Starwolf_UK
Member
Digital stuff. OP says Club Nintendo Picross. Other digital things (e,g. Advance Wars Days of Ruin are probably too many points to reach (games devalue and expire pretty quickly).
Japanese Nintendo 3DS Import Thread | Brand New 3D, Same Old Region Lock
- Thread starter kubus
- Start date
Damn I didn't know that.
So what service would you recommend? I assume you pay for it off site (off Amazon)..then plug it in to Amazon's shipping? I bet by the time I get this set up the Amazon LL's will be gone too. Booo.
Great topic.
I was all set to get a 3DS LL to play Smash...until the "News" came in. I couldn't, in good faith, keep my preorder when I knew there was a better 3DS LL coming out that had more buttons and perhaps even a worthwhile C-Stick solution.
Guess I'll just be lurking on my usual places until I see that New Smash 3DS LL up for grabs.
I was all set to get a 3DS LL to play Smash...until the "News" came in. I couldn't, in good faith, keep my preorder when I knew there was a better 3DS LL coming out that had more buttons and perhaps even a worthwhile C-Stick solution.
Guess I'll just be lurking on my usual places until I see that New Smash 3DS LL up for grabs.
Damn I didn't know that.
So what service would you recommend? I assume you pay for it off site (off Amazon)..then plug it in to Amazon's shipping? I bet by the time I get this set up the Amazon LL's will be gone too. Booo.
well with tenso you pay Amazon directly, and then when Tenso gets it you pay them their service fee and shipping. Pretty sure that's the way with most...although if your credit card doesn't work on some other JP site you can request they buy it for you
I did it for Club Nintendo Picross. There's also Nintendoji, another Japanese Club Nintendo exclusive download game, so I'm probably going to work towards getting that next.
Garou
Member
Damn I didn't know that.
So what service would you recommend? I assume you pay for it off site (off Amazon)..then plug it in to Amazon's shipping? I bet by the time I get this set up the Amazon LL's will be gone too. Booo.
Read the OP, plus it's the middle of the night right now in Japan, you have roughly 3.5 hours before the beast awakens
Btw, since seeing it in the OP triggered my memory of it: how did Time Travelers turn out? I kind of recall hearing it may not have been so great, and may also have ties to some other game that wasn't released in the US?
Edit: Also, awesome thread. Maybe we could also try compiling a list of some of the neat eshop stuff that's Japan exclusive? There's stuff like Flipnote, plenty of Japanese manga, and of course a ton of neat Virtual Console stuff we'll likely never get over here like Picross 2 and For the Frog the Bell Tolls.
Edit: Also, awesome thread. Maybe we could also try compiling a list of some of the neat eshop stuff that's Japan exclusive? There's stuff like Flipnote, plenty of Japanese manga, and of course a ton of neat Virtual Console stuff we'll likely never get over here like Picross 2 and For the Frog the Bell Tolls.
It's pretty enjoyable, but a little short. Absolutely worth it at the prices physical copies go for these days. If you have a Vita though that version is far and away better to get.
Read the OP, plus it's the middle of the night right now in Japan, you have roughly 3.5 hours before the beast awakens
Sorry for that, should have paid closer attention. With Tenso..will there be a big delay then between the release date and when I get it? I'm assuming yes, because it has to be shipped to the Japanese address, then I have to pay them to send it to me in the States.
it's usually a day's difference. Then again that goes for all middleman services unless they say that they ship directly to you. I do like that you can hold off on them and combine purchases into a giant package to cut shipping costs a bit though
Zenaku
Member
I'll look forward to hearing, thanks. Getting stuff through them could save me a fortune on the actual items and import tax, and if I can use Club Nintendo with them it'll be a dream (Platinum member right now).
I'll be doing the same. Although it'd surely be red, which isn't my favourite colour, I still want a Xenoblade themed LL. Hopefully the design will be similar to the one I have in my head.
As mentioned there are downloadable games that can be gotten such as Club Nintendo Picross and Advance Wars DoR (got this a month or two ago). AWDoR was actually a platinum award last year, but I forgot to register a code or two and ended up as a Gold user.
There was also the "Buy 2 games, get 1 free" campaign at the end of last year, which got me Kid Icarus and Culdcept for free, so if they have another promotion like that it'll really pay to have a CN account.
You probably can, AliceSoft has a similar system and I've been able to exchange points for items and have them shipped just fine.
ladyluthien
Member
Wow the OP looks fantastic!!!
That's not bad at all. Thanks for the info. Got my pre-order in guys!
metsallica
Member
Sure were, yeah. I waffled myself and missed out but I'm sure they'll reopen preorders multiple times between now and the launch.
FrostyCollects
Neo Member
I posted this photo on Facebook a while back. I managed to preorder the Persona Q 3DS LL bundle from AmiAmi...yes, it presold out in a minute or two. Also shown: a Persona Q 3DS LL case and a Blazblue novel. I probably will import a New 3DS (LL) from Japan but still need to give it some more thought first.
Darn. Thanks for letting me know though. I will be obsessively watching that product page for the next few weeks until I get a pre-order then. :|
No Vita here. What exactly are we talking about in terms of difference? I really don't care about things like screen quality or the difference between 30 fps and 60 fps or anything in that vein, but if we're talking actual content I may hold off in case I pick up a Vita some time in the future...
Bassmastergeneral
Member
crap! I can't believe I missed the amazon preorder.
No content differences but the graphical divide is huge. If you don't mind that then there's no reason to not get the 3DS version.
Astral/H3X
Member
So here's a question, buying a white New 3DS (non LL), using Tenso, and shipping it to Indiana, about how much should I expect to pay?
Also how much are eShop games? Smash and MH4G most importantly. It looks like I might be paying around $200 to get the system and a game?
Also how much are eShop games? Smash and MH4G most importantly. It looks like I might be paying around $200 to get the system and a game?
You and me both.
Going to just keep refreshing the page every now and again watching for new stock.
Just got back from dinner, I'll work on updating the OP with the new info right away.
REALLY bummed out that I missed the amazon pre-order. I wanted to give Tenso a shot. Ah well. Hope I won't miss Nin-Nin's.
Btw not sure if mentioned but amazon.jp has the charging docks available now as well.
Link
REALLY bummed out that I missed the amazon pre-order
. I wanted to give Tenso a shot. Ah well. Hope I won't miss Nin-Nin's.Btw not sure if mentioned but amazon.jp has the charging docks available now as well.
Link
all I can say is guess how much it weighs and look here for a rough estimate. I can check the eshop prices later, but I'm not where I can access wifi at the moment so I can't check for you.
http://www.tenso.com/en/guide/fee/index.html
Not sure about Tenso but Smash will be about 5200 yen plus tax and MH4G 5,546 yen plus tax on the eshop so about $60 each.
ActStriker
Member
Reading the OP thoroughly this time, I didn't know Tenso existed. Immediately signed up for an account.
What have I done D:
What have I done D:
All I can find is a image of one screenshot from each in comparison from an old Kotaku article as far as the differences go. Honestly, can't say I care that much (doesn't look terribly different to me) and I'm not much of a graphics guy anyway so I'll probably just go for 3ds, especially since that's usually my go to system anyway. Thanks for the heads up, though!
metsallica
Member
Tenso's service fee + EMS shipping will probably be around $30, which is on top of what you pay for your item. So you'd probably be closer to $250 depending on the game.
For the cheapest price it should be Amazon JP > Nippon-yasan (bottom) > Nin-Nin Game (bottom) if you compare prices for a brand new standard 3DS LL.
Also thumbs up for a great thread! Now back to lurking.
I have been importing since 2006 and Ouendan was my first game. I have both Taikos, Virus Shooter XX, Gundam 3D Battle, and the first Theatrhythm.
I try not to import much since I dont know Japanese and want to support local releases.
Also if you complain about the prices I paid like over $300 for a JP 3DS back in 2011.
Subscribed! Great thread, kubus!
I too missed the Amazon pre-orders. I really hope I can get one around launch time but at this rate it's not looking good.
It's not helping that I want the small white model, which seems to be the most popular judging by quickly pre-orders are sold out at various places.
I'm starting to get the impression that Nintendo is going to have a very, very good October.
I too missed the Amazon pre-orders. I really hope I can get one around launch time but at this rate it's not looking good.
It's not helping that I want the small white model, which seems to be the most popular judging by quickly pre-orders are sold out at various places.
I'm starting to get the impression that Nintendo is going to have a very, very good October.
now that I checked, they marked mine as normal. Second part I would ask for clarification, but I'll just do a catchall.
1) You order at let us say Amazon and Tenso will give you an address to give to them.
2) You pay Amazon the regular price of said item and shipping to Tenso
3) Tenso just makes you pay shipping and a service fee
4) When you get your item it will be marked as normal(it may be marked as gift if you select that option where you buy it from?)
5) On the outside box it will list the item, quantity, and price exactly. I don't believe they add their own price onto it.
*Note: I remember that they may ask for some kind of identification when making your account which we never mentioned.
I think that's pretty much it. Most services will follow the same routine...I say this as I don't remember any doing anything differently.
Impotaku
Member
A very useful thread,
I use Tenso a lot, just to add a few other things. Once an item has arrived at your Tenso address you can actually edit the customs value and the item type of each parcel thats arrived. Usually Tenso will guess the type of item like game software or hobby goods or food ect but you can change that if you like.
You can mark them right down as a low value but not 0 value, doing this is a risk as if your parcel goes missing thats all you can claim from insurance but so far i haven't had any problems.
One thing new customers with Tenso will have to do is you need to go through a security check with them, which means you will need to prove who you are by sending scans or pics of certain qualifying documents. I used a bank statement & my passport, it's ok though you can blank out sensitive data on them they need to see that you have a valid document with your full name & a document with your name & address, there is no risk.
One other important thing is your name you register with Tenso has to match whatever address you buy from, so on Amazon Japan when you add your tenso address to the address book it's vital that you have your name exactly the same.
I import a lot of Japanese games so if anyone needs help or suggestions then feel free to ask away.
Gameboy415
Member
I imported the Zelda 3DSLL last winter to play imports but I haven't actually bought many games yet - I currently have Gaist Crusher, Band Bros P, and I just got Project Mirai (the first one) in the mail today.
I also had enough coins on my JP account to get Club Nintendo Picross and got a code for Nintendouji (another Club Nintendo exclusive) on eBay.
My current want list includes:
-Gon
-Slime Mori Mori Dragon Quest 3
-Taiko no Tatsujin (all of em)
I hope so!
I'm planning to get one if they're not exorbitantly expensive, but I'm also kicking myself for not pre-ordering a standard New 3DS from Play-Asia when they first put them up.
I also had enough coins on my JP account to get Club Nintendo Picross and got a code for Nintendouji (another Club Nintendo exclusive) on eBay.
My current want list includes:
-Gon
-Slime Mori Mori Dragon Quest 3
-Taiko no Tatsujin (all of em)
I hope so!
I'm planning to get one if they're not exorbitantly expensive, but I'm also kicking myself for not pre-ordering a standard New 3DS from Play-Asia when they first put them up.
Zenaku
Member
Thanks for the info guys. So, if Tenso don't put their shipping costs on the package, and I can alter the customs value I should save even more on import tax. The only problem is ID, as I lack a passport or driver licence...
metsallica
Member
Also up at Yodobashi: http://www.yodobashi.com/ec/category/index.html?cate=&word=new+3ds&ginput=
I suppose they take state ID if you have that...maybe your Social? You'd have to ask since I used my Driver's
moeshizzle
Member
Seems like nippon yassan will have preorders up today. This was 10 minutes ago
Gon Baku Baku Baku Baku Adventure is great, but pricey, as it is out of print and not available on the eshop. Also check out the first Crayon Shin-Chan game for the 3DS, it is a really fun platformer.