Differences between Japanese and US PSP-Slim

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Ruahrc

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So this PSP slim business is interesting, but I want a white one. A white one that does not have Darth Vader on it. It looks like the only way to do this (as an American) is to import from like play-asia or something.

My question is, is the PSP region locked? I did a little research and it would appear that although it is region locked, virtually all games that are made worldwide do not take advantage of the region locking codes. UMD movies, OTOH, do.

Can I confirm if this is true? I don't forsee myself buying any UMD movies so that's not a big deal but I don't want to get a game or update my firmware only to find that I am locked out because of region encoding.

Also- is my understanding correct in that electrical "formats" for the US and Japan are the same? I.e. 120V@60Hz, the AC power adapter that comes with a Japanese PSP-Slim would work without modification or conversion in a US outlet? Or would I need to buy a US-specific AC adapter 3rd party or separate in order to charge my PSP?

Alternatively, other than the white SW-edition PSP-slim, are there any plans to ever release a plain white PSP-slim in the US at some time down the road?

Ruahrc
 
The PSP games are not region protection. You can buy games from any region and play them on any PSP system. The UMD movies and music videos are region protected.

You do not need any special power adapter.
 
[quote name='Ruahrc']So this PSP slim business is interesting, but I want a white one. A white one that does not have Darth Vader on it. It looks like the only way to do this (as an American) is to import from like play-asia or something.

My question is, is the PSP region locked? I did a little research and it would appear that although it is region locked, virtually all games that are made worldwide do not take advantage of the region locking codes. UMD movies, OTOH, do.

Can I confirm if this is true? I don't forsee myself buying any UMD movies so that's not a big deal but I don't want to get a game or update my firmware only to find that I am locked out because of region encoding.

Also- is my understanding correct in that electrical "formats" for the US and Japan are the same? I.e. 120V@60Hz, the AC power adapter that comes with a Japanese PSP-Slim would work without modification or conversion in a US outlet? Or would I need to buy a US-specific AC adapter 3rd party or separate in order to charge my PSP?

Alternatively, other than the white SW-edition PSP-slim, are there any plans to ever release a plain white PSP-slim in the US at some time down the road?

Ruahrc[/quote]
From what I understand the only thing making the white psp a starwars model is the battery cover. If/when (count on a third party one at some point) they come out with replacement battery covers you could just swap it out.

Only UMD movies are region locked. So you wouldn't be able to play R1 US release UMDs unless you modified your firmware. Games have no region protection.

AC adapters are the same. No worries there.

Only other thing that is different is inverted X and O buttons in the system menu. Confirm is X on US psp. The confirm button on a Japanese psp is O. You need modified firmware to change this. It does not affect any games but it may be confusing if used to the other buttons.
 
[quote name='Gara']
Only UMD movies are region locked. So you wouldn't be able to play R1 US release UMDs unless you modified your firmware. Games have no region protection.

[/quote]

Custom firmware is able to remove the region coding from movies? If so I'm going to install custom rather than just using the official one. Thanks for any info.
 
[quote name='jling84']Custom firmware is able to remove the region coding from movies? If so I'm going to install custom rather than just using the official one. Thanks for any info.[/quote]

Correct. No drawbacks to importing as long as you modify. Although watching a movie on that tiny screen is painful
 
[quote name='Gara']From what I understand the only thing making the white psp a starwars model is the battery cover. If/when (count on a third party one at some point) they come out with replacement battery covers you could just swap it out. [/quote]

Thanks for that info. I guess at this point it just makes more sense to wait for the US release of this Starwars set than try and import one from overseas as they will probably arrive at the same time anyways. Not to mention that they cost the same only the bundle comes with a game. Unfortunately I really have no interest in the game. But at least I could get a white US PSP and (eventually) get vader off of it.

Does the PSP require a memory stick to save game progress? What a shaq-fu dumb move by sony not to include a memory stick in the star wars bundle. How obvious do they want to get!?

[quote name='Gara']Only other thing that is different is inverted X and O buttons in the system menu. Confirm is X on US psp. The confirm button on a Japanese psp is O. You need modified firmware to change this. It does not affect any games but it may be confusing if used to the other buttons.[/QUOTE]

Interesting tidbit. Never knew that. Is/was it the same for japanese home consoles (PS2, PS3, etc) too?

Ruahrc
 
[quote name='Ruahrc']Thanks for that info. I guess at this point it just makes more sense to wait for the US release of this Starwars set than try and import one from overseas as they will probably arrive at the same time anyways. Not to mention that they cost the same only the bundle comes with a game. Unfortunately I really have no interest in the game. But at least I could get a white US PSP and (eventually) get vader off of it.
Ruahrc[/quote]

The real benefit will be from being able to return the US model until you get a perfect screen (no dead pixels). With an import you are stuck with whatever you get.

[quote name='Ruahrc']
Does the PSP require a memory stick to save game progress? What a shaq-fu dumb move by sony not to include a memory stick in the star wars bundle. How obvious do they want to get!?

Ruahrc[/quote]
Haha yeah it requires a memory stick to save games. If all you want one for is to save games you can get a 32 meg one for a couple bucks (if that). At least your saved games are always with you despite what may happen to the game. I suggest getting a bigger one though, never know when you will need the space.

[quote name='Ruahrc']
Interesting tidbit. Never knew that. Is/was it the same for japanese home consoles (PS2, PS3, etc) too?
Ruahrc[/quote]
Not sure on that. Anyone else confirm?
 
[quote name='Ruahrc']
Interesting tidbit. Never knew that. Is/was it the same for japanese home consoles (PS2, PS3, etc) too?

Ruahrc[/quote]

playing jp imports in general, is pretty much like that....US = X/O = yes/no.....JP = O/X = yes/no

[quote name='Ruahrc']Can I confirm if this is true? I don't forsee myself buying any UMD movies so that's not a big deal but I don't want to get a game or update my firmware only to find that I am locked out because of region encoding[/quote]

games are region free, so no worries there, only movies have the coding.....altho it is true that majority of US umd's are R1 coded, there's a few out there that have Region 0 on them.... mostly on music videos really, but i did see Short Cuircuit 2 as Region 0...(SHORT CRCUIT 2!!)...if u don't feel like digging thru rows of UMDs just convert movie files to mp4s and put it on the memory card....i watch subd anime on my cw psp and i can still read it just fine considering its fsubd
 
[quote name='Gara']From what I understand the only thing making the white psp a starwars model is the battery cover. If/when (count on a third party one at some point) they come out with replacement battery covers you could just swap it out.

Only UMD movies are region locked. So you wouldn't be able to play R1 US release UMDs unless you modified your firmware. Games have no region protection.

AC adapters are the same. No worries there.

Only other thing that is different is inverted X and O buttons in the system menu. Confirm is X on US psp. The confirm button on a Japanese psp is O. You need modified firmware to change this. It does not affect any games but it may be confusing if used to the other buttons.[/QUOTE]

I thought I saw it somewhere:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4139

weee cheapness
 
[quote name='Gara']Haha yeah it requires a memory stick to save games. If all you want one for is to save games you can get a 32 meg one for a couple bucks (if that). At least your saved games are always with you despite what may happen to the game. I suggest getting a bigger one though, never know when you will need the space.[/QUOTE]

The cheapest one I can find from a quick online search of major stores is a 512MB for $15. Not too bad I guess but still these little things add up. $15 is the price of a cheap game, or about half the cost of a more recent release. I already have an iPod and therefore really have no intention in watching movies or listening to music on the PSP, hence no real need for a large 1 or 2GB card.

Argh decisions, decisions. I have really been considering getting either a DS or a PSP recently, and would really like to get both but the amount of games I actually want to play on each is quite small which makes investing in the system (either one separately or both) a bit difficult to justify.

Ruahrc
 
[quote name='Gara']From what I understand the only thing making the white psp a starwars model is the battery cover. If/when (count on a third party one at some point) they come out with replacement battery covers you could just swap it out.
[/quote]

You can probably find one one ebay. I got a black battery cover easy enough, with spare buttons that I did the ufighterx mod on.
 
[quote name='Ruahrc']Thanks for that info. I guess at this point it just makes more sense to wait for the US release of this Starwars set than try and import one from overseas as they will probably arrive at the same time anyways. Not to mention that they cost the same only the bundle comes with a game. Unfortunately I really have no interest in the game. But at least I could get a white US PSP and (eventually) get vader off of it.
Ruahrc[/quote]

Also you could probably sell the star wars battery cover and star wars game on eBay to someone. I know people who are collectors like to have 2 of everything, one to use and one to store in perfect condition. That way you could pay for a normal white psp cover and probably recoup a bit of the cost of your bundle. Importing a white one from Japan would cost much more when you factor in shipping.
 
[quote name='mofo1115']I thought I saw it somewhere:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4139

weee cheapness[/quote]

That's the original psp there. Someone will pump out the slim covers eventually. I want a cover that will let me fit the old psp fat battery in the slim.


[quote name='Ruahrc']The cheapest one I can find from a quick online search of major stores is a 512MB for $15. Not too bad I guess but still these little things add up. $15 is the price of a cheap game, or about half the cost of a more recent release. I already have an iPod and therefore really have no intention in watching movies or listening to music on the PSP, hence no real need for a large 1 or 2GB card.

Argh decisions, decisions. I have really been considering getting either a DS or a PSP recently, and would really like to get both but the amount of games I actually want to play on each is quite small which makes investing in the system (either one separately or both) a bit difficult to justify.

Ruahrc[/quote]

If all you want it for is saved games you don't even need one that big. You could try the CAG trading forum or a local used game shop for a cheap 32-128mb stick. $15.00 isn't that much though. Pony up!
 
Yeah, $15 for a memory card that you will probably not fill up is not bad at all.

You could import a white PSP from Japan Video Games for $211 shipped, which is less than the StarWars bundle would be in most stores after tax.
 
Well I ended up buying a DS Lite this past weekend along with Mario Kart DS. The crappy part was that I PM'd it at bestbuy thinking they had some kind of 110% price difference guarantee. Nope- they charged me $119.99 for it, the same as the advertised Target price. Had I known that I would have not PM'd it but rather given my business to Target. The other crappy thing was that the 2 games I actually wanted for the DS (Mario Kart and Worms 2) were out of stock at BB! Luckily I happened to see one last copy of Kart hidden in a different game category. I checked pretty thouroughly for a misplaced Worms 2 but came up short.

I am not totally sure I will keep the system though, as it was kind of an impulse buy and I am not absolutely enthralled by it. If I do end up keeping it I'll pick up LoZ PH, and maybe the worms game (I'd rather get the PSP version of worms due to its superior screen). Don't get me wrong it's neat and everything but not quite the satisfaction I had hoped for. The truth is though I am not sure the PSP will be able to satisfy to the degree I am looking for either. Will have to ponder it further.

Ruahrc

PS It's not totally the fact that it's $15 for the memory card- but rather that they did not include one in the SW Package. So some guy buys the SW package with the great new battlefront III game only to find he is unable to save his progress because the bundle does not have a memory card!? That's the real stupid part. Just like how they don't bundle USB cables with printers anymore. What a ripoff. And then BB has the gusto to charge you $35 for one! Man I shoulda bought a ton of USB cables back in the day when they were like $5. BTW NEVER EVER buy a USB cable from BB. Make some chafing comments as to their unbelievably poor competitiveness in this area and mention that you are going down the street to Fred Meyers (or some other more general store) to buy a USB cable for $10.
 
Well dude, since the PSOne days consoles have not included memory cards. It's nice to have them, but you can't expect it. The package doesn't list that it has one, so nobody's being lied to. I personally prefer them to be excluded so I can get whatever size I want. The 32 Meg card that came with my old PSP never got used...

Also, how the heck could you not be satisfied with Mario Kart DS? That's like the best kart racer ever.
 
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