Do all US PS3 games work on UK consoles?

[figflair]

Or is it developer dependent?

[sj33]

They are all region free, though some games have regional online servers (so you might find yourself playing on American servers), region-specific DLC etc.

[figflair]

Thanks dude.
I was really tempted to order Batman:AC as it was out in the US a few days earlier. I wasn't sure if it would work so held-off from buying. Probably would only have arrived at the same time as the UK one anyway.

[darkangel]

They are all region free, though some games have regional online servers (so you might find yourself playing on American servers), region-specific DLC etc.

Even with a slimline PAL PS3? Or are there any firmware updates which will screw the region free thing over, like they did with the psp? Thanks!

[sj33]

The PSP is still region free even with newer firmware updates, but yeah the slimline PS3s are region free also. Or more correctly, the games themselves are not region coded.

It's completely intended by Sony. Sony failed in their attempt to ban modchips in certain countries due to their legitimate usages, namely removing region coding, so presumably Sony want to remove any legitimacy in people modding their console.

[Sketcz]

Even with a slimline PAL PS3? Or are there any firmware updates which will screw the region free thing over, like they did with the psp? Thanks!

WHAT?! When did the PSP lose region freeness?

[sj33]

There is no PSP firmware that takes away the region free.

[ping182]

The PSP is still region free even with newer firmware updates, but yeah the slimline PS3s are region free also. Or more correctly, the games themselves are not region coded.

It's completely intended by Sony. Sony failed in their attempt to ban modchips in certain countries due to their legitimate usages, namely removing region coding, so presumably Sony want to remove any legitimacy in people modding their console.

Unfortunately there are some exceptions - I downloaded JoySound Dive on my European console, and sadly it won't start since console region is not NTSC-J. It's probably because it's a karaoke app, where licensing policy forced region lock, but I hope that japanese developers won't make use of this feature in their blu-ray games.

[J0e Musashi]

JOYSOUND DIVE is IP locked rather than region locked from what I can gather. It wont run on either of my PS3s.

[Papercut]

The main thing to worry about with import PS3 games is the need for a same-region PSN account in nearly every case to get hold of any DLC (including using DLC codes).

Right at the start of the PS3's life some DLC was region-free - thinking of RR7, but Sony have obviously tightened that up since.

The main exception is the number of JPN games with DLC in the HK PS Store, but thats because some JPN version games get released in HK (or at least, the disk is identical to the JPN release).

Other than that, some games choke on 50Hz, depending on your video mode, and as mentioned anything could region lock online functionality based on IP address. Normally Sony stuff doesn't care, but will connect you to the 'local' (same region as game) servers, rather than what would be local to you.

[ping182]

JOYSOUND DIVE is IP locked rather than region locked from what I can gather. It wont run on either of my PS3s.

Strange. My friend got japanese console and it works for him (he lives in Poland and he doesn't use VPNs). I downloaded it without a problem, but software won't start due to different region of my PS3.

@Papercut
You can always use second account to download DLC and activate it's license on your console, so you can use it on other accounts.

[J0e Musashi]

From what I read it needs to be a Japanese PS3 located in Japan for it to work.

[ping182]

From what I read it needs to be a Japanese PS3 located in Japan for it to work.

Just to make sure - have you tried launching it on Japanese console using Japanese PSN account?