Buying a Japanese 360...

[Silvergun X]

Today is looking like the day I cave in and buy a JPN 360 - Now i'd like to ask a few questions about it...

1) I have a UK VGA cable, will this work with the JPN 360?

2) Same goes for my HDD - I have all my demos, live account, etc - Can I just buy a JPN core system and add my UK HDD to it?

3) Yesasia has been mentioned to me, however I only seem to be able to find premium systems on there. Forgive my ignorance, but do they sell a core system? And if not, where would be the best place to buy one?

[sj33]

N3 will be out in the west soon enough mate, lol.

[Silvergun X]

But what about Senko no Ronde?!

Bullet witch?

Enchant Arm?

Graaaghhh!

[sj33]

It is a bit gutting that western Enchant Arm will likely be English dubbed, when ther Asian release is JPN audio w/ English subs... =/
Ubi is doing the publishing.

Getting back to Q's though

1) Yeah, the cable are the same. My VGA cable is JPN, UK machine.

2) I'm pretty sure it's all about the Gamertag, but I remember andrewfree having some problems here, maybe he can shed some light?

3) There is no Core system over there, unfortunately.

[Geezer]

JPN core systems don't exist, only asian. Don't buy an asian system, it's only advantage is a 220V PSU but it has a disadvantage because a couple of JPN and region free games don't work on it (conversely, all asian games will work on a JPN machine). Imagine how gutted you would be if a JPN only title you really wanted came out and didn't play on an asian machine?

I almost bought an asian core plus Senko from PA, in the end I bought Senko from PA and a JPN premium from YA.
I worked out that after customs etc. a core would have been just ?20-?30ish less than buying a JPN premium machine from YA plus a stepdown. For that extra ?20 you get a hard drive, wireless pad and headset. Once you sell the hard drive (?50+), a JPN premium from YA will work out cheaper than an asian core from PA

[Silvergun X]

So Yesasia.com is a definate go go then.

Was there any reason you didn't buy Senko with the 360 from YA?

[Geezer]

So Yesasia.com is a definate go go then.

Was there any reason you didn't buy Senko with the 360 from YA?

They were out of stock, 7-14 days availability
Play-asia had it in stock with 24hr availability

I go where the stock is

[Silvergun X]

Fair enough!

[mackemansj1]

Hdd work on any as will your gamerprofile. I have been useing my profile from my uk system on my jp machine for months with many games online on my jp machine with no problems what so ever.

[dvdmike]

where is the best price then im tempted but worried about vat this end

[Paulos G]

Don't buy an asian system, it's only advantage is a 220V PSU but it has a disadvantage because a couple of JPN and region free games don't work on it (conversely, all asian games will work on a JPN machine).

Out of curiosity, do you know which games are affected?

[VR46]

where is the best price then im tempted but worried about vat this end

yesasia.com will give you a store credit to the value of the import tax (with their free shipping option) if you get nabbed by customs, so that's the safest vat free option.

[Geezer]

Out of curiosity, do you know which games are affected?

Nothing of any note at the moment. The main reason it is a worry imo is for future releases, I would be incredibly gutted if something I really wanted came out in Japan and I couldn't play it on an asian machine. However, I think only the very most anal of publishers would pull stuff like that.

This link has some info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Region_Free_Xbox_360_Games

[sj33]

This stuffs risky either way. I mean, there's the advantage in owning a JPN console in that, for example, you get to play Enchant Arms with JPN dialogue months before western release, and other games that may not even get a western release.

On the other hand, Blue Dragon/Lost Oddysee might be region locked for the Euro/US release, meaning your fumbling through the JPN versions not sure what your doing.

There's no win, it's just take your pick and hope for the best.
Luckily with the 360 is probably matters less which region you go than it might for the Wii or PS3, since most key 360 titles are either region free or avaliable in multiple regions.

[Silvergun X]

Already owning a PAL 360, I like to think i've got the best of both worlds - English titles, and JPN exclusives. Of course i'll be sharing a power block, VGA cable and HDD between the two, but what the hell!