For those that live in the UK, do you import NTSC games?

P

psycho_snake

I went to WAGs boutique and all I got was a sniff
Luckily, I dont have that situation anymore, but begore when I used to live in the UK, I never used to import and used to wait for the games, but when I think about having to do that again, I dont think I could. I would be missing out on all the talk for big title games that are released in Europe late and my desire for the game will grow too much. If I ever have to go back to the Uk, I would definately import. So for those who live in Britain or another Eurpean country, do you import or do you wait for games to be released on PAL?

i was also thinking wouldnt it be cheaper to buy newly released games from a place like www.videogamesplus.ca if you were living in the UK. A new game costs about $65CDN, 70 with shipping. That is about 30 pounds. Wouldnt it be better to buy like that to save money or am I forgetting something?
 
I do import, it is cheaper, the only problem with it is that you cant mod a system and play imported games on live, so you need an NTSC xbox (thank god for international shippers on eBay).
 
Yeah, Ebay is a lifesaver, but I dont know how reliable they are. Did you find any problems when buying a console?
 
I only imported Four Swords Adventures, Tales of Symphonia and Resident Evil 4 this generation. Last generation I didn't import at all.

I have more disposable income than I used to, so I think I will continue to import in future if the purchase really warrants it. If its only a matter of months (or even a week as with Metroid Prime 2) theres usually no point.

I don't import with the other consoles because theres no alternative as good as Freeloader for them. Though I do have my Xbox modded.
 
psycho_snake said:
Yeah, Ebay is a lifesaver, but I dont know how reliable they are. Did you find any problems when buying a console?
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I didnt have any problems in the end but i waited around for just the right auction (by which i mean the right seller, i forget his name but he had great feedback)
 
It depends on how much I want the game. If I lived in the UK and had to wait for MGS3 I would go insane. Can someone just remind me how long after the NTSC version of Zelda: OoT and WW were the PAL versions released?
 
I'm in France but the situation is the same if you understand english. Considering how low the dollar is, and that games are already cheaper in the US it's quite a bargain to buy NTSC games right now. Not having to wait for the PAL release is also quite a bonus.
The same thing is true pour NTSC-J games too. I can get Asia games (not japanese, the ones for the rest of the asian market) for less than 40 euros with shipping included. 20 euros less than the PAL games I'll get a few weeks/months later...
 
I've never owned a PAL console even though I've lived in UK for almost nine years now. I'm from HK and I can usually get stuff sent. And yes, it is cheaper to import, although I'd never thought of it that way since it never made much sense for me to have a PAL console. I do hate walking past GAME or EB knowing that I'd never buy anything (apart from GBA games from them), there is something satisfying walking into a shop and getting a game you've wanted for so long in person.
 
Ghost said:
I didnt have any problems in the end but i waited around for just the right auction (by which i mean the right seller, i forget his name but he had great feedback)
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I always take a very close look at the feedbak. I would never buy anything off a powerseller, anyone with less than 100% posative feedback and over 100 sales.
 
I used to all the time, then I slowed down. I usually import the consoles from Japan (most impractical in many ways), then hang on until a way to chip them is found. Usually I'm OK.

Next gen though I'm really going to try and resist, and either go UK, or perhaps a US import (depends on timing). US games are about the same as the UK on the internet, and usually quicker. But online will be big next gen and I'm concerned about stuff like LIVE authentication and Sony DNAS stuff making importing impractical.

I just hope the global market makes lead times to Europe a little shorter.
 
Always import (mostly from the US), if I buy a euro release it's usually a game that wont be released in the US or have some extra content added (like Ico).
 
I've been importing for about 2 years now and I'm glad I did. Like most I was sick of poor conversions and ridiculous delays...just to show how much hasn't been released in the UK here's a few examples

Resi 4 - end of March
VJ2 - end of March
Katamari Damacy - never(!) Just one of many games that we'll never see on the shelves over here

Then there's stuff like Ikaruga that took ages and then got an insultingly inferior port to PAL

I now buy about half of my games via import and I'll only buy PAL if the release data is close to the US one and it's got a 60Hz mode
 
next gen I will be importing everthing from the states or canada. It's just much cheaper. NZ dollar is very strong right now against US but we are still paying 120 for a game. 50 USD is roughly 70 bucks right now. It's fucked. Especially cause we have to wait a silly amount of time for a PAL conversion.
 
Been importing hardware and software for about 15 years mainly from Japan (not being able to read Japanese doesn't really affect most of the games I play)

BTW modded PAL XBox works fine on Live here (once you've set the machine bios to NTSC or PAL the modchip doesn't need to be on when you log on to Live).
 
catfish said:
next gen I will be importing everthing from the states or canada. It's just much cheaper. NZ dollar is very strong right now against US but we are still paying 120 for a game. 50 USD is roughly 70 bucks right now. It's fucked. Especially cause we have to wait a silly amount of time for a PAL conversion.
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Same here. With the Saturn,PSX, and N64 I ntsc'd and it was great.

Went Pal this Generation and it was the worst mistake ive ever made. Long Pal conversions, Xbox Live Support being taken out of most games, Progressive Scan Options missing... BULLSHIT !

Importing all the way next gen.
 
I own a US GameCube and a PAL Xbox. I started off with both PAL systems but Gamecube is doing terrible in the Australian market with a very poor game selection with games often becoming discontinued after the intial shipment has sold out. Factor in late PAL release and higher prices and i'm glad that someone convinced me to import a NTSC Gamecube awhile ago.

Most of my friends that had N64s back in the day don't own consoles now and those that do mostly have Xboxs, so not being able to trade games hasn't been a problem. I miss being able to rent but most videostores that rent Gamecube games pretty much have the intial launch line up and that's about it! Go Crazy Taxi and Universal Studios!!

So yeah. Cheaper and faster. Why wouldn't I import? The only thing that worries me next gen is whether I can play online games with an imported console. I'll have to wait and see what Nintendo online plans are...
 
So do you guys worry about warranty ? I dont really want to shell out for a console (wont name names) only to have it stuff up within a year. Do your local companies accept warranty returns ?
 
I have a modded Japanese Cube so I can only play NTSC games. I plan on selling it though when I'm done with RE4. Doubt I'll get back nearly as much as I put into it.
 
Ryudo said:
So do you guys worry about warranty ? I dont really want to shell out for a console (wont name names) only to have it stuff up within a year. Do your local companies accept warranty returns ?
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Touch wood, I've never had a failure on my import consoles, other than a modchip failing.

Other than that, there is always the 'buy from GAME, swap units, return within 10 days' option.
 
I have a switched US cube that I bought second hand. It's in perfect condition though and I bought it from a reputable person (and the mod was done by a very respected modder) GCs are superbly built and unlikely to just suddenly 'break'

I have a Famicom SP and tbh I don't think I've ever even heard of a faulty GBA SP, so I'm not worried about that.

My other consoles are PAL though because I want to use them online and because of warranties
 
I've been doing it for five years now, there's no going back after playing a proper NTSC 60Hz game. It's all Japanese stuff, with a few US exceptions depending on language barrier.

Anyhoo, don't be a PAL, import!
 
I haven't bought a new PAL release since Sonic Adventure for Dreamcast. By the time it's a new PAL release the US version will have dropped $10-$20 on the already lower US price, so what's the point? I'll pick up some older PAL bargains here and there, but that's it.

Example from this week: I live in Europe, I buy PSO Plus, US version, from an Australian site. Including shipping I still get it at about half price of what I'd have to pay for the older PSO (Plus isn't out in Europe) here. I ordered PSO Ep. III from the US for about 1/3 of what the game would cost me here, and that's including shipping from the US. The situation is just so messed up. I likely won't be buying PAL consoles next generation at all.
 
Looking over this thread, why would anyone buy PAL games in their own territory?

It's cheaper, you get the game months earlier, and you can still play online if you have a NTSC system? That's a no-brainer.

I wonder what the percentage is of people in PAL territories that import. I can't imagine why you wouldn't. Newer TV's in those markets display NTSC games just fine too, right?
 
I don't live in the UK, but if I did you could be sure as hell I'd be importing. Europe gets the shaft all the damn time.
 
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