Question for all JPN/USA PS3 Owners In Europe...

[Robin]

DOES YOUR IMPORTED JAPANIESE OR AMERICAN PLAYSTATION 3 PLAY EUROPEAN GAMES???

I'm sure that there are many of you who purchased your PS3's from abroad before the launch and are buying now UK games now for your systems, I was wondering if they work? If so also what online network do they connect to for online play?

I just want to know whether the UK games are truely region encoded or not, I know they say on the back region 2 (globe symbol) but can it actually play regardless of what it says.

Sony stated ages ago that the PS3 would be region free, but this was never official. I have heard of JPN games working on US PS3's and vice versa but not EU games working on either system probably because the launch was only afew days ago. Alot of sources suggest that the EU console and games are region locked but who knows!

I ask because I may be leaving the UK in a year or so and want to import a Japaniese or Hong Kong PS3 (because its cheaper and would make more sense moving to another country) but I want to be able to buy UK games for now. Just wondering if people have already done this.

Any help would mean alot to me because so far I havent been able to find an answer.... someone must have bought all those expensive systems off ebay early!

Many Thanks,

Robin

 

[DuckRacer]

Well, if it says "2" on the spine of PS3 game boxes... it probably won't work on our PS3s. Completely region free games should have "ALL" on it instead of 1 or 2...

The reason JPN games work on our US PS3s is because the games have the same region code: 1. I'm guessing you Euros are SOL (again, I feel sorry for you guys).

 

[ALPHA]

I'm guessing you Euros are SOL.

No.

DOES YOUR IMPORTED JAPANIESE OR AMERICAN PLAYSTATION 3 PLAY EUROPEAN GAMES???

Yes.

I picked up Resistance on Monday (AUS/NZ Region Code: 4) and works fine on my Japanese console. The only sucky thing is that (currently) Resistance works off the console’s original region for online gaming; however I hear other games Motorstorm and F1 CE allow you to choose your server location.

 

[Robin]

Yes.

I picked up Resistance on Monday (AUS/NZ Region Code: 4) and works fine on my Japanese console. The only sucky thing is that (currently) Resistance works off the console’s original region for online gaming; however I hear other games Motorstorm and F1 CE allow you to choose your server location.

This is what I was hoping for , sounds like good news that a AUS game works (presumably the same region code as the UK although its 2 here and it seems like 4 there (are you talking blu ray coding?) works on a Japanese PS3... Ofcourse there is no guarantee that all future games will work but its a start. Now I need to see if anyone in the UK with a Japanese/US PS3 can get region 2 blu ray games to work aswell.

According to most sites the AUS and UK PS3 are the same so this is good news if you can run the games on another region console!

Thankyou very much for the response ALPHA, I thought no one would really answer!, finally a hint of hope that EU games will work on other consoles!

Sony could have just said clearly officially that it is 100% region free on not... but OH no!

Robin

Any more feedback would also be appreciated.

 

[DuckRacer]

No.


Yes.

I picked up Resistance on Monday (AUS/NZ Region Code: 4) and works fine on my Japanese console. The only sucky thing is that (currently) Resistance works off the console’s original region for online gaming; however I hear other games Motorstorm and F1 CE allow you to choose your server location.

Ah, thanks for clarifying. 👍

 

[Robin]

Ive continued to do some searching around the net and Ive found that the general picture so far for PAL games region free-ness is looking promising. One person in this forum (link below) is playing UK games on a HK PS3 which is good. Apparently what the games covers on boxes say about the region is rubbish (its just to scare you)...

http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=549248&st=0

I keep people updated as I find out more just to help others if they are interested in buying thier console abroad.

Any more info would be appreciated...

Robin

 

[Flame-returns]

I've just come back from Japan with a Japanese PS3, I have three English PS3 games (Resistance, Ridge Racer 7 and Motorstorm) and they all work perfectly which leads me to assume that there is no region coding on them. PS1 and PS2 games do have region coding and this also applies when being played on a PS3, the same is true of films.

When bringing a PS3 to the UK there is no need to pay import duty or VAT assuming you bought the PS3 for under £300 ($600, 70000 Japanese Yen), keep the receipt to prove this. If you are bringing a PS3 from the EU there are much more relaxed limits.

 

[Robin]

I've just come back from Japan with a Japanese PS3, I have three English PS3 games (Resistance, Ridge Racer 7 and Motorstorm) and they all work perfectly which leads me to assume that there is no region coding on them. PS1 and PS2 games do have region coding and this also applies when being played on a PS3, the same is true of films.

When bringing a PS3 to the UK there is no need to pay import duty or VAT assuming you bought the PS3 for under £300 ($600, 70000 Japanese Yen), keep the receipt to prove this. If you are bringing a PS3 from the EU there are much more relaxed limits.

Thanks for the detailed reply 👍 +Rep 👍 This is was the news I was hoping for! So it seems region free for now! what severs does it connect to for online play (i.e. UK servers because they are UK games?) I am also going to get one abroad for about £260-£300 which is alot better than the £425! Good to hear that you don't need to pay import duty although Ive never had the experience of having to pay for anything I have bought abroad.

Thankyou for the reply, I hope this info helps others aswell...

Robin

 

[Flame-returns]

PSN allows you to choose your country of residence when creating an account, Ridge Racer 7 allows you to choose the country to register in but you can race with anyone from any country (unfortunately multinational races suffer the most lag). Motorstorm seems fine, I have yet to try Resistance but I have heard that there are problems (which are, I think, due to be resolved with a firmware update).

Oh and you will need a UK power cable for it as adapters do not work, that's not a problem as it's just a standard kettle plug you should have one connecting your PC to the wall. If you don't want to use the one from your PC it's very easy to buy one and they're never expensive.