Biting the bullet - thinking of buying a PS3

[Daragon]

Can anyone possibly advise on which would be the best region's machine to go for?

As far as I'm aware the US 60GB model still has the emotion engine which would be the best to go for from a BC perspective as well as generally cheaper games/blu ray disks. My only concern is that buying one could possibly result in a customs charge that I most likely wouldn't be able to afford to pay (£100 according to the import FAQ). Have also read that VG plus mark down PS3s and that many get through uncharged - shipping via DHL express has me worried though as express deliveries are often stopped at customs.

Then there's the PAL model and currently play.com have it for sale with 3 games that I'd probably end up buying anyway (Resistance, Genji and Motorstorm) as well as a rather ****ty blu ray movie and HDMI cable for £399.

Has anyone gone through VGplus in buying their US console? Does it still have the EE, or am I better off going with the PAL version. Hardware BC would be nice to have but I wouldn't consider it absolutely essential.

[toythatkills]

If you're going to buy those games anyway, get the PAL version. Otherwise I'd go with a US machine, even with customs it'd be below £400 delivered - no games though

[Daragon]

Does the current batch of 60GBs still have the EE though?

[toythatkills]

As far as I know, all the US 60gb models have it, and it's the 80gb ones that wont

[Swallow]

Is a Japanese model not an option? Cheap as chips on Yesasia, they'll doubtless ship it from Croydon, EE.... Seems the sensible choice..?

[Daragon]

It would need to be a US version if I went for an import wouldn't it?

I'd like the BC and I only have US or PAL PS1/PS2 games.

[Swallow]

Ok, yeah, could be the way to go then.

You never know though, buying a Japanese one might encourage you to go for more JPN PS1/2 stuffs!

[Daragon]

I'd be doubtful of that - the language barrier would really be a problem for me.

[J0e Musashi]

It depends on what you'd be playing. A great deal of JPN games are totally import friendly. In saying this I've never owned a PAL or USA Playstation title though. I guess it can limit your choices somewhat, especially if you're an RPG fan.

[Daragon]

Yeah, BIG rpg-er me. Text based games are a definate no no in anything other than english.

Got myself a copy of the JPN PSP SF game for the free d-pad thing and that was too much for me XD

[fatbatch]

My PS3 came from VG+ with no customs charges. I'm very pleased with it, even though I'm playing Disgaea more than anything else ...

[Daragon]

How long ago was that? Did you have to ask them to mark it down and was it shipped via express or standard DHL?

[MikeF]

If you are not bothered about the BC then I would honestly say a PAL unit is the way to go. Good bundles available and seeing as the PS3 games are region free it doesn't really matter. Also I am not sure if Sony Europe will repair / fix a US machine should it develop a fault

I picked up a PAL PS3 at launch and am happy that I did

[VR46]

The Official Sony bundle of two games and second controller chucked in for £425 starts here today by the way.

play.com have a decent package for £399. Expect other retailers to start coming up with their own packages soon as well.

Must admit when I get one I'd go PAL just due to the cost of the thing in case anything did go wrong.

[Daragon]

Well this isn't helping me as much as I thought it would

Really would like decent BC BUT if the console develops a fault (with my luck its more or less a given) I don't want to be stuck up a creek with no paddle.

Is there a chance that BC would be further improved with additional firmware updates, to the point that it would match hardware BC? I've read through the UK list and it seems there's very few titles that actually work without fault. I always have my chipped PS2 though but that doesn't upscale (yea I've heard the firmware update hasn't done much for many of you but I've also read of people being pleased with it)

The UK package that play have just introduced sounds like really good value to me as well though and I'd be definately picking up at least 2 of those games and the cable anyway.