Region free in Europe? Only with a HDTV
by Jem Alexander 
{ May 7th 2007 at 8:50AM }
The other day I was out shopping in London and decided to pick up another game for my imported US PS3 (FEAR, for those of you who are curious). This is the first PAL region game I've bought, but knowing that the PS3 is region free I wasn't worried about compatibility issues. When I got back and put the disc in the drive, I was met by a very disappointing message: "This game not supported (80028F10)". Confused, and a bit pissed off, I did some Googling and stumbled on a very helpful thread on the official European PLAYSTATION forum.It turns out that there's an issue with US/JAP PS3s running 576 lines of resolution (the European standard). That is, they can't do it. So European games that don't support 480i/p simply won't play. The only solution is to step up to the lowest common resolution for all regions, 720i/p. Of course, for that you'll need a HDTV and a high definition connector for your console. As a result, FEAR is fast becoming the most expensive game I've ever bought.
It's difficult to say whether this will affect people who are planning on nabbing themselves some US games for their PAL PS3s. If you have any anecdotal evidence showing that this works fine, then let us know. As for the Americans out there who are looking forward to importing Singstar next month, you'll probably suffer from this same problem if you've yet to take the plunge and gone HD.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
kingofwale @ May 7th 2007 9:34AM
a few things, I do feel bad for your loss because you don't have a HD-TV.
but frankly, if you're STILL playing your PS3 on a TV with 480P or even 480I (god), please... save yourself £400 and get a Wii or PS2. PS3 is obviously not the console for you.
secondly, I'm just glad PS3 is region-free, is there another current game console on the market now that is region-free?
Khaliel @ May 7th 2007 9:44AM
Singstar is pushed back, in Europe, to July 11th. This was announced already one week ago on the official Playstation european forum by an admin.
Delaney @ May 7th 2007 9:52AM
Is it the other way around as well? I have a european PS3 and I'm considering bying Oblivion from either Canada or USA. Will I be able to play it on my SDTV?
DukeFett @ May 7th 2007 10:29AM
I'm just glad PS3 is region-free, is there another current game console on the market now that is region-free?
I was pretty sure the Wii is region free.
WindomEarle @ May 7th 2007 10:36AM
@3
I live in Denmark and have recently imported Oblivion (NTSC-version) from Canada, and can confirm that it plays perfectly (and looks good) on my SD-tv (PAL).
As for the whole HD-tv debate, I can understand why some people, including myself, are waiting just a little while longer for their HD-tv purchase. The prices are rapidly dropping and the next generation of screens with much better picture quality is right around the corner. It's hard to wait, but I think it will be worth it.
Delaney @ May 7th 2007 11:19AM
@6
Thank you for a swift answer. BTW så bor jeg også i Danmark.
In sorry for going offtopic, but could you tell me where you purchased your copy of Oblivion? As I see it, the cheapest retailer is games-asia.com at 65$.
I'm with you on the HDTV debate. I really, really want to buy a HDTV now, but pure reason tells me to wait a year or so.
Tremada @ May 7th 2007 12:17PM
The Wii is not region free. It was promised to be, but it's not. :|
Stef Geiger @ May 7th 2007 12:48PM
Speaking of Fear and HD, Fear only does 720p, right? No 1080i/p?
Mak @ May 7th 2007 1:07PM
Damn Sony, it's all thir fault this NTSC/PAL incompatability. I am never buying a Sony product ever again, what with this NTSC/PAL issue and RootKits, and forcing Blu-Ray on me.
Screw you Sony...
(end Xbot pretend rant)
TheSh0wstopper @ May 7th 2007 1:27PM
Why on earth do you have a PS3 and not an HDTV. On launch day I bought my PS3 and a 1080p television. Usually I would not be "harsh" on a person for not having (expensive) equipment. But you are an editor for a PS3 site. There is no excuse why you should not have both a PS3 and a HDTV. Considering the position you hold and the influence you have on other people it is your onus to be well equiped. Sorry, dont mean to sound like a jerk.
TheSh0wstopper
WindomEarle @ May 7th 2007 1:52PM
@7
I bought Oblivion from videogamesplus (vga.ca), with a $62.49 price tag + shipping. Best thing though, it arrived from Canada only 3 days after I had placed my order, with a total of approx. Dkr. 380. Which, as you know being danish and all, is about 30 percent lower than retail here. So from a consumer point-of-view the region-free option is certainly a plus here in europe.
WindomEarle @ May 7th 2007 1:57PM
@7
Sorry, wrong url, was supposed to be vgp.ca
Delaney @ May 7th 2007 2:12PM
@13
Yes, i did crack that one. The 65$ price tag at games-asia.com looks like the cheapest to me. They don't charge for shipping. Thats a total of Dkr 358, which means that I'll save the equivalent of 30$, when buying from abroad. As you mentioned, this region freedom is truly amazing.
Whats your PSN ID, if you don't mind?!
L @ May 7th 2007 3:01PM
yey region free does rock ^_^
The 360 has allot of region free games its all down to the games company if it is or not
WindomEarle @ May 7th 2007 3:09PM
@14
Thanks for the games-asia tip - seems like the cheapest online retailer at the moment. Think maybe I'll try them next, perhaps for something like The Darkness or Rainbow Six Vegas. My PSN ID is WindomEarle, feel free to add me.
Laurens Holst @ May 7th 2007 3:10PM
Have the same problem playing Tekken 5 on my JAP PS3.
What I would really like is some site which has an overview of what titles *are* both PAL- and NTSC-compatible, and which are not. So far, as far as I heard the ones that are not are a minority, but it would be nice if I could check it
And everyone bitching about not having a HDTV, get over it. Some people have the money for it, but for others (e.g. students like me) a PS3 already costs helluvalot of money and they don’t have the money to buy an even more expensive HDTV.
Especially in Europe there is little point in having a HDTV still (except for the PS3) because there’s very few HDTV broadcasts (only some soccer games). I suspect the prime reason for HDTV to have a greater adoption in the US and JAP is because the NTSC resolution is much worse than PAL; PAL has 576 lines, only 150 lines less than 720.
~Grauw
Laurens Holst @ May 7th 2007 3:16PM
@3: yes, it is the other way around as well. However, it’s only a few games that have this problem.
I just wish that we could switch SD resolution… In Europe, if you connect a TV with the SCART connector (most common, uses RGB) then it can play both 480i and 576i. It’s Sony who is not making it possible for European PS3 owners to do that, even though technically there is no problem.
~Grauw
WindomEarle @ May 7th 2007 3:27PM
Back to topic, I just remembered that my PAL PS3 refused to play the Def Jam Icon demo that I downloaded from the US Store a couple of days after euro-launch. Friends also with a PAL PS3 but hooked up to a HDTV had no problem playing the very same demo. So maybe there's some kind of weird SD region bug going both ways, probably somewhat depending on devs.
Anyone else with the Def Jam bug? The game downloaded and installed fine, but gave me the message "Game data is corrupt" when started. I have played all the other Network demos from both the euro, US and Japan network without any problems on my SDTV.
Laurens Holst @ May 7th 2007 3:50PM
Also, an overview of which JAP games have multilingual support would be interesting :). I know that Ridge Racer and Resistance have, but Need for Speed: Carbon and Enchanted Arms are Japanese-only. For NFS, I have no problem using the Japanese menu’s, I can read it a little, but for Enchanted Arms it’s kinda above my capabilities ^_^.
Oh, and NFS: Carbon looks terrible on SDTV, no anti-aliasing at all. Twas clearly rushed.
~Grauw
WindomEarle @ May 7th 2007 4:54PM
Yeah, I have FEAR as well, and the game doesn't look very good, I've seen it in both SD and HD. And loadtimes are horrible. But the game is still pretty intense. In most of the hectic firefights the game showers the atmosphere with a lot of smoke, explosions and flying debris, and it certainly helps the wow factor a little, at least for a while, IMO.
Toolio @ May 7th 2007 6:31PM
Points of Jem's ignorance:
1. Was not aware that NTSC and PAL standard-definition TV systems are generally incompatible and have been for...oh let's see now...forever. There are exceptions (SCART), but many PAL TV's do not support NTSC.
2. NTSC supports 480i/p, Jem, not 420.
3. The country code for Japan is "JPN." "JAP" is the racist code for Japan.
4. Jem complains that FEAR is "fast becoming the most expensive game I've ever bought." That price is going to seem a whole lot steeper when he finds out how hard the game blows.
Mak @ May 7th 2007 7:03PM
@17, your talking BS. There is plenty of HD broadcasts in Europe, besides football (Soccer to the Americans).
www.skyhd.com
The BBC also have HD broadcasting.
Delaney @ May 8th 2007 2:31AM
@19. I had the exact same problem playing the Def Jam: Icon demo. I got the corrupted data message. And like you, I've downloaded every single demo available. I have only had an issue with Def Jam.
I hope this isn't going to be a big problem with future game releases. At least not until I get myself a HDTV, which as Laurens Holst simply is too big an expense for your average student.
Laurens Holst @ May 8th 2007 3:52PM
@24, the UK is an exception perhaps, because the public broadcasting sector is actively pushing new technologies (e.g. digital broadcasting, widescreen, interactive TV).
But at least what I say is true for the Netherlands (where I live, usually). The broadcasting stations are only now starting to pick up widescreen, although here too public channels were ahead of commercial stations with that. But they don’t offer HDTV versions of their programming.
@23, I wouldn’t say that TVs able to play 480i are an exception. Of all the TV’s I’ve used, only one was not able to. And that exception was a piece of crap in the common livingroom of my flat that must have survived from the 70s or something (I now replaced it with my widescreen TV :)).
And believe me, I’ve used my fair share of 480i on televisions and old monitors. I have an MSX computer since the late 1980s, many imported JAP games were using ‘60Hz’ mode (aka 480i), and I’ve used it on every TV we’ve had in our house since then, and also at friends, my grandparent’s, etc.
The opposite is true, however, there’s few NTSC televisions that can show 576i.
Finally, get a life about JAP. It’s written in capitals as an obvious shortening, and a common one too. The racist form would be ‘Jap’, and even that would not be used in a racistic context. So get over it. P.s. I live in Japan, currently.
doomsday619 @ May 21st 2007 12:09PM
I have had the same problem i own a jap ps3 and the other day i brought a uk version of spiderman 3 and i had the same message game not supported so i took my ps3 back to where i got it and they then told me the only way of getting it sorted is to buy a hdtv (which is now on order) i have motorstorm(jap), resistance(pal copy) and f1 championship(pal copy) so it seem to me the only ones that work without having a hdtv is the games made by sony. If anyone could help me also when i play my version of resisitance i can only get on the jap servers are there anyways to change this???? please help thankyou