Are Sony PSP's regionally encoded?

My question is: I am going to buy my husband the White Sony PSP, from Japan. I am not a technical wizard, so, I would like to know if there is a difference between the American version of the psp and the Japanese version. I tried reading what you have on your website, but i really don't catch what you are trying to say. Please Help Me!

Dave's Answer:

I see variations on this question with some frequency, actually. I think it's the "eBay effect" where sellers in Asia can offer really good deals on the Sony PSP, but don't bother to mention that they are indeed regionally encoded devices.

Just like how DVD disks are encoded for one of seven different geographic regions, the Sony PSP is now also regionally encoded. Though I don't know how many regions they've chosen, I imagine that it maps directly onto the DVD space.

Here's how that breaks down for DVDs, at least:

Region 01: Canada, U.S., U.S. Territories.

Region 02: Europe, Eastern Europe, the Middle East.

Region 03: Southeast Asia, East Asia (including Hong Kong)

Region 04: Australia, New Zealand, Central and South America, Caribbean

Region 05: Former Soviet Union, Indian Subcontinent, Africa (also North Korea, Mongolia)

Region 06: China

Let me repeat this again, since I do hear from unhappy PSP customers:

Sony PSP devices are regionally encoded and if you buy one from the wrong region, you won't be able to play UMD movies and, possibly, UMD games

If you think this through, it also means that it's a mistake to buy games from the wrong region too: I have heard at least one report of someone who bought an overseas game and then couldn't get it to run properly on his Sony PSP. I'm sure that it was just money thrown away, because Sony won't replace it, the game manufacturer doesn't want to know about tricky money-saving sales, and the auction seller probably says it's something wrong with the PSP device.

Having said that, I also get the impression that the regional encoding system has been added after the fact: if you have an early Sony PSP unit still running firmware 1.5 or similar, it might well be the case that your device is not regionally encoded, though I haven't experimentally verified that and wouldn't bet hundreds of dollars on this theory!

Anyway, I would encourage you not to buy the cool white PSP from Japan if you aren't also planning on buying all your UMD movies and games from Japan too. The risk of having a "brick" is just too high, even though the white PSP is clearly a sexy alternative to the standard black one. Hopefully Sony will release white PSPs into the US market some time this year...

If anyone has more specific information about PSP regional encoding,please do add it to this discussion so we can figure out exactly what's going on!

Update: According to Euro Gamer.net, Sony PSPs are not regionally encoded for games. Nonetheless, I still hear stories, so still, caveat emptor.

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Categorized: iPod, Sony PSP and MP3 Player Help (Article 5843, Written by Dave Taylor)
Tagged: psp, sony psp, umd regional encoding
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Reader Comments To Date: 26

Cynthia said, on January 19, 2006 4:00 PM:

Thank you so much!! You saved me money, and a broken heart! My husband would've been crushed if he had the psp in his hands and not have been able to play any games.. Thank you so very much Dave..

Ellord said, on January 19, 2006 8:31 PM:

Hey,

Sony says that UMD Games are region free, according to this article:
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=58810

But Sony told us the PSP will continue to use a 'worldwide' code system for games, "which means that games purchased anywhere in the world will run on any PlayStation Portable".
...
"For movies or other UMD video content, it is up to the publishers of the content to decide whether to adopt a region code," says Sony. So don't blame them cos your US copy of Bella Loves Jenna won't work on your UK PSP, in other words.

Dave Taylor said, on January 19, 2006 9:17 PM:

I'd like to believe that, Ellord, but if Sony says individual companies can "regionalize" UMD disks, wouldn't it be logical to assume the company will allow game manufacturers to regionalize UMD game disks too?

unanumous65 said, on January 31, 2006 5:32 AM:

what is a psp hack

guiman said, on January 31, 2006 5:33 PM:

Can't you buy a psp and put the US firmwre on it?

james said, on February 14, 2006 10:31 AM:

ive recently bought a white psp from japan (yesasia.com) and so far it has played al the games that ive bought from the uk but ive not tried to play any umd movies yet but if the games work i think the movies will aswell james valentine workington

dstein said, on February 17, 2006 2:53 PM:

Games from any region will play on all PSPs, however only UMD movies from the region you bought your PSP in will play on it. However, I heard a rumor that if you download a specific (i.e. American) region's firmware this will allow you to play movies from that region. This has not been verified by me but you can try it.

Dan said, on August 24, 2006 10:08 AM:

I'm yet another PSP buyer who should have waited until he came back from holiday! One thing I found was that when playing FIFA 06 (game and PSP bought in the US) using adhoc connection to a UK region FIFA 06 player it does not work! Otherwise UK games have been fine.

My advice to anybody with the UMD Video region issue is to buy a DVD to MP4 conversion tool (CUCUSOFT) and a bigger chip (bought a cheap 2Gb one from Amazon). I had wasted many hours looking for the solution (cheats hacks etc) and have one UK region UMD Video of Spongebob (bought for my daughter) gathering dust. I won't be wasting any more of time or money on UMD Videos!

steve said, on October 11, 2006 6:27 PM:

umd movies don't work one the white psp i just got escaflowne
and can't see it because of the region code

Jayson said, on December 3, 2006 11:06 AM:

Well... I sure hope that "Breath of Fire 3" works on my PSP. I just bought it from the UK and I am from Australia.

Me and my family went for a trip to America about 2 months back and I bought "Loco Roco" and it worked on my Australian PSP.

I wouldn't buy a white PSP though unless I was completely sure it would work with all different UMD's. Perhaps ask a more reliable source.

colten said, on April 8, 2007 9:06 PM:

You CANT play UMD movies from US on the white psp. I bought it and it wouldn't work.....but everything else works fine, including games.

martin steele said, on May 6, 2007 9:48 AM:

My PSP is Japanese and I am having trouble connecting to the internet, I get so far and then when it comes to testing the connection it is timing out on me whilst trying to obatin the IP address? Any suggestions, please help.
Regards
Martin

johnny said, on July 29, 2007 3:08 AM:

Just to add to this debate, Sony recently added a small note on their UK PSP site in the troubleshhoting section that says some UMD games might not work on a different region machine.
I discovered recently after updating my firmware on a UK PSP that the SOCOM 2 game I had bought in America no longer worked on my UK PSP (all I was getting on my psp was the message cannot read disc).
I rang Sony's helpline and I was told that an algorithm had been added to the later firmware that prevented me from playing this particluar game. No doubt the problem I have with this game could have something to do with the fact that Sony are the publishers and they are not keen on people importing/buying their games overseas at half the cost that they are in the UK.
I'm unsure whether this problem is specific to the SOCOM 2 game or whether it will also apply to futute games published by Sony.

kieran said, on October 14, 2007 4:11 AM:

Hey,my psp dosent turn on and i dont know what to do. Should I pay for repairs wot do you think?

Edgar said, on December 29, 2007 11:33 PM:

We are from Mexico and my son just got his PSP from US due to it's price and because in my country we never find anything but from US, anyway we are moving to live to Australia in 4 months wich is region 4 same as mexico, but what happen to its video output of the new slim model in Australia is PAL and in Mexico NTSC in spite is the same region, Does the PSP output both video systems?

Rhea Arthur said, on December 28, 2008 1:06 PM:

Can a Japanese PSP be modified..?

ronnie matthews said, on February 4, 2009 1:05 PM:

there has got to be a way to get around the regional encoding so i can hypothetically play a umd movie from Australia while in America. I'll just keep looking.

Ronan said, on May 8, 2009 7:37 AM:

I Have an American psp and want to get a GO EXPLORE GPS from the USA and use it in Europe will it work THANKS

gjeru said, on June 26, 2009 1:16 PM:

my father had a cellphone that came with a usb cable that fits in my psp,and when i test the usb conection it says usb mode but when i try to download somthing it dose not work.it is a 2.0 usb cable.is that the wrong usb cabe, and can you please send me a video showing how to do it step by step thank you

azka said, on May 27, 2010 2:05 PM:

my psp is from United KIngdom, does it gonna work if i using UMD disk from asia,(indonesia)?

please someone answer me.
ta.

Alex said, on July 21, 2010 11:29 AM:

I've got an European PSP and I just want to know: If I buy a game from USA... Can I play it on my PSP??
By the way; it's Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep

Doug said, on August 13, 2010 7:15 PM:

We bought a PSP go from "international departures" in Singapore and brought is back to the US. We can get on-line no problem but so far we have been unable to down load any games. Sony USA basically told us “tough luck pal” and that we would need to contact Sony Asia for help. It seems that Sony don’t really care after they have made the sale and just give customers the run around. Compare this to when Microsoft had reliability issues with the X box, they backed up their product 100% and fixed all issues for free, not even a dime for shipping.

Rudy Hernandez said, on January 3, 2011 11:06 AM:

I bought a psp hear in South west Asia Afghanistan. Little did I know about regions and what not. So my psp is currently on region 03 how could I possibly convert it to region 01 United States of America? Please help me that I didn't throw money down the drain?

Dave Taylor said, on January 3, 2011 12:06 PM:

Rudy, I can't vouch for it, but here's some information I found online that should be relevant:

Unfortunately, Sony makes specific games for specific regions and/or continents. You cannot change the region of your psp unless you have what hackers call "Custom Firmware abbrev. CFW". Once you have successfully gotten custom firmware on your psp you can do all sorts of things that sony doesnt let you do with an official firmware. If you do not know how to get Custom Firmware on your psp, i took the freedom to make a guide just for you, complete with step-by-step instructions. the guide can be found here: http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/708959.

As usual, you're on your own if you hack or tweak your PSP, so be aware before you take that step: Sony won't support you once that's happened.

Alex Martt said, on November 12, 2011 5:33 PM:

I have a North American PSP and it plays both North American games and Japanese games. I have Salamander Portable, Parodius Portable and Twinbee Portable, all japan-only releases, and they work perfectly well.

tisha said, on June 4, 2012 9:21 AM:

i recently bought a psp for my daughter and the place u put the games in has tore up any suggestions on how to get it fixed?

I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

Are Sony PSP's regionally encoded?

Reader Comments To Date: 26

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!

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