Thanks for the replies. Helpful information. If I could get these final questions answered, I'll be buying the PS3 by the weekend. Many people touch on this topic, but it rarely if ever seems to be answered definitively --- there are always people with conflicting answers:

1) When you play a game online, do you connect to servers based on the SYSTEM (i.e. an American system will connect to America, even if it's connected to the internet in Japan), OR do you connect to servers based on the GAME (i.e. a Japanese copy of Call of Duty 4 in an American system in America will connect to Japan).

2) Person A is in America with an American PS3. Person B is in Japan with a Japanese PS3. Person A owns an American copy of Call of Duty 4. Person B owns a Japanese copy of Call of Duty 4. Assuming that both are the same version, regardless of lag, will Person A and Person B be able to play together?

3) Person A is in America with an American PS3. Person B is in Japan with a Japanese PS3. Person A owns an American copy of Call of Duty 4. Person B ALSO owns an American copy of Call of Duty 4. Both are the same version. Will Person A and Person B be able to play together?

4) The above examples were specifically for Call of Duty 4. Do the answers for that game apply to every other game?

I'm looking for 100% for sure answers, preferably from people with experience. If you're 99% sure or less, move along, thanks :)

I live and work in Japan. I want to buy a PS3 here. I've done a fair bit of research into things like game region codes, blu-ray region codes, etc., and I'm pretty satisfied with how chill everything with the PS3 seems to be, doesn't seem to be any traps or things that won't work.

For people with experience with Japanese PS3's, here are some questions:

1) Is there anything you thought you had all figured out and then when you got your Japanese PS3 you said, "oh !#$@ :\" ???

2) If I'm using a Japanese PS3 on a connection in Japan, can I use my American credit cards to buy stuff online?

3) Server issues, even after a bit of reading, remain unclear to me. i.e. If I load up a multiplayer game, will my fellow players be Japanese only? Or will it mix it up around the world? Can I change this setting, for the times I want to play with friends back home? etc.

Thanks!

For anyone still trying to make a decision for a good RPG on the 360, I gotta go with Tales of Vesperia.

Lost Odyssey is a Final Fantasy clone, the whole thing down to the menus feels very Final Fantasy. But I found the characters to be retarded, and the story to be paper thin. If you ask me now what the game was about or what any characters name other than the main guy was, I'd be unable to answer you, it was that forgettable. If I could use one word to describe this game, it would be the same feeling I got as the old CG Final Fantasy movie: "lifeless."

The Last Remnant, I started, but quickly lost interest in because of a battle system that didn't have near adequate enough of an in-game explanation. I found that since I didn't wanna get screwed on character development in such a long game, I had to resort to forums and guides. I don't like when I play a game and I feel that I *have* to rely on guides. i.e. exactly how characters are developed and progress and gain skills is never really explained in game, and even after reading a few guides and asking some questions and getting a wide variety of conflicting information and answers, I was left scratching my head, thinking this is more trouble than it's worth, which led me to my next game, Tales of Vesperia. Achievements: you can get all of Last Remnant's in one playthrough if you use a guide so that you don't miss anything.

Tales of Vesperia. About 20 hours into it at the moment. Great game. The voice acting is top notch (for a JRPG). Combat is fun --- hasn't gotten repetitive yet. My only complaint is that there might be a little TOO much story and dialogue. Granted none of it feels unnecessary, every conversation seems relative to the story and characters, but still, sometimes I go like 15-30 minutes without a battle just because I'm watching things unfold in town as characters make decisions as to what to do next, etc. But at least that story and those characters are easy to watch/listen to. The game is colorful and vibrant and fun.Achievements: this game is meant to be played through multiple times, complete with an end-game "shop" you can use to power up your next playthrough's characters. As such some achievements simply can't be attained on the first playthrough, you *must* play through the game again to get everything. How many times you play through to get 1000/1000 depends on how much you missed. What I'm doing and what I recommendfor this game is to play the game first normally, without any guides or crap, just enjoy the game --- you'll get several achievements this way. Then on your next playthroughs with uber charactersuse guides to clean up the remaining achievements.

Not possible since DVD's have regional protection.

TraXxX

See, this is what I'm talking about in my original post. Someone posts a link with a list of "confirmed" region-free games, then someone replies with a clean cut, "it just isn't possible" answer. So what gives?

Thanks for that link.

Next issue is, can anyone detail what happens to Gamertags and Gamerscore when using other region games?

Scenario 1) I buy a Japanese region game that is region-free (such as Ace Combat 6) and play it on my American 360. Will it resume my save files from the American version? Will it be added as another game on my list, back to 0/1000 achievements, or will it resume my 400/1000 or so already gained achievements?

Scenarion 2) I buy the Japanese Arcade 360 in order to not have to worry about region-freeness and whatnot. But I want to use my American-made Live account and Gamertag. Is this possible? Will the Japanese system allow me to call up my American account and use it on the Japanese Live system?

Thanks.

I searched the web for this answer but found conflicting answers. Some say NO games will work from other regions, while some say only certain games are region free, but then from that list of "certain games," there are more conflicting reports of those certain games working and not working. I've decided to ask my trusty Gamespot comrades for more concrete evidence/advice/personal stories. A google search yields a lot of helpful stuff, like a Wikia site list of region-free games, etc., but then on like the very next site someone says hardcore, "no game is region-free, you need a mod chip," etc. I'm not modding, just looking to know which Japanese games will work BS-free on my American 360.

I live in Japan and have my American 360 with me. Just as an example, one game I have found to have the most consensus that works internationally as region free is Ace Combat 6. If I go to the store today and pick up Ace Combat 6, Japanese version, from a Japanese store, is it going to run on my fully updated and always-connected-to-Live American360? Will Live detect it as BS and reject it?

The second question is how does the effect Gamerscore? Will it be registered as a different game? I already beat the game back home when I rented it, will running the Japanese version access my save from the American game? Will my achievements be picked up and resumed?

This isn't necessarily hard, but I think the dumbest achievement I've ever seen comes from X-Men The Game, which reads something like, "Awarded when you unlock all other achievements. -- 50g"

I've looked at the guides to tell if your system is a Falcon chipset, but my label doesn't conform to what people are saying to look for. First off, my label doesn't have a Lot OR wattage on the box. There is a team, which is TMEM, that's it.

On the side of the box, it says Microsoft Corporation 2007.

The strange thing is, the white label with the team and whatnot is DOUBLE LABELED. By this, I mean, the top layer, the one you see, says TMEM, and has no information. After prying to see the label under it, it is a Falcon chipset, easily identified by the 175w, team name, and so on. WHY would they cover over the original label with a new one which doesn't list the wattage, and a different team?

This is the Elite 360, "Go Big" bundle with Ultimate Alliance and Forza 2. I JUST bought it from Best Buy today. I'm keeping it sealed until someone can tell me how to identify it as Falcon or not with these weird labels, else I'm taking it back tomorrow.