I’m writing this post in case anyone else out there wants to know what will happen to a European XBox 360 (in my case, from Ireland) if it’s moved to North America (in my case, Canada). [update] The story started out not particularly great, but now, a few updates later, it is significantly better. By purchasing a new power supply, you’ll have everything you need. And although games are marked as region-specific, it turns out that many of them are not, and so by checking them against a list, you’ll find you can purchase many games in the shops, even those that are marked as “NTSC only”!
So here’s the run-down.
Buying new games in the shop: You can NOT buy North American games and play them in your European XBox360. XBox360s do not play games that were purchased in other regions, as per this. [Update: It looks like the North American versions of some XBox360 games will work with a PAL (European) XBox360! Thanks to John in the comments for the link to VideoGamesPlus at Blogspot where they test North American games in a PAL system and list the ones that work. And here's a chart at Wikipedia of Region-Free 360 titles.] For titles that aren’t region-free, you’ll need to have them shipped to you. Solution: make some friends before you leave. And maybe give them a few Euros for future postage.
Buying games through XBox Live and XBox Live Arcade: This continues to work just fine and you can purchase new XBLA games using this method. I had to change my Region from Ireland to Canada before I could sign in to Xbox Live. It updated my console before I was able to sign in (this could have been a routine update, I’m not sure).
PAL/NTSC 50Hz/60Hz: My European XBox works fine on an NTSC TV.
Watching DVDs: You can ONLY watch DVDs from the XBox’s home region. So my console rejects Region 1 (North American) DVDs.
Power Supply: The European power supply — you know, that LOUD, GRAY BRICK sitting behind your TV? — DOES NOT WORK in North America. If you use an outlet adaptor to physically plug it in, the unit will not accept as input the 110V power from North America. Trust me, I tried; the power supply gives the amber “stand by” indication, but the XBox360 console itself gives you a flashing red ring. The European XBox power supply requires an input of 200 to 240 Volts from which it will generate an output of 203 Watts for the XBox at 12V / 16.5A. Think about that for a second. 203 Watts is the equivalent of, like, 5 light bulbs.
If you go looking for a voltage adaptor that will step up the North American voltage from its native 110 or 120 volts to the required 200-240 volts, most power adaptors you’ll find will produce around 60 Watts, which is adequate for a toaster or a microwave, but not your XBox360. It sounds like this guy, Mike, had better luck finding one than I did when he moved the other way across the Atlantic.
Your alternative is to pay a fortune for a North American XBox360 Power Supply (I got mine from Future Shop.) They are scarce though, so call before you go. Mine cost $99Cdn. Ouch.
So here are the options, as far as I can see:
Option A: Buy a new XBox360 power supply in North America for ~$99Cdn. Keep your old games. Buy region-free games, and have games that aren’t region-free shipped to you.
Option B: Buy a new Xbox360 core system in North America for ~$299Cdn. Don’t bring your core system with you. Take out the hard drive. Keep all peripherals. Sell your old games that aren’t region free.
If you have any questions about this or suggestions for me, I’d be grateful to hear from you. I have it up and running now, and confirmed that I can play an NTSC title on my PAL XBox (Project Sylpheed, which specifically says on the package it is for NTSC only), but other than that, I haven’t had the time to do any gaming since I’ve been back.
BONUS LINK: If you’re interested in embarking on a cross-Atlantic move in either direction with your XBox360, you should also read Mike and Rion’s guide.
BONUS #2: On a simpler note, here’s my guide to moving a European Nintendo DS to North America: (1) Play it on the plane. (2) Go to store and purchase game for $24Cdn (approx. 16EUR) instead of 49EUR. (3) Keep playing.
Written Aug 8th, 2007 |
Regarding point #1 - some Xbox 360 games are region-free, or at least compatible across other regions, such as Gears of War or Oblivion (European version is region-compatible with US, US version isn’t compatible anywhere else - very odd.) Partial, unofficial list here: http://egamia.com/wiki/Region_Free_Xbox_360_Games
Also rather useful is the blog of videogamesplus.ca - they do region testing on most 360 games and report the status on their blog. http://vgplus.blogspot.com/search?q=region
John — thank you VERY much for those tips!! Updated the entry above.
I recently moved to Connecticut, which is near New York and I bought ma Xbox 360 from London, I just want to know if this will definately work, and would it work on American tv’s?
I wish I could tell you for sure. I am afraid to say that “it depends” but I think it does. See above regarding the power supply - that seems to be definitely something you need to consider. I am also unsure if it will work on a non-HD TV. Anyway I have been playing Halo 3 on my PAL XBox360 here in Canada, and happy.
I have a question about moving a tv and xbox 360 to ireland. I will be moving to ireland in June and was wondering if I would be able to just buy a power converter and be able to use it or do they not have the composite or component video/audio inputs?
The composite (red, yellow, white) video inputs are fairly common, as is this funny looking thing called “SCART” (look it up) — but you can readily purchase a converter that will go from red-yellow-white to SCART.
i bought an american xbox (not 360) and brought it to ireland. once you have the power converter (i imported one from hong kong for 50 euros) there’s no other compatibility issues, other than games.
i’m doing the same again with an xbox360, getting a friend to bring one from the states, because of the price difference.
Sweet… so that means i don’t have to sell my 360, but it looks like i might have to sell my lcd tv, because according to Mike and Rion’s Guide it won’t work. But they also said any gaming system wouldn’t work and you proved that wrong.
hey. i just got to switzerland and i plugerd in my american xbox360, a lil spack came out fthe power adaptor and now the power supply doesnt turn on. i guess i fried it but im not sure. in any case that i didnt burn the wholw system. can the americanxb360 work with an uropean PWsupply
TO GEORGES :
I got the same issue if he said he bought a north american 360 power supply and it worked i think the eoropean one works with the north american xbox 360 so try it out ya got nuthin to loose…
BUT YO MONEY LoL
I dont know if this is connected, i purchased 2100 points card today, im from the united kingdom, but for some reason its telling me the code isnt valid, and on my shipping information it says that i live in the united states, is this connected? is it seeing my console as an american console? im confused to what the problem is
[...] voltage converters on the net, try one of those. You could also try this for reference: Moving my European XBox 360 to North America | robburke.NET __________________ Ya dirty [...]
when i have a U.S 360 will it work on my PAL standard TV
I have a pal xbox 360 and want to take it to Japan where I will be living for a few yrs.
After reading the above, is it jus a simple case of me leaving my uk xbox power cord + supply ( the big chunky thing) and purchase a jap’s equivalent?
thanks in advance
Hey … i read you comment about power and was wondering what power rating (for a step up transformer) you would recomend for me to take my uk Pal xbox 360 over to Canada. As i read somewhere the xbox wont start on some transformers as it requires a surge of power to start
Thanks Craig
I know that Pro Evo or as its known in Canada Winning Eleven doesnt work on the xbox 360. Im from the UK originally and moved to Canada. I actually bought my xbox 360 over here in Calgary when it first came out. When i returned to England last year i i took winning eleven to try it out and it didnt work.
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-00-3-xbox360_compatibility_guide-49-en.html
this site also is pretty good for listing some others game that the others miss,
Have you tried Play Asia?
They have an extensive compatibility guide and ship free to Japan.
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-00-3-xbox360_compatibility_guide-49-en.html
i just got a u.s 360 does an english power supply work with it? i got a step down but that dosent seem to work i did try mu english ine it powered on but i was to scared to play a game lol