Despite the Sony Playstation 3 being a region-free device when it comes to games (Asian consoles can play US Region games, and vice-versa), I noticed that there are gamers who purchase only Region 1 (US Region) titles despite the availability of cheaper, Region 3 (Asian Region) titles.

Some of the reasons cited are the availability of manuals in full colour (as opposed to black &  white for Asian Region games) and more importantly, the availability of DLCs on the US PSN.

All these of course bring a premium to the pricing of Region 1 titles, and more often than not, you’ll have to pay a good RM 20 – RM 30 more for a particular title. As for me, I would go for the cheaper option anytime.

I have a copy of Terminator Salvation (Region 1), and the manual is in black and white.  So it’s not always the case where you’ll get a full-colour manual with your R1 game. The Asian market is pretty much mature and there shouldn’t be a problem getting DLCs, and it’s only a matter of time before a particular DLC becomes availabl after its launch on the US PSN.

So what about you? Has the economic situation forced you to evaluate your options when it comes to buying games? Does a game’s Region code matter for you (I’m asking PS3 owners on this, for Xbox 360 owners, of course it does! Blame Microsoft!)?

killzone2

Anyways, the austerity drive continues this month, and I’ve only bought one game, a secondhand copy of Killzone 2 for just RM 90 (about USD 25). My brother has been raking up the kills on this one, spending a good 6 hours on this game alone on Sunday.

Hmm, maybe I should pay a visit to Helghast, or whatever that forsaken place is called, one of these days.