JPN PSP playing US and UK games?

[spagmasterswift]

I'm about to enter into the barmy world of PSP gaming and I understand that unlike the marvellous DS some games mixed regions don't work, or some do and some don't, or something? I'm getting a Japanese PSP and want to know if there is a list somewhere on the forum of games that will and wont work (for example I've heard that GTA:LCS UK wont play on a Japanese PSP...or will I only be able to play Japanese games on it?) If this is the case then fine as I love playing Japanese games, but seems insane to do that to a handheld console...

Expect loads more dumb arse question to follow this week

[Friction]

I didn't think there was such region protection on PSPs?!

I have a US machine, and granted only one UK game (Burnout Legends) but it works perfectly.

I have also noticed in some of the first play threads that many other people on the forum are playing UK games on US and JPN machines.

I do know that some games don't run depending on the firmware - needs to be upto date etc, but other than that it's all good. Also it might be like the DS where UK games wont link with US games etc but I don't really know about that - anyone who does know please feel free to correct me

Where did you hear that GTA:LCS doesn't work on a JPN machine? Given the game isn't out till friday I find that odd (Also given that new releases generally arrive in stores Wednesdays/Thursdays).

I know some people here have that game from the US, wonder what region machines they are using!

HTH

[spagmasterswift]

Ahh it was the multiplayer bit in teh GTA:LCS First Play thread that confused me, well it is Monday morning...

So all regions of games work on all regions of PSP consoles? Sweet

[Bassman]

The only thing you have to remember when swapping games is that if the game you are going to put in is from a different region you have to do a full turn off (hold button) rather than standby (flick switch). You can end a game from standby and start another game from the same region without a problem.

[peeveen]

I think the only prob is that sometimes two different versions of the game are link-up incompatible. For instance, if you and yer pal had a UK and a US version of a game, you MIGHT not be able to play against each other. Depends on the game.

[Friction]

I would think all the games are region free (bar link up and assuming you have the right firmware of course) Just obviously the UMD films are not. I guess like DVD this is due to licensing and certification.


Saying that the free Spiderman 2 UMD that was given out by Sony for registering a PSP clearly states Region 2 and 4 on the back and yet it works fine on my US machine - which is of course Region 1.

Go figure that!

[spagmasterswift]

Thanks fellas, I'm a total bumpkin when it comes to the PSP, anybody fancy explaining 'firmware' to me I'm getting a Japanese White PSP which I believe is different to the standard black PSPs (beyond colour and a bit of button jiggerypockery)...

[peeveen]

Firmware is like the software that runs when you start it up ... the stuff that provides MP3 and video playback, web browsing and suchlike, and also internal game libraries that programmers use.

Currently at 2.01 or thereabouts ... 2.0 or less is hackable.

White PSP no different internally from black PSP, AFAIK.

[spagmasterswift]

White PSP no different internally from black PSP, AFAIK.

Ahh, it was the fact that the black PSP was 1.5 originally right? I'm not in the know with hackers though so thats not a problem...ta

[Friction]

Basically you would want to keep the firmware as upto date as possible - for a JPN machine you would need to hook your PSP into wifi and get it that way, or you would visit the Japanese PSP site and download it there and update manually. Basically you would want to be sure you get the JPN firmware, and not the US or UK one just to be sure

(This might not be essential as people have said they used different regions firmwares with no problems, but I personally would always only use the one right for the region)

HOWEVER

You won't want to keep upto date with firmwares if you intend to use Emulators, and homebrew etc on your PSP.