You Can Now Import Japanese Games and Systems from Amazon Japan

I am pretending I never read this news in order not to financially ruin myself.

[Insert generic FE Fates comment here]

No more region locking on NX confirmed!

@Shiryu Give in to the ruin.

That's pretty handy, but now that MHX is coming out over here I have no need.

@Rhydas But food is delicious! And having a soft bed is so warm and fuzzy in the winter!

Sooooo does that mean I can finally get a replacement GamePad?
Yay!

@Shiryu Food and shelter are overrated. Japanese merchandise is where it's at.

I do still want to pick up Project Zero 4 and Zangeki no REGINLEIV for the Wii, and there's some DS and GBA games that are definitely on the import list. Just a shame about the region locking on the 3DS/Wii U, as there's some games I'd love to grab without risking region modding on currently supported systems.

Seems too much hassle, from first impressions.

E.g. I search for 'gamecube controller' and find the first results are sold and shipped by Amazon.co.jp - hurray, I think. Scroll down a bit further...'We're sorry; this item can not be shipped outside Japan'

So too much hassle trying to translate and find items I want that will ship to UK. Unless someone knows what I'm doing wrong.

@EllenJMiller Thank your for reminding me "Zangeki no REGINLEIV" is one of the very (VERY) few missing titles from my Wii collection.

@Shiryu My previous attempt to import it resulted in me getting the official guidebook. It sits with my art book collection to remind me of my folly.

@EllenJMiller .. ok , that is incredibly freaky!
My friends went to Japan many years ago, I gave them a list and they could not find the game so they bought me... the official guidebook. It sits with my art book collection to remind me of my folly. I think we are soul mates now...

@Shiryu So how big is your Wii collection?

Sweet! Ill start importing stuff, I even got a list

@WireWare
I read somewhere that the gamepad is region locked as well.

@gcunit Too big: http://shiryugames.odrakir.com/WII.htm

In fact its the most games I own on a single system of all of them.
http://shiryugames.odrakir.com/

My Nintendo Life Super Famicom reviews are also based on my personal collection, but people just assume we are advocating piracy... bumms me out sometimes.

Time to start importing some Wii U ga........oh yeah that's right:/ crap!

Guess this is how I'll be buying Pokemon Sun 😎

@Shiryu My Wii collection used to be my biggest, but it's been surpassed by my original Xbox collection. Still a good 40 games I want to pick up for the Wii, including Fishing Resort to grab from America. Still looking for a copy of The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces too.

Also, freaky about the ZnR story!

@EllenJMiller I need to replay it. I actually got a Japanese import along with "Tatsunoko vs Capcom" nealy an year before both eventually released in Euroland. Good times!

@Shiryu What an excellent collection. I've only started 'collecting' pretty recently, and don't intend for mine to grow as much as yours, but it looks like you have pretty much every game I have, plus most if not all of the ones I want to add.

@gcunit You mean these:

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E4%BB%BB%E5%A4%A9%E5%A0%82-DOL-A-CWB-JPN-%E3%83%8B%E3%83%B3%E3%83%86%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B2%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A0%E3%82%AD%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BC%E3%83%96%E3%82%B3%E3%83%B3%E3%83%88%E3%83%AD%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A9-%E3%82%B9%E3%83%9E%E3%83%96%E3%83%A9%E3%83%9B%E3%83%AF%E3%82%A4%E3%83%88/dp/B00O9GW8TC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457528441&sr=8-1&keywords=gamecube+controller

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E4%BB%BB%E5%A4%A9%E5%A0%82-DOL-A-CKB-JPN-%E3%83%8B%E3%83%B3%E3%83%86%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B2%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A0%E3%82%AD%E3%83%A5%E3%83%BC%E3%83%96%E3%82%B3%E3%83%B3%E3%83%88%E3%83%AD%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A9-%E3%82%B9%E3%83%9E%E3%83%96%E3%83%A9%E3%83%96%E3%83%A9%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF/dp/B00O9GW8VK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1457528441&sr=8-2&keywords=gamecube+controller

Also for all you amiibo hunters, they're shipping out amiibos too! You can actually find all the amiibos either at their retail price or marked down. Shipping and handling is like $8-$12 which is fair when they ship it over seas and it only takes like 3 days. Got me a Wolf Link amiibo for $12, Lucus for $9, and splurged $18 for Rosalina and Little Mac. Shipping cost $8. It'll be here by Sunday if nothing bad happens.

@gcunit It's an awesome console, it is still hooked up next to my Wii U, I use it to play my recent Japanese import titles. I really hope the NX achieves Wii size user base and third party support.

@Shiryu
Same here

I would hop on that little mac, guys. It's marked down to 645 yen ($5.75 USD) and restocks tomorrow.

@Uzuki I wasn't looking at the Smash ones, but those links you've provided give me the same result: no international shipping.

Do I have to make an account before it shows me I can ship it internationally?

Definitely going to check this out. Don't import anywhere near as much as I used to 10 years ago but I do need to import any new white Wii U pro controllers as they don't sell them in the UK.

The best place to buy all Japanese products (games, consoles, and anything else) is still ami ami

@Aurumonado Why is ami ami best?

@gcunit @Aurumonado When you're early, yes. When you're a day late they're sold out.

I've made an Amazon.co.jp account now, but I'm still getting "We're sorry; this item can not be shipped outside Japan" for everything.

Bit late for me as I'm not really importing now (I do want Mahjong Taikai IV for PS3, but I can get that here second hand), but nice to know. So, any idea when I'll be able to import DVDs or iTunes gift cards from Amazon.com?

@gcunit

best prices. Although admittedly you have to preorder most of what you want because they sell out fast on this site. Never had an issue with preordering though

http://www.amiami.com/

They didn't do this before? I have ordered games and my pro controller from Japan O__O

C'mon guys, help me here, why the **** can't I find anything that ships internationally?

I even saw there was an option to filter by 'Amazon Global', so I tried that, but even that stuff doesn't ship internationally, according to what I'm seeing.

Under shipping help I found this:

"Items shipped by Amazon.co.jp:
Books, CDs, DVDs, VHS videos (except for adults-only items) and some other items are eligible for International Shipping, with the exception of those with "only for adults" themes from Amazon.co.jp. Certain books on adult and religious subjects as well as certain DVDs and videos produced in Japan may not clear customs due to the customs restrictions in the destination countries."

No mention of video games or consoles...

Just tried a DVD and that will ship to me. Are we sure this story is accurate?

@Splatburst even if there isn't region locking, how does it matter? You still have to import the game inorder to get it.

And isn't Play Asia easily reliable for this? I don't get what would make people jump to Amazon Japan when Play Asia is the better option.

Nah I'm good

Just ordered Puyo Puyo Tetris for Vita (wish I could have got it for my 3DS!) Tried ordering some Nendoroids and figmas but it still won't let you.

@Socar
In US maybe. But in Europe? In other parts of the world? Amazon has a wider reach. Plus it's safer to shop from them.

Edit:
Also I've heard Play Asia accused of price gouging. You can't cancel orders/preorders from them or it's difficult to request one, etc. So there's that.

@Splatburst Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Play-Asia international?

As for cancelling orders, you can if they delay it further for you. Even then, how does that make this one better than Play-Asia?

@Socar
I never said it's better than Play Asia. That said, Amazon has a wider reach, cheaper as far as I know (again some friends of mine buys from both and it's cheaper on Amazon through Tenso and no price gouging), and you can cancel preorders/orders with ease. I guess it has better customer service too?

Doesn't really help Nintendo since they are region lock for both console and handheld

Maybe this will make Nintendo see the light and drop region locking. It would so nice to get some of those Japanese 3ds games that will never get localized here in the West.

@Peach64 I used to get some imports for my PS1 since it was easy to bypass to boot up and swap the disks. I haven't gotten one in ages though.

I've been using Amazon jp for imports for almost 2 years now, shipped to me here in the UK via Tenso.. By far the best and cheapest way to import I've found

@Peach64
You can easily import from AmiAmi. Here's the white Wii U Pro controller:
http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?scode=TVG-WIU-00057&affid=

@WireWare Last I heard the gamepads were region locked ( not like a typical controller). Look into this before buying.

Their shipping is horrible though (To the US at least). I only order from Amazonjp if its last resort. There are far cheaper options out there.

Welp, it certainly won't help much for Nintendo titles but sure, one could try it out with a PS game or two.