Is it worth getting a Jap 360??

[Soundwave]

Guys I'm in a pickle...I dont know wether to cancel my Wii pre-order & wait until the New Year to pick one up & buy myself a Jap 360 instead what with the imminent arrival of GoW & all

Basically I just wanted to know if there really is any reason to buy a Jap/Asian machine over a UK one, will GoW be fully playable from Japan or will I encounter that blasted language barrier with it & make it wholelly unplayable??

Also apart from a stepdown will I need anything else to run it?

Ta for any advice.

Neil

[eastyy]

I would say yes

I have got a japanese x360

the advantages as i see it

1.asian version games are cheaper and most are english language too Also most big names seem to get a asian release
2.There will probably be some japanese only games that are worth getting ( COUGH SENKO NO RONDE)

Depending on your tv you might want a proper rgb scart cable with it

[EJG1980]

I'm stalking you through the NTSC-UK forums today

I got a Japanese 360 back in December last year, mainly because there was going to be no stock here for a few months and I couldn't be arsed to wait.

There are advantages though. The main draw for me is the fact that you can order Asian NTSC-J games from places like Play Asia for just over ?20 each. It certainly beats paying ?39-49 for a new PAL release! The Asian releases of games are nearly always 100% in English as well, so you can avoid the language problems. Even some Japanese releases will have the menus etc., in English.

Sometimes you get certain games sooner (I got Japanese Ninety Nine Nights in April and the PAL release was June or July I think). On the flip side, you do sometimes have to wait for certain games. No Pro Evo 6 for me until the Japanese version is released on 14th Dec, for example.

You can also get an Asian version of the 360 which doesn't need a stepdown, as it's produced mainly for Hong Kong which has the same voltage system and sockets that we have.

If you're gonna run in High Def using the component or VGA cable, then any UK HD compatible telly / PC monitor should work with it. If you just have a standard CRT telly, it should work through RGB scart. I have a Toshiba 32 inch CRT that displayed a colour picture using a/v cables too, I think the telly just has to be 60hz and NTSC compatible.

Edit: beaten to it, I ramble on too much Oh, and good shout for SENKO NO RONDE! You don't get them as much as with other consoles, but there are sometimes some Japanese gems that never make it over to the west.

[VR46]

As eastyy says, plus UK power supply works on an imported one, all discussed in more detail here

http://ntsc-uk.domino.org/showthread.php?t=61885

[Bleeders]

Hey,

Bas Vegas resident in the his-ouse.

Get a Japanese machine mate, if only for the cheaper Asian alternatives (most in english anyway!) and come Christmas, Lost Planet.

[eastyy]

i was tempted with the asian one but i had heard that not all japanese games would work with it but all asian games will work with the japanese model

[Dirty Sanchez]

Can't see the point really. The UK gets the 360 releases virtually at the same time as everywhere else, with very few exceptions.

The warranty is valid here.

Games are ?40 new or buy in the forum for between ?10 and ?30 for most titles.

[EJG1980]

i was tempted with the asian one but i had heard that not all japanese games would work with it but all asian games will work with the japanese model

That's a good point. It's probably only about one or two games (I've never actually seen a list of the affected games anywhere) but it's sods law that if you buy an Asian 360 it'll turn out that the one game that doesn't work is one you reaaaallllly want

[Soundwave]

Thanks for all the advice, off to cancel my Wii order now & wait a bit longer for that slice of gaming goodness

Think I may aim for an Asian one then if has no need for a Step Down.

I'm ok for the telly side of things I have one of those rare JVC CRT's that can do 1080i HD over component that were nocking about a while back so all is well

Bleeders,
Nice to see I'm not the only one
Where abouts in sunny bas are ya?

Thanks again for the input off now to track one down...no one selling one are they

Neil

[MattyD]

Aren't Japanese region machines also the only ones that won't take 'region free' American games? I thought about getting a Japanese one myself but in the end it seemed like too much hassle for too little return.

The thing that did it for me is that because the JApanese market is so different to the Western ones, big WEstern titles tend to be released very late or not at all. There was two year gap between GTA:VC appearing here and in Japan, and San Andreas wasn't released at all. Even GRAW was three months later in Japan, at a time when few titles were available.

Also there's little or no delay between the US and Euro releases on the platform these days, and every game works in 60hz.

[EJG1980]

Aren't Japanese region machines also the only ones that won't take 'region free' American games?

There might be some but it's not all of them, as my American copy of Dead Rising works on my Japanese 360. And often, even though a game might get a late release in Japan itself, the Asian version will come out quite soon after the US release (G.R.A.W for example, came out at the end of June for the official Japanese release, but the Asian version was out on March 15th).

Although there are certain games that don't get a quick Asian release (such as Pro Evo 6, mentioned above) where the wait can be a bit of an annoyance.

[Bleeders]

Thanks for all the advice, off to cancel my Wii order now & wait a bit longer for that slice of gaming goodness

Think I may aim for an Asian one then if has no need for a Step Down.

I'm ok for the telly side of things I have one of those rare JVC CRT's that can do 1080i HD over component that were nocking about a while back so all is well

Bleeders,
Nice to see I'm not the only one
Where abouts in sunny bas are ya?

Thanks again for the input off now to track one down...no one selling one are they

Neil

I live down the A13 in Grays mate, not too far from Bas.

Try Yesasia for a Japanese machine fella.

[Soundwave]

I live down the A13 in Grays mate, not too far from Bas.

Try Yesasia for a Japanese machine fella.

Pass there everyday on my way to work...Sunny Purfleet for me.

Just having a browse there as I type, just out of curriosity what are Play Asia like for shipping prices & how much off are those free e-Vouchers good for in the trading thread??

Thanks again for the help.

Neil

[EJG1980]

Just having a browse there as I type, just out of curriosity what are Play Asia like for shipping prices & how much off are those free e-Vouchers good for in the trading thread??

I get virtually all my games from Play Asia and they're always nicely packed and arrive quickly. Never had a problem with them yet. Don't know for consoles though as I bought my Jpn 360 from Lik Sang (R.I.P.). Prices for shipping should be the same as elsewhere I would think, as they all use the same couriers like DHL and UPS.

Whenever I've ordered from PA I usually get a voucher for $5 off any order over $50 (and it's one voucher per order) so I expect that's what most of the vouchers on the forum are for. So that'd be what, about ?2.60 off the price of the console? Savings ahoy!

[112]

can ntsc 360s get online fine in the uk?

112