[Note: unsure if this can be considered on topic. Technically it is about the console hardware, but it does not strictly relate to games unless some horrible company tries to put geo-lock on games too. Close or migrate as necessary]
Back in the PS3/PS4 era some PlayStation users noticed that the console country was set to USA regardless of the actual country the console was sold in.
The consequence of this choice was that any PS3/PS4 console would apparently be recognized as an USA region blu-ray player.
Blu-ray disk normally have two types of protection, aimed at solving different (fake) issues (by impacting only paying customers...)
- region-lock: the most common one. This is the A-B-C region that you usually see on a disk case. Basically the player has a region code associated that you can't change normally. The result is that if your own a B region player you can't play an A region disk
- geo-lock: this is another level of scam that some companies implemented to further remove compatibly with other regions. Since A region includes both Japan and America some (horrible) anime companies felt like they needed another way to remove users ability to import. Geo-Lock does not look at the region-code but at the country-code instead. This is even more restrictive but sometime backfires horrendously since some unmodded players can change the country-code freely.
Apparently based on some sources the PS3/PS4 country code is hard-coded to USA so basically a Playstation console is considered an USA player in regard to geo-locking. This can be a problem since geo locking isn't something many vendor make very clear in the first place.
This is a Sentai video blu-ray release of Lupin Zero. Notice that the Region is stated at A but the legalese line above who almost any user would ignore actually means that the disk is geo-locked to Usa&Canada countries. A region A Japan-country player is not able to play the disk.
Forgetting for a second how pathetic all of this is, I am left wondering.
What country code does a PS5 have? Does it matter where I bought the console at? Or is every PS5 still identified as an USA country player?
