Imported Games Stories: Acquisition goals, Import tax woes, and most desired relics of the past (or present)

[C.Endfield]

With RGT giving users plenty of opportunities to not just play imported titles, but also familiar games from other regions, I was curious to know if I am not alone with this kind of behaviour I will outline in this thread: Do you guys import games from other regions (with emphasis on the JP region)? Where do you get these games from? What kind of games do you wish you had bought sooner? If you collect them, is there any specific reason you do so?

As I am the culprit of making this thread, might as well kick it off with some of my most recent acquisitions and share a small story of present accomplishments and past mistakes here:

Diablo (PS1 - JP)

Digimon World 3 ~ the door of the new adventure ~ (2003 in PAL-EU region) - JP

Diablo 1 was one of the few entries I was surprised to a) ever getting a console release (until I found out it did) and b) getting released in Japan, no less! The game is very clunky to play on the PS1, but it was one of the forerunners for a known Diablo gaming formula (at least for its console versions, D2R excluded) of making the game even more fun via local co-op. I still firmly believe that Diablo 3 only sold so well because of that, boy do I know I enjoyed playing that game for that reason only (and maybe because FemWizard shared the same VA as Azula). This game also holds significant importance in terms of keeping that first game alive and well in the 21st century. As Blizzard (like they always do, probably) lost the source code for Diablo, all hope was lost, until people who owned the PS1 version of Diablo found something interesting in the game files: DIABPSX.SYM
This file skipped the entire reverse engineering process of re-creating Diablo's source code, which led to Devilution coming to life, making Diablo playable on Android, Linux, Switch, or the Vita. As with many other games from JP, the cover is also amazing, much better than the 3D big devil we got on the PAL-EU/NTSC releases.

Digimon World 3 holds a special place in me tiny heart: The sprite-ridden digital world, the virtual setting and the premise of being stuck in such a game (before this trend got old very fast) and Digimons! The gameplay, depending on who you ask is either the best thing ever or an absolute slog to go through. Adding salt to injury, the NTSC version even has less content than its JP/EU counterpart, leaving out a good chunk of the endgame (thank goodness for hacks appending these back to the NTSC version). Random encounters, backtracking, finding one very annoying Digimon in a place full of trees - I would lie if nostalgia did not play a heavy part in me favouring this DW the most. The music, the team variety you can make, the individual training paths (which for some reason are luck-based) and the card minigame still make up for these shortcomings. And like Diablo, that cover is a thing of beauty.

That being said, getting these kind of games is sometimes based on being at the right place at the right time - Ebay, Play-Asia, Suruga-ya or CDJapan are my go-to places for anything from Japan. That being said, prepare for pain - financial pain. Shipping fees, Import and handling tax, getting damaged goods, it's all there. Of course, not all imports are bought for noble reasons. Heck, even at the best of your days, you could still make orders, such as these:

Yes, that is Idolm@ster 2 for the PS3. Yes, this included a big box with nothing but the game and the first two episodes on a Blu-Ray disc, expecting you to pay extra for the next releases of the animation coming on Blu-Ray. Yes, this cost close to 150$ + 60 invisible dollars of import tax and handling fees (thanks, FedEX) in 2011. For context, Diablo and DW3 cost me close to 30$ + 20$ for shipping and all the other nice costs which come with importing things from Japan.

It's not always fun and (video) games though. Artbooks, Light Novels, Figures - your range of choice mostly ends at the point in which your sanity asks you if you really want to pay 50$ in additional tax fees to make your country proud. As of now, my current breaking point is and probably will be this one for quite a while:

With that in mind, kindly share any of your stories of importing games in this thread if you like. Any good or bad experiences you had with importing games or even hardware? Got any stellar catches you managed to snag before pricing skyrocketed? Still feel any burning regret of paying all this money for a game which you might never even understand due to the language barrier?

 

[Zooey]

I think i was fortunate enough that when i was the right age to start collecting nostalgic games from my childhood, that my bank account had already experienced Magic the Gathering.

 

[C.Endfield]

I think i was fortunate enough that when i was the right age to start collecting nostalgic games from my childhood, that my bank account had already experienced Magic the Gathering.

Absolutely great choice, too. Those old land cards from MTG are still a beauty to behold, especially those drawn by John Avon.

 

[bjork]

First thing I ever imported was vib-ribbon for the PS1 back in... 2000? It was like $35 from NCS. Imported a few other things from them (beatmania: the sound of tokyo! and DDR Oha Studio), but I had shops in the area that carried the things I was looking for at the time, which was mostly PS1 bemani games and some Saturn stuff. Then I worked at a place where I could get imports for like $5 above cost, so that was pretty cool. I think the most expensive things I imported were a Japanese Sakura Spring PS2 for $400, and the LE for Metal Gear Solid 3 that came with a tank or something? It wasn't for me, it was a gift, but I think it was $180.

Nowadays I still look at NCS daily out of habit, but I haven't ordered there in a very long time. I don't want stuff sitting around, especially stuff I can't use because I'm afraid of damaging it and affecting its resale. But it was fun when I was into collecting.

 

[What's His Face]

The first import game I ever bought was DragonBall Z: Super Butouden 2 on the Super Famicom - I got it along with an import adapter from a used game store within walking distance of my school. I saw it featured in a 2-page EGM2 spread some time before, and instantly loved it. Couldn't figure out story mode for the life of me. Since then I bought a few more SF games - Sailor Moon Super S, Battle Master, Art of Fighting 2 (which I thought was really good for a SF port), the third Ranma 1/2 fighting game (the one that got cancelled for a US release at the 11:59:59 hour), a metric f*ckton of Saturn fighting games, and a few more PS1 games. Since then I only bought a few more imports - Namco x Capcom & Ikkitousen on PS2, Ikkitousen Eloquent Fist (I think) and a few other PSP games like Tales of VS, Dead or School and Dead or Alive Venus Vacation(?) on Switch.