Hi all
Hope this is the right forum. As it's kind of related to price/bargain (trying to get FIFA 12 for as cheap as possible), I thought it would be alright to post here.
Thinking of getting FIFA 12 (currently $62.76 AUD) from Play-Asia or Ozgameshop ($64.99). I know it's not that much cheaper than the $69 price at many places right now, but this is Ozbargain afterall and any saving is a saving =P and I'm not in a major hurry to get it (after trying it out at JB Hi-Fi, it's not actually that much different to FIFA 11).
My concerns:
1. Online play - I believe this is dependent on whether it is PAL or NTSC. I would imagine it is PAL (Asia? since US is NTSC) and if I'm not wrong, all PALs can play against each other? So there is no "region" division but "format" division (i.e. PALs on one online server, NTSCs on another online server).
2. Asian version - DLC content? - I don't mind, as long as any DLC from the PSN store that I connect to from here in Aus allows me to get all the relevant DLC
3. Trade-in value - I would probably want to trade this in in the future. Would getting it off Play-Asia prevent me from being able to trade it in?
I imagine getting it off Ozgameshop would be safer in relation to my concerns, but I'd just like to clarify. And I'd also like an opinion on which one might be better out of PlayAsia and Ozgameshop overall? Just thinking about their loyalty program (accumulating points).
In the future, is there an easy way for me to answer the above 3 concerns? For example, is it just as easy as being NTSC vs PAL?
Thanks in advance
1: online play should be fine, pal and ntsc dont really matter for ps3 games. Depending on the game, you should also be able to choose which regions server you access
2: asian dlc can be a pain, but you can work around getting dlc with an asian psn account
3: generally trade ins are possible atleast at stores, some people will say you can do it, others will say you will get a arsehole that just says no. Naturally you will get a lower price if you sell it on ebay, which is a better option to sell games you no longer want or need
Generally speaking, games from the uk and games in australia share the same dlc codes (look for a code on the spine of a game that is something like BLES00962) when you access the psn store, this is the code you should match with your game before buying dlc.
ozgameshop are a quality option, but sometimes they do sell asian titles, with which if you research this, people say it wasnt made clear to them, so you can never be really too sure.
me personally, i stick to zavvi/the hut more or less as im prepared to wait for it to come in the post if its a really good price and I dont have to worry about any dlc issues.
Occasionally I buy locally, like i did with fifa 12, as ive heard you couldnt connect online with certain parts of previous titles (but eb were flogging a free soccer ball too)
to summarize, if the game you want might or will have dlc, avoid a ntsc copy, if you dont want that dlc, or it wont have any, there is no problem with a ntsc copy