http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/10544/PlayStation-3-Will-Be-Region-Free-for-Gaming/ "During his keynote at GDC, titled "PlayStation 3: Beyond the Box", SCE President Phil Harrison talked about the advantages of using Blu-ray Disc and pointed out that a dual layer Blu-Ray disc (50GB) has enough capacity to store all localized versions of a game. But this comment never led to suggest what was would be announced next. Following its keynote, Harrison revealed in a Q&A session with our PS3 channel that the PlayStation 3 will be region free for gaming. Due to the restrictions imposed by the AACS LA, movie playback will still be region locked like current DVDs but that won't apply to PS3 titles. This announcement came as a total surprise and definitely something you won't expect from Sony." Cool news
However, I'm speculating that you'll still have to import a game from japan. SCEA will still have to approve the game for a USA distribution, that sort of thing if you want to buy the game at a local store but not neccesarily translated to english. But still, I'm sure this will surely keep people from chipping the PS3 to play imports.
Oh god, I can only imagine the number of container ships sending over the Japanese launch PS3's to all the eBay buyers when they find out they can play any game on it... So, um, anyone in Japan want to preorder and ship one for me? :dance:
This is good for sony. With the PS3 being region free and with the linux stuff for homebrew (media players etc), the only use for modchips for PS3 would be for piracy.
I read this earlier. Seems too good to be true. A US console would definitely be the way to go, as there are only a handful of Japanese DVDs at best that I would watch. We'll see though. Wasn't the Xbox360 supposed to be region free too?
It's up to the devs to region lock the games. Right now there's a couple that are region free: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Region_Free_Xbox_360_Games
Come on, now. Not all of us are cheapasses. I'm sure most including myself like to buy official imported hardware.
Most importers use either a switch, a swap, or a chip to play import games. Very few find it feasable to pay for two of the same console, with the only difference being a solder point, caution sticker in a different language, and different default bios language.
Just because its region free doesnt mean Sony wont bitch like a little child at companies who import games. Whats been going on with play asia and PSP stuff...
I would really like for this to happen,but who knows if its true.The only reason I own a modded PS2 is so I can play my import games,lets wait and see.
so this is how they are going to do the worldwide release? release all the consoles in japan and let people in other countries import their consoles
:fresh: You live in USA, where you can get used games / new games in bargain bins for cheap. Where there are tons of game stores that sell imports. The world is not just USA. There are countries where there are no official support from companies. Other countries everything is overpriced. ExS2 Greatest Hits games cost 55 / 60 dollars down here. Do the math. Plus i'm not gonna buy two consoles, just because they are from different regions. Call me a cheapass if you want.
BlueNocturne, not everyone can afford to pay 50% more on importing a whole new console. Didn't mean to offend those with more money, now.
BlueNocturne To most of us in Latin America, EVERYTHING is an import. I mean, sure, we'd get all the legitimate second consoles and import games if 1) we could afford them with our Latin American salaries (especially when everything is overpriced like hell) 2) Anyone actually sold these things over here. We do what we can to play. That's our "cheapness".
Way to blow things out of proportion, guys. Also, making comments like that make you have your head up your ass just as far as the ignorant fools where I live. It's old and not what I was referring to, so please don't talk to me like I'm just one of the "others" in this country. Back on topic.. imported hardware isnt nearly as expensive as you think if you know where to look. If you were serious about it(which I'd assume so, concerning the amount of money a lot of you here spend on dev/proto hardware) then you wouldnt have much trouble digging around for a good source.
