[D8/ipl_3%2?gaUv,-4="sd!iO]

Sorry for the ambiguous thread title. It was the best I could come up with. I will also apologize in advance for asking what must seem like basic questions to some of you.

I bought a secondary PS3 earlier this year, before the recent scene advances were made(DEX conversion, NODRM's True Blue eboot fixes et cetera). I bought the console to be able to play newer games becase I kept my other PS3 on 3.55 and still do. The new one I purchased is now on the newest firmware and I enjoy having the ability to play games online. The major reason I bought a new PS3 was because I looked forward to playing a couple of games in particular. One of them, Persona 4: Arena, would come to pose several problems. Looking at the European distributor's track record I predicted that the European version would be delayed. I therefor planned on importing the American version from the start(I'm a European if that wasn't clear by now). I didn't suspect that they would region lock the game though, and this is essentially my problem. I'm impatient and I want to play the game and I come here seeking some clarification as well as help.

From my understanding a DEX console can play 4.21 backups with the help of something called PS3gen. This much I have gathered from searching these forums. Seeing as how the game won't be getting an eboot any time soon I'm looking for suggestions on how I would best go about playing the game as soon as possible. I would very much like to avoid having to buy an American PS3.

If I converted my CEX machine to a DEX one and had a legit copy of the game, I would still have to deal with the region restriction, right? I was told by a kind user here that the region restriction is realized with an option in the param.sfo, so it would be easy enough to fix for someone with the skills to edit it. Please inform me if this information and these assumptions of mine are incorrect.

So what would you advice me to do; convert to DEX and hope someone fixes the param.sfo, or wait patiently for the ever delayed European release? Thank you and sorry for the long introduction.

[ryant001]

I edited a lot of param.sfo files but i never saw the option to region lock the game in any of them, maybe your friend confused it with the regional parental lock.
That said, Dex does have the option to change the region settings but i don't know if it works for games as Persona 4 is the only game up until now with region lock on ps3.
Alternatively you can use the cex2dex conversion not to convert to dex but instead to change the region id inside the nor\nand making your ps3 100% usa but you will still have to wait for an eboot fix since you won't be able to play it on 3.55(if you have a hardware flasher you could change id and update to 4.21 ofw and play to your heart content then downgrade again to 3.55 when you are finished).

[pereb27]

I highly doubt the PS3's firmware supports region locking, so it's most likely code in the game itself, to get rid of the lock you'd have to edit the game, therefore the EBOOT, which as you know is impossible.
Using DEX *should* work, however isnt P4A an online only game (IIRC its the reason Atlus decided to region lock it)? In which case this is completely useless to you as you can't go online on DEX.

[ryant001]

@pereb27 The game is similar to Blazblue and does have an offline story/arcade mode so if you don't care about online multiplayer you can play it anyway.

[D8/ipl_3%2?gaUv,-4="sd!iO]

@ryant001 Well the person said it probably was the parameter called region deny in param.sfo(http://www.ps3devwiki.com/wiki/PARAM.SFO#REGION_DENY). His complete reply was this: http://www.ps3hax.net/showpost.php?p...6&postcount=17. I'm sorry to say I'm not as knowledgeable as I'd like to be when it comes to this so it's possible I interpreted the person incorrectly. Unfortunately I don't own a hardware flasher and if I am to wait for eboot then I don't feel like I have the need to go over to DEX, as I would have to wait for an eboot either way. Thanks for the suggestion though.

@pereb27 I'm looking to play the game for its story mode and do some vs battles with my friends. I can hold out on online until it's out here I reckon.

So the question if it would be possible to play that game on a DEX console of the incompatible region remains then? Any other suggestions?

[ryant001]

Originally Posted by D8/ipl_3%2?gaUv,-4="sd!iO @ryant001 Well the person said it probably was the parameter called region deny in param.sfo(http://www.ps3devwiki.com/wiki/PARAM.SFO#REGION_DENY). His complete reply was this: http://www.ps3hax.net/showpost.php?p...6&postcount=17 Unfortunately I don't own a hardware flasher and if I am to wait for eboot then I don't feel like I have the need to go over to DEX. Thanks for the suggestions though.

Well, i checked Persona 4 param.sfo and there is no such parameter so, as pereb27 said, it must have been hardcoded inside the eboot.

The flasher thing was just for cex but since you have the original disk, if you feel confident enough,you could still try to convert to dex and see if changing region in the debug setting makes the game playable(no need for eboot fix).

[D8/ipl_3%2?gaUv,-4="sd!iO]

Originally Posted by ryant001 Well, i checked Persona 4 param.sfo and there is no such parameter so, as pereb27 said, it must have been hardcoded inside the eboot. The flasher thing was just for cex but since you have the original disk, if you feel confident enough,you could still try to convert to dex and see if changing region in the debug setting makes the game playable(no need for eboot fix).

Sadly I don't have the original disc. I would have no issues with importing it if I knew for a fact that I could circumvent the region lock using the method you described. I do have a backup of the game though. I might try a DEX conversion and attempt to change the region settings, like you said. I'll have to think about that for a bit though. Being inexperienced overall when it comes to messing with the PS3 I wouldn't want to go through the whole DEX conversion process for something that only might work.

I appreciate the elaborate replies. Thank you.

[pereb27]

You have a weird definition of "backup" :P

[D8/ipl_3%2?gaUv,-4="sd!iO]

Originally Posted by pereb27 You have a weird definition of "backup" :P

I want to buy the game but I thought the implication that I had no problem with pirating it was clear enough.

I buy all games I consider good enough or that I really want to play. This game is posing problems either way for me. Not easy trying to do things the legitimate way when the publishers antagonize the consumers to this degree though.

[D8/ipl_3%2?gaUv,-4="sd!iO]

I'm going to bump this with a last question. Is there anyone here who can confirm that an American version of P4A would be playable on European DEX PS3? Anyone tried it or read about someone who did? Thank you and sorry for bumping the thread. I'll refrain from doing it again in case I get no other replies.