Topic: Importing japaneese games?

Hello everyone, and well I really have a BIG question, if im not wrong, if you live in america, you can't play games from europa, or australia, or japan, and if you live in europa, you can't play games from america, australia or japan. What I want to say is that you can't buy a game in a continent and a console in a different continent and play it.

Anyways I hjave hears that some people import games from japan? For example I have seen some Wii Partys, and well some other games that are right now, or are only released in japan, no europa, no australia, no america. But I hav seen american guys playing some of these japaneese titles, and a long time ago a guy post in a Legendary Starfy thread that I should get the japanees version, and well I was like UH?

So for playing japaneese games you must own a japaneese console? Or they work perfectly with the america console just that they are in japaneese, or there are special version?

Can please someone explain these to me, because im thinking that maybe I can import some japaneese games, anyways how does that work? Today in school I can only think of that and didn't understand anythink from the matematik lesson

Your DS/DSi is able to play games from all regions, but your Wii is unable to as it is region locked.

That's all there is to it.

If you're talking about DS games, then you are mistaken -- DS games are region-free. in fact, so far as i know, the DSi was the first Nintendo handheld to actually introduce region-locking... i'm pretty sure i read someplace that all prior Nintendo handhelds have been region-free. you can still play DS games from other regions on your DSi, though, if you have one -- it's just DSiWare and DSi-only software that's region-locked.

as for the home consoles, though, Nintendo has been region-locking those since the NES/Famicom days, lol. idk why they chose to region-lock the home consoles and not the handheld ones, lol...

Yes you can for DS and GBA games but not Wii/GCN... I would also say that if you import buy Daigasso! Band! Brothers or Ouendan

DSi isn't region locked. I play Ouendan! on it. Unless you refer to DSiWare.

@edhe: yes, I meant DSiWare and DSi-only games. i just edited my post to clarify. in fact, i own Ouendan as well, it's a damn good game :3

something else to note, however, is that Chinese games will not play on another region's DS, but that's due to a limitation of the handheld itself (the kanji necessary for the Chinese language are not installed, probably for memory purposes) and not any true lockout. Chinese DSes will play games from all regions, though, iirc.

I import a lot of Japanese games. You need to check whether the console is region locked or not before buying them though. Most recent consoles are. I import Japanese games mostly for my DS (no region locking) and PS2 (region locked).

In fact I'm pretty sure even the old Mega Drive had some form of region locking. A friend of mine had a Japanese Mega Drive and Streets of Rage 2 turned up for him as Bare Knuckle 2. Not really region locking so much as region-specific content, which was pretty cool imo.

Remember when Nintendo announced there would be DSi-exclusive retail titles? From memory those were going to be region locked too. Fortunately none of them were released AFAIK. Hopefully they won't follow that trend for the 3DS...

_{EDIT: Beaten to the punch by TBD. : )}

I was just pondering that, and I've just remembered the sole DSi only release (we were promised loads) - "System Flaw". DSi-Only in that it utilised the Camera. And nothing else.

Most consoles have region blocking, but it's easy to get around, though it usually requires extra equipment. Some consoles are are region free, such as the PS3 and nearly all handhelds. However, Importing is expensive. For instance, most DS imports cost around $60-70 - more than a new Wii game - and that's not counting shipping. It's not something I'd recommend making a habit of unless you got a crapload of disposable income.

Hmmm, so if I go to Europa, I can buy many DS games I want and play them perfectly on my DSi? And I also can import excludive DS titles from japan and can use them with no problem on my DSi?

If that its true than it is great , I thought that all consoles were region-locked. Oh god, why I didn't buy DS games when I was in the UK????

OH and also, I only want to import really exclusive and great japaneese titles, not just anyone, any recomendations?

Really depends on what you like. I have two Japanese DS titles and a 3rd in the post: G.G. Series Collection+, Shanghai DS and Yakuman DS Wi-Fi Taiou (mahjong with Mario and friends!).

I wanted to import another legendary starfy serio on amazon, but they run out of stock

One of the brilliant things about the PS3 - it makes importing cheap.

See, the PlayStation Network is also region free. I 'import' Japanese PSN games for cheaper prices (depending on exchange rate) than locally.

Mind you, how expensive it is to import has everything to do with the region you're in. The US dollar is hell weak against a strong Yen right now, so yea, it's expensive to import. Some other currencies fare better.

@WatzElf, I really don't care about the money, I care about the good games.

Seems the new Black/White Pokémon games are region locked as well. I don't recall there being any region-locked DS carts before. They only seem to work on a Japanese DSi (XL). For the original DS and DS Lite it should still work fine, even if you have a western DS (Lite).

I guess the fact that these games are DSi enhanced (camera in multplayer) has something to with it. That feature isn't available on the old DS so I guess that's where it makes a difference.

There was also foto showdown which wasn't released in eu and face training is out in eu next week.

My roommate has imported a number of bizarre games from Japan (which I'm always sure to mock him for) and he always says that the shipping is what gets you. You can find decent prices by looking around, but when the shipping is 10-20 bucks it really adds up.

Playasia.com has a good selection of Japanese games, though due to the exchange rate, they are more expensive than US games. They also ship from Hong Kong, which is probably not super cheap (don't know exactly what it costs, because I used it to import US games into China). However, if you're looking to import they're your best bet I think.

There are also ways to mod your Wii to make it region free. However, I don't really know how to do it, and if you update in the future you run the risk of bricking your Wii/making the shop channel inaccessable. If you want to import consoles playasia.com also works well (but is expensive).

Be careful with Ebay. There are a lot of HK sellers selling "new" consoles that are really factory refurbished or possibly outright copies. I'm not sure if this happens with Wiis, but this happens with DS Lites a lot. You can tell it's official if there's a serial # on the console and multiple manuals, generally copies/refurbs just have one small photocopied one. Wiis from HK also may already be modded (it's actually illegal for companies to NOT allow modding to make consoles region free there), but you'd have to be careful with updating (or if you don't care about accessing Japanese VC/WW titles, don't update at all).

There is a guide on the website about setting up imported Wiis, if you decide to get one.

Nah, the Mega Drive isn't region locked. My copies of Sonic 2 and Mickey Mouse: Castle Of Illusion are both the Asian Versions, and both work fine. The only difference is the shape of the cart, which just meant breaking off a bit of the plastic on the Mega Drive's slot.