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.

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.

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.

Last edited by chamcham (2008 April 19, 8:01 am)

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.

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.

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

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...

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

Last edited by woodwojr (2008 June 30, 4:46 am)

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

Last edited by woodwojr (2008 June 30, 4:42 pm)

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! )

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

Last edited by woodwojr (2008 July 01, 4:22 pm)

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.