I\'m a PS3 newb, can someone please give me some advice?

I\'m thinking about importing a Jap or US PS3 as it will work out to be $100-$200 cheaper than buying one here (thanks Sony AU).

Anyway, I\'ve heard that all software is region free and that consoles aren\'t region protected either. So, that should mean that I\'ll be able to play AU PAL/NTSC games on a JAP/US PS3 and vice versa?

Also, does anyone know if the PS3 online network is different depending on what country your in? Like, if AU has its own online network/store etc, will I be able to access it if I have another regions PS3?

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

PlayStation 3 software is not region-coded, well it is but it isnt LOCKED to a specific region. The hardware itself has regions.

Yes you will be able to play US/JP/PAL games of PlayStation 3 software. You will NOT be able to play other region of PS2 software, that is still region locked. So if you get a US PS3 you will not be able to play PAL PS2-games.

Remember that Blu-Ray movies are also locked, not all of them but some are. Warner titles are region free, most Sony Pictures titles are free, Disney/Buena Vista are region free as long as it isnt NEW movies. FOX movies are almost always LOCKED.
DVD movie playback is also still region-locked.


Yes the stores are different. US store is where all the action is, but fear not its easy to register a US account so you will be able to download all the stuff our american enemies get. My Swedish VISA even works on the US-store so I have bought a few games over there.
I recommend setting up an account for each region, Europe/Australia (same content I think, though the Australian store has some music videos which we havent got on our EU-store yet), America and a Japanese-account. This way you will be able to access demos from all over the world.

Yeah.The PS Store does not depend on your PS3. It depends on the information you put while you register your account. But in order to be able to buy from a certain store you will have to find an adress of the specific country that the Store recognizes as valid

Thanks fastson for all that info, greatly appreciated.

^^^

Can I just enter a bogus account address? How do the online stores work? Games are getting to complicated these days, I just want to be able to download GT5 Prologue!

You can add whatever bogus adress you want. You will be able to play online and download demos and stuff normally but if you want to buy things from Store you will have to put an adress that corresponds to the specific country you assigned to your account and can be recognised as valid by the system.

^^

So if GT5 is only available for download from the Japanese store, I can still buy and download it in AU on an AU console? Sorry for my dumb questions.

^^

So if GT5 is only available for download from the Japanese store, I can still buy and download it in AU on an AU console? Sorry for my dumb questions.

Yep you can. As long as you provide a japanese address in your account that the system thinks is real. It doesnt matter where you actually live or from what region you got your console

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I had a go at trying to get it to connect to the net and I kept getting up to the part where it was trying to get an IP number, where it would then time out and fail.

how am I supposed to get past that bit?

Have you already established an internet connection through your cpmputer before trying that? My friend had the same problem.

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Have you already established an internet connection through your cpmputer before trying that? My friend had the same problem.

you mean did I try to hook my PS3 up to my PC modem using the ethernet cable?

Ok well I\'m probably just going to get an AU console, there are so pretty good post Christmas sales and they really aren\'t that much cheaper on ebay (I would have liked to get an 80 gig with Motorstorm, you can only get up to 60 gig here) but shipping was like $130US which defeated the purpose of importing) so a cheap 40 gig will have to do.

you mean did I try to hook my PS3 up to my PC modem using the ethernet cable?

Well not exactly. I dont know how your broadband service works where you are but here, to connect to the internet, we enter our provider\'s site and establish a connection there. If we dont establish a connection the PS3 fails to get an IP adress at the "testing" for connectivity.

[Cerberus]

Well not exactly. I dont know how your broadband service works where you are but here, to connect to the internet, we enter our provider\'s site and establish a connection there. If we dont establish a connection the PS3 fails to get an IP adress at the "testing" for connectivity.

so how would I do that?

I have no idea since I dont know how your internet service works. Is it during the internet connection test that your PS3 fails?

Did you try to enter the internet browser regardless to see what happens??

Also are you trying to connect using an ethernet or a WiFi?

Ok well I got an AU 40 gig unit which came with Ridge Racer 7... Not a bad game, loads of fun and its quite pretty.

How do I connect to the various international stores? Do you just use internet browser and go to the respect addresses and download from there? So i\'ll need an account with each different store correct?

PS3\'s are heavy!