with the exception of Japan

[dcharlie]

XBL - fun for everyone, except the filthy japanese 

not that the japanese would bother, but still...

seeing "WORLDWIDE RELEASE (with the exception of Japan)" every week or so is becoming comical.

(“Elements of Destruction” will be available worldwide (with the exception of Japan) )

[Howard Alan Treesong]

at least you get to pay less than other regions due to the lower level of support

[cool breeze]

Can't you just use the North America or European market place?

[originalz]

Arcade games are no problem since those aren't locked, but the originals are IP locked, which kind of sucks.

[pilonv1]

really? so i couldnt even get a copy of the shitty magatama with a jpn credit card living in australia?

[pilonv1]

thats so fucking lame

id love to meet some of the decision makers at MS sometimes

[MCD]

welcome to ip locking!

i sent a message to xbl support once but no good.

[pilonv1]

i get the impression that each MS division is like a headless chicken running around like idiots and the off chance a good decision is made is purely coincidental

[chronovore]

Yeah, dcharlie, cormacaroni, and mrsingh have all heard me go off on this before: region locking by IP address can slurp my pendulous sac. I've got a US 360 with a US account and US-purchased points, but can't get the TV/movies from marketplace; ironically I can get the free themes and gamerpics for movie promotions, but downloading the trailer for the movie (the same trailer which is readily available on the internet) is verboten. And it increasingly seems that game demos are being locked by this same means: The Club, Bioshock... there was another big one last week, it pissed me off so badly I've apparently blocked it out from my memory. 

I can't use a Japanese credit card with my US 360 at all, so I have to have my friends in the US buy points cards for me just to stay up and running. PITA.

[GilloD]

Yeah, dcharlie, cormacaroni, and mrsingh have all heard me go off on this before: region locking by IP address can slurp my pendulous sac. I've got a US 360 with a US account and US-purchased points, but can't get the TV/movies from marketplace; ironically I can get the free themes and gamerpics for movie promotions, but downloading the trailer for the movie (the same trailer which is readily available on the internet) is verboten. And it increasingly seems that game demos are being locked by this same means: The Club, Bioshock... there was another big one last week, it pissed me off so badly I've apparently blocked it out from my memory. 

I can't use a Japanese credit card with my US 360 at all, so I have to have my friends in the US buy points cards for me just to stay up and running. PITA.

Region locking is arguably prohibited in the UN Doctrine of Human Rights. Not that anyone pays attention to that little number.

[bork]

Yeah, dcharlie, cormacaroni, and mrsingh have all heard me go off on this before: region locking by IP address can slurp my pendulous sac. I've got a US 360 with a US account and US-purchased points, but can't get the TV/movies from marketplace; ironically I can get the free themes and gamerpics for movie promotions, but downloading the trailer for the movie (the same trailer which is readily available on the internet) is verboten. And it increasingly seems that game demos are being locked by this same means: The Club, Bioshock... there was another big one last week, it pissed me off so badly I've apparently blocked it out from my memory. 

I can't use a Japanese credit card with my US 360 at all, so I have to have my friends in the US buy points cards for me just to stay up and running. PITA.

Same with me; I have a J-360 but a U.S. account.  I just buy my points online with my Japanese AMEX though.  It's really annoying about the movies and TV shows, ESPECIALLY since they didn't use to do this!  I bought several TV shows that worked on my old system, but when that RRoD'd, I was unable to watch them on my new system.   

[Brehvolution]

GBP>Yen?