Xbox One BC and region locking

[Primal Sage]

Didn't find anything about this in the other BC threads and I think this warrants its own thread as there is a renewed interest in finding physical copies of games for the original Xbox.

We all know the Xbox One (and X) is region free. You can buy an Xbox One disc anywhere in the world and play it on your console. You can also change the region on the console and buy from other regions' digital stores.

But what about physical discs for the original Xbox? Example: Have anyone tried inserting an OG Xbox disc from the US in a European bought Xbox One or vice versa? Region locking on the OG Xbox was rather different than previous console generations. Rather than the hardware having the lock, MS left it up to the developers which was why most games published by MS were region free.

It's possible to change the region in the Xbox One dashboard but whether this only changes the Live store content or also the hardware identifier ("I'm European/American") that the OG Xbox game checks I do not know.

I can't test this myself as I sadly sold my OG game collection back in the day but rebuying physical titles will be much easier and cheaper if region isn't an issue.

 

[wondermagenta]

I've successfully played through my NTSC Sands of Time copy on a PAL Xbox One. The install icon wouldn't show up initially, but once I changed my region to the US under system settings, it worked like a charm. Once the game was done installing, I could even change my region back to Germany and Sands of Time would still be listed under My Games & Apps.

 

[Soony Xbone Uhh]

AFAIK only digital 360 purchases are region locked.
360 disks are region free afaik:
https://www.xboxachievements.com/ne...ox-One-is-Now-a-Region-Free-Xbox-360-Too.html

 

[Wing Scarab]

OG Xbox games are region locked, just like they were on the 360.

Must be case by case then. My NA NGB disc wouldn't work on a PAL XB1 but worked on my NA XB1S

 

[Primal Sage]

"I've successfully played through my NTSC Sands of Time copy on a PAL Xbox One. The install icon wouldn't show up initially, but once I changed my region to the US under system settings, it worked like a charm. Once the game was done installing, I could even change my region back to Germany and Sa"

Fantastic news!

 

[Novocaine]

I have a U.K. copy of Ninja Gaiden Black and it runs on my Australian system. The black version didn't release here. But they're both PAL territories.

 

[Primal Sage]

Hmm, Sands of Time was actually region free on the OG Xbox and Ninja Gaiden Black was not.

Damn. Looks as if the physical OG games are region locked on the Xbox One after all then.

 

[D65]

Edit : dunno about OG xbox

 

[Creepy Woody]

I thought Xbox One BC was region free. I don't have an NTSC compatible OG Xbox game to test on my Australian One X.

I have Gears 3 NTSC disc (though my installed version on the One X is a digital copy bought off XBL), but I'm sure 360 games are fine. I specifically want to know about OG Xbox games, which were super region locked back then.

Also surely not 50hz right?

 

[weblaus]

I've installed NTSC copies of BloodRayne 2, Psychonauts and Star Wars KOTOR on my European Xbox One just fine - so either these are by chance all region free (didn't find a reliably source so far to check, but I doubt it) or it's indeed region free.

Will verify further next ween as I have a few more NTSC games that'll be in the next OG wave.

 

[Atolm]

Also surely not 50hz right?

Click to shrink...

OG Xbox had PAL60 support at an OS level.

 

[weblaus]

OG Xbox had PAL60 support at an OS level.

Click to shrink...

While that is true, at least some of the early games definitely ran at 50hz only (Bloodwake being one I clearly remember).

 

[Jawmuncher]

Seems like it might be a case by case basis for OG titles.

 

[plagiarize]

Some 360 and Xbox games are region locked and some are not. I'm sure you can find lists.

 

[darkNemisiScloud]

Already asked this on another thread and was told og Xbox games work on all Xbox systems. Will find out when morrowind is avaible as I have an ntsc copy and a UK Xbox.

 

[Storm]

In my experience everything but blu ray movies are region free. I've installed 360 games from all 3 regions (that were locked on 360) and NTSC U and PAL OG Xbox

 

[darkNemisiScloud]

OG Xbox games are region locked, just like they were on the 360.

Must be case by case then. My NA NGB disc wouldn't work on a PAL XB1 but worked on my NA XB1S

Click to shrink...

Try change the region and see if it actually works on the xb1. If it does then the work around could be just a region change hopefully.

 

[Windrunner]

I've installed NTSC copies of BloodRayne 2, Psychonauts and Star Wars KOTOR on my European Xbox One just fine - so either these are by chance all region free (didn't find a reliably source so far to check, but I doubt it) or it's indeed region free.

Will verify further next ween as I have a few more NTSC games that'll be in the next OG wave.

Click to shrink...

Using a US account I assume?

 

[Deleted member 20297]

Perhaps not really related but as a German user: what happens on Xbox one family console when I put in my gears of war discs in it? I mean, the games are banned in Germany so I ordered them from UK back then and they played just fine on 360 but they do so also on the Xbox one?

 

[Mitth'raw'nuruodo]

The Gears games are no longer on the index in germany. You can even buy them (or use the free codes from Gears Ultimate, etc.) with a german account / setting.

But if you have the disk it does not matter. You can play everything (and no problems with updates) and even digital games make much less problems than last gen with the 360. No IP check till today. (I bought for example all the Dead Rising games (Remakes & 3) for the One digital without any problems.)

 

[weblaus]

Using a US account I assume?

Click to shrink...

Nope, German one. I'm pretty sure that when installing from disc, the region of the account doesn't matter. Only what region the Xbox One is set too has an influence both for OG and 360 games.

 

[LRB1983]

Persona 4 Arena european edition is not BC (US edition is).
I bought it thinking it was :(.

 

[Lynd]

So no matter what region, PAL or NTSC are the files that download the same worldwide? Like they wouldn't bother checking each regions release would work right.

Everything is 60hz US version?

 

[TheDoctor]

So no matter what region, PAL or NTSC are the files that download the same worldwide? Like they wouldn't bother checking each regions release would work right.

Click to shrink...

There can be some regional differences when it comes to included languages.

Not every Xbox and Xbox 360 game supported multiple languages on disc.

 

[Syriel]

But what about physical discs for the original Xbox? Example: Have anyone tried inserting an OG Xbox disc from the US in a European bought Xbox One or vice versa? Region locking on the OG Xbox was rather different than previous console generations. Rather than the hardware having the lock, MS left it up to the developers which was why most games published by MS were region free.

Click to shrink...

• The original code is still region locked, however it only checks in the emulator.
• The emulator is set to match the game image.
• Since every game has its own copy of the emulator, the games themselves are region free on the Xbox One.
• Appearance in the "ready-to-install" list is dependent on the store region of the XBO console.
• Once installed, a game will run, even if the store region is changed, as the XBO "wrapper" for an emulated game is still region free.
• Xbox 360 games can only be purchased by an account of the same region (this is why you can't get other region GWG 360 freebies w/o changing your account region).

In short, the XBO store region impacts what you see as available to purchase/install, but all BC titles are region free once installed on your XBO.

 

[Primal Sage]

Excellent. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[thepenguin55]

My Asian copy of Lost Odyssey resulted in the US version being installed on my X1 and I have US XBL account. I get the sense that the version of the game that gets installed is based on the region of your account and region availability of that game.

 

[Anton]

From what I remember just about every PAL game works in the back compat list except for Psychonauts

 

[super moustique]

My NA NGB disc wouldn't work on a PAL XB1 but worked on my NA XB1S

Click to shrink...

Change your PAL X1 settings to NA and put that disc in.

 

[weblaus]

Persona 4 Arena european edition is not BC (US edition is).
I bought it thinking it was :(.

Click to shrink...

That can't be right as I bought the game recently as well (EU copy) and it runs fine on my Xbox One (also EU).

As others have said, try switching your region to NA and try again.

 

[LRB1983]

That can't be right as I bought the game recently as well (EU copy) and it runs fine on my Xbox One (also EU).

As others have said, try switching your region to NA and try again.

Click to shrink...

Digital or retail? My digital copy does not appear on my XBOX One X ready to play games but appear purchased on xbox.com site.
I will try later that switch region, hope it works. I haven't had issues with Sonic Generations or RDR.

 

[weblaus]

Digital or retail? My digital copy does not appear on my XBOX One X ready to play games but appear purchased on xbox.com site.
I will try later that switch region, hope it works. I haven't had issues with Sonic Generations or RDR.

Click to shrink...

Retail. Maybe that's indeed the reason.

Otherwise, I've installed all games I own of today's OG batch and it still looks like region code doesn't matter, as all NTSC and PAL discs worked fine without my having to switch anything - with one exception: My copy of Morrowind is the German GOTY edition and that doesn't get recognized in any store :( So the best guess would be that only the English versions are supported (so far?), as for these, apparently it's irrelevant if its GOTY or standard, it'll always download the GOTY (according to some people in the main thread).

 

[D65]

My Asian copy of Lost Odyssey resulted in the US version being installed on my X1 and I have US XBL account. I get the sense that the version of the game that gets installed is based on the region of your account and region availability of that game.

Click to shrink...

My Asian version of lost Odyssey installed the Asian version... And it was a separate file from my Pal version too.

Asian version is the one with Korean voices.

 

[thepenguin55]

My Asian version of lost Odyssey installed the Asian version... And it was a separate file from my Pal version too.

Asian version is the one with Korean voices.

Click to shrink...

So the Asian version I have is the English language one but I owned the dlc for the US version and that stuff is there when I go to the "Manage Game" page for LO so I assumed the US version is the version that got installed.

 

[D65]

So the Asian version I have is the English language one but I owned the dlc for the US version and that stuff is there when I go to the "Manage Game" page for LO so I assumed the US version is the version that got installed.

Click to shrink...

The DLC works for all of them. You can download the JP exclusive DLC for all versions, for example.

My Pal bought DLC also shows up for the Asian version.

 

[LRB1983]

Retail. Maybe that's indeed the reason.

Otherwise, I've installed all games I own of today's OG batch and it still looks like region code doesn't matter, as all NTSC and PAL discs worked fine without my having to switch anything - with one exception: My copy of Morrowind is the German GOTY edition and that doesn't get recognized in any store :( So the best guess would be that only the English versions are supported (so far?), as for these, apparently it's irrelevant if its GOTY or standard, it'll always download the GOTY (according to some people in the main thread).

Click to shrink...

Changing my console region (not my account region) solved the issue.

Persona 4 Arena isn't downloadable (it's playable) if your region is Spain, France, Germany or Italy... but it's on UK and US.
I just changed console region to UK to download the game in my spanish account where I purchased the game, installed it... and change back again to Spain when the game it's installed and it's playable without problems...
Odd region lock. XD but well easy to workaround and how it's just console region change and not account change you can do this as many times as you want and you don't have to wait those three months to change again.