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The Import Scene : Pricing

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    #16
    Originally posted by Max M
    The sad thing is, you still get rip-off import indie shops these days. The other day I saw Megaman Network Transmission on GameCube for ?59 and I remember a place in Kingston selling Japanese Wind Waker with OOT for ?80.
    Gamestron in cambridge are awful, ?60 for a new import game. It's not lie they even redeem theirselves with any knowledge. I asked them when F-zero GX was coming out 2 weeks before the play-asia release date and the head guy there said he didn't even know it was coming out. They have some ok prices for DVDs but I would never buy games from those clowns!

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      #17
      Originally posted by Max M
      I remember a place in Kingston selling Japanese Wind Waker with OOT for ?80.
      Is that X-electricals? They aren't bad with PAL pricing - I used to pick up brand new DC games for about a tenner cheaper than in Game or Virgin round the corner, but their import pricing is shocking. Viewtiful Joe was in there the other day for about ?65... ft:

      Let's face it though, the Internet isn't just good for import gaming - it makes pretty much everything cheaper. Not only that, but it's a lot easier to compare prices between websites than it is to go running over town to find out how much each shop is selling each game for.

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        #18
        Originally posted by charlie angel
        I fear the answer, but how much did that set you back?
        Can't remember exactly but I'm pretty sure it was over ?600

        Originally posted by charlie angel
        I popped up to the Software Box in the mall.
        Ha! I remember them! They used to answer the phone with something like "'ello, Boffware Box"

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          #19
          It is truly ridiculous to see how much some stores charge for imports; I can't fully understand why they feel justified in doing so, unless it is to account for import taxes in various places. I mean, I remember being psyched to get Metal Slug 3 when it came out, so I drove down to the local import store and they had it, but for $80US! I quickly turned around, went home and ordered it from Play-Asia for ~$65 w/shipping and had it in three days.

          Seriously, who pays such inflated prices for imports? It seems like if you are buying imports as it is, you're bound to be "in the know" thanks to the internet. With that knowledge, how can you not encounter an import retailer? So odd.

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            #20
            Originally posted by sam1981
            Originally posted by Max M
            I remember a place in Kingston selling Japanese Wind Waker with OOT for ?80.
            Is that X-electricals? They aren't bad with PAL pricing - I used to pick up brand new DC games for about a tenner cheaper than in Game or Virgin round the corner, but their import pricing is shocking. Viewtiful Joe was in there the other day for about ?65... ft:
            That's the place. Yeah, their PAL stuff and DVD's are quite cheap, it's only the import prices that take the piss.

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              #21
              I find here in the US that its cheaper online sometimes, with shipping, then it is at my local import shop. That also might be due to Hell A short shipping distance from Japan.

              Either way online import shops are a good thing. I'd be lost without Play Asia. Lik Sang is good too. NSCX is the priciest of the bunch and therefor my least favorite. Though I still use them on occassion.

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                #22
                Originally posted by charlie angel
                Originally posted by Square
                No, I know exactly what you mean. I remember walking into the Video Game Centre in Moordown and purchasing a PSX on day of release I can't describe the excitement of the journey home with it on the bus!


                I fear the answer, but how much did that set you back?

                I remember back in 1996 (I think) - I was in Poole shopping for something or other, when I popped up to the Software Box in the mall; to find a Japanese N64 with Mario 64 running on display

                I could barely contain myself.
                Do you not think that the fact that we can get the latest Japanese games at dirt-cheap prices kinda less exciting though? I remember getting my Jap Dreamcast, it took about a month to come through from New Age Consoles (?299 with vf3tb) and I was SO excited that whole month, just because I knew that I'd got an awesome deal and that no-one else would be playing on it for a long time to come.

                But now getting a new imported console is less of an buzz for me, and possibly because it now feels less "elite"?

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                  #23
                  The only downside that I can see is that games no longer hold that kind of 'awe' and value that they used to. Now, ?30 a game seems trivial (especially since I've started working and raking in the cash compared to the pittance I used to call pocket money. I get more in an hour than I did in a week). At least when it cost **** loads to buy games on import, you'd make sure you got your money's worth. Now, for games that aren't truly AAA-great all the way through, I just shove 'em on a shelf and never go back .

                  Heh. But yes, it's great .

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                    #24
                    Originally posted by Jesse
                    It is truly ridiculous to see how much some stores charge for imports; I can't fully understand why they feel justified in doing so, unless it is to account for import taxes in various places.
                    Part of it has to be that running a shop is more expensive than running a shop is more expensive than running a mail order company. The other part I suppose is that lazy or impatient people are willing to pay those prices rather than go through the (perceived) hassle of mail order.

                    Seriously, who pays such inflated prices for imports?
                    I could think of a number of reasons. Some people are doing it to stay loyal to their favourite shop where they've bought games from for all their lives. They know the people who run the shop, and value the atmosphere over savings. (I know there are a lot of indies where this doesn't apply, but just as many where it does.) And there are people who just can't get over the psychological barrier of mail order, or they don't have a credit card. You're lucky, being in America, that you have NCSX, but for most people, getting cheap imports means shopping internationally (or taking some other leap like paying a membership fee). And for many people, this is just too intimidating, so they're willing to pay over the odds for the perceived safety of buying locally.

                    Side note: my mail order shops of choice right now are Play Asia and DVD Box Office.

                    Later.

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                      #25
                      Originally posted by Electric Boogaloo
                      Do you not think that the fact that we can get the latest Japanese games at dirt-cheap prices kinda less exciting though? I remember getting my Jap Dreamcast, it took about a month to come through from New Age Consoles (?299 with vf3tb) and I was SO excited that whole month, just because I knew that I'd got an awesome deal and that no-one else would be playing on it for a long time to come.

                      But now getting a new imported console is less of an buzz for me, and possibly because it now feels less "elite"?
                      I don't think I anticipate things with as much fervour as I used to - anticipation & the build up is a huge part of the game for me, & I don't know whether that's become more diluted now that 'exotic' gaming items are more accessible or if I'm just rose-tinting the past - although I will say that the waits for SF2 on the Jpn Snes & Ocarina on the N64 were excruciating, as yet to be surpassed by anything else.

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                        #26
                        I remember shaking as I handed over the money for Street Fighter 2 on the Super Famicom!

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                          #27
                          Originally posted by Square
                          I remember shaking as I handed over the money for Street Fighter 2 on the Super Famicom!


                          I'd ordered mine mail-order; I remember I was due to go to Weymouth for an arcade session that day, when a parcel dropped through the letterbox...

                          Needless to say, Weymouth was cancelled.

                          I'm loving that this has turned into a nostalgia thread now

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                            #28
                            Originally posted by charlie angel
                            I remember I was due to go to Weymouth for an arcade session that day, when a parcel dropped through the letterbox...
                            Alexandra Gardens, or the 3-in-a-Row?

                            I spent far too much time in the 3-in-a-row arcades, usually on the Salamander machine

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                              #29
                              Originally posted by Square
                              Alexandra Gardens, or the 3-in-a-Row?

                              I spent far too much time in the 3-in-a-row arcades, usually on the Salamander machine
                              3-in-a-row; Final Fight at 10p a throw, just a couple of steps away from Smash TV at 20p a turn 8)

                              /me wipes tear from eye..

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                                #30
                                Remember that really fat, sweaty security guard that used to patrol the middle arcade there? - lank greasy hair, huge beer gut, very unfriendly. I once put one of those cigarette bangers into one of his fags...

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