When importing is cheaper than buying in your region.

[aeon]

I had a curious price/region related find last month-

Awhile ago, I really wanted to get a copy of Aerofighters (SNES) but after alot of searching I found that I couldn't find it for less than $100. I picked up the hunt again last month though, and found something interesting: the same game in Japan, Sonic Wings (the name the franchise is better known by anyway) is quite plentiful and can be had for less than $30. I was lucky two weeks ago when I ended an auction for it at $15, the price difference after shipping (if I were to get the Stateside release) was almost $100!

I understand if you are a serious collector you will have reasons for getting a limited quantity release. But if you just want to play the game, importing may be the cheapest option.

Does anyone else have some experience with this? I am specifically interested in commonly expensive NTSC-U releases versus cheaper NTSC-J examples. Any platform.

[racketboy]

I mentioned a lot of Japanese Saturn alternatives here -- and those are just the most extreme examples:
http://www.racketboy.com/retro/sega/sat ... er-25.html

[superlarz]

This is actually very common, especially with Sega Saturn.

[Hateshinai]

It's the same with Europe and the US. I end up buying all my NES games and most of my Megadrive/Genesis games from the USA. Even after shipping it still costs me a lot less.

[Ziggy]

When I was buying the Final Fights on SNES, Final Fight 2 was expensive for some reason ($30-50). I was able to score a SFC version for $10 on a BIN.

[Niode]

The PS3 and DS are often cheaper to import from the US than they are to buy over here.

I often buy DS games in bundles of 2 or even 3 from certain sellers in the US since they ship them all for just $9 plus they only cost $25-30 each. Which is half the price that they are in this country. We pay £25-30 for a brand new title in this country which is around $50-55 for you lot. So usually I can get 3 games for £65~ depending on exchange rate. instead of it costing me £90 for the lot. Much cheaper. Plus the boxes are smaller and nicer than our monstrosities.

Same goes for PS3 games. $40-50 for your average PS3 game at launch is cheaper than paying £40-45 when it eventually comes out over here. Even with $9 postage, it's still cheaper.

[GamerMON]

Yep I got HotD, Virtual Cop 1 and 2 (even thought I had 2 copys of 1 all ready), and some racing game for for $24 shipped to me. The NTSC-U HotD runs about $50 (Most of this game is still in english for some reason). I also got Saturn bomberman for $12 shipped compared to the $50 range it would have cost (though the import version doesn't have net link so I did lose a little by getting this import).

[PharmaceuticalCowboy]

Plus the boxes are smaller and nicer than our monstrosities.

This I didn't know. Your boxes are flippin' huge! I would assume it's because of muli-language instruction manuals, no?

[Niode]

Plus the boxes are smaller and nicer than our monstrosities.

This I didn't know. Your boxes are flippin' huge! I would assume it's because of muli-language instruction manuals, no?

Not really the only EU games that I have have got really thin manuals, but the boxes are still huge. Most of the US games I have have quite thick manuals. So it can't be that. It really annoys me that our boxes are so horrible. The US ones are much nicer to have, they take up less room on the shelf too!

[alienjesus]

It's the same with Europe and the US. I end up buying all my NES games and most of my Megadrive/Genesis games from the USA. Even after shipping it still costs me a lot less.

Mega Drive games aren't especially pricy here. What do they cost in Malta?

Plus the boxes are smaller and nicer than our monstrosities.

This I didn't know. Your boxes are flippin' huge! I would assume it's because of muli-language instruction manuals, no?

Not really the only EU games that I have have got really thin manuals, but the boxes are still huge. Most of the US games I have have quite thick manuals. So it can't be that. It really annoys me that our boxes are so horrible. The US ones are much nicer to have, they take up less room on the shelf too!

I prefer our cases, the US ones seem flimsy in comparison. Ours are easier to use for games from other handhelds too, much less modifying needs to be done.