About to take the plunge on a PS3 slim

[Xavier]

With the PS3 Slim coming out, I'm about to finally take the plunge, buy one, and belatedly join the world of Whipeout HD and Fury! :+

Now with all the region locking and ridiculous restrictions on who can buy what, I want to make sure I have as many options as possible when it comes to playing the games, going online, and acquiring future DLC.

I live in Japan, so that region's PS3 is the easiest to acquire, but I could also buy one when I'm back in the US in October. The prices are almost identical.

But I don't want to suffer the fate of non-European Wipeout fans who not only didn't get extra content released in their regions, but couldn't even buy the content for the European games because they didn't live (and have credit cards and billing addresses) in the right places!

The PS3 is region-free, but how about the content? Should I make a European PSN account and attempt to buy the British Wipeout HD and Fury since it's sure to get any extra content? Will I still be able to buy that extra stuff even if I don't live there?

I'm leaning towards buying the Japanese PS3 from the local store here in Japan and then making three accounts (Japan, US, EU) for games. Is this a good strategy?

[yeldar2097]

looks like a pretty sound strategy. i don't think you can buy stuff from different stored with the same card but there are PSN cards that you can buy which you can use on outside stores (US, EU etc...). should be fine.

i'm sure others know more than me on the subject though :)

good luck choosing :+

[Xavier]

Thanks, Yeldar!

People can race online against people in other regions, right? In case I get stuck buying the Japanese WOHD, I still want to be able to race against Westerners.

[ProblemSolver]

... and then making three accounts (Japan, US, EU) for games. Is this a good strategy?
This.

Guess why the PSN has so many users? ;) But you don't need those accounts
for WOHD, they serve other purposes much better like getting demos and
other programs you don't necessarily get from your main PSN store. And yes,
you can race with people outside of japan.

[tileon]

I never bought anything from the japanese store, but I guess it works fine with a visa card. You may buy content from any store really, just just need as many PSN accounts. Don't forget your passwords :dizzy

Once you buy a game in this or that store/account, make sure you buy the DLC/additionnal content from the same account/store, otherwise it won't work.

Shopping around might seem like a good strategy now, but remember that it is always preferable to have all purchases under the same account, just in case.

PS3 is very open on DLC, you may even share your PSN account with 5 consoles, which means you can share your games with people you can trust your PSN account codes with (and access to your credit card). Careful cause this is in the event that your PS3 could be lost, stolen or broken and you need replacement.

It's better to play fair with SONY in any case, but if you want that game on japanese PSN or you think euro pricing stinks, and you don't care to deal with the occasional hiccups that such a conduct will bring up (I bought fury with a different account that I did HD and got screwed), then, PSN is great.

[diddymal]

I never bought anything from the japanese store, but I guess it works fine with a visa card. You may buy content from any store really, just just need as many PSN accounts. Don't forget your passwords :dizzy


I'm not 100% sure about this, but I think in some cases credit cards from one country won't be accepted by another countries PSn store, so you have to be careful about that.

[Vartazian]

Your Japanese Account will get you updates (coughcoughfurycoughcough) faster then all the other countries as well.

[F.E.I.S.A.R]

I recently got the PS3 Slim CECH-2006A.My region store is(I think)the Asian one.I also recently got WipEout Pulse AND Fury on Download.
I raced with people from UK,US,EU(?),and JP on WipEout HD

[yeldar2097]

EU just means people based in Europe ^_^

Hope to see you online soon :+

[Xavier]

I finally got my PS3!

For future readers' benefit, let me mention that I had no problem setting up a US account, at my US address, and then buying the NA Wipeout HD in dollars with my US credit card. This is on a Japanese PS3 in Japan -- worked just fine!

The only thing I'm having trouble doing is typing in Japanese on the keyboard when my system is set to English. I can't find any place where you can change that.

FEISAR, if you only recently got your PS3 and WOHD, you'll make a good rival for me when I go online. I'm way late to the party here and will probably be in back of the pack for quite a while! :nod