US version video games

We have an XBox360 and a Wii console that we brought with us from the US along with about 50 or so games between the two. Is there any way/place to purchase games that will work with out US systems here in the UK? My mom sent my boys a few games for the birthday and the shipping was outrageous. I know they're going to ask for quite a few games for Christmas, so I'm just trying to figure out if there is any way to get them here to avoid all the shipping charges (and added taxes if not labelled "properly" from the US).

Only place I can think of is ebay. Games are light so shipping isn't too bad.

You're best bet is probably Play ASIA. You're looking for items that say either "Region Free" or "NTSC/U", there's tick checks under compatibility so you know what

So for instance she could buy this and get it shipped to you pretty cheaply, paying teh standard play asia shipping (and paying in dollars)
http://www.play-asia.com/Mafia_II/paOS-13-71-dx-49-en-70-4bpr.html

For the Wii, there's some *cough* ways of getting around the region locking by buying a special DVD, you can google it. (Or at least this used to work, who knows if it does now)

For 360, the other thing to do would be to get them to choose off this list -
http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/Region_Free_Xbox_360_Games
and buy them in the UK.

So they need to pick games that have PAL in the first column and YES under NTSC/U. An example of this would be Alice - Madness Returns.

If your mom is buying and shipping, best bet would be for her to buy locally and ship them via USPS herself. That way she can do the customs form correctly.

If you want to post the titles your kids want, I can help you work out what versions you need.

Cheese-biscuit!!! Is this "DVD" for the wii really work?  We brought our American Wii over- would we be able to play both regions games if we got it? 

Cheese-biscuit!!! Is this "DVD" for the wii really work?  We brought our American Wii over- would we be able to play both regions games if we got it? 

I'm curious if it works also. 

Cheese-biscuit!!! Is this "DVD" for the wii really work?  We brought our American Wii over- would we be able to play both regions games if we got it? 

Oh It definitely works and you can play all region games....there's a couple of caveats, most importantly the firmware version of the wii you have. I believe the current purchasable freeloader only works for v3.4 or below but that's off the top of my head, if you have updated higher than that you need to be a bit more...creative and a £5 DVD probably wont work To be honest I've not looked lately, but a bit of googling should turn up an answer either way.

The funny thing about the Wii is it's notoriously easy to softmod and mess about with. You just need a HDD and a memory card, but hardly anyone ever does, I guess because it's not the most "tech savvy" of consoles, but if you know someone who's reasonably good with computers and google you can do all sorts of things with it including changing the region. I implore you not to pirate anything as it puts me out of a job  but there's nothing illegal in changing the region so you can play games you've paid for or putting all your bought games on a HDD attached to the Wii so you never have to change discs (yes I'm lazy).

Aw you're a goddess!! Need to look into this!  Thanks for the info.  My 8 yr old thanks you as well.

I thought the Wiis were region free??

Nintendo DS's are (at least the lite versions are) but I tried to change my country on the wii and it wouldn't give me the option of the UK- so it's region locked!   but hopefully if this DVD thingy works, I can stop having to buy all my games in the US!

I thought the Wiis were region free??

Nope.

DS is, 3DS is not, Wii is not, 360 is not (well it *technically* is but developers can put region locking on the disc and they often do), PS3 is, PSP is.

Nope.

DS is, 3DS is not, Wii is not, 360 is not (well it *technically* is but developers can put region locking on the disc and they often do), PS3 is, PSP is.

Fair enough
Thanks for the correction!

Just to mention for anyone thinking of buying a game system, the Playstation 3 is region free for games, but not for blueray.

Partly the reason I bought one, because I wanted a baseball game which you can't get over here, and also that MLB:The Show is only on PS3 anyway! I ordered from a US website, and it worked out about £50 including shipping.