PS3 with Japan games?

[SoundGammon]

I've got an older PS3 with PS1/PS2 backwards capability. I also found out that the PS3s are region free!

 

I've been looking at ThunderForce VI (6) from Japan and was wondering if anyone has tried it yet on an American PS3?

[Mord]

I believe PS1 and PS2 titles would still be region locked. The region free issue is more policy than technical for PS3 region free status.

 

Essentially almost all (2 exceptions) PS3 games that are released in japan are marked as "region free", which lets North American PS3s play them. However the reverse is far less common. Most North American released titles are marked as "region 1", meaning a Japanese PS3 would not be able to run it. It's done to prevent Japanese gamers from getting a deal by importing foreign versions of the game - since North American copies are often a lot cheaper.

 

PS1 and PS2 games are going to be region locked on the disc, and the PS3 is likely going to honor it in the same way they prevent japanese Persona 4 Arena games from running on a north american PS3. (This is my take on the situation, if someone with an import ps2/ps1 game can confirm that the PS3 ignores region locking on older games, take their word for it.)

[Atariboy]

PS3 honors region locking for PS1, PS2, DVD's, or Blu-Rays. Only region free DVD and Blu-Ray imports can play on an out of region PS3.

 

As for PS3 titles, I have never heard of a region locked PS3 game (Retail or off PSN). I've imported a number of titles from Europe just fine, and know Europeans that have gone the other direction with importing titles from North America.

 

And I've seen more than a few threads where someone went overseas such as to college in North America, and were able to play the latest North American PS3 releases on their multivoltage PS3 that they brought from home with them.

 

That doesn't mean that such a thing doesn't exist. But I don't believe that it's particularly common even here in North America.

 

Edit: Wikipedia suggests that it's extremely rare. And the most notable instance, Persona 4 Arena, is apparently region locked worldwide. This 2012 release is also the first example of such a restriction on the system.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Region-locked_PlayStation_3_games

 

http://kotaku.com/5923821/meet-the-first-ever-region-locked-ps3-game

Edited July 9, 2015 by Atariboy

[cimerians]

I think you can play some import PS1 PS2 games off the Japan (or Hong Kong) PSN store.

 

I created a Hong Kong and Japanese account and have a few things. I don't think I have any games, I'll have to check and see.

[Atariboy]

PSN downloads of PS1/PS2 classics are for all intents and purposes, full fledged PS3 titles.

 

Old region locking rules with their original disc release don't apply.

Edited July 9, 2015 by Atariboy

[Mord]

PS3 honors region locking for PS1, PS2, DVD's, or Blu-Rays. Only region free DVD and Blu-Ray imports can play on an out of region PS3.

 

As for PS3 titles, I have never heard of a region locked PS3 game (Retail or off PSN). I've imported a number of titles from Europe just fine, and know Europeans that have gone the other direction with importing titles from North America.

 

And I've seen more than a few threads where someone went overseas such as to college in North America, and were able to play the latest North American PS3 releases on their multivoltage PS3 that they brought from home with them.

 

That doesn't mean that such a thing doesn't exist. But I don't believe that it's particularly common even here in North America.

 

 

The basis of my assumption is simply that the region printed on the case of almost all of my PS3 titles are "1". (Found another 3 that said ALL, but that's still just a small number of actual discs) If Japanese PS3s are playing discs labeled for region 1 instead of region 2, then perhaps the PS3 does ignore region locking. But given that there is a couple locked games, I doubt that's the case.

 

Mind you, a lot of my games are originally from japan to begin with, with most of those being marked 1. The few jrpgs that are marked ALL were also released a year or two after the japanese release - in some cases gimped by comparison to make it undesirable to import back to japan to save some cash. (no japanese voice overs, locked out bonuses/sidequests, extra bugs caused by the localization, etc)

[Atariboy]

I just fired up several of my games that are labeled 1, on my UK PS3 that I have for PAL PS1/PS2 imports and Region 2 DVD's/Blu-Rays. No issues at all with it.

 

You're just seeing some inconsistency in insert design, or there's some other plausable explanation why one is occasionally labeled as all. I guarantee that virtually every last one of those titles marked as region 1 will work on an out of region PS3.

 

This system is widely considered as region free and many have imported titles over the years with no consideration paid that it may indeed be region locked since it's virtually a non-issue. It didn't even see its first region locked release until it was a half decade old.

Edited July 10, 2015 by Atariboy

[108 Stars]

Afaik Persona 4 Arena is the only Region locked game on PS3.

Retail discs of PS1 and PS2 games do still have their Region lock working though.

[onmode-ky]

I'm pretty sure the region numbering on PS3, PSP, and PSV game releases is not directly responsible for any play restrictions. That is, it is a region identifier but is not inherently a region lock mechanism. I have PSP and PS3 games from Regions 1, 2 (both Japan and the UK), and 3, and none have ever had problems playing in my Region-1 PSP and PS3 (come to think of it, the first 3 games I ever bought for my PSP were from 3 different regions). The region identifier on a game may play a part if the publisher chooses to region-lock the game, but it doesn't define any locking on its own.

 

Going back to Thunder Force VI, no, I'm sure it won't run on a backward-compatible American PS3--or else I would have bought a copy years back, when Play-Asia.com had them for cheap.

 

onmode-ky

[Gabriel]

I had always hoped Thunder Force VI would end up on the Japanese PSN store, but it was apparently not meant to be.