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Japanese Nintendo 3DS Import Thread | Brand New 3D, Same Old Region Lock

Y

Yasawas

Member
My console (white regular) arrived today and I'm so happy with it. As people have said the 3D is a bit less over the top I'M FUCKING 3D LOOK AT ME and all the better for it, the tracking is way better than I'd expected too. Coming from an XL I'm actually really happy with the size and intend to get the regular European or Australian one in black when I come to replace my existing XL now, I just find it a lot easier to hold.

Only real disappointments so far are the nightmare that was linking Club Nintendo and NNID as I barely understood what it was telling me when I did it in English months ago, it's really really confusing I think. And the stylus is original DS bad. And so many of the demos I've downloaded are limited to 3 or 7 (!?) goes only which is odd. But my experience has been mostly very positive.

I got Mario Kart 7 and one of the many Inazuma Elevens with it, have Senran Kagura 2 and Daigasso Band Brothers on the way from Play Asia today and get Dragon Quest 7 in a day or two so lots to play soon. Woo! Already excitedly planning my next big order for next month with Youkai Watch 2, Game Center CX 3, Ace Attorney, the SEGA collection and some really gaudy faceplates because as a 33 year old man playing a child's toy in public I might as well go balls out mental with it.
 
Impotaku

Impotaku

Member
Yeah corocoro is brutal for the sheer weight it's still amazing that each issue is as thick as a phonebook and usually packed with alsorts of cool free gifts, over the years i have gotten many awesome things from the issues of corocoro. I wish i could have kept the comics as well but they are just too bulky to have more than a handful of them around.

I like to think that somewhere on earth there is a perfect archive of them in a massive room.
 
M

Mecha

Member
Impotaku said:
Yeah corocoro is brutal for the sheer weight it's still amazing that each issue is as thick as a phonebook and usually packed with alsorts of cool free gifts, over the years i have gotten many awesome things from the issues of corocoro. I wish i could have kept the comics as well but they are just too bulky to have more than a handful of them around.

I like to think that somewhere on earth there is a perfect archive of them in a massive room.
Click to expand...

Here's the video of that.
 
Impotaku

Impotaku

Member
Spent the best part of 4 hours today trying to rearrange my shelves to get all the games i had laying around in piles into a much neater setup. So much dust and tetris stacking but managed to finally get all my DS & 3DS games together instead of been scattered around all 4 corners of my room. Above where i sleep is a mountain of Japanese Nintendo games.

Thought some of you might enjoy seeing the finished tidy, i don't have any energy left to tackle the rest of my room my tetris skills have run out for today lol.
col1%20res.jpg


col2%20res.jpg


col3%20res.jpg


col4%20res.jpg


col5%20res.jpg
 
ShikabaneHime13

ShikabaneHime13

Member
Impotaku said:
Spent the best part of 4 hours today trying to rearrange my shelves to get all the games i had laying around in piles into a much neater setup. So much dust and tetris stacking but managed to finally get all my DS & 3DS games together instead of been scattered around all 4 corners of my room. Above where i sleep is a mountain of Japanese Nintendo games.

Thought some of you might enjoy seeing the finished tidy, i don't have any energy left to tackle the rest of my room my tetris skills have run out for today lol.
col1%20res.jpg

col2%20res.jpg

col3%20res.jpg

col4%20res.jpg

col5%20res.jpg
Click to expand...

I wither in the presence of your gaming greatness.....
 
H

Halabane

Member
you win! Amazing display.

The only person I have met that would compete with you was a guy working at gamestop who between him and his dad had over 8000 games. The pics he had was of a room with shelves that looked like library. Guess he helped that the entire family was into it. The only thing is he did not have any JPN or foreign games.
 
C

Currygan

at last, for christ's sake
Impotaku said:
Spent the best part of 4 hours today trying to rearrange my shelves to get all the games i had laying around in piles into a much neater setup. So much dust and tetris stacking but managed to finally get all my DS & 3DS games together instead of been scattered around all 4 corners of my room. Above where i sleep is a mountain of Japanese Nintendo games.

Thought some of you might enjoy seeing the finished tidy, i don't have any energy left to tackle the rest of my room my tetris skills have run out for today lol.
col1%20res.jpg


col2%20res.jpg


col3%20res.jpg


col4%20res.jpg


col5%20res.jpg
Click to expand...


tumblr_inline_ndo2xlpmiF1smd66o.gif


this is..beautiful. I bow at thee, sir
 
H

Hibiki Rush

Neo Member
Can anyone give some insight on the New LCD color compared to the regular 3DS/XL? I was comparing Mutand Mudds on Vita last night with the 3DS and couldn't believe how much more vibrant the Vita was. Of course it's an OLED screen but the 3DS XL LCDs are a bit dull and muted. My launch 3DS has a warmer tone to it than my XL.

Anyone notice a difference? Really curious about this and the LCD quality is the thing that makes me want to upgrade the most.
 
H

Halabane

Member
gave up finding a single issue...just bought subscription to coro coro. It will give me some additional reading material to try to get thru. Been buying the one piece manga, this will be good additional material.

Least thats what I keep telling myself. :)
 
Impotaku

Impotaku

Member
ShikabaneHime13 said:
Nippon Yasan has Corocoro Comic for preorder! Just put in for my order
Click to expand...

Good that you managed to get hold of a copy eventually.

Halabane said:
gave up finding a single issue...just bought subscription to coro coro. It will give me some additional reading material to try to get thru. Been buying the one piece manga, this will be good additional material.

Least thats what I keep telling myself. :)
Click to expand...

Where did you manage to find a sub to coro coro? you have me intrigued now as it would be fun to get a copy every month.
 
M

mrback

Member
Trying to find crashmo/pullblox on the japanese eshop but can't seem to find it. Is there an easy way of finding stuff?
 
K

kubus

Member
^ that will do the trick, but if you're not familiar with inputting kana, you can scan this QR code to get to the store page too:

jcaj.gif
 
T

taoofjord

Member
Aside from the head tracking for the 3D, how does the actual screen compare to the 3DS XL? Have they gotten the color to be as rich as the DSi yet?
 
M

Meffer

Member
kubus said:
^ that will do the trick, but if you're not familiar with inputting kana, you can scan this QR code to get to the store page too:

jcaj.gif
Click to expand...

Here's an neat idea: With the list of suggested games in the OP, have the QR codes next to them for easy access for people interested?
 
Z

Zornica

Banned
the FF Explorers Demo is available since yesterday. btw it's 2236 blocks! that's more than mh4 I believe...
apparently there is also online multiplayer for up to 4 players (I think)

anyone wanna give it a try later today?
 
M

Mailenstein

Member
Zornica said:
the FF Explorers Demo is available since yesterday. btw it's 2236 blocks! that's more than mh4 I believe...
apparently there is also online multiplayer for up to 4 players (I think)

anyone wanna give it a try later today?
Click to expand...
Monhun is like 14.000 blocks. I believe RE Revelations and Bravely Default are still king with around 26.000 blocks lol.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
Anyone else having trouble downloading Final Fantasy Explorers Light?

I keep getting error code: 007-2999 when the download is just about to finish.

I searched for it, and it seems to be caused by network instability or a messed up SD card.

edit: nevermind, finally finished downloading on like the 7th try.
 
R

Rich!

Member
For all the JP unit importers out there....REGION FREE IS COMING:

jbvcfnRn2ALvny.jpg


RELEASE DATE: 22ND NOVEMBER

Activating the exploit is very easy. It requires a Nintendo 3DS. It could be a regular 3DS, or it could be the New Nintendo 3DS. It's very versatile. Activating the exploit begins by going to a particular link. I will not be distributing that link, but it will be available soon - I promise. Going to that link, you will be asked to input the firmware version of your Nintendo 3DS. Following that, you're going to be getting a set of directions that will instruct you on how to proceed with installing the exploit.

Once the exploit is installed, you will have the Homebrew Channel, not so unlike that of the Nintendo Wii, on your system. From here, you can power down the system, or remove the SD card while in the Homebrew Channel to install homebrew, which takes the form of .3DSX files. These homebrew are placed in a created directory on the 3DS SD card's root, and placed in a folder with that homebrew's name. The file is renamed boot.3dsx, and once you reinsert the SD card, the Homebrew Channel will acknowledge the presence of the application and you will be able to run homebrew!
Click to expand...
 
Impotaku

Impotaku

Member
No way im risking my N3DS with with it but my original launch model im happy to sacrifice as there is no account on that one, curious to see what comes of homebrew i'm just hoping it's not going to turn into way of pirating en mass..
 
R

Rich!

Member
Impotaku said:
No way im risking my N3DS with with it but my original launch model im happy to sacrifice as there is no account on that one, curious to see what comes of homebrew i'm just hoping it's not going to turn into way of pirating en mass..
Click to expand...

Well, this particular exploit has no way of enabling piracy. At all.

...however, it opens the possibility of reverse engineering the exploit and bypassing that. It's only a matter of time, sadly. However - region free is worth the risk.
 
Z

Zornica

Banned
richisawesome said:
Well, this particular exploit has no way of enabling piracy. At all.

...however, it opens the possibility of reverse engineering the exploit and bypassing that. It's only a matter of time, sadly. However - region free is worth the risk.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if it's really worth it...
making it possible to import (which arguably should've been there from the start) could also further the need to import as the ds age showed... more and more piracy in Europe, less and less games getting published, resulting in more and more need to import stuff. I sure hope it won't be that easy this time around.
 
H

Halabane

Member
Zornica said:
I'm not sure if it's really worth it...
making it possible to import (which arguably should've been there from the start) could also further the need to import as the ds age showed... more and more piracy in Europe, less and less games getting published, resulting in more and more need to import stuff. I sure hope it won't be that easy this time around.
Click to expand...

I get it when people take old games that no one is supporting. Old arcade game emulators for example. They are in some way ensuring that those games get 'saved'.

There are several fan translated games out there, some even on steam, that the publishers are cool with. However, this software could very well be the start of the framework for side loading games from web sites. We already saw a bit of that with the DS and alot with the PSP.

This is wrong for exactly as Zornica says. Its not that hard to get a JPN 3ds and import. Especially with eshop. There are not that many games that a non-Japanese speaker is going to want anyway. I don't think those who want the region lock off understand that. The games will still not be in English.
 
M

m00h

Banned
Now I decided that I will definately import the Australian version of the N3DSXL, since I want to use the I'll have during the Christmas period to play some games on it.

Any other alternatives to Play Asia where I could buy the Australian version with shipping to Germany?
 
B

Brawly Likes to Brawl

Member
Halabane said:
I get it when people take old games that no one is supporting. Old arcade game emulators for example. They are in some way ensuring that those games get 'saved'.

There are several fan translated games out there, some even on steam, that the publishers are cool with. However, this software could very well be the start of the framework for side loading games from web sites. We already saw a bit of that with the DS and alot with the PSP.

This is wrong for exactly as Zornica says. Its not that hard to get a JPN 3ds and import. Especially with eshop. There are not that many games that a non-Japanese speaker is going to want anyway. I don't think those who want the region lock off understand that. The games will still not be in English.
Click to expand...

I've been studying Japanese for two years so the language barrier isn't much of an issue, I want region free for convenience purposes. I'd really like to not go back to my old US 3DS to play any english games because I find it way too uncomfortable compared to my N3DS. Ideally I'd like not to mess around with my console and deal with dodging firmware updates but I kind of have to because the region lock is in place and Nintendo clearly isn't ever going to remove it.
 
H

Halabane

Member
Brawly Likes to Brawl said:
I've been studying Japanese for two years so the language barrier isn't much of an issue, I want region free for convenience purposes. I'd really like to not go back to my old US 3DS to play any english games because I find it way too uncomfortable compared to my N3DS. Ideally I'd like not to mess around with my console and deal with dodging firmware updates but I kind of have to because the region lock is in place and Nintendo clearly isn't ever going to remove it.
Click to expand...

I would like region free too. My concern is having 3rd party folks...creating a solution for it.

I always thought they did it because of local culture issues. Look at how they modded some likes like bravely default because of what they perceive as cultural differences. What do you do in countries that have laws about blood and violence? So I get where
region block comes in. Will the publisher be responsible if they don't put protections in? Guess MS and Sony solved it...but why hasn't Nintendo? (thought I guess they are looking at it)
 
B

Brawly Likes to Brawl

Member
Halabane said:
I would like region free too. My concern is having 3rd party folks...creating a solution for it.

I always thought they did it because of local culture issues. Look at how they modded some likes like bravely default because of what they perceive as cultural differences. What do you do in countries that have laws about blood and violence? So I get where
region block comes in. Will the publisher be responsible if they don't put protections in? Guess MS and Sony solved it...but why hasn't Nintendo? (thought I guess they are looking at it)
Click to expand...

Its basically for price control between regions. Iwata all but said that a short while ago during the last share holder meeting. In all fairness he does seem to be realizing that its kind of pointless so I'm crossing my fingers that region locks will be gone next gen.
 
H

Halabane

Member
Just to be upfront...I want to see it region free...just trying to understand why its not from Big N.

I did some google searching and I think Nintendo is surprised that the other companies are not doing this. I do believe they feel there are age restrictions and cultural differences that forces them to do this. Since they have a history of being sensitive to things with kids Though not sure how they age gate Japanese games in Japan. I guess they are moving slow. An interview in 2013 he actually says "legal reasons".

Agree that money is also part of this. How is the eshop going to work in places like South America where games are way high ....how to they stop that? Govts are not going to let it happen....again .... don't know how ms and sony are getting away with it ... if what iwata says is true.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/07/nintendo-president-defends-region-locking/

Lawyer opinion: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/08/19/region-locking-we-talk-to-a-lawyer/
 
Impotaku

Impotaku

Member
As much as Iwata said they would look into it i honestly don't think the region restriction will be removed on the next console, Nintendo love been able to control what comes out in each region and for what price it sells for. Now it's implemented they'll be reluctant to let it go.

After the mention of homebrew maybe removing the region lock i actually thought of what games were actually out there that weren't released in Japan and i quickly realised that there is actually nothing from the west that i'd want to get all the best 3DS games come from Japan so having region free wouldn't make much of a difference for me but i could see it been of a lot more use if you have a western 3DS and want to experience some of the games from Japan.
 
D

dgco86

Member
FYI, Amiami has restocked their black regular and LL New 3DSes.

Regular: http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/de...st?s_cate4=9685$pagemax=40$getcnt=0$pagecnt=1

LL: http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/de...st?s_cate4=9685$pagemax=40$getcnt=0$pagecnt=1

According to customer service, the shipping weight of the LL is approximately 600g, so you can get an estimate of the shipping cost here:
http://www.amiami.com/top/page/t/faq2.html#2

It works out to roughly 21270 JPY shipped to Singapore with EMS (I'm assuming "approximately 600g" is closer to 700g), which is a better deal than Nippon Yasan and SuperUFO.

EDIT: The shipping weight was 600g, so coupled with the 196 amiami points I've accumulated my total cost was 20934JPY shipped to Singapore via EMS. Not bad at all.
 
K

kubus

Member
Finally found time to start Youkai Watch and I'm digging this game a lot. The graphics are amazing and they look especially beautiful in 3D. I think this is the first time since the original 3DS launch that I'm playing a game with 3D on all the time. The New 3DS' improved 3D really helps a ton.

I actually got a little stuck in the game now, as I've died three times already in this boss battle
in the bathhouse
. Everyone said this game is too easy but I'm getting my ass kicked lol!

Can anyone (Impotaku? :p) explain what the various Youkai types do? I put three heart-type youkai in a row and a line appeared connecting them, but I have no idea what kind of bonus it gives. Also, is youkai type related to what kind of food they prefer? I know Jibanyan likes fish type items but not sure how it works for the rest.

Gonna grind my youkai a little more and then hopefully beat this boss!
 
Impotaku

Impotaku

Member
I can't remember all the types off the top of my head but i remember polkapolka types (green flower symbol) are usually healing types ishamashi (horns looking symbol) are usually attack focused (i think with weapons) Goketsu (fist symbol) attack with physical attacks, you have to look at their natures really as you can have healing youkai with an attack based personality, or you could have an attack based youkai that can heal you but can give them books to make their natures change.

In the first game the food they like is not shown by scanning with the lens you have to guess and remember, i have to rely on my guidebook for the first game to work out which types a certain youkai likes if you want to know a particular youkai's favourite food just let us know and i'll look it up for you. Sometimes you can guess like you did with jibanyan but a lot of them have food that isn't related to them so it's harder to guess. I'm assuming you know about the pin option when using the lens to focus all your attacks on a certain part of a boss or chosing a certain youkai? The pig in the bath house is tricky at first it's probably a good idea to level up a bit as he hits hard. You need to focus on the belly buton by using the pin obviously he keeps covering that part with a bucket.
 
Impotaku

Impotaku

Member
Time for more pickups as a huge box arrived from tenso today.

The dengeki bazooka magazine is a pretty fun read so far, plus there are AR markers through the magazine with weird offerings. Behold sexy buisnessman with seashell bikini, hehe. Sadly the codes that unlock the minigames can't be shared as they are not QR codes but numeric codes that you have to put in and it then connects to the e-shop to get the data and saves it to your sd card. Also picked up a binder specifically designed to hold 3DS AR cards as i have a lot that need protecting and not floating around loose.
new4%20res.jpg

new1%20res.jpg


Also a ton of new youkai watch medals as ever.
new5%20res.jpg


A new smash bros faceplate, the printing is silver so it's hard to get a good pic with the camera.
new7%20res.jpg


And a couple of new 3DS games to keep my busy
new8%20res.jpg
 
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