Alright, I've broken down. I need to finally have the experience of playing import games. All the lovely shmups being released left and right is why I've made this decision. The PS2 is like the 2nd coming of the Saturn in reguards to this genre, but I'm not missing out this time!

I narrowed my choices down to a U.S. PS2 (slim) with a Swap Magic 3 and slide tool or a Japanese PS2 (slim). I think I'll pass on the Swap Magic 3 because I really don't understand it (I'm not a technical person). The whole slide tool thing is what is confusing me as I don't know what items I need to use in conjuction with the Swap Disks. So I think I'll spend the extra $$ for a Japanese PS2.

My question is about the region of a specific PS2 listed on:

http://www.lik-sang.com/list.php?nav...c5b198f13f7bb9

The second one listed on that page is the cheapest, so naturally it is the one I wan't. But it is listed as an "Asia" PS2 instead of Japanese NTSC. Will this particular console play Japanese PS2 games out of the box? Also, does it use the same power supply as the Japanese ones (which can be used in the U.S.)?

Thanks in advance.