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Cheap Arse Gaffer |Europe| We Need To Go Cheaper

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Zafir

Member
I'm waiting for £150 bundled with NSMBU and 3DW. Almost hoping for a dismal holiday period for them in UK to force a price cut.

Back on topic: Is NFS:Rivals (PS4) priced decently anywhere? It seems to be £45+ at every single retailer. Wondering if I should just pop in to GAME after work and (begrudgingly) pay up
Can get it cheaper if you buy from the us psn. Depends whether you want to mess around with a us account and buying us psn credit from Amazon.com.

You can still play a us psn bought copy on your eu account.
 

Alpende

Member
Can get it cheaper if you buy from the us psn. Depends whether you want to mess around with a us account and buying us psn credit from Amazon.com.

You can still play a us psn bought copy on your eu account.

Hmm, so let me get this straight.

1. I make a US PSN account.
2. I login on my PS4 with the US account.
3. I buy / redeem US PSN Credit
4. I buy a game from the US Store
5. I log out of my US account and log back in on my EU account.
6. I can play the game I bought in the US Store

Is that it? Do trophies and stuff carry over? And is it legal?
 

jimi_dini

Member
Hmm, so let me get this straight.

1. I make a US PSN account.
.....

Is that it? Do trophies and stuff carry over? And is it legal?

At least that's how it worked on PS3. My actual PSN account is from HK. But I also got additional PSN accounts from UK, US + JP to buy/download stuff/enter online passes/etc.. This even works for PSN+ "free" games.

Also you won't be able to buy DLC.

He is. But DLC is region locked. Which means if he owns a US release of a game, then only US DLC will work (most of the time). The DLC is active system-wide, which means you have to get it from US PSN, but you can use a UK, HK, JP or whatever PSN account to actually play the content. (this applies to PS3, I guess it's the same on PS4)
 

Alpende

Member
Holy shit. That would be amazing for me. The USD is way cheaper. But does Sony allow this. By that I mean, can I get banned for doing it.
 
Hmm, so let me get this straight.

1. I make a US PSN account.
2. I login on my PS4 with the US account.
3. I buy / redeem US PSN Credit
4. I buy a game from the US Store
5. I log out of my US account and log back in on my EU account.
6. I can play the game I bought in the US Store

Is that it? Do trophies and stuff carry over? And is it legal?

No. Sony condones it, but according to their TOS it's illegal.

Also you won't be able to buy DLC.
 
Buy from the american amazon store. Much better value then directly buying from psn.


I was worried at 1st but once you have the amazon account up its plain sailing from there. Its tremendous value eg : nba 2k14 is $40 on amazon us which is about £25. While in the UK its still around £45.
 

Zafir

Member
Hmm, so let me get this straight.

1. I make a US PSN account.
2. I login on my PS4 with the US account.
3. I buy / redeem US PSN Credit
4. I buy a game from the US Store
5. I log out of my US account and log back in on my EU account.
6. I can play the game I bought in the US Store

Is that it? Do trophies and stuff carry over? And is it legal?
You need to go into the psn section of your ps4 when logged into the us account and make the console your primary console.

I don't think it's illegal to buy stuff from the us store as some people legitimately move countries etc and you can't change the country an account is assigned to.

As long as you play the game on your eu account your eu account will get the trophies.
Also you won't be able to buy DLC.
Not true, you can just buy the dlc for it on your US account.
 
He is. But DLC is region locked. Which means if he owns a US release of a game, then only US DLC will work (most of the time). The DLC is active system-wide, which means you have to get it from US PSN, but you can use a UK, HK, JP or whatever PSN account to actually play the content. (this applies to PS3, I guess it's the same on PS4)

So if you buy DLC on your US account and install it, you can also play it through your EU account?
 

jimi_dini

Member
So if you buy DLC on your US account and install it, you can also play it through your EU account?

Yes. On PS3 at least. I'm playing almost exclusively using my HK account all the time.
And you don't even have to install it using your US account. You only have to buy it and download from there.
Online passes work the same.
 
At least that's how it worked on PS3. My actual PSN account is from HK. But I also got additional PSN accounts from UK, US + JP to buy/download stuff/enter online passes/etc.. This even works for PSN+ "free" games.



He is. But DLC is region locked. Which means if he owns a US release of a game, then only US DLC will work (most of the time). The DLC is active system-wide, which means you have to get it from US PSN, but you can use a UK, HK, JP or whatever PSN account to actually play the content. (this applies to PS3, I guess it's the same on PS4)

I'm doing exactly this right now to redeem a dlc code that came with the american version of a game I just bought.
Had to create a new US psn account since I lost the password of my previous one.
 
I don't think it's illegal to buy stuff from the us store as some people legitimately move countries etc and you can't change the country an account is assigned to.

It IS illegal to buy stuff from the US PSN store if you don't live in the US.

Sure, if you move, it would no longer be illegal to make a US account. But then your EU account wouldn't be legal anymore.

If you want to make a new US account on your PS3, they ask for your home address. People in the EU making such an account lie about their whereabouts, which is not allowed according to Sony's TOS.

Sony isn't going to ban you for doing so at this point. But they withhold every right to do so whenever they want.
 
Yes. On PS3 at least. I'm playing almost exclusively using my HK account all the time.
And you don't even have to install it using your US account. You only have to buy it and download from there.
Online passes work the same.

That's how it worked on the ps3. I can't see why they would change it and I've not seen anyone mention it has been changed.

Alright, thanks. Didn't know about that.
 

Alpende

Member
Yes. On PS3 at least. I'm playing almost exclusively using my HK account all the time.
And you don't even have to install it using your US account. You only have to buy it and download from there.
Online passes work the same.

A slightly different scenario. I have an Australian/EU copy of BF4. If I buy Premium via my US PSN account I won't be able to use it on my main EU Account right?
 

Zafir

Member
It IS illegal to buy stuff from the US PSN store if you don't live in the US.

Sure, if you move, it would no longer be illegal. But then your EU account wouldn't be legal anymore.

If you want to make a new US account on your PS3, they ask for your home address. People in the EU making such an account lie about their whereabouts, which is not allowed according to Sony's TOS.

Sony isn't going to ban you for doing so at this point. But they withhold every right to do so whenever they want.
Pretty sure people would complain if they did ban you for it because people won't want to start games(can't earn trophies if the save is tied to another account) over, lose all the games they've legitimately bought and lose all their trophies.
 
Pretty sure people would complain if they did ban you for it because people won't want to start games(can't earn trophies if the save is tied to another account) over, lose all the games they've legitimately bought and lose all their trophies.

That might be, my point was merely that it is illegal to get yourself a US account and buy stuff there in the EU. And it's against Sony's TOS. So they could ban you for it and be completely in their rights to do so.
 

Zafir

Member
That might be, my point was merely that it is illegal to get yourself a US account and buy stuff there in the EU. And it's against Sony's TOS. So they could ban you for it and be completely in their rights to do so.
I get that bit what I mean is that I'm not sure that would stand in the European Court at the least. The fact you've legitimately bought games in the US then moved to the EU and your games in the US get revoked even though you did pay for them.

Ofcourse I'm no lawyer though so me saying this probably means very little. :p
 
I get that bit what I mean is that I'm not sure that would stand in the European Court at the least. The fact you've legitimately bought games in the US then moved to the EU and your games in the US get revoked even though you did pay for them.

Ofcourse I'm no lawyer though so me saying this probably means very little. :p

Well, I guess first of all your example is somewhat of an exception.

I'm no lawyer either, but ...
- if you move from here to the US, you can't go to European Court, because they have no jurisdiction over US residents.
- and if you would move from the US to here, and went to the European Court, I'm pretty sure the court would rule that it concerns a contract between an American company (Sony USA) and you (a then resident of the USA) and that that would be way beyond their jurisdiction.

So either way, you don't stand a chance.
 

Zafir

Member
Well, I guess first of all your example is somewhat of an exception.

I'm no lawyer either, but ...
- if you move from here to the US, you can't go to European Court, because they have no jurisdiction over US residents.
- and if you would move from the US to here, and went to the European Court, I'm pretty sure the court would rule that it concerns a contract between an American company (Sony USA) and you (a then resident of the USA) and that that would be way beyond their jurisdiction.

So either way, you don't stand a chance.
Well depends how long you've been living in eu when they do it but I suppose. It's rubbish for the consumer eitherway. Fundamental issue of digital downloads in general I suppose you only own a license so you are just at the whim of the company.
 
I'm waiting for £150 bundled with NSMBU and 3DW. Almost hoping for a dismal holiday period for them in UK to force a price cut.

Back on topic: Is NFS:Rivals (PS4) priced decently anywhere? It seems to be £45+ at every single retailer. Wondering if I should just pop in to GAME after work and (begrudgingly) pay up

That kind of price really isn't coming. If such a bundle existed at this point it going "cheap" would be £230. So £80 drop? It'll be a while... like 2 years time.
 

jimi_dini

Member
A slightly different scenario. I have an Australian/EU copy of BF4. If I buy Premium via my US PSN account I won't be able to use it on my main EU Account right?

On PS3 this wouldn't work most of the time.

And I mean it wouldn't work at all. You would get the DLC, but it wouldn't apply to your game. Could be different on PS4 though.

Actually I think it's fraud according to the law. :) Also note that you didn't pay VAT in your home country.

It isn't fraud. You are paying for the content. In fact a friend of mine from US pays stuff on my US PSN account and I pay stuff on his UK account. That way we can easily use our creditcards. And we also don't share content.

And VAT - well. I'm not sure how it works for digital sales. For physical products there is a limit and you won't have to pay anything at all until a package exceeds that limit. Most DLC is below that limit. And in theory you could pay VAT separately (send the money to the government) :p
 

Alpende

Member
On PS3 this wouldn't work most of the time.

And I mean it wouldn't work at all. You would get the DLC, but it wouldn't apply to your game. Could be different on PS4 though.

Okay thanks for explaining. I'm going to look further into the whole account thing. Having that new Amazon US PSN Digital service is way cheaper for me.
 

Dash Kappei

Not actually that important
It IS illegal to buy stuff from the US PSN store if you don't live in the US.
.

Lol wut
No it's not. Maybe against the TOS, but "illegal" as in against the law? Don't be ridiculous.
edit: didn't mean to come off as rude tho, just want to specify that :))

Dash Kappei said:
NTSC/PAL labels bear no meaning for portable games, those two are video standards. You should just refer to them as EU/US/UK/etc versions.
The NTSC/PAL division bears no meaning for portable gaming, sure, but it does hold a clear regional division as to where the game will actually work (on local systems).

It doesn't, since then you would assume an (incorrectly) labeled portable NTSC game to work on any NTSC console, while that isn't the case since Japan uses NTSC as well, it's not a NA only thing.

EU/US/UK/etc does not as EU and UK are in the same region. UK is part of the EU actually even though they don't always want to be. ;-)

Actually it does, since it's used to distinguish EU skus to UK skus, where in some cases you have the same pressed disc for all of EU while a different one just for UK (like Sony's first party stuff), which means language options present in the disc are different between the two versions. For some Nintendo portable titles (and also some X360/Ps3 games) it is actually necessary to also distinguish between regional version within EU, with games ranging from supporting only the local language (some of Layton's or Inazuma Eleven for example) or be all different kinds of Multi 2, Multi 3 (like PES) or Multi 5 releases. Multi 7 releases tend to be the same everywhere.
 

demonkaze

Member
How would the US amazon thing work if I was looking to get ACIV for example and would I be able to then play and earn the trophies on my EU PSN account?
 
Lol wut
No it's not. Maybe against the TOS, but "illegal" as in against the law? Don't be ridiculous.
edit: didn't mean to come off as rude tho, just want to specify that :))

I assume you have a US PSN account. If not, try making one. About the first thing you have to do is enter your (complete or partial, I don't remember) home address. So about the first thing you do on there is lie about that.

For people doubting that this is fraudulent behaviour, there is this Wikipedia page.

If you then buy anything from the US PSN store using that fake address, you're probably using an address in a state where you don't have to pay taxes on your purchase. So not only do you evade VAT in your home country, but you're making your "crime" worse by exploiting the US tax system for personal gain.

@Jimi_dini: your argument about your purchase having to be above the import tax amount is completely void. Even if you're importing something cheap, you still have to report the cost of the imported goods, and clearly you're not doing that.

It's not because it's easy and loads of people do it, that it is legal.

It doesn't, since then you would assume an (incorrectly) labeled portable NTSC game to work on any NTSC console, while that isn't the case since Japan uses NTSC as well, it's not a NA only thing.

Actually it does, since it's used to distinguish EU skus to UK skus, where in some cases you have the same pressed disc for all of EU while a different one just for UK (like Sony's first party stuff), which means language options present in the disc are different between the two versions. For some Nintendo portable titles (and also some X360/Ps3 games) it is actually necessary to also distinguish between regional version within EU, with games ranging from supporting only the local language (some of Layton's or Inazuma Eleven for example) or be all different kinds of Multi 2, Multi 3 (like PES) or Multi 5 releases. Multi 7 releases tend to be the same everywhere.

You're making it way too complicated. :) Just sticking to PAL/NTSC is so much easier for a Euro cheap arse GAF'er. The point of the original poster on here was to see, from a Euro perspective, what game works on Euro systems and what doesn't. And in my limited understanding of things, UK copies work on German systems, even though they are different SKUs.
 

jimi_dini

Member
@Jimi_dini: your argument about your purchase having to be above the import tax amount is completely void. Even if you're importing something cheap, you still have to report the cost of the imported goods, and clearly you're not doing that.

The cost of imported goods is written on the package itself. The sender has to declare it. I personally don't have to report anything. Customs will stop packages with a higher value and I would have to collect it and pay the fees (I do exactly that quite regulary). They will also stop packages at random and check the contents/check the value, that is written on the package.

If I buy something worth $5 from US PSN and report that to a customs official, he would think I'm crazy, laugh at me and send me home.
 
The cost of imported goods is written on the package itself. The sender has to declare it. I personally don't have to report anything. Customs will stop packages with a higher value and I would have to collect it and pay the fees (I do exactly that quite regulary). They will also stop packages at random and check the contents/check the value, that is written on the package.

If I buy something worth $5 from US PSN and report that to a customs official, he would think I'm crazy, laugh at me and send me home.

True, but technically it IS what the law prescribes. Either the seller or you have to declare the value of imported goods. If the price is on the package, that part is dealt with.

And in reality you're not buying just something worth $5 obviously. You probably already have a good deal of stuff on your Hong Kong account, all of which remains unreported to your local customs official. ;-)
 

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
ShopTo has some promotion running now. For Wii U they have:

Mario 3d World for £32.86
Batman Arkham Origins for £19.85
Mario & Sonic at Sochi 2014 for £19.85
Deus EX for £19.85
 
Really tempted by that Vita Tearaway bundle on amazon.de for 149 euros. I also have a 10 euro voucher. Having to spend at least another 25 euros on an 8 gig memory card is what's killing me though.
 

zaphod79

Member
True, but technically it IS what the law prescribes. Either the seller or you have to declare the value of imported goods. If the price is on the package, that part is dealt with.

At the risk of derailing the thread (apologies feel free to ignore or split this out) what is your view on Borderlinx

http://www.borderlinx.com/

They offer you an american address you can have things shipped to , they will then ship them to you (you pay them to handle the packages and to mail them on to you)

Is their whole business model illegal because when asked for a delivery address i enter their details and have things shipped there and then on to me ?

From what I can see when creating a US PSN account it asks me to enter billing information and an address - it doesnt ask me where I live ?
 

Danj

Member
I thought eshop game codes marked as Download on GAME's website would be immediate delivery via the website or email, is that not the case?
 
At the risk of derailing the thread (apologies feel free to ignore or split this out) what is your view on Borderlinx

http://www.borderlinx.com/

They offer you an american address you can have things shipped to , they will then ship them to you (you pay them to handle the packages and to mail them on to you)

Is their whole business model illegal because when asked for a delivery address i enter their details and have things shipped there and then on to me ?

From what I can see when creating a US PSN account it asks me to enter billing information and an address - it doesnt ask me where I live ?

Do you actually live on that address (or do you have a business set up there)? No? Then it's address fraud.

Look, people do as they like, I'm not judging anyone. Nor do I judge businesses like Borderlinx. Someone on here just wanted to know if buying games through US PSN is legal. Well, I think it's not. Only, Sony condones it and all of our tax collectors don't know about it or don't seem to care.

About Borderlinx: I guess technically you're also committing address fraud, unless they actually buy your order for you. Then it would be as if you bought your order from them instead of the store they got it from, and it would be considered a normal financial transaction between you and Borderlinx. Also when they post your order to you, customs gets to review whatever you're importing and have you pay VAT and import taxes. Unless Borderlinx marks down the value of your order. They would then be liable of mail fraud.

Edit: given Silex' comment below, I'll try to clarify what I meant. If you use the US address Borderlinx provided you with as billing address on Amazon, you are liable to address fraud, because neither do you live there or do you have a business at said address. If you only use the Borderlinx address as a shipping address, it could be considered as if you, as a European, bought something for your "USA friend" (Borderlinx), who would then resell it to you. Also, as said above, if you pay them to order your product for you, have it sent to their office, and then forward it to you, everything is legal (provided that you pay VAT and import taxes if those apply of course).

Iirc if you want to order a digital download from Amazon.com (either for PC or now in their new PlayStation Store), you have to provide them with a USA billing address. So there is no way to do that legally.
 
Please, please, please don't commit address fraud it funds terrorist organisations and illegal dog fights.

Remember that when you're playing Ni No Kuni on the cheap. You wouldn't download a street sign.
 

Danj

Member
I got my code for Super Mario 3D World the second I payed via PayPal.

Huh, so why haven't mine come through? Can't be the bank rejecting it due to anti fraud as I'd have had an automated call - and it went through 3D Secure OK. Is it just because it was a large purchase (I bought 4 games at once)?

EDIT: found this bullshit in their delivery FAQs:

GAME legal bullshit said:
NB - Please note that all of our orders, including orders for download products, are subject to authorisation checks by our accounts team before being processed. This may therefore delay the despatch of your order or sending of your download code until the next working day.

So lame. I won't get them till Monday :( wanted to play this weekend
 
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