PS1/2 Region free PS3?

[izo]

First of all, I know hardly anything about region protection on the PS3, so please forgive me if my questions sound stupid.

Is there a way to get a PS3 which runs games from all regions? I live in the EU and finally decided to get my first Playstation ever, but since we only get games very delayed and many games aren't even released here, I'll probably play the US or Japanese versions of the games.
Also I'd rather not buy a EU PS3 and then send it somewhere to get it modded, hoping it's coming back still working. Or buying something similar to the Wii Freeloader which stops working after a few months due to a Firmware Update (yeah that actually happened to me...

).
What I would like most is to buy a PS3 that's already modded and working. Is there a reliable shop out there, selling such versions of the PS3 and also shipping to the EU?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Bitbyte]

All PS3's are region-free. You can't mod it yet though.

 

[izo]

Are you serious? So I can go and buy an EU PS3 and play Japanese games? That's awesome, I didn't know that.
Why did they change their mind? I always thought Sony was one of the worst when it comes to region protection.

 

[coolbho3000]

Blu-Ray movies are sometimes region lock, though

 

[izo]

Blu-Ray movies are sometimes region lock, though

That's no problem, as long as all or at least most games work.

 

[Lumstar]

Yes. However, there are a few issues.

NTSC model systems will not output standard-definition PAL video. This means some PAL games require an HDTV to play on them.

 

[deathfisaro]

While I'm not aware of any PS3 game that's region locked, BD movies are mostly -if not all- region locked (I think the BD region codes are more forgiving than the DVD region codes).

I really like it being region free, Disgaea 3 took like half year to get localized, who knows how long Cross Edge will take and so on. Just opening up more options for users is a good thing. Gotta love DS and PSP as well. (Although there are consoles that can cheat region locks.)