Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jonbowman88]

Im know basically nothing about xbox 360s and im thinking of buying one. Asking for a little help, what is the difference or pros/cons of buying a US xbox opposed to a Korean one?

Any input would be most appreciated thanks!

[Boffo97]

I don't know much about 360's either. But I would advise considering a PS3 instead due to one big advantage: PS3 does not have region coding on games, so games bought here in Korea and in the US all will work.

As well, PS3 is a Blu-Ray player, and Korea and US are in the same Blu-Ray region.

[ShaunB]

Firstly, US consoles are NTSC and Korean consoles are NTSC-J. So your first problem is Korean games wont work on a US console. You�d have to purchase your games from www.playasia.com. You can also use playasia to see which games are region free and then you can buy those games locally. That being said, you still have to be careful which games have English menus and voices.

I�m currently using a PAL console, as I�m from South Africa. I intend to get a Korean console as well and then hopefully I can tell you if Korea get the Japanese or Asian NTSC-J games (I�d assume the Asian version though). If it is the Asian version, then there�s a 90% chance it�ll be in English.

So of the 2, a Korean console is better while in Korea. Or as mention, you could get a PS3 as the games aren�t region locked � but you still gotta be careful in case the game isn�t in English. Also, its nice to have a BR player � I never knew Korean and US BR regions were the same, so that�s a bonus for you.

IMO, I own both PS3 and 360 and I prefer the 360 � I left my PS3 in SA as I never even played any of the 8 games I bought for it. But that�s just personal preference.

[texasspangler]

As for cons on either buying a korean or US xbox there are only a couple of differences.

1) The power source. US is 110 watts and you will need a step down convertor since korea outlets are 220 watt. (convertors can run between 20K - 50K)

2) Region locked. As others have stated this I won't go into it.


3) Getting games. If you can find region free games then you are in the clear. Some examples would be the fable series or battlefield bad company series.

4) Taking it home or selling it here. I am guessing that it will be a bit easier to resell your xbox if you decide not to take it home if you have a korean version.

5) PS3 I have thought really hard about either buying a new xbox or ps3 myself (I just sold my xbox). It all depends on your taste in games. Most sports games are on both consoles and so are many other titles. But xbox and ps3 have exclusive titles. If you like halo and and fable xbox is the one want. PS3 has their own I am not sure what they all are I know gran trismo is PS3 exclusive.


So those are a couple of things to think about. I hope my 2 cents helps a little.

Jake

[ShaunB]

@Jake - you mentioned the Fable series when talking about games being region free... I know Fable 3 is region free, but do you know if the Korean version has English? The retailer I first asked said it was Korean only, but it was before I could read the language... maybe I should check again myself.

[jayfromchicago]

As someone living here owning an american xbox, korean xbox, and a ps3 i could give you some advice. i've had my US xbox for 5 years until it finally RRoD for the 2nd time about a month ago. I've lived here for 2 1/2 years and during that time i haven't encountered any games that were not region free. every game i bought which was a major release like Gears of War, Modern Warfare, Battlefield, Borderlands, Red Dead Redemption etc. and had no problem playing them on my US 360. I don't play any sports games that much anymore so i can speak for them. Also 99% of the korean games are in english, the only ones that haven't been since ive been here were Halo: ODST and Halo: Reach. I've heard CoD World at War was in korean but black OPs was in english.

Now that my US 360 died i decided to buy a Korean 360 slim for ease of A/S and the ease of buying games from a local dealer here in Ilsan. Saves me a 3 hour trek going down to Yongsan and picking one up or ordering from playasia. So if your close to Yongsan and you dont care about A/S (which if buying an older one you should) and you dont plan to resell it, go for a US version. Otherwise go with a Korean version.

For the ps3 its going to come down to personal taste. Both pretty much have the games. PS3 has a few more single player games like god of war and infamous whereas the 360 has a way better structured and active online base. granted you'll get a few annoying 10 year olds but its easy to mute and i find it easier to navigate and a better experience playing online games on the 360. Also in my opinion, the 360 has a better designed controller for FPS/Action games and the PS3 for sports/fighting games.

hope this helps!

[jonbowman88]

Thanks a lot for your replies

[texasspangler]

Hey sorry about the late reply with the fable games everything is in English but it offers korean subtitles and other languages also. I know a couple of guys have sold their versions

http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?p=2520112

and they had korean editions and everything was in English.


Jake

[Taiwantroll]

Almost everything is region free these days. I can't think of an Xbox 360 game that is locked. Same as PS3.

[bourquetheman]

[Taiwantroll]

Oh I don't play sports games so I guess that would be why...

[spanky1off]

ive got both ps3 and 2 korean xboxes.

pros for ps3 - some great exclusives, standouts being God of War 3, Little Big Planet, Unchartered. Bluray...but if ur like me u just torrent your hd movies anyways so this is kinda redundant. Free online play. No stupid region locks to worry about!

i would say one pro for xbox now would be price on 2nd hand units...i picked up 2 2nd hand xboxes. 1 for 160k with 2 controllers and a few games. i use this for online and dlc. another modded one ive had a year bought for 240k and came with 120gb hard drive and 4 controllers and a ton of games. u just cant find deals like this for 2nd hand ps3.

if u decide on an xbox and want to buy new i recommend u go for the package that includes kinect. its about 370k (120gb hard drive +70k). seperately the kinect is 190k and new xbox arcade is 260k so in effect the package is 80k cheaper than buying them new seperately.

dont forget whatever u do dont stand it up on its side. maybe its a problem with older xboxes but it scratched up 3 of my disks before i figured out the problem. havent had scratched disks since its been laid flat.

quite honestly tho...buy a pc and play 32 player battlefield bad company 2!! this game has left all my other games gathering dust.