Edit - Ah crap, I meant to say "buy".

Play-Asia's fine but I find they can be a bit pricey, especially when the wanted game is as cheap as dirt in Japan itself. So how do you buy import video games?

If it's an older game (PS2 typically) I'll just buy from ebay, they're usually at least $10-20 cheaper than play-asia.com, ncsx.com, etc.

For newer games, there's not much to be done so I just buy from a local importer.

One of the local Book Offs carries games but I've never seen anything of interest.

Or you can just wait it out and buy the cheaper "BEST" version that will come out inevitably.

yesasia, pretty much the only reliable one that ships to europe (for most games) ... and on top of that, shipping is free if your order is above 25 dollar (which is not that much)

Savara Wrote:yesasia, pretty much the only reliable one that ships to europe (for most games) ... and on top of that, shipping is free if your order is above 25 dollar (which is not that much)

I'm also using Yesasia.com. But for more than just games. You can get CDs, books and so on. So far it's my best resource for getting Japanese material imported.

Oh I totally forgot about Yesasia.com. Thanks!

I don't suppose anyone knows which version of PS3 is backward compatible with PS2 games? And if I bought a JP PS3, would it definitely work alright in Europe? It would be able to go online and all that?

Checked Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ps3

The older 20GB and 60GB PS3s are the ones with the PS2 system hardware built inside.
The newer 40GB and 80GB PS3s use software emulation to run PS2 games.

Software emulation sucks since not all games are compatible.

Since you're in Europe, you'll need a 60GB PAL PS3, because the 20GB PS3 is NTSC only.

Thanks ChamCham. I'm looking to buy a Japanese one though. I know PS3s are region-free but that's not the case for PS2 games or DVDs I think.

So in that case it looks like it's a 20 or 60gb one then. Perhaps I'll go for the 60 because apparently the 20gb version can't do Wi-Fi. The only problem there is it says it's no longer in production... does mean I'll have no choice but to buy it second-hand?

You're definitely too late for that.

I bought my 60 GB PS3 in Octobre last year. By that time they already stopped producing it and they sold out pretty fast. Online and so on works fine. The only problem you'll have will be non J-NTSC PS2 games. You can't play them on a Jap PS3.

You can still buy brand new 60GB PS3s on Ebay.
I'm sure supplies are limited, since they are no longer produced.

Just read the description and make sure it's not "as-is" or "broken".
I would suggest to only buy PS3s labeled as "New".

Yesasia is great indeed, I also buy my manga there (only 3 euros each, about 5 dollar, which is, imo, cheap), and CDs and DVDs and books, yesasia is my favourite shop at the moment.

I'm having trouble trying to find the game Diablo II in Japanese. None of the sites I know have it in stock...
I'm also willing to download it and then buy the English version for the authentication. I think it's legal to do that, but I can't even find the download anywhere!
Any tips, anyone?

Strictly speaking it isn't legal to do that (owning a game gives you the right to make copies of that game, but even a bit-for-bit identical copy from someone else's copy is still infringement), but I'm certainly not going to get on your case about it.

FWIW, it looks like amazon.co.jp has some in stock, or at least people selling through them do.

~J

[ファブリス]

Hehe, the news of Diablo III has rekindled the fire has it

You probably know this already but just in case, if you get any kind of patches like the tool to change the CD Key (useful if you threw away the CDs like I did once but keep your cd key somewhere), be very very careful as all these programs are loaded with keyloggers and spyware. Also are you sure you will be able to play with a EU/US CD key on a Japanese version ?

Yeah, since Diablo III won't be here for a long time yet, the only way to answer my reborn hack-and-slash lust is going for the previous chapter

woodwojr,
so it would be infringement even if I actually buy one and use only one (albeit different from the one I bought)? But if I really can't find a way to buy it directly in Japanese, giving up is the only thing I can do, then?
Anyway I'm not sure the cdkey would work on different versions... I was just brainstorming.

Amazon.co.jp does have it, but only second-hand, and I hear those people refuse to ship abroad...
There must be a way...

any games around that use furigana and are nice to play?(for the pc)

nac_est Wrote:woodwojr,
so it would be infringement even if I actually buy one and use only one (albeit different from the one I bought)?

Yes. You have certain rights to your copy, but those rights do not extend to (even bit-for-bit identical) copies owned by others.

nac_est Wrote:But if I really can't find a way to buy it directly in Japanese, giving up is the only thing I can do, then?

If infringement, including trivial infringement like that described above, is totally unacceptable to you, then giving up is your only option. Only you can evaluate whether the liability you might incur is unacceptable.

To be fair, this isn't quite as silly a situation as it is when the products are indeed identical--a different publisher might have been involved, or a translation company whose contracts relied on royalties from the J-version of the game. Even if one of these conditions is true, though, they become less compelling arguments if the game isn't being sold new.

(Not a lawyer, this is not legal advice. Neither was my last post, for that matter.)

~J

I'm not particularly interested in robbing anyone. Just getting that game is ok...

tokyostyle Wrote:If you do this you will be robbing the people who localized the game into Japanese.

... and that will make me cry.

You're privy to the contract between Blizzard and the translators, then? Cool! How did they negotiate royalties instead of a flat fee?

(This is based on the fact that as far as I can tell there isn't a separate Japanese publisher involved--if there is, I guess that would be publicly available information that would let you know this.)

Also, insert schpiel about how copyright infringement is not theft (and is especially not robbery!).

~J

tokyostyle Wrote:

nac_est Wrote:I'm having trouble trying to find the game Diablo II in Japanese. None of the sites I know have it in stock...
I'm also willing to download it and then buy the English version for the authentication.

If you do this you will be robbing the people who localized the game into Japanese.

"Robbery is the crime of seizing property through violence or intimidation. More precisely, at common law, robbery was defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbery

[ファブリス]

tokyostyle Wrote:(Of course I'm sure Diablo sold just fine ...)

They don't stock it anymore here at MediaMarkt in Brussels.

( And Japanese Wikipedia! What a great idea! Any subject you like in Japanese at your fingertips! )

Ok, but what if Capcom has stopped selling the game? Right now the options for me are:
1) "rob" them by downloading the game without paying
2) surrender to the English version and forget about the Japanese one.
In either case Capcom doesn't get any money...

But wait! Discussing about law is not the reason I posted here. I was just looking for suggestions. I said that I'm totally willing to pay, if I find a way to do so.

tokyostyle Wrote:

woodwojr Wrote:Also, insert schpiel about how copyright infringement is not theft (and is especially not robbery!).

It's not about copyright infringement.

Then what is it about? No, seriously, take some time to read the definitions of theft and robbery (here and here are some starting places), and tell me who no longer has access to their property. Then tell me what, precisely, this is about if not copyright infringement.

nac_est: you seem to have already gotten your suggestions--I know they're not necessarily what you'd have wished for, but "trawl the used market until someone's willing to ship" and "infringe copyright" appear to be your only two options (well, other than "give up").

~J

tokyostyle Wrote:Crack you are an idiot:
http://thesaurus.reference.com/browse/robbery
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theft

I don't know why I'm an idiot because you used the wrong word. If you meant theft you should of said theft.

[ファブリス]

Come on guys, you are arguing about definitions of words... and calling another member an idiot is not necessary.

Hopefully next time someone wants to talk about a classic game they won't run in fear I thought it's nice to talk a bit about games on this forum once in a while.

tokyo_style Wrote:Blizzard is not a publisher in Japan.

『ディアブロ2』（Diablo II）は、『ディアブロ』の続編としてアメリカのBlizzard Entertainment社から2000年に発売された、コンピューター用のアクションロールプレイングゲームである。日本では同年にカプコンから発売された。

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%87% ? %E3%83%AD2

Now that was interesting.

Btw, do you have links to big gaming sites in Japan, where I could also find screenshots of games old and new? I'm curious to see some of the games I played like Diablo 2 here in their localized form.

tokyostyle Wrote:

woodwojr Wrote:Then what is it about?

I don't really care about your political agenda only my economic one.

You obviously aren't caring about the legal agenda, either--what's next, are you going to get on my case because I'm not sending you hundred-dollar bills every month?

Simply because something may harm you financially does not make it theft. There's a separate offense for copyright infringement, though most of the forms of redress are civil rather than criminal (meaning it's something you are liable for, not a crime). Read your own Wikipedia link--theft is the act of depriving someone of their property, not making a copy of it (even an unlawful copy).

ファブリス: 2ch has a number of gaming discussion boards, though it lacks images. 2chan brings the images, but appears to have certain... reductions in the quality of the discussion, at least in the two threads I read through, and their adverts aren't exactly work-safe. If I find any dedicated gaming sites in the style of Kotaku or Gamasutra, I'll let you know.

~J