Running JPN consoles in 110V-country

I assume you can just plug them into the wall and that's it? Or is Japan using 120V as opposed to the 110V which is used in North America?

I just want to avoid damaging my consoles in the long run because I plug them into the wall like a lazy bitch instead of using some sort of converter (110V->120V? wtf?). I'm used to tons of voltage converters, wouldn't be breaking news to me to have to use a bunch of bricks to run my devices.

 

No worries. They'll work fine.

 

Most of the parts in Japan uses 100VAC (+/-10%). Most PSU or the product to be driven by that PSU are concepted for a higher voltage than the max. rated voltage which would be 110VAC (but with some +/- tolerance again) in this case.
But I've also never heard that this would damaging anything so far.
As for older systems like 8-/16-bit stuff using a coil transformer, a 10% higher input voltage would result about 1V higher output voltage. So a console normally using 9V would then receive 10V instead, which shouldn't be any problem other than the internal 7805 will just produce a little bit more of heat.

 

So no worries, they'll work fine.

 

I think sometimes people would like an explanation when they have doubts (i.e. he knew it was a different voltage).

It helps reassure them WHY its ok, rather than just blindly trusting someone on the internet.

But yes, basically

 

Ah no, if you plug in a 100V PSU into 110V then your console might explode into hundreds of tiny pieces and set fire to the room the console was in, only for a small dog to bring in a soda fountain and put it out and a small boy to go "Well done timmy, now we know the dangers of plugging in the wrong power supply into the mains."

To recap, most power supplies do have a reasonable wide voltage range, the Xbox 360 psu will work from about 90V to 130V. Switch mode PSUs in Saturns, Dreamcasts, etc are designed to work with a 20% tolerance (so about 85V to 120V). Most older external PSUs will end up giving about 1V extra or more, but again the console is designed to work from about 7.5V (although I wouldn't recommend running it that low...) to 12V, the voltage regulators inside the console cope with the voltages.Although plugging these straight into 230V will cause it to go bang, smoke, catch fire, cause small dogs to rush in to put it out or tell you someone is down a mineshaft.