So I'm thinking of buying a PS3 and WOHD...

[Xavier]

(Mods, if this isn't the best place for this discussion, by all means move it.)

So I'm thinking of finally taking the plunge and buying a PS3. Wipeout, of course, is one of my main motivations -- I'll be buying WOHD just a few minutes after setting the machine up!

My problem is that I'm a multi-lingual, multi-cultural, multi-regional kind of guy, and will be wanting to play games from all over the world. The PSP, thankfully, is region-free, and supposedly the PS3 is as well (for PS3 games), but how about for PS1 classics? I'mnot about to spend the extra money for a backwards-compatible 60 GB PS3 if I can't play all my old games on it. (For reference, in the game shop near me, there's a silver 40 GB PS3 for Y27,000, and a black 20 GB backwards-compatible PS3 for Y39,800.)

I have a credit card from the US (where I was born) and another in Japan (where I now live), but none from Europe (where I only lived for a summer and didn't have a job or bank account). Can I use any of these addresses with the PS Store? Will I be limited in what I can buy based on where I live? I'd definitely prefer to play games in English rather than Japanese (I'm surrounded by Japanese all day long -- when I kick back and play video games, I usually want English), so I'd want to buy WOHD from the US or UK.

If there will be problems with this, I'll probably just buy a US PS3, as backward-compatible machines are easier to find there. (Japan never got the 80 GB software-based-backwards-compatible PS3, AFAIK.)

How are the rest of you "citizens of the world" enjoying your PS3s? Complaints, problems, praise, thoughts?

[yeldar2097]

take the plunge take the plunge TAKE THE PLUNGE

i'm not sure about the backwards compatibility bit but i know that you can have PSN accounts from different regions so thats all good.

Praise: its brilliant, i love it, it does EVERYTHING, it looks awesome
Complaints: i can't bring it to school with me

[GreenPhazon]

I'm pretty sure all PS3s play PS1 games. It's the PS2 support you have to look out for.

[Xavier]

i'm not sure about the backwards compatibility bit but i know that you can have PSN accounts from different regions so thats all good.

See, this is what I want to do. But do I need a credit card issued in that region to buy games from there?

[stinkleroy]

As far as I am aware Xavier you do need a region specific credit card to purchase games from a PSN store in another region.

There may be services on the net that offer a gateway but I don't know of any. If in doubt....google :D

[Xavier]

OK, got it. Google, like AG Systems, is our friend.

Aren't there also point cards that can be used to purchase games? If I got one of those (on eBay, say) and tried to buy a game with it, the PS3 wouldn't block me and say that I can't spend pounds if my credit card charges me in yen... would it? If that happens, I'll probably make the US my PS3 "home", and use my American CC.

[stinkleroy]

Unfortunately the point cards are also region specific, they are mainly in place for those who don't have bank accounts or don't feel comfortable entering their financial details into the PS3.

Only other option is to break SCE rules and find a nice US/Euro pal to gameshare with you.

I'd advise buying American for your specified needs :D

[designer_79]

Xavier, for the fact that you live in Japan ... please do yourself a big favour and register your PS3 to the Japanese PSN-store. The fact you have an adress in Japan as well as the Japanese credit card is perfect. The Japanese store has the most content of the 3 existing ones (American, European and Japanese). :+ Furthermore the Japanese 'Home', the 3d online meeting, gaming and chatting place for the PS3 users (not unlike 2nd-life) is the most developed one.

And how I envy you, that you cen get the PSN - cards ... the kind of prepaid - card system you can use in the PSN-Store as well ...

As you already know, the PS3 games are region free, as for the PS1 backwards compatibility i can only tell, that i bought a PS1 game in the European PSN-store and this works fine on my 'imported-from-Hong Kong-bought-in-China' PS3. After my next holiday in Europe I'll take my old PS1 discs back to test on my HK-machine.

[rushin]

the waters are a little murky with these things. my understanding is as follows :)


in theory PS3 games are not region locked, however DLC can be, and the potential is there for dev's to lock games to a region.
US and JPN are now considered same region, this is true for blu ray movies
you can set up accounts to all PSN stores and download the free stuff very easily, however you run into problems trying to buy things with a credit/debit card as you have to have one registered in that region. The virtual cards eg entropay used to work but have now been blocked, at least to use on the US store
We now have PSN cards, buy them off ebay and now you can purchase games and dlc from any store if you have the corresponding card (yay!)
All PS1 games work on all PS3's but if you have a big HDTV look a bit iffy :)
PS2 compatabilty can be a bit sketchy, and dependant on what model PS3 you have - earlier BC models contained more decidacted hardware than later ones, at least in europe. There are some lists on sony sites showing what works and doesnt.


majority of games have global lobbies, taking WO HD as an example you can set and filter by your location but are free to join any games you want. What i am not sure about is those that dont if your lobby is determined by your IP or by the region of the PS3 hardware you bought?

As to your initial question, yes buy!! I initally got mine for wipeout but have so many other games i love now, and use exclusively for watching movies - streamed from pc is nice, photo's, etc, etc. You would have to be very cynical and negative to be disappointed i think.

see you on the track soon!

[Xavier]

Designer79, I didn't know anything about the online meeting/chatting stuff. That sounds like it could be fun. I'm imagining that all my interactive online play will be with English-speaking people, but I'm sure with other games I'll want to use Japanese. I'd hate to see IP-sniffing forcing me to stay in Japanese-language forums.

Rushin, Wikipedia has a great PS3/PS2 compatibility chart here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3#Retail_configurations

I don't care how big the HD is... I can always install a bigger one. And...


All PS1 games work on all PS3's but if you have a big HDTV look a bit iffy

...I'll be able to play WO3SE?!

[Feisar Ltd.]

OK, big clarification here. I want to give a definitive answer.


All PS3s can play PS1 Games
PS3 Games are region free but DLC might not be (devs choice)
PS1 and PS2 games still have region encoding, there is currently no way to get around this
Only original 60 and 80GB PS3s are PS2 compatible. The 80s made today are
not
You can buy anything from any PS store with a prepaid Visa card
I am AWESOME

All of this, I know to be irrefutably true (except maybe the last one :P)

[Xavier]

OK, prove your awesomeness by answering this:


PS3 Games are region free but DLC might not be (devs choice)


Let's say I buy the European Wipeout HD for my Japanese PS3. Then in 2010 they release some DLC, only for Europe and North America. I have the European version, but my IP address is in Japan, and I have credit cards in the US and Japan. Can I get the DLC or not? (Basically, is DLC region-locked to both the game and the user's physical location?)

That prepaid Visa card looks like a great option. I once got one as a Christmas present and hated it as it kept getting turned down at stores; online it would be great!

[Feisar Ltd.]

As far as my knowledge goes, physical location does not come into it, It is just dependant on the region of the software you bought.

Also, see this if you have an SD TV


Though the PlayStation 3 is not locked by any particular region, meaning a Japanese PS3 should play European titles, there is one caveat as far as technology is concerned.

Jem Alexander, a new writer for Joystiq sister PS3 Fanboy and the owner of a US PS3 living in Europe, recently picked up a European copy of F.E.A.R. only to get a discouraging message: "This game not supported (80028F10)." You don't need to be fluent in hexdecimal (and if not, why are you wearing those t-shirts, hm?) to feel confusion and resentment towards the supposedly region-free console.

The problem is much less sinister. North America and Japan use NTSC television standards, or 480i, while Europe uses PAL standards, or 576i. Hence, the US PS3 isn't configured to handle the extra 96 lines of imaging. (You might remember a similar problem being noted with European Genesis releases for the Wii Virtual Console.) The solution is simple but costly: all PS3 titles support 720p, so buy an HDTV set.

[Darkdrium777]

First, they will release the DLC for Japan as well if they ever do it :P (The game is global)

Next, you should be able to purchase the DLC off the euro store if you have a card that works with the euro store. AFAIK the IP has nothing to do when purchasing content :) (Or else the Killzone 2 demo would've been locked out from american users browsing the euro store, which it wasn't).

[Xavier]

Great news! That settles it; I'm going to start following PS3 news, and if Sony lowers the price (as rumors now have it) I'Ll buy a new one; if not, and I see a reasonably-cheap used PS3, I'll get it, and WOHD. I have a 1920x1080 monitor and this game should look great on it!

[KIGO1987]

Sony shouldn't lower the price on the PS3 console. It is actually a bluRay player as well as an entire media center. Sony has been constanly forced to downgrade on the PS3 capabilities to compete with the cntbox's constantly falling price. This is one of the reasons why the PS3 consoles that had PS2 playback no longer exist, because it was becoming too cost ineffective. What do we honestly want now? A single range PS3 console that costs $300 that has no PS1 and PS2 playback and no bluray player and a fixed HDD size with dumb sized port connections. This is exactly the arses at Microsoft want them to do. The PS3 should remain at a higher price with all its additional features. That way it actually has something different with with the WII and the Cntbox. Spending how much on my 60GB PS3 was all worth it, $999AUD in 2007.

[Xavier]

Point well taken, Kigo. I hadn't looked at it that way! The falling price has indeed come at the expense of lower quality.

I don't have much of a desire for Blu-Ray, but what's this abour a fixed HD size? You can't take the existing HD out and put in a big one? (http://www.gamersreports.com/article/43/)

[designer_79]

Xavier,

Yes the online place is called 'Home' and was a project Sony intended to already introduce on the PS2, but never made it's appearance. The idea is to give the PS3 - community a virtual meeting place that should be game-centred . Which means, that actually developers also find a virtual advertisement place for future games. Although this sounds like huge potential, the actual 'Home' in it's current state is a bit of a letdown. Especially the European 'Home' still lacks a lot of promised content. And much content (like new clothes / furniture / homes ) for your avatar is not free. It's fun though to play some rounds of chess, bowling or pool within 'Home' but thats right now more or less everything there is ...

OK, that was way off topic. But i already experienced the DLC-compatibility-problem. Bought a Chinese/English Version of Little Big Planet and looking at the back of the box there is a Region Code 3 specified. Found out , DLC from the European store is not working with this game ... Otherwise, I am currently playing the European Grand Theft Auto IV, The Chinese LBP and from the European store downloaded WOHD as well as GT5 on my Chinese (Hong Kong) machine. That should give some hope :)

[kanar]

Xavier,

buy you a japanese ps3 & a japanese wipeout HD. It's a blast. If you love barrel rolls lol. That's all you have to do. It's region free for everything, most of the time. I'm not playing the other games anymore (not even talking about the ps1 or ps2 games)

[Feisar Ltd.]

...what's this abour a fixed HD size? You can't take the existing HD out and put in a big one? (http://www.gamersreports.com/article/43/)


The PS3's HDD is fully replaceable and any 2.5" laptop drive will do the job.

Also, make sure your monitor has a DVI (digital video input) or HDMI connection.

If you do use DVI, the monitor must have HDCP (high definition copy protection) as plain old VGA wont do the trick. Also, a DVI connection doesn't carry sound so you'll need to buy an HDMI cable or use the red and white phono cables provided.

[KIGO1987]

Point well taken, Kigo. I hadn't looked at it that way! The falling price has indeed come at the expense of lower quality.

I don't have much of a desire for Blu-Ray, but what's this abour a fixed HD size? You can't take the existing HD out and put in a big one? (http://www.gamersreports.com/article/43/)

PS3 HDDs are fully interchangeable, full thread below about it;
http://www.wipeoutzone.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4942
Ive change my 60 into 160GB. Which sooner than later ill need to change again with all the contents im putting onto it like movies and music.

The Microsoft C*ntbox360 cannot have a HDD upgrade like the PS3s 2.5inch SATA, because they are cheap, with an eye for world domination and new order. lol.

[Darkdrium777]

Actually, they can, but it's a hack and voids the warranty :lol

PS3 is fully supported by Sony, if you want to change your hard disk, well by all means do it! :)

[KIGO1987]

Kinda like the DIY job you have to do to get the cables into the tight space in the rear on the console.

Wouldnt it be great if Microsoft where to fail in these economic times. Then the US government would have to bail them out. Then, since it will be no longer privately owned, it will be forced to make proper Operating Systems and software programs at prices the public will be able to afford. Happy Days:pc

[blackwiggle]

I've never understood Sony's strange policy regarding HD upgrading.

Sure the say you can upgrade,but if anything goes wrong with your console and you have to send it in for repair,well you get them telling you to replace the HD with the original before sending it in.:dizzy

[rdmx]

Because it's probably logistically too hard for them to swap your upgraded hard drive into the new console. When you get a new console, the HDD is also different.

[Darkdrium777]

Simply because when you send in your console, they most definitely have refurbished ones ready for the exchange. They send you a refurb with the original hard drive, so it would be stupid to send in your larger hard drive because you would lose it.
So instead they ask you the original hard drive, simply to prevent people from losing their custom ones. :)

[G'Kyl]

And how I envy you, that you cen get the PSN - cards ... the kind of prepaid - card system you can use in the PSN-Store as well ...

Don't envy, check eBay... makes you enjoy Japanese PSN titles! :)


[list] Also, make sure your monitor has a DVI (digital video input) or HDMI connection.

Component works, too. Yes, HDMI looks better - that's the whole point in the first place ;) - but component basically looks just as great.

Ben

[blackwiggle]

But the problem is,when you go to put the large HD that you have sitting at home back in the PS3,it will no longer recognize it.
So your custom drive is useless when you get a PS3 back,you might as well have set it off with the console and got them to fix it.
Something people have found out the hard way.
I don't know if Sony has started telling people this,they must of received heaps comments/questions about it.

Thankfully I haven't had a problem with my original 60g version [touch wood it stays that way] and I have a 3 year extended warranty on mine,so if it were to pack it in I'd just tell them to fix MY console,not exchange it for a refurbished one.

[KIGO1987]

But the problem is,when you go to put the large HD that you have sitting at home back in the PS3,it will no longer recognize it.
So your custom drive is useless when you get a PS3 back,you might as well have set it off with the console and got them to fix it.
Something people have found out the hard way.
I don't know if Sony has started telling people this,they must of received heaps comments/questions about it.

Sorry, WTF. I had trouble reading this post. Whats the problems associated with having a larger HDD in the PS3? i would like to know this.

[rdmx]

You can't swap out the HDD and have all your downloads still work. You need to use the backup tool first. To use your HDD you have to format it for the new console.