PS3s from USA

[Ric_]

Basically, I want a region A Blu-Ray player and one of the most cost effective ways to do this is to buy a US PS3.

 

What I want to know is about game compatability... I've looked high and low and cannot find a definitive answer. So will UK games work OK on a US PS3? Or is there a handy source of US games?

[FN-GM]

I have been told this is the situation:

 

PS3 - US Will play both US and UK DVD's and Games

PS3 - UK Will only play UK DVD's and Games

 

I haven't tried it but that's what i have been told

[somabc]

I had a US PS3 so here is the deal -

 

All PS3 games are region free

 

US PS3 is

Region 1 for DVD

Region A for Blu-Ray

 

It is very difficult to import US games, Sony will sue any supplier so they normally refuse to ship to the EU

[Theblacksheep]

Yep, games wise for PS3 they are region free.

 

DVD and blu-ray DVDs would only work with US media.... but most blu-rays are universal so most Blu-rays are fine.

 

Reliability wise, i've had a japanese ps3 since launch (dec 06) and no problems so far. Parts are also available if something does go tho.

 

It probably wont be backwards compatable with the PS2. If they add it, only US PS2 games would work.

 

The power supplies are also universal too.

 

For US import games (hey, some come out earlier), these are quite well received:

Welcome to Video Games Plus Online

[Michael]

I have an import PS3 and I can confirm all games are universal. All my games are from the UK. As a recommendation also, make sure you use your PS3 with a HD TV and not a PAL TV as a lot of games support 720p as a minimum, whereas PAL supports upto 576i and NTSC 480i.

 

As for playing Blu-ray and DVDs, unfortunately the import PS3 is locked to Region A and Region 1, so Blu-ray and DVDs from the UK - Region B and Region 2 will not work. However with DVDs (and most likely Blu-ray), if you copied a DVD and removed the region code, this does work with the PS3 as I have tried it.

[Ric_]

I know the script wit Region A and Region 1 for movies... it isn't a problem.

 

I had heard rumours that the online facility in some games acted a bit odd. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

[Michael]

I can confirm also I use a standard UK power lead, no adapter is required. PS2 games are still locked to their region however it has been known some 'enthusiasts' have managed to get copied PS2 games to work on their PS3. This involves disassembling some of the console. Too much effort in my eyes.

 

Theblacksheep is right, some Blu-ray movies are region free. A good example of this is James Bond's Casino Royale which has "A,B,C" on the back of the case. It's about 50/50 in my experience as some Blu-rays do still have just "B" on the back.

 

Incredibly (as far as I am aware) no one has successfully managed to copy a PS3 game and get it to work. I believe this is one of the reasons Sony made PS3 games region free, giving enthusiasts only one reason for modification and that's piracy.

[Michael]

I don't play games online that much if I am honest; however some game manufacturers restrict who you can play online. So if you bought a game from the USA, chances are you'd only be able to play US gamers. This isn't always the case, but other than this there's nothing else different about playing online.

 

I have downloaded the PS3 firmware from the UK and installed it on my import PS3 which makes no difference. The only thing I have found if you download a firmware update from the console menu itself, is it takes forever to the point I can feel my beard growing.

Downloading to a USB memory stick (from your PC) and installing/upgrading this way is much quicker. My friends have the same problem, so I know it's not my ISP.