Modding vs. buying an import system

[GigaPepsiMan]

I need my saturn modding. Those japanese consoles cost loads.
The only modded consoles I own are my NES (region chip mod) and my PS1 (fully modded).
I fancy importing because it can be much cheaper than buying PAl versions of games.

[Josh]

I unfortunately have NEVER imported, though I do want to get in the scene.

As for right now, I can see myself buying a freeloader to play imports, IE: The Action Replay on Gamecube. But if I had enough money, then I'd go ahead and buy a Japanese system. I'm just very hesitant about it since I play very text heavy games, and don't know a symbol of Japanese.

A lot of action games (racing, fighting, shoot 'em up, beat 'em up, platformers, etc.) use English in their menus. In fact, sometimes they are 100% English. The ones that aren't are usually pretty easy to figure out.

It might be worth it to get familiar with the "katakana" letters. There aren't so many. You can just print out a chart and match what you see on the screen to them. Katakana is pretty much just for foreign words (usually English when playing video games), so it's not bad at all.

Start= suta-to= スタート. Sound it out quickly: SU TA--- TO. It is "start" with a Japanese accent.

That's a great tip. Didn't know that Japanese games had English in them, besides Name Entry in some games, might have to look into importing a few games. Is Katakana common in video games, or do they use...oh what's it called, Kanji or Hiragana in certain games? Thanks Breetai!

[hashiriya1]

I am too lazy to mod my systems, hell, i don't even know how to do it or what to get. I just have two of each system. From Famicom/NES/SMS to current gen (PS360), I have a JP and US version of each. Having a JP PS3 and a US PS3 isn't necessary (unless you need Netflix), but they are in different rooms so I don't always have to play PS3 games in the bedroom.

[hashiriya1]

Is Katakana common in video games, or do they use...oh what's it called, Kanji or Hiragana in certain games? Thanks Breetai!

They have equal amounts of all three with later games. Early games it is 99% katakana/hiragana.

[Breetai]

Is Katakana common in video games, or do they use...oh what's it called, Kanji or Hiragana in certain games? Thanks Breetai!

They have equal amounts of all three with later games. Early games it is 99% katakana/hiragana.

Just don't forget, Josh, that it really depends on the type of game. You wouldn't stand a chance in an RPG, but a lot of actions games have very minimal Japanese. As I said, some only have English. Furthermore, a lot of them are completely in English if English is the language your have your console set to, but it will be in Japanese if your system is set to Japanese (a fair number of PS3 games are like this, for example. Almost all Neo Geo games are. Lots of Mega Drive games are...).

Most older games, as Hashiriya said (and his Japanese is surely better than mine!) are only in kana (hiragana/katakana). The reason is that there just wasn't enough memory available, or decent screen resolution, so support the Chinese characters of Kanji. This changed when disc-based systems came about. From the PS1/Saturn on (not as much with the Mega CD/PC Engine CD, although it did appear there for sure), you start to see a lot of kanji. Still, if the majority of the Japanese in an action game is in the menu, it won't really be a big problem.

It totally depends on the game you want to play.

[Yukima]

I am too lazy to mod my systems, hell, i don't even know how to do it or what to get. I just have two of each system. From Famicom/NES/SMS to current gen (PS360), I have a JP and US version of each.

Same with me, only difference is that most of my US systems are modded and my JP consoles aren't...

Reasons:

Famicom - I got this to play Lagrange Point... the NES has no expansion audio support, and the cartridge won't fit in the system with a Famicom to NES adapter.
Super Famicom - My SNES is modified (tabs cut), but the SFC looks cooler! And it's my favorite system!
Japanese PS1 - My modded PSOne can't boot some of my JP/backup games.

I'm hoping to get a Japanese PS2 sometime... because my modded PS2 is a disc-scratching mess...

As for games, I learned how to read katakana long ago, and for RPGs, I find translation guides and take a lot of notes.

[BocoDragon]

In regards to the OP's question:

1. Modding a domestic console or buying one pre-modded is probably cheaper than buying an import console. I just went through this process... I couldn't find an import PS2 for anything close to reasonable. The average was near $200.. which is crazy for a PS2 in 2010.

2. Even if you'd never actually 'pirate', there is an advantage to having the ability to play burned games: Fan translation patches. I was playing Policenauts in fan-translated English just last night. You could never play that on a real console without modding.

I didn't want to mod a PS2 myself... so I just put up a craigslist request for "Modded or Japanese Import PS2", and over the next days and weeks I had a million offers from people with pre-modded consoles. I scored a modded slim PS2 for $100 Canadian (it came with a tons of accesories, too). Very happy with my purchase.