louloumama

Just wondering if someone can reassure us with regards to bringing a Playstation 3 from the UK.

If the kids have been good enough this year then Santa may just be kind enough to put a PS3 in their stocking - and of course not forgetting that my DH will benefit no end from this generosity

However - are there are problems in using the console and games once we are in NZ - is it zoned as I think some electrical equipment may be ????? Not very technical minded so am hoping somebody can help.

Many thanks

mickey_d

I think you are OK with games, but not with Blu-Ray movies.
But you can buy Games & Movies from Amazon UK, loads cheaper

We've just bought a game from them for $75ish. It is $149 here

Justcol

I've just checked with my 19 year old gaming freek son.
What he doesnt know about gaming and various consoles isnt worth knowing.
He assures me (definately) that the PS3 is region free so any NZ games will be compatible.
It will play on any NZ tv with no problems as they use a similar PAL system
the UK.

who watches blue ray anyway ??

alanmacc

The games should be region free and we are on the same region as the UK for Blu rays, I have bought a few movies in Blu Ray from the uk and they play no problem we are both region 4

thedtb

That is correct. Games for the PS3 are not region encoded. Therefore games purchased *anywhere* will play on any PS3

PAL doesn't really have anything to do with it. Your PS3 would be connected up to the direct AV Inputs (E.g. Scart/Composite etc) of the TV, or via the HDMI connection (if the TV has one) and as such completely bypasses any PAL compatibility issue - if there was one.

Anyone who wants to experience films etc in the highest possible quality. A full 1080p HD picture, hell even a partial 720i HD picture, is considerably better quality than a standard DVD.

Watch a film on a standard DVD, then the same film on Blu Ray (with a TV capable of displaying the signal of course - e.g. a HD Ready or Full HD TV) and the difference will be very clear.

That being said, the PS3 upscales standard DVD images to try to get them as close to Full HD as possible and some of my/our standard DVD's do look mighty impressive on my slightly large TV when played back on the PS3, but still not a patch on a genuine 1080p 24fps Blu-Ray.

Close, but not quite.

Region numbers 1, 2, 3 etc are applicable to DVD's. The UK is Region 2, whilst NZ is Region 4. Therefore in theory UK DVD's will not work on an NZ player (or visa versa), however some of my UK DVD's do work on an NZ player, whilst others don't... the player wasn't hacked to make it play all disks so I don't really have an explanation. However in principal a DVD purchased in NZ *shouldn't* work on your UK PS3.

You can see DVD regions here: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...with_key-2.svg

Blu-ray regions are in the form of "A/1", "B/2", "C/3"

You can see them here: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...s_with_key.png

Note that the UK and NZ are indeed the same region so far as Blu Rays are concerned. However, according to Wikipedia current estimates are that around 70% of all Blu Ray films currently available are entirely region free.

In short, Blu-Ray's purchased anywhere in the world *could* work on your Uk PS3, but Blu Ray's purchased in NZ will work for sure.


However, certainly in relation to PS3 games (i've not compared the costs of Blu-Ray's in either country), I've priced up a few since getting to NZ and it does appear that they are in some cases far cheaper in the UK than in NZ (seemingly the prices of new releases drop quicker in the UK than they do here in NZ)... it's just a matter of then getting them here to NZ.

Currently my father-in-law is in possession of a few PS3 games I'd pre-ordered prior to leaving the UK... he'll be including them in the next package he sends across to us or will be bringing them with him when he comes to visit.

Once my stuff lands here (it'll be brought out of storage in the Uk on December 7th and shipped to us shortly afterwards) I intend to try purchasing some games/films in the Uk and have them shipped straight here. I'm curious if I'll be hit for by customs in NZ for tax when they arrive... however some of the cost savings I've found on games in the Uk compared to NZ, would potentially allow for the tax to be paid on import and STILL work out cheaper than buying the game in NZ... I've yet to test the theory though!

mickey_d

I don't think anyone will ship directly, I know Amazon UK don't (for games). We get them sent to Parents & forwarded on.

alanmacc

I do stand corrected, yes blu rays are split into 3 regions and NZ is as the uk region B, there is as yet no crack to make the dvd player multi region and the possibility of this is not in the near future due to the security measures sony had built in to the PS3

But as far as watching blu ray, i liken ti to the first time you watched DVD after only ever having vhs, so well worth it for that reason alone, in fact it is the oly reason i bought it

thedtb

Yeah I found that too (i.e. most retailers won't ship stuff straight here), but I've paid Royal Mail for a redirect on my UK address, so I'm currently having stuff (letter/magazines etc) sent to my UK address, which is then being forwarded on to me here in NZ by good old Royal Mail.

I figure I'd just do the same with a game or two and see what happens.

Have you ever been hit for tax by customs when having (new) stuff forwarded by the parents, or have they opened the items to remove that "new" look and sent them on as gifts?

lapsed kiwi

I think if it's less than $500 per package, you don't have to pay GST on imports

Justcol

I've bought Books, CD's and DVD's from Amazon.co.uk and amazon.com and had them shipped straight to me here in NZ.

On a side note, if you have a DVD player from the uk that will not play NZ DVD's
you can just search for "dvd player unlock codes" on't tinternet. these are usually
a real simpple code that you put in via the players remote control.
I've unlocked two players and both are now region free and will play any dvd

mickey_d

Same here, but you won't get Video Games or Software from .co.uk, only from .com

louloumama

many thanks guys for all your info - it is much appreciated

Jewelie38

I know that the nintendo wii works over there as we bought one in the UK and took it over as a present for my niece and nephew for xmas. They just used an adapter and it worked fine.

gina and danny

i found that guitar hero ( the actual guitar ) will not work with my uk ps3, anyone else found this, also blue ray dvds bought here do work on my ps3.