The Severe lack of good Import only Switch games.

[samsonlonghair]

At first I was going to say something about how region-free is a good thing. Since everyone else is already harping on that, I'm not going to dogpile you, Dikdik.

You know what, dude? If you like importing games, then it ain't hurting nobody. I say more power to you. Have fun importing games. If I knew of any good import games for switch, then I'd tell you. Wish I could be more helpful. Have fun on your quest to import Switch games.

[marurun]

No, no it isn't. It's crazy how over everybody's head this post went.

I think the conclusions people are drawing are logical given the wording of your posts. It's possible that's not what you meant, but don't blame us for that communication failure.

Now, the alternative explanation I could read into your words would be that you would like more niche titles on Switch. Is that more what you were hoping to communicate to us? I mean, lots of stuff is getting ported over to the US and EU regions, but is that because the Switch is a more open platform, or because developers are less interesting in niche projects on the Switch? I do see a lot of nice content available, but maybe it's not what you're hoping for? I don't think the Switch as a platform is the problem, if that's the case. I know development trends have changed this generation.

[Ghegs]

I do think the era of little-known "hidden gems" is in its twilight years not only because of increased accessibility thanks to region-free consoles and world-wide releases, but because information about new games is more readily available and easier to access. The libraries for most consoles have been scrounged clean by several projects on the Internet, their regular retail releases have been documented and presented in several places. There are still some things to find in those (like educational software for Famicom, see: Konami Space School), but whether they count as a hidden gem is a different matter. Historically interesting, maybe.

As for new games...well, the starting position is completely different than what it was 10, 20 or more years ago. It'll be a rare case that a new game doesn't get at least some coverage somewhere on the Internet, and thanks to Google Translate and the like, it's possible to get something out of it even if you don't understand the language. If anything, I'd say the problem will be a bit different - rather than games being unknown to all because they get little to no coverage, they'll be unknown for the individual because their coverage and release was lost in the massive ocean of information we're bombarded with nowadays, and no one person can catch it all.

Like opa said, if the importing and the "hidden gems" is something you like, you probably need to start looking elsewhere, maybe even into the rabbit hole that is old Japanese computer games. MSX, PC-98, FM Towns, that stuff. There's still tons to discover there. But it won't be cheap and it certainly won't be easy.

[Dikdikvandik]

It's kind of frustrating more that I'm coming across as snobbish than anything. Was not at all my intention.

It's hard to convey exactly what it is about the import scene either. It's not gone but where we're importing from has certainly changed. A lot not European games are coming across the Atlantic than Japanese. Again mostly Physical versions of stuff that's digital only.

Yesterday I went through Play-Asia just to see what's out there. The Simple series still exists, But those games aren't all that interesting. It's mostly untranslated Visual novels and Visual Novels are not my scene. I'm not even really sure what exactly it is I'm looking for either.

I guess importing is one of those things you wouldn't get unless you've been doing it awhile?
I still get a rush getting packages from Japan for the retro consoles I collect for. Especially Saturn and Super Famicom.
I still enjoy seeing something along the lines of:

ロードセーブ

はい

番号

Guess I'm just mourning the passing of a subset of my hobby.
There are thousands of undiscovered games on PS1/2, Saturn and both Famicoms that'll keep me searching for years.
I just wish, there was more of that on something modern.

Funnily enough if I was to get into a home computer scene, I'd probably get a ZX Spectrum or Amiga rather than a Japanese computer.
The european computer scene has quite a bit of that "Interesting" that I'm looking for.

It's not so much Niche that I'm looking for as it is something different. If that makes sense.

[samsonlonghair]

Funnily enough if I was to get into a home computer scene, I'd probably get a ZX Spectrum or Amiga rather than a Japanese computer.
The european computer scene has quite a bit of that "Interesting" that I'm looking for.

I have a Timex Sinclair 1000; it's very similar to the ZX-81, except that it runs on American 110V power and Outputs NTSC video. I picked it up on a whim just because it looks cool, and it was reasonably priced at a thrift store. I guess it was just an impulse purchase.

I haven't actually used my Timex Sinclair 1000 for anything, yet. I haven't even taken it out of the styrofoam block it came in. I did a little online research, though. It looks like you can load software off of an audio tape. I guess that sort of thing was more common in Europe. I think you should be able to run ZX-81 software on this Timex Sinclair 1000. A little trial and error may be necessary here.

How would you like to have a new (old) computer to run oddball european import software? Offer me something in trade for it, and it's yours.

[pierrot]

I don't know, dude. I'm confused, anyway. Most of my games are imports, but for me that's more about the language than anything. I like not really having any barriers on what I can play, but if all video games had been translated and/or localized for every region, I wouldn't see that as a problem. It also wouldn't really change how I buy games. At one point, I was sure I was going to translate Terra Phantastica, just so I might be able to talk about it with other people, though. (I still might at some point, who knows.)

I would have thought, like maru, that you were lamenting the lack of games that just couldn't be released outside of Japan for practical reasons, but we live in a time where OreShika 2 is being released worldwide. That's nuts, to me. The response may have been excessive, but I think it sounds like you haven't quite worked out what the topic is about, either. Might just be a little too esoteric, but that's okay.

[Dikdikvandik]

I think that's just it, what I'm lamenting about is too esoteric. I posted this exact topic on Obscure gamers. If they have no idea what I'm talking about Then I'm just going to let it go.

[noiseredux]

I think what he's saying is, it's great that we kind of have access to every game now... but he kind of misses the thrill of the hunt. The same way that I love that streaming means I can watch almost any movie I want right this second, but I kind of miss going to a video store and browsing rentals and coming up with something weird that I had never heard of. (?)

[Dikdikvandik]

I think what he's saying is, it's great that we kind of have access to every game now... but he kind of misses the thrill of the hunt. The same way that I love that streaming means I can watch almost any movie I want right this second, but I kind of miss going to a video store and browsing rentals and coming up with something weird that I had never heard of. (?)

YES thank you I couldn't quite find the words but that's it.

I get that with early PlayStation and Saturn. Even SNES/Super Famicom there's always something weird that's awesome or just an interesting oddity.
While we still get that even the weird obscure stuff is talked about and readily available.