If I buy a Japanese PS3, do some US games have region locks?

I've already got a US PS2 and use it for US and JP games, but I have to use the swap disk for JP games and sometimes they don't work unless I do it several times. If I get a PS3, I will not get rid of my PS2. So no matter what, I will still have the ability to play my US PS2 games. I've been thinking about getting a PS3 and it would be nice if I could just pop the JP PS2 games into the PS3 and not worry with disc swapping anymore. The only drawback I can see to getting a JP PS3 is that if some games have region locks, I won't be able to play some US games which are usually cheaper/easier for me to acquire. Any suggestions?

Which swap disc do you use for the PS2, if it's okay to ask.

I've tried to play a few Japanese games at a friend, and he has a swap disc... But apparently (I'm in Europe) that swap disc only works for US games (to play on a European console)... And I want to play Japanese games, obviously...

PS3 games are not region locked. I bought a 60gb Japanese PS3 for the same reason as you. I can play all of my JPN PS2 games and no longer need to have my PS2 hooked up.

EDIT: Just wanted to add to make sure you get a 20, 60 or 80gb model. The 40gb doesn't support PS2 games.

I just want to confirm what suffah said. The PS3 does not have region locks for its games. I sent US games to my Norwegian friend (EU region, obviously) and he never has any problems. I also have a JP PSN account and have no problems playing things I buy from there. (Buying requires getting your hands on a PSN Card, which can be done by EBay.)

PS2 Games are still region locked, though... It's a real bummer like that.

So to confirm-If I but a PS3 here in Japan and then have my buddy send me some PS3 games from the states, I can play them, right?

You will have the technical capacity to play them. However, they'll be in English, so you'll be forbidden from doing so

~J

I just need to say that everyone with a PS3 needs MGS4.. Immediately.

Yeah I got a Japanese 60gb PS3 not even a week ago. I'm in love with it, even if I'm struggling like hell (some of the kanji are so compressed they look like white squares).

Thanks for the replies.

I heard that some versions of the PS3 play PS2 games differently. Something about using an emulator or something. One way is worse than the other, but I was unclear on the details. Does anyone know about that?

@suffah: Wow, that sucks about the 40GB. I didn't know that.

@Savara: I'll check once I get back home. The disk will allow imports, but only the US ones? That seems weird. Does it say it's for certain imports only? Mine allows any region + bootlegs. (And no, I don't download bootlegs...)

The only person I heard badmouthing MGS4 closed the game 5 times. I supose he tried really badly to prove himself MGS4 was no good.

The 20GB and 60GB models have the actual PS2 emotion engine chip in them. The 80GB uses software emulation for PS2 support. There's a small fraction of PS2 games that won't play or render properly, etc due to these limitations.

Virtua_Leaf, I have the same problem with those compressed Kanji. My brain tends to process those as "unrecognized" Kanji at first glance, but after I strain I'm amazed that it's usually a Kanji I do know.

Do you know where there is a list of which PS2 games don't work on the 80GB?


I had problems with those squished kanji when I first started playing games in Japanese. Somehow they don't bother me as much now. If it's one from RtK1, I can recognize it without much effort, but if it's one I don't "know" from RtK, then I have a hard time making out the pieces to look it up later.

You can find a few if you google PS3 compatability list.

Aren't region-locks up to the publisher? (Or is that just the XBox 360?)

cerulean Wrote:I just need to say that everyone with a PS3 needs MGS4.. Immediately.

On the subject of region locks and MGS4, MGO is supposed to be region locked, in that you can only play against players in the same region of your game. You can still play it even if you live outside that region (e.g. Japan), but just with the other people using that region's software to access it.

Virtua_Leaf Wrote:Yeah I got a Japanese 60gb PS3 not even a week ago. I'm in love with it, even if I'm struggling like hell (some of the kanji are so compressed they look like white squares).

I don't have a Japanese PS3 (European, thought I set it to Japanese anyway), but I've found it impossible to read some Japanese text in games because they are just so small. Maybe because I'm not using a HD TV.

albion Wrote:I don't have a Japanese PS3 (European, thought I set it to Japanese anyway), but I've found it impossible to read some Japanese text in games because they are just so small. Maybe because I'm not using a HD TV.

Completely off-topic, but I just wanted to agree with this and say that this is another reason why RtK is great.

If anyone plans on playing RPGs or whatnot in Japanese, having done RtK is so helpful. There are many kanji I couldn't even look up without knowing the shape beforehand.

Learning new vocabulary itself is time consuming, but it is even more frustrating when it's impossible to look up the word you want to learn!

@Savara: It's Swap Magic 3 Plus.

PrettyKitty Wrote:@Savara: It's Swap Magic 3 Plus.

Just make sure you get the PAL version if it's a EU console.