Which Playstation 2?....... American or European....you decide.

[chris007]

Please help.

I've done it. I've gone out and purchased an American Playstation 2.
Whats wrong with that you ask. Well, I live in England and I am getting fed up with new titles coming out in America sometimes 6 months before us. The deciding factor was that of "Gallop Racer". A game which will NEVER hit these shores, but is massive in Japan & USA. Why can't somebody just see that these type of games ARE popular here.

To be honest I am a total novice when it comes to the Playstation 2 and (as my PS2 will take 5-10 days to arrive) can anybody tell me the positives and negatives of having an American PS2?

I know a "chipped" European PS2 will play backups etc but it WON'T play original Imported games, ONLY copies. Which means I need to patch copies which I just can't be bothered with.

Does anybody think I've made a bit of a mistake or am I "ahead of the game", as I now can play games 6 months in advance of my friends AND play region 1 DVD's.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Thanks
Chris

[Dal]

Hey Chris,

Was there quite a difference in price between a Uk and Us PS2?? only that you can now get a mod chipped ps2 with AR2 cart for just over £230.00 which will play any games. then if you want it muti region DVD you can now buy a swap disc which is an extra 20 quid. The only reason i ask this is because im just about to purchase a PS2 and want to know all the facts before i buy.

Hope your pleased with it

Dal

[chris007]

Hi Dal

Thanks for the reply.

The best price you will get an imported Playstation 2 is $320 (£220 I think) + around £20 to import it.

If you want a list of importers let me know.

Please can you list which company is offering chipped PS2's at £230. The best price I could find was around £320 + cost of P+P and also you've lost your guarantee etc before the machines out the box. (could be very costly in the short term)

I still think I've made the correct choice but I would like to here from users of both machines please - chipped and unchipped.

Can anybody tell me what sort of power supply I need to use as I think the one which will come will "blow up" my PS2.

Thanks again
Chris

[chris007]

Just found a good site.

####://www.d3world.com/

You'll find here a CD which when inserted in your PS2 will allow you to play region 1 & 2 DVD's. This means NO CHIPPING!

The CD is only £19.99 so is worth a look.

Chris

[chris007]

Here's a few sites which sell PS2's:

$299 (£212)
####://www.kbkids.com/genProduct.html?WebID=000d579f5b3300474b9f5b330024 749f5b3300bc1d9f5b33&ctid=19&ls=vgames
-------------------

$339 (£234) PS2 + Gran Turismo 3

Leave your e-mail on this site if you want the link to the above offer.

[Dal]

Hey Chris,

Thanks for your post, i double #####ed that price i gave yesterday and your right the cheapest around is £320.00. I reckon it was a type error.

If you could post some importers addresses then that would be great and please include where you got yours from if poss.

From looking around you can buy a replacement power supply, or a down convertor for your US PS2, i hear if you dont change the Power supply or get a down convertor you risk blowing the PS2, and you dont want that.

Hope to hear from you soon

Dal

email : dal_ramsay**********com

[Charlie]

To add a little spice ...
I bought a JAP PS2. You get a boot disk with it!

Thus got GT3 three months ahead of US!

Modchip the thing (with a US Modchip) and I didn't need the damn game ur supposed to have. Plays everything (except I haven't got UK DVD movies going) and I haven't bought any mod-chip protected games.

[chris007]

Hi Charlie.

Could you explain a little more about your Jap PS2.

Do you mean you have a disc which when inserted can then play all region PS2 games with no chipping?
How much did you pay?

(Dal-I will e-mail you the site that I have ordered my PS2 from. Spoke to a reviewer from PS2 magazine yesterday and he said he prefered the American PS2; I suppose he knows better than anyone. Can get a transformer for £35.....if someone knows where to get one cheaper please leave a post.)

Cheers
Chris

[Charlie]

Jap PS2 was bought in Hong Kong (but can be bought at Computer Exchange, Rathbone Place London). Came complete with UK mains adapter (because HK is UK mains compatible). The Boot Disk is actually a Utility Disk that enables drivers to be loaded into the memory card.
Used with a modchip.com mod chip, the boot disk gets the system booted and via the swap trick, the backup copy is inserted. We could just as well use any Jap Original Game if we had one (which we do).
I'm not sure if the current modchip version can use this boot disk and indeed I didn't upgrade my modchip to their latest version when it was sent to me. (www.modchip.com). No probs to date.
With a PAL TV and AV leads I play NTSC backups with a NTSC-PAL convertor in place; I play PAL backups with that device removed. US PS2 will require the same treatment I reckon.

Good luck

[chris007]

Thanks for your reply Charlie. Very interesting and informative.

There seems to be so many combinations that you can do with the PS2 I think some people can't see the wood for the trees!

Anybody else got an American PS2 or a Jap PS2?
I'm sure more people want to know more about this.


This is ####ting to get a bit of an interesting thread!

Chris

[Dal]

Hey Chris,

Thanks for your reply, ##### your mail when you have a sec cos i have replyied and your find out when you read it that i cant find a replacement power supply that cheap for your US PS2. Hope all goes well and let me know how you get on when its delivered.

Dal

[chris007]

Hi Dal

Thanks for the e-mail.

You can get a step down transformer for £35 at:

####://www.projectk.com/

cheers
Chris

[chris007]

BUGGER!

Just had an e-mail from EB Games (where I purchased my American PS2) to say they "no longer take orders for the UK". Eh!

I have tried to purchase a PS2 from KBKids games ($299) and they don't take orders from the UK too.

Whats going on?

Anybody recommend a shop which DOES take orders from the Uk.
I've #####ed with Amazon and guess what....they don't take orders aswell.

Oh well, back to the drawing board........

Chris

[Charlie]

As I said - Computer Exchange Rathbone Place. I think they do US PS2s as well. But you're not looking at $299 I'm afraid. Crunch time eh?

[Dal]

Chris,

Sorry to hear about your problems in the US i have decided to get my PS2 from the Uk with a new chip already pre-installed.

Let me know how you get on

Dal

[chris007]

Just to keep people informed with my situation......

After MANY hours searching for the best deal on American PS2 consoles I came across a site in Hawaii (www.toysnjoys.com) they sell consoles for (around) £220 plus you also get Gran Turismo 3 with the price. I actually phoned this company up and spoke to a guy called Alex who said they had consoles in stock.

Sounds good so far.

However having rang Customs and Excise I was told there would be a charge of around 20% when the PS2 arrived in the UK.

Therefore the £220 price tag with £30 postage and package plus VAT etc would finally come to around the £300 mark.... still not bad.

Do users know ALL warranties/guarantees are VOID as soon as soon as electrical goods are shipped from the USA to the UK?
Therefore your dream machine, which might be faulty the day you receive it, might as well be put in the bin.

There is light at the end of the tunnel:

Having found only a handful of stores online, which are UK based and sell US PS2 consoles the best of these must be:
####://www.anotherworld.co.uk
The site is very good with a HUGE amount of JAP, US AND UK games.

I finally ordered my console today: £350 + £10 for a step down transformer (these are as much as £50 elsewhere). + P+P = £375
***PLUS A 12-MONTH GUARANTEE!*** I will receive this on Saturday.

You can get a CD from www.kanection.co.uk, which will allow you to play UK DVD's on your US PS2 machine. NO CHIPPING!

I would finally like to say that I read on a site today that to play UK copied/back up games using the SWAP trick you actually need to open up the PS2 (!)
The site had pictures of exactly what you are supposed to do.
This looks VERY risky and as most stores who sell MODchipped UK PS2 consoles DON'T give a guarantee I would advise people not to risk your PS2 unless you know what you are doing.

I hope I have helped one or two people make their minds up.

Cheers
Happy gaming
Chris

[Charlie]

Chris007, I'm really pleased that you've got to where you want to be. Tenacity pays off and you have provided a wealth of info to people who have followed this thread.

On the modchip question, if you want to play backups, then you have to have a modchip for best results. Most people who have had it done properly are 100% satisfied and don't find a void warranty to be an issue. We take our chances - as you imply.

It will be interesting to see where you go from here.

Best wishes

[Dal]

Hey Chris,



Thanks for the post and the email, hope it all goes well when you get your PS2 delivered tomorow, let us know how you got on

Cheers

Dal

[chris007]

Just a quick post to say I received my PS2 today.

Absolutely no regrets.

Must say at the moment I am impressed with the service from Another World. I know stores in America are having trouble with the demand of the PS2 so for a store in the UK to have them available and to receive it 2 days after ordering is very good.

Fitted the step down transformer to the back of the PS2 and set my TV to receive NTSC signal and "hey presto" there's the PS logo!

Don't have any games yet though-bugger!
Have played an audio CD fine.

Still waiting for the big date of August 21st when Gallop Racer 2001 comes out......can't wait.

Anybody recommend any games (except GT3)

Thinking of buying MOTO GP.

Cheers
Chris

[chris007]

Can't stop posting on here........

Found a firm which sells chipped PS2 consoles (UK) at £299.

They claim to offer a *12 month guarantee* with ALL consoles purchased from them!

I'm still not that bothered as chipped UK PS2 consoles don't play US original imported games (which is what I need my PS2 for) but thought some users of this board might want to know.

The site is:
####://www.videogamecompany.com/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Playstation_2_Hardware__27.html

Cheers
Chris

[Charlie]

US Original Games are available in London at Computer Exchange or in Reading at GameStation. And, of course, via Amazon US provided they ship to UK.

[chris007]

Who said American PS2 games were more expensive when getting them imported?

Just bought Gran Turismo 3 from The Game Alley $42 + shippping.

Total price (with International shipping) = £39 !!

Some importers are charging as much as £55.

Address is:
####://www.mysimon.com/buy/index.jhtml?c=playstation2&v=1&m=8773&url=####://store.yahoo.com//gamealley/grantur3ps2.html

My list of games I want now includes J League Winning Eleven.....looks superb. Anybody got the Jap version?

[Charlie]

Couldn't see the J.League game on the web - but if you take the Jap version, make beware if it is on DVD because the US PS2 won't play the Jap original.

[Dal]

Hey Chris,

Just thought ild let you know i recieved my UK Chipped PS2 today, using the region X as my boot disc, no problems at all the best £300.00 ive spent in a long time. Anyway hope your GT3 turns up soon got that today as well what a top game been playing it non-stop this evening.

This topic has been great to read and reply 2, i hope it continues

Cheers

Dal

Dal

[Jim-He's just this guy you k]

Hi, this has been a v good discussion and I hope to add to it with some advice on DVD’s. I never buy region 2 DVD’s as they usually have scenes deleted from them (like a few from Fight Club are not there in the region 2 version). Region 1 DVD’s also usually have more special features than there UK counterparts and obviously come out sooner than the UK (you can some times get films before they are in the cinema). You may think that this is a lot more expensive than buying them in the UK, but they are often the same price or cheaper. A great site is www.dvddynamic.com which is a Canadian Company and offer free world wide shipping, which I find comes in about 3-7 days.
I also found the “DVD Region X” for £18.99 at ####://www.specialreserve.net/.

I hope I have been of some help.

Happy Gaming
Jim

[chris007]

Quick post:

Ordered NBA Street from Toysnjoys in America around 8 days ago and received it today. $58 in total (£40) Absolutely excellent. No problems with NTSC etc.
Still haven't got my copy of Gran Turismo though.....bugger!

Anyway I think I have come to the end of this thread. I have finally got what I want and everything (atlast) has worked out fine.

Just to let you know I'm not the only one getting slightly excited about a horseracing game......####://www.tecmoinc.com/ubb/Forum19/HTML/000068.html

Hope I have helped atleast one or two people make up there minds.

Cheers
Chris

[master-of-understanding]

i have a ps2 but iam afraid to get it modded even with the neo4 coming out i don't make much money i was lucky to get a ps2 and iam afraid that they will come out with anti mod games for ps2 and i won't be able to play it so until a stealth iam stuck with the orginal