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RGA
10-15-2011, 08:41 PM
So I went out yesterday looking for the PS3 and they seem to sell a variety of options - black, White or Blue. All supposedly the same but the Blue one costs a lot more.

But one shop - right when you walk into the giant computer/gaming mart made an interesting offer.

The regular PS3 Slim 160gig at $1980HKD and option 2 $3680. Option 2 comes with an external hard drive 1tb that connects to the USB of the PS3 - but it comes with 108 big name PS3 games - the catch is you can't perform a system update or play online games. I suspect it's a "hacked" PS3 but there was a language barrier and this was an actual shop not some back alley. But with games costing about $40US getting 108 games and all the major titles it's quite a deal. Roughly $4000 in games! So it's obviously some sort of hack.

I didn't think the PS3 could be hacked like this - I knew they were hacked for system information but to copy a game to a hard drive and connect it to the USB seems a glaring hole in the Sony machine.

I went home without buying either. Interestingly PS3 games here even when sold are about half the price they are in the US. I am not sure how companies like Sony can combat this - suing poor people seems pointless since they can't pay Sony to make it worth Sony's time or effort to bring the lawsuits (and jail time costs taxpayers huge amounts of money in a nation that will fall apart financially soon as it is). And they don't seem to be able to stop the hacks. Further - they may increase the price to compensate for theft but the higher the prices the more people will likely opt for the hacked machines.

$250 US is basically giving a person 108 games that would cost around $4000 on an average of around $40 a title. And for that $250 you get an external hard. If they are doing this with XBOX you'd have to think these companies would do a better job of preventing such hacks. Granted Sony has prevented online play with these machines and you can't system update or all the games are lost. Still there is a lucrative underground but for a store by the entrance of a large mart to immediately offer such a thing is surprising for a very "legal" country which seems to enforce laws for every little thing like eating or drinking in the subway.

rightaway
10-16-2011, 12:57 PM
i wouldnt buy a hack ps3. what if you have problems, than what?

RGA
10-17-2011, 12:47 AM
I'm not sure anything has actually been done to the PS3 though. From what I am reading people have hacked a given patch - 3.5. So they sell you a machine that has the 3.5 update. You connect and external hard drive to the USB input on the PS3. All the games are on the external drive.

Nothing has been opened or changed internally - the machine itself they are not charging you anymore money for. The issue is that new machines have a higher patch number - 3.6 or so.

Still I will probably just buy the regular version - who the hell has time to play 108 games anyway - I maybe play 3-4 in a whole year as they take so long to play to the end.

Mygaffer
10-29-2011, 12:08 AM
Then a new game comes out that you want to play but wait, it requires an update, well I guess you won't be playing it then. There will always be piracy, they do a good enough job of keeping it to reasonable levels, don't let them convince you otherwise.

RGA
10-30-2011, 07:49 PM
Then a new game comes out that you want to play but wait, it requires an update, well I guess you won't be playing it then. There will always be piracy, they do a good enough job of keeping it to reasonable levels, don't let them convince you otherwise.

I will be buying the real (non hacked) version. I don't believe in Karma but nevertheless - the economy is bad enough that if you can afford it you should pay for it.

Even downloading - If it's a show not available on TV I download but if I like it I buy it. If I don't I delete it. I pay for cable as well so this isn't too egregious since the show is on TV but not at a time I can watch it.

sugarpop233
10-31-2011, 04:25 AM
The best place to buy a PS3 in Hong Kong is at the Golden Arcade market in Sham Shui Po. The arcade is next door to the Sham Shui Po MTR and made up of hundreds of independent retailers. You should be prepared to bargain, although not excessively and look to get some games or accessories thrown in.