Erinu wrote:If you have purchased arcade games in your region and then take your HDD and use it on a Japanese console, you'll have to buy your arcade games again.
Boy, there seems to be quite a lot of FUD flying around the topic of importing a 360. Let's see if I can help clear things up. I'm speaking from experience, since I had a US Premium 360 since day one, which I later replaced it with a JP Core.
First, your US/EU XBLA account will work just fine if you move your HDD to a new import unit. The catch is, if you bought XBLA games on your old 360, you were able to play the full version across all your user accounts. If you move your HDD you will only be able to play the full version using the account that bought the game, also only while connected to Live I believe. All the other sub accounts will have access to the demo version. This is also the case if you move your HDD to a replacement unit from the same territory, i.e. if you upgrade to a HDMI capable Elite.
All accessories work exactly the same, as has been stated. I added my Premium HDD, wireless controller, and cables (have cables ever been region locked?) on the JP Core without any problems. All my XBLA accounts have worked perfectly since then (although I don't play multiplayer, only browse the Marketplace), the US gold, and the silver JP account, which I've had set up on my US console, all transfered over without a hitch. The motherboard is the component that determines region. The region locked demo of Love Football (was that the name? I don't remember, that Namco soccer game) wouldn't play on the old US system, but loaded up just fine after the switchover. (Although Namco will sometimes fuck you with games that read the DVD-ROM's region in addition to the console region, Trusty Bell demo? Thank you jerks.)
The biggest catch you'll face is obviously the region lock for software. The misconception is that HK versions of games are region-free, where JP versions are locked. That's not entirely true. The HK/Asia version is usually the exact same disc as the country-of-origin version (Gears of War = US disc, Senko no Ronde = JP disc, use the Play-Asia guide). Therefore anyone hoping that the HK version of RFA will be magically region-free is setting themselves up for disappointment. You're much more likely to encounter region-free US/EU games than JP/Asia ones, so getting an import 360 really is the best option until a true region-free solution is found.
Hope that helps some of you make the right choice. I bought a JP 360 for Oneechanbara, which turned into a bit of a let down. But nowadays with all these shooting and RPG games coming out left and right, my decision is starting to look like a hell of a smart one. Who'd have thunk it, 360 = JP goodness?
By the way, the RFA demo has been re-listed on Major Nelson's blog, does that mean it's available to silver members? I can't check myself right now.
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