language set to Japanese, the Japanese version of ''Rez'' will run in Japanese.]] But set the system language to English, and you're in for a surprise: the game's text will be in English!
* Likewise, with the Japanese version of Sonic Gems Collection, if the system language is set to Japanese, the logo and menus will be in Japanese and [[Sonic CD]] will play the original soundtrack. Change the system language to English, and the logo/menu text changes with it... and [[Sonic CD]] plays the North American soundtrack.
== [[Sega Saturn]] ==
* Switches existed for this system, but this always affected region
== [[Sega Dreamcast]] ==
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Videogame Culture]]
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