GDC 06: PS3 games region-free, movie/music download confirmed

  • By Tor Thorsen, Curt Feldman, GameSpot
  • Posted Mar 22, 2006 7:59 pm PT

Sony's next-gen console will play games from every territory; plans for media download revealed.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--At his post-presentation Q&A session, Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios president Phil Harrison dodged questions regarding the PlayStation 3's hard drive and controller. However, he was more forthcoming regarding other aspects of the console.

While he wouldn't say if it would ship with the console, Harrison did say that the PS3 HDD "will also allow download of movies and music." While the PS3's media storage abilities had already been previously touted, the executive's comments indicate Sony may be planning to extend its soon-to-be-PSP-compatible Connect download service to the just-announced PlayStation Network Platform.

"There's no reason not to use the network to access any digital content," said Harrison. "We want [the PS3] to download movies, music, TV, or some blended combination."

Harrison also revealed that, like the PSP, all PS3 games would be playable in any region, unlike current-generation games and DVDs. "Software will be region-free, so developers can put games in the TV format of their choice," he said. Films, however, would remain limited to their regions of origin, as with movies released on the PSP's UMD format.

In his presentation, Harrison said that due to the high-storage capacity of the PS3's Blu-ray Disc (BD) format, publishers would be able to release a single SKU worldwide with all localized versions on a single disc. At the Q&A, Harrison said a BD--which can hold up to 50GB--will also be able to store various video formats (PAL, NTSC, SECAM) on one disc.

209 Comments

  • jamsiecolst

    Posted Sep 29, 2007 5:58 am PT

    Pineapple_Head, you fail to realise that the majority of TV's made in Europe now support NTSC standards, and have been this way for the past 7 or so years. That is all.

  • Pineapple_Head

    Posted Jun 4, 2006 12:00 am PT

    It's funny that people from Australia say that "it will be easier for us to import games here than to import it to the U.S.".

    You've got to realize it Europeans, Australians, and New Zealanders....

    You've got PAL standard television systems.

    Japan and U.S. use NTSC as a standard.

    You better hope game developers put all television standard coding on one disc. (that includes PAL, NTSC, SECAM)

    By the way, there is a possibility that both Japan and the U.S. will be
    Region 1 for Blu-ray movies. Yes, I said both will use Region 1.

    Lucky for us Americans, Japan's number 1 overseas market.

  • Kwzy

    Posted Mar 28, 2006 10:57 am PT

    region free!! good sony! you made it again

  • alberto2045

    Posted Mar 28, 2006 10:07 am PT

    Man they need to tell us the price of how much is going to be cause many people in the US will get dissapointed when they know how much the PS3 is going to be.

  • badr

    Posted Mar 27, 2006 7:13 pm PT

    Region free games at last. I hope Nintendo and Microsoft do the same.

  • redman7t

    Posted Mar 27, 2006 5:55 pm PT

    Boy: Hey did u just hear ps3 is coming out with region free games! Add that with the graphics and HD TV. ITS SO AWSOME I"M GONNA GET IT!

    Friend: Yeah.................I wonder how much its gonna cost?

    Boy: Probably $1500 for the least, well u can understand why it might be so expensive. You know thats the only reason we by systems for the graphics and hardware right. What else would we want?

    Friend: What about the games?

    Boy: Oh yeah but who needs them with all the stuff the system comes with, besides i probably won't have enough money anyway to buy 80$ games each *laughs*.

    Friend: Right........

    Next Day

    Boy: You heard they said its coming with online Internet to and guess what they lowered the original price down too $1650.

    Friend: Right.......

  • ctk96

    Posted Mar 27, 2006 2:20 pm PT

    not even going to think about buying it until the price is announced

  • sharkman83

    Posted Mar 26, 2006 10:49 pm PT

    oh ya this is going to be the best gaming system ever. i cant wait. I am totally going to bye one.

  • 9469

    Posted Mar 26, 2006 7:25 pm PT

    the ps3 just gets better and better, i can't w8!

  • couse18

    Posted Mar 26, 2006 5:52 pm PT

    it might be like the 360 was and theres 2 different deals... one with HDD, one without, u just never know.

  • mike_escajeda66

    Posted Mar 25, 2006 10:14 pm PT

    r u kidding me!! i hate to break it to yall but being able to play games that u cant read or understand the language the characters r using is not all that fun!!! this just proves that blu-ray was not nessacary if they can put like 3 or 4 games onto one disk, just to say they can!! this is crazy and i HOPE i am not the only one who sees this cause this is just common sense. play ur games in foreign languages, i dont care, just stop making such a big deal about it.

  • bunty_007

    Posted Mar 25, 2006 8:55 pm PT

    Awsome

  • Kenzo287

    Posted Mar 25, 2006 8:45 pm PT

    well now we can import games but we still cant read them

  • Briantb_2008

    Posted Mar 25, 2006 2:38 pm PT

    You just gotta love sony sometimes

  • joshua05

    Posted Mar 25, 2006 8:43 am PT

    I think it's alsome as well.

  • ILLPALAZZOO

    Posted Mar 24, 2006 5:04 pm PT

    50 GIG DISKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOA HOLY CRAP!!! I cant wait to play the next GTA for ps3 its gonna be huge!

  • darkxinos

    Posted Mar 24, 2006 3:52 pm PT

    Bout time

  • GranTurismo_559

    Posted Mar 24, 2006 11:50 am PT

    Free region games........................damn I love Sony!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Kfoss

    Posted Mar 24, 2006 11:37 am PT

    ITS ABOUT TIME!!!!!!!!! HORRAY!!! Hello imports!!! thats there best move yet!!!! ive wished for the indusrty to drop region codeing for EONS!!!... but too bad on the DVD side!! but i wonder since the *movie's* are limited to region of origion...is the player limited to region of origion too...i mean as in it being a region free dvd player...granted i all ready have one...but that would but the cherry on top..if the player in it self was region free...*wishfull thinking* ...lol

  • kaworu1986

    Posted Mar 24, 2006 10:45 am PT

    Yesssssss!!!!!!!!!!
    I just hope they don't change their mind between now and launch: some of you may not care, but here in europe we get regularly scr***d when it comes to JRPGS and most anime titles (which are by far my favourite games); worst of all is that a consistent part of them gets released in the USA but never comes here or comes after way too long (Squaresoft anyone?)

  • Blaze545

    Posted Mar 24, 2006 10:33 am PT

    cool

  • Black_Sage89

    Posted Mar 24, 2006 10:00 am PT

    I would laugh if all of there games were lauched worldwide at the same time anyway.

  • Pfilosophy

    Posted Mar 24, 2006 9:57 am PT

    How can anyone think region-free games are a bad idea for the system? It means less warranty-voiding and chip manufacture. If you wanted to play something from Japan, you either cut the warranty sticker or had to buy a Japanese system - this is good news for us.

    Let's just hope there aren't only war and racing games at the launch, even though that seems to be enough for some G4 watchers.

  • jaefrmbk2k

    Posted Mar 24, 2006 9:47 am PT

    Don't forget to hold out for a Japan Only See-Thru, Glow in the Dark or Ribbed PS3 with the Resevoir Tip. Remember you won't be able to play any Blu-Ray movies from the U.S. without the chip-yes, there is a mod chip for the movies

  • jaefrmbk2k

    Posted Mar 24, 2006 9:24 am PT

    I knew the games were gonna be region-free. guess why......cuz i'm from the year 3000

  • Sandman100

    Posted Mar 24, 2006 9:11 am PT

    It better be ready by the beginning.

  • Sandman100

    Posted Mar 24, 2006 9:09 am PT

    Region free games. Cool. And they're still not saying if the HDD is shipping with the console. They better ship the HDD with the consoles. Because what I'm hearing your going to need one to play games on in the firsted places.

  • Ernice

    Posted Mar 24, 2006 8:30 am PT

    "until they announce the price, i'm not interested"

    exactly

  • Pundan

    Posted Mar 24, 2006 2:25 am PT

    Someone said that they hadn't said if they're ought to release the PS3 with a hard-drive or not. I think I've read that it's supposed to be released with a 2'5" 60GB hard-drive. Perhaps that was just rumours.

  • FOHAMMER

    Posted Mar 23, 2006 10:46 pm PT

    What websites can you trust.

    Kinda makes you think. I wonder how they will review PS3 games. I will only count on the gaming community after reading this. This also goes for xbox 360 games.

    http://thirdworldgamer.blogspot.com/2006/03/ign-gamespy-and-playstation-3.html

  • mezonesxbox

    Posted Mar 23, 2006 9:06 pm PT


    Region free!!! I think they are setting their demise.....

    Yes!!!

  • ZEELIX

    Posted Mar 23, 2006 9:01 pm PT

    lets see take microsoft's move... eh.. OMG REGION FREE!!! yippe!!

  • Achilles438

    Posted Mar 23, 2006 8:53 pm PT

    good news indeed, just hope it doesnt cost too much

  • jams_shop

    Posted Mar 23, 2006 8:36 pm PT

    nice

  • hervens

    Posted Mar 23, 2006 8:18 pm PT

    hmm
    interesting...
    But i still think the nintendo revolution will own all.

  • K1LLSWITCH

    Posted Mar 23, 2006 7:59 pm PT

    Movies won't be region free, it's just games. It's been reported that movies on Blue Ray "MIGHT" cost $40. Hopefully they'll cut the cost and make it affordable to the public. If not, say bye bye to Blue Ray. I'm excited to hear that Sony is pushing technology to the masses. Risk = Reward. That's how they succeed. But be patient, E3 is just a few months away.

  • swanlord

    Posted Mar 23, 2006 7:34 pm PT

    Ok so this dude is saying that there will be 3-4 versions of 1 movie on one blueray......so how much is that son of a gun gonna cost ..........60-70 dollars for a movie.....screw that crap.....or 3-4 verions of one game on bluray so that it can be played region free.....you gonna have too sell an eyeball to afford that game!!!

  • mike53322

    Posted Mar 23, 2006 7:24 pm PT

    i don't really care about the region free games ps3 still sucks because its gonna be reeeaaaallly expensive i prefer REVOLUTION innovating idea of playing games

  • Chedda925

    Posted Mar 23, 2006 7:12 pm PT

    Man I want to work at Sony Corp. because they keep giving us new things for resonable prices, think what the employees get.

  • trancejeremy

    Posted Mar 23, 2006 6:58 pm PT

    While I like this in theory, just how many games will really be localized for a world wide release. It can take months to translate a game into English from Japanese.

  • GOLIATHtheGREAT

    Posted Mar 23, 2006 6:26 pm PT

    Finally Sony comes with an orginal idea. Cuz everything PS3 is 360 rip-off.
    And this coming from a Sony Fan.

  • ssj4

    Posted Mar 23, 2006 5:51 pm PT

    At least they are taking one step in the right direction! Region free games? Man I did not see that one coming but am sure glad that it did! About damn time too, now if others(read: XBox & Big N) were to follow Sony's step, I'll die a happy man

  • IcemanX5

    Posted Mar 23, 2006 5:37 pm PT

    Why call it PlayStation Network Platform, why could have been PSNet or Playstation Net. Oh well. To long of a name. It looks nice " Xbox Live "

  • MibtS

    Posted Mar 23, 2006 4:57 pm PT

    Actually the price does matter. Sony is throwing in all this extra crap and it will end up costing even more. All i care about is the games. If games have too little capacity to fill up a Blu-Ray then what's the point in throwing it in there? I am not interested in buying a Blu-Ray player, so therefore i don't care. As far as games are concerned that is good that sony is doing regional...DS is that way as well.

  • Hershey07

    Posted Mar 23, 2006 4:39 pm PT

    Finally...

  • davahsa

    Posted Mar 23, 2006 4:16 pm PT

    Region free! that's sweet! But the HDD? I thought that was being bundled? More speculation from camp Sony.....and I still don't think they'll launch in Nov.:[

  • wokisan

    Posted Mar 23, 2006 3:43 pm PT

    A nice development. I think all consoles should go region-free.

  • cloud890

    Posted Mar 23, 2006 3:31 pm PT

    Everything is looking better and better for the PS3!!!!!!

  • mcgrawgamer

    Posted Mar 23, 2006 3:01 pm PT

    Now that's good news. I always wanted to get my hands on some of those japanese rpg's. Now what's this i hear about the ps3 only playing console specific games. In other words no more buying used games?

  • CHRONO14

    Posted Mar 23, 2006 2:38 pm PT

    We all know what the price for the PS3 will be. Core Unit is your first born child. The complete bundle including the HDD an extra controller and the system will cost roughly your soul and your non- dominant hand (you need your dominant one to play). I think I will still pick it up though maybe after the first price drop just your soul.

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