regarding the akb photos...

a lot of them can command high prices. if you're a good trader you can make a lot of money. it's practically its own market. they come with CD purchases, DVD purchases, etc. it's very similar to the trading cards for sports.

regarding dvds...
you can only change your region 5 times. but blu-ray should be fine, so if you have a blu ray player then you should try to get it there.
i think it's ridiculous that programs are aired in HD but are only sold on DVD instead of bluray. i'd rather download HD rips off the internet than actually own the show on low-res DVD.

Not to mention Japanese DVD prices borderline criminal.. 3000Yen+ for a new film? Pfff..
No wonder Tsutaya is so popular.

Re: region lock

Recently, I've been watching Japanese (region 2) DVDs from Tsutaya using my laptop that has been, and still is, set to the North America region (region 1 or was it 3?). Anyhow, I use VLC media player to watch the DVDs. When I try to watch them using Windows Media Player or HP's proprietary media software, a prompt appears telling me I have to switch the region of my DVD player and that I have X amount of switches remaining. However, no matter how many times I watch Japanese DVDs using VLC player, the number of switches I have remaining has not decreased. So, I highly recommend VLC player for viewing DVDs.

Gingerninja Wrote:Not to mention Japanese DVD prices borderline criminal.. 3000Yen+ for a new film? Pfff..
No wonder Tsutaya is so popular.

the most incredible thing happens when you put in a japanese dvd though.
the movie plays right away.
no menu, no ads to sit through, no trailers, no anti-piracy sob story for the lighting technician...