The Import Scene : Pricing

[chevkoch]

Isn't it interesting: this thread is basically saying that we're living in 'good times' right now. And I'm joining the chorus full-heartedly. Shopping for games via the internet with all the information to make your buying decisions a few clicks away is just phenomenal. I'm a happier person because of it, I guess.

It took me awhile to find my prefered web dealer. I ordered from Ncsx, Tronix, The Rage and finally settled with Lik Sang which I use almost exclusively for imports now, but order games also from Amazon and one German online shop (Gamezone) occasionally.

There are reliable web shops out there that offer great prices and service, for me it beats going into a physical shop where often people don't know what they're talking about and prices are over the top.

[Neon Ignition]

Well, back in the day importing used to be a straight out no-option for me due to the pricing. The hardware is still the biggest obstacle to get over but once you do the rewards get reaped in mountain sized hills. The price tag of some new games is shockingly low, like nearly any new Capcom game is usually around the ?20 marker.

The Cube for imports is something i now couldn't do without and the PS2's US import RPG scene has kept mine running good. The Xbox? Well...its import scene is well....pants....but a chipped Xbox has many other uses

[wod]

i never knew at all about importing till about 3 years ago, when i got the net on my pc, i stumbled apon it and that was it.

must have been hard for you lot in the early days, with only having shops to buy them from ?

the internet has improved access to it alot, as we wouldn't be here.

[huxley]

I tend to use NCSX and Lik-sang. The later have gotten superfast at shipping of late. The only online importer I wouldn`t touch with a barge pole is Kingcube, the sale prices on their site are way higher than getting the goods from the country of origin (with shipping)!!

[sam1981]

That's the place. Yeah, their PAL stuff and DVD's are quite cheap, it's only the import prices that take the piss.

Just walked past during my lunch and saw a mint copy of Saturn Radiant Silvergun for ?200

[acidforblood]

Back in the day it wasn't just imports that were expensive, i remember shelling out ?60 for SF2Turbo in the tin from EB.

Online shops are great but i also enjoy buying from forums such as this, there's a genuine community spirit and don't forget the delights of Ebay either.

[vic_viper]

Back in the day it wasn't just imports that were expensive, i remember shelling out ?60 for SF2Turbo in the tin from EB.

Online shops are great but i also enjoy buying from forums such as this, there's a genuine community spirit and don't forget the delights of Ebay either.

Just the bog standard cardboard box version (there was no other version) of the original Streetfighter2 had a rrp of ?65 so ?60 for the tin box version of Turbo seemed like a bargain at the time.

[Max M]

Didn't Turok cost about ?69.99?

[huxley]

Was just looking for some books under my bed (where I store all my xs games - live in a small flat atm) And adding up one box of old nes/snes carts came to almost ?300! I`ve always kidded my self that it`s all an investment for the future. But I know deep down that I have no intention of letting any of my old games go at any price. Most of the sales and trades around here are for recent ish games. So I guess most of you guys feel the same way.
Are we just hanging onto the past?
I`ll never forget the joy of getting in from school and starting up marble madness on a tatty old portable tv (once my homework was done).
back to the future
And now I spend my past time hunting down the titles I missed out the first time.
God bless online traders ,ebay and import shops, it`s all out there.............. at a price






My god thats a bit deep for me

[JetBlack]

I also agree about NCSX. I go with them.

My fellow American Che Mushashi is lucky since he acutally has a "local import shop". I have nothing....which means all you folks over in the magical kingdom of the UK should be kissing the ground. At least you actually have an "import scene" - regardless of what state of health it's in.

As for PlayAsia.com and YesAsia.com I'm sorry, I've found them to be very expensive compared to others. Plus, the last thing I ordered from them took just one day short of forever. "Ohijima no Tennisu" (Prince of Tennis: Smash Hit) took a life time to show up. It was so bad I sent them email complaining about it being near a month since I ordered the game (which was available elsewhere). They sped it up after my correspondence and even tossed in a free Japanese video game magazine (I guess they knew I was tipped). The magazine was months old.

PlayAsia.com did me wrong when they screwed up my "Megumi" version from the Motion Gravure series. I had to write them as well, which helped them realize they were sold out of the "Megumi" version, thus I had to settle for Harumi Nemoto instead.

Yeah, the Internet is the way to go nowadays. We are living in the best and worst of times. I'm just glad the Japanese developers are aware of this when it comes time for certain titles to be released. Used to be years between games on my shores and their shelves. But now some titles are not only released the same year, but often also released the same quarter, month, or even at the same time. And now special bonus' are being added. I'm loving it!

However, I do wish I could get my grubby paws on the "Crimson Report" being handed out at Japanese store fronts. Distributors aren't privy to the many promotional items surrounding imports in Akiba and the like.

But at this point, I'm asking way too much. Hahah!

[sam1981]

Didn't Turok cost about ?69.99?

And it didn't have battery backup so you had to fork out another ?15/20 on a memory card!

[Fastware]

Didn't Turok cost about ?69.99?

And it didn't have battery backup so you had to fork out another ?15/20 on a memory card!

And as the official Nintendo memory pacs were rarer that unicorn poo at the time you ended up having to buy one of the horrible Spook brand ones that lost saves! ft:

[sam1981]

Didn't Turok cost about ?69.99?

And it didn't have battery backup so you had to fork out another ?15/20 on a memory card!

And as the official Nintendo memory pacs were rarer that unicorn poo at the time you ended up having to buy one of the horrible Spook brand ones that lost saves! ft:

And then you found out that the cool Brachiosaurus from the screenshots in the Edge review had been taken out apparently to be used in the sequel... ft:

[Kirby]

NCSX might be cheaper if you're in the US due to shipping prices, but PA and YA are much cheaper for the UK due to free or cheap shipping. And nothings taken more than 6 days to reach me from either shop.

They're the only two shops i ever bother using for games

[Henning]

I?ve found that NCS is very fast to prepare and send away an order.




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