PS3 in China?

[Curtass]

Hey there,

Has anyone out there bought and used a Playstation 3 in China? How did it work out? Perhaps most importantly, were you able to get it online? Let me know.

Cheers!

[maximinus]

Bought a PS3 at the local electronics mart in Harbin, 3200RMB for a 40GB silver model with a copy of GTA IV, about 4 months ago. A good price compared to what I would pay at home (U.K.)

Of course, this is China, so I had to wait 20 minutes whilst somebody got it; it came in a box for the 80GB black model; and it had been at least partially used before. But still a reasonable price, and has worked fine for me. Not tried to get it online yet though - mainly 'cos all my PS3 owning buddies are in wildly different time zones.

Biggest headache has actually been buying new games locally. I was told 750 RMB a game at one place - and I know enough Chinese to barter!

Although it pains me to say it, an Xbox 360 or Wii is maybe a better choice - in this part of China you can get any game you want on those systems for 6 RMB a shot.

[BrandeX]

most likely because unlike the PS3, the Wii and 360 are easily modded, and often done so for you prior to purchase. Those 6 rmb games are likely as legit as the 4 rmb DVD's

[maximinus]

Obviously the 6 RMB games are not legit

But more importantly - I've never *seen* a legit Xbox360 or Wii game anywhere in Harbin. So unless you buy online you have no choice but to go the illegal route for gaming.

[WAITEY]

I am moving to China early next year and talking my PS3 with me. Will I have any problems putting it in my hand luggage? If I post I get hit 20% tax? Dont trust it in the normal luggage and was thinking of hand luggage. Recommended?

Also interested to hear if the online works well. If people are struggleing to find ps3 users in china online maybe we could add each other to reduce lag?

[Curtass]

Thanks for the info, guys. Sadly, I already own an Xbox and a Wii. I really don't need a PS3, but the 360 controllers and system really annoy me.

Anyways, if anyone has managed to get their system online let me know.

WAITEY, I packed my ps2 in my carry-on and took it to Canada and back a few years ago with had no troubles. That was 3 years ago, though...

[Prodigal Son]

My friend got a PS3 on impulse a few months ago, he's been trying to sell it ever since. I got a 360 recently, games are 5rmb and there are dozens of great ones.

[WAITEY]

but does the 360 work online in China?

If so then modding your 360 gets you kicked off xbox live...if it dosent work then getting the cheap games might be tempting.

[maximinus]

Bought a router last night, plugged everything together and *bingo* - PS3 works fine online in China.

[Curtass]

Sweet! And the online service is free, right? Xbox live is around 60 bucks a year or so (not to mention that fact that I'd rather not get caught playing modded games).

I may just have to get a PS3 in upcoming weeks. Provided we have the same games, we should get a game in or two.

Thanks for the info.

[Curtass]

I am not sure if the 360 works online in China, but like someone else had said, it's pretty hard to get authentic games here. Also, the systems and games are regionalized. What this means is that if you buy your Asian-manufactured system here, and get your buddy to send you a game from overseas, it simply will not work.

Of course, if you decide to chip your system and have a computer with a DVD burner, you can download games.

[maximinus]

I was in a bit of a hurry last post, so just to clarify:

When you got through the setting up your account stuff, 'China' is not an option in the countries list. The PS3 suggested 'Hong Kong' - which I chose on the basis of getting a server nearby (or at least in the same continent) - so then I had to fill in a false address in Hong Kong to complete the process.

The drawback is, now, in the PS Store, all the prices are listed as Hong Kong dollars!

What makes is slightly worse is that the process told me that the one thing I *couldn't* change in the future was my location. Well, the only loser is Sony because it looks like I won't be buying from their store in the near future.

So if anyone gets a PS3 and registers in China, best to select your home country!

[-葛亚辉-]

For the record, I have a 360 in China (Harbin, actually) that's online and works fine. I brought it from home, though, so it isn't modded, so I have to get games shipped to me here which is a giant pain. I still enjoy it though.

That said, the connection can be sort of tenuous...my internet is slow, so when it connects me to servers in America, it can be a bit laggy--not good for someone as addicted to COD as me--but when it connects to servers in Japan, Korea or elsewhere closer by, it works beautifully.

@maximinus, where in Harbin did you find legit games? I'd love it if I could find a place here that sold regular (i.e. not pirated) 360 games, but the only place I know that even does console gaming is that stall in the giant electronics market in 教化...where else could I go? (I do speak Chinese, and don't mind haggling).

[maximinus]

There's couple of places you can get legit games for the PS3 but nowhere that I know that you can get legit 360 games.

I imagine that as soon as the PS3 encryption is broken, you won't be able to get legit PS3 games either.

It seems we have the opposite problem - I can easily buy expensive (400+ RMB) originals, whereas you can easily buy 6 RMB pirate games.