Is the ps3 region free?

[saturnfan]

I read the other day that the ps3 is region free and have been seriously thinking of buying one now (A United States, NTSC one if that matters), and therefor I have two questions:

1) is this in fact true? That I can import games from japan and play them on my US ps3.

2) Are there any games worth importing?

[ToKeN]

PS3 games are Region free, PSOne, PS2, DVD, BlueRay all have region protection that is enabled. The games are region free not the console.

[JuliotheNext]

Well from what I understand the ps3 does have region locks. the good news is that the united states and japan are on the same region so yea, imports should work.
as for worthwhile games, im not too sure and am curious about that myself...

[Jerkface Killah]

Actually, it's US, most of Europe and Japan that's region 1. So that's sweet. Yeah, not rooster on which games are worth it either.

JFK

[t0yrobo]

Games are region free, blurays aren't. C'mon man, use the google.

[JordanPlayer]

I'm not sure about Japanese games; but there are a couple from EU that are pretty good imports if you want a physical copy instead of an arcade game. WipEout HD Fury (contains the original game and the expansion), and Siren Blood Curse (contains all of the episodes).

[the7k]

All PS3 games will work on all PS3 consoles.

However, DO keep in mind the aspect ratios. For instance, I tried playing Record of Agarest War (EU version) on my PS3 while I was using an SDTV. Because the lowest aspect ratio Agarest will output is 576i, while the highest my SDTV would output is 480i, it was a no go until I got an HDTV. As far as I know, all PS3 games support 720p, so as long as your TV can do that, you should be good to go.

Here are the games I'm planning to import myself:
No More Heroes: Eiyuutachi no Rakuen - A high-def revamp of No More Heroes with bonus content. Why the hell not?
Ryu ga Gotoku 4 Densetsu wo Tsugumono - I played the demo and enjoyed the ever-loving hell out of it. May be quite an undertaking without knowing Japanese, but it wouldn't be the first time I've played through a game without knowing the language.
Toro! Let's Party! - One of those quirky Japanese mini-game collections like you used to see on the PS1 a lot. The Asian version is available in English, and it's Four-Player... I just really would like to have more party games.
Aquanaut's Holiday - This one got a lot of hype back in the day for being really unique, although now it seems like "Endless Ocean" fills the gap here in the West. Still, might be worth a look.
Hokuto Musou - It's already out in Japan. If you can't wait, grab it now. It's not like you have to know Japanese to know how to spam buttons and watch people's heads explode. Just fill in the "You're already dead" lines yourself when necessary.
Tales of Vesperia - This one is a bit iffy. We have an English version for the Xbox360, but it's pretty bare-bones compared to the PS3 version. You'll have to use your own judgment on this one.
Atelier Rorona - Apparently, this will be getting an American release. I'm kinda unsure on this ever happening, though. We haven't heard jack from NIS America, and considering how well their last project on the PS3 went, I don't hold a lot of hope.
Ar Tonelico 3 - Same situation as Atelier Rorona, although I've noticed more people talking about this one. They may be some hope for it.

[elvis]

Speaking as a PAL gamer, the region-free nature of the PS3 sold it for me.

I already own modded PS1 and PS2 consoles, so the backwards compatibility issue isn't there for me. What was the big selling point was that PAL gamers historically get shat on from a great height by local game distributors. Even today, it's pretty standard for games to come out in Australia at many times the cost of US and Japanese releases.

Super Street Fighter 4 was a recent example. I picked up the US version from Play-Asia for AU$50 delivered. A local popular retailer was selling it for AU$110, whilst the cheapest I could find it for on local soil was AU$80. So here in little old Australia we get to pay exactly double for each and every game compared to the US. And then the games biz wonders why piracy per capita in Australia is so much higher than any other western country.

I own around 15 physical PS3 games. 12 of them are bought from overseas, with the remaining three second hand local games.

XBox360 games are just as expensive here, which is the only reason why I don't own that console. The cost of actually purchasing legitimate games in this region was the deciding factor for me, above and beyond anything else.

Region free is a god-send for PAL gamers, and I hope the trend spreads to the other console manufacturers.

[Dakinggamer87]

PS3 games are Region free, PSOne, PS2, DVD, BlueRay all have region protection that is enabled. The games are region free not the console.

Yep, region free gaming!!

[Gamerforlife]

The PS3 is the best thing on the market right now. It has better, more durable media(blue ray), it's region free and it has lots of little things I appreciate. I like the menu system better than the one on the 360. I like the music, video and art work that pops up when you go to the icon for whatever game is in your system. I like the level based trophy system. Instead of worthless gamerscore, you actually level up when you get tropies, like you're in your own personal, real life rpg. I also like the easy connectability between PS3 and a computer. I appreciate all of the little things that Sony put thought into with the PS3.