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Moving from US to Europe...

jimenexjimenex Registered User regular
edited September 2008 in Help / Advice Forum
Moving from US to Europe...

My question is not about shipping services, since all the important stuff has been cleared. I want to ask about the region locks for consoles:

I have an Xbox 360 and a DS. If I take my 360 there, is it a matter of just buying another AC adapter? What about the region locks? would I be able to only play the games I buy here in the US? what about the NTSC/PAL stuff? Is the 360 locked also for movie DVDs?

If I buy a console there, say, a PS3, is this locked too for games and for blu-ray movies?

I know electricity-wise, my DS is not a problem since I have taken it to europe in the past with a USB adapter for charging. But what about DS games? Is the DS region locked?

Also, I heard a while ago (in these forums, I believe) that Germany was working on a new law to make violent games illegal (even with jail time!). What's the truth in this?

Thank you in advance!

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Posts

  • GrisloGrislo Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    AC adaptors aside, both the PS3 and your DS are region free when it comes to games. Any game will play.

    The exception to that is that PS1 and 2 games ARE region locked on the PS3.

    Movies are also region locked on the PS3, both DVD and BR.

    You'll probably find that once you live in Europe it will be to your advantage to import American games from a price standpoint.

    I belive that the Xbox 360 isn't region locked, but that some (many? all?) publishers choose to lock the games. You can probably research that quite well with Google, but again it might be beneficial to simply import American games.

    I have no idea about the German thing. I wouldn't buy German games/dvd's since they have an unfortunate love for dubbing.


    EDIT: Xbox 360 region guide:

    http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/Region_Free_Xbox_360_Games

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  • winter_combat_knightwinter_combat_knight Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    PS3 can play all region games, So buy a UK PS3 but import games from America. It'll be hell cheaper. Im gonna start importing from US cos in Australia, a full priced game is $120!. You'll find similar high prices in UK as well.

    DS is region free

    Xbox 360 will be a bitch for you i think

    winter_combat_knight on
  • jimenexjimenex Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Ok, thanks for all the help!

    What about the xbox live arcade store? Can I use my xbox live account from there and all my arcade games?

    jimenex on
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  • jimenexjimenex Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Grislo wrote: »
    AC adaptors aside, both the PS3 and your DS are region free when it comes to games. Any game will play.

    Ok, but is the region-lock independent of the NTSC/PAL deal? If I buy a PAL PS3, could I play NTSC games on it?

    jimenex on
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  • EliteLamerEliteLamer __BANNED USERS regular
    edited September 2008
    Why the hell do games cost 120 over there?

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  • SanderJKSanderJK Crocodylus Pontifex Sinterklasicus Madrid, 3000 ADRegistered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Basicly, when the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube were introduced, the Euro-Dollar were hovering around parity. So they set the pricepoint for each game at that level. Over the years, when the dollar slipped more and more, they've just kept the same $1 = €1 thing going, and getting mad profits. Add to that european sales taxes (15-20% mostly) and you get games costing nearly twice as much.

    On the adapter front, make sure you get one that changes the frequence as well as the voltage. Most european countries run 220-230V / 50Hz, and i'm pretty sure the US uses 110 / 60Hz. Those things will sort of be expensive.

    I'm wondering about the NTSC / PAL thing at the moment. Would a US console work fine with a PAL TV?

    On games laws: Germany is more restrictive then most (but not as bad as australia). The games law in question I'm pretty sure was a Bavaria (which I'm to understand is the redneck backwards part of Germany) thing. Worst comes to worst, just by stuff online. I've found play.com very reliable (delivering games to Holland that don't get released here because especially Sony was an ass in the past).

    SanderJK on
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  • GrobianGrobian What's on sale? Pliers!Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Grislo wrote: »
    I have no idea about the German thing. I wouldn't buy German games/dvd's since they have an unfortunate love for dubbing.[/url]
    Most DVDs and some games have the english audio track. Mass Effect had only german voices, though, I guess they had not enough room.

    I'm german and have never heard of this law (we do have our share of stupid politicians, so someone might have proposed it). Currently some games may not be sold to minors (<18) and may not be advertised. Some others cannot be sold at all. In all cases you still can own them. The only technical exception might be games like Wolfenstein (swastikas and all) and nobody really cares.

    Grobian on
  • japanjapan Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    The NTSC/PAL thing is less of, or not a problem depending what video connection you're using. if it's S-video or composite you may run into problems depending on how old the TV is. Most modern Euro TVs will accept an NTSC signal, but there isn't a reliable way to tell without trying it.

    If it's VGA, DVI, HDMI or Component (assuming it's YPbPr and not RGB, but as far as I'm aware only PAL consoles output RGB Component) you won't have a problem.

    Regarding voltages, if the console has an external power brick, you can probably swap it for a European one without any trouble, if it doesn't you'll need a step-down transformer.

    japan on
  • jimenexjimenex Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    This is where I got it from:

    http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12002
    the regional governments of Bavaria and Lower Saxony have proposed new legislation that could punish those who make, distribute, or even play video games featuring "cruel violence on humans or human-looking characters" with a fine and up to a year in prison

    I'm assuming the law didn't pass then?

    Thanks for the help guys. What about the xbox live store? I have a gold account with arcade games associated with it, as well as some TV shows. Will I loose these? Once there, will I have access to the store under my actual account?

    jimenex on
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  • Dark ShroudDark Shroud Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    jimenex wrote: »
    Grislo wrote: »
    AC adaptors aside, both the PS3 and your DS are region free when it comes to games. Any game will play.

    Ok, but is the region-lock independent of the NTSC/PAL deal? If I buy a PAL PS3, could I play NTSC games on it?

    The PAL PS3 is supposed to play NTSC. However PS1 & PS2 games do have region lock issues. If you have a library get yourself the MGS4 80gig box now while it's still around before you move because that's North American only.

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  • GrisloGrislo Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    Having lived in Europe for 27 years I've yet to encounter a tv that couldn't handle NTSC. Doesn't mean you won't, but I really doubt it'll be a problem.

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  • winter_combat_knightwinter_combat_knight Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    EliteLamer wrote: »
    Why the hell do games cost 120 over there?

    Because Australia is an exprensive country to live in. The Wii is $400 (since launch) and the PS3 is around $600 :) Hell you should look at our house prices. It's very tempting to move to the united states, much cheaper.

    winter_combat_knight on
  • GrobianGrobian What's on sale? Pliers!Registered User regular
    edited September 2008
    jimenex wrote: »
    This is where I got it from:

    http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12002
    the regional governments of Bavaria and Lower Saxony have proposed new legislation that could punish those who make, distribute, or even play video games featuring "cruel violence on humans or human-looking characters" with a fine and up to a year in prison

    I'm assuming the law didn't pass then?
    That article is just wrong, as far as I can tell. They never said anything about playing, but only about production and distribution of violent games (and the law was quietly buried when everybody forgot the shooting). Bavaria still wants stricter laws regarding games, but a new law just came into effect in Juli, so we're safe for now.

    Grobian on
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