Why Should I Import a Wii?

[iloveannie]

Why buy a PAL Wii? Well in a few months you can wander into town and buy games straight off the shelf for one. Second hand ones too which saves money. It's just easier.

But I've just been stung for the last time. ?490 for one console, one controller and two games? One of those rash desicions that you really regret when you check your bank balance and realise that if you'd waited just one more week you could be getting one from the supermarket for half the price.

Maybe I'll save the money on cheaper US release prices over the next year or two. Who knows.

And as for VC? Hands up who doesn't own Mario 64? And why would you want to play it now?! Each to their own I suppose but for me a new console represents new games. Not ones I've already played so many years before.

[Corbo]

Does anyone know as yet if the US or Jap Wii's have RGB in them?

I'm gonna be fooked if they don't as I really have my heart set on getting a US Wii with maybe a UK RGB Wii SCART cable...

something i'm worried about too really,as all my consoles are rgb and it's my telly will do

But didn't the japanese wii have S-Video leads...? I'm no lead expert but aren't S-vid and RGB pretty much the same signal?

Also, you can get those S-Video> scart block adpaters for like a quid too!

[sj33]

But didn't the japanese wii have S-Video leads...? I'm no lead expert but aren't S-vid and RGB pretty much the same signal?

No, absolutely not.

It is better than Composite though, but not as good as RGB Scart.

You can get Scart adaptors for S-Video, but a lot of Scart sockets are not S-Video capable.

[Baseley09]

S-video leads were probably the sllyest things they made

[peo]

Why buy a PAL Wii? Well in a few months you can wander into town and buy games straight off the shelf for one. Second hand ones too which saves money. It's just easier.

But I've just been stung for the last time. ?490 for one console, one controller and two games? One of those rash desicions that you really regret when you check your bank balance and realise that if you'd waited just one more week you could be getting one from the supermarket for half the price.

Maybe I'll save the money on cheaper US release prices over the next year or two. Who knows.

And as for VC? Hands up who doesn't own Mario 64? And why would you want to play it now?! Each to their own I suppose but for me a new console represents new games. Not ones I've already played so many years before.

Thank ****, someone actually making some sense. As has been said before, there are lots of reasons in the long term to get a US Wii, but only when they are available at list price. For now I think anyone who pays over the odds is mental - you can get a PAL Wii now for Zelda and a US Wii later for less than the price some people are paying to import. It's madness.

[sj33]

Is that a moot point for those of us who got one from VG+ and thus only paid ~?128? Even after postage/shipping it worked out cheaper than UK RRP.

It's certainly silly to pay the kind of prices your suggesting... but if price of the console is a factor to you, the UK RRP significantly higher.

[MikeRox]

it's nice to wander into town, pick up a game there and then, and get it straight home and play it. Yes I do actually sometimes go down to tesco on a whim because I fancy something new to play at 10pm. >_<

Personally, I'm gettin PAL on friday, then if Nintendo Europe fail to deliver a steady stream of decent software (I don't mind if some games are a few months wait, as long as I have SOMETHING I want to play, when I get it really isn't so much of an issue for me), I will consider getting a US Wii later when they're sold at cost + shipping and readily availible.

[Dock]

I'm getting a PAL Wii now to give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt. The convenience of being able to buy cheap PAL games second-hand, or even just the ability to browse in shops or borrow/swap games with friends, can't be understated IMHO. My PS2 was PAL-only for a good few years which worked out pretty well for me, and then I got a modded PS2 about two years ago to 'catch up'.

I'm completely prepared to get a second Wii in 10 months time if things look dubious in PAL-land (and no-one figures out a way to chip/crack/boot-disc it), but I'd like to wait for a) a different colour Wii first, and generally to know exactly what the situation is with importing.

[buster_broon]

i'm happy with pal as well - one of the first times i havent imported

but i will need a US one eventually as most of my Gamecube games are US

[Lyris]

In favour of PAL:
- You impulse buy from your local store shelf
- Wii Play is coming out in PAL territories ahead of the NTSC-U/C region, but instances like this are likely to remain rare.
- It might be easier to get a European console right now, but this shouldn't be the case for long.
- You get a warranty, but with the exception of some Wiis having faulty flash memory, when was the last time you ever had to take advantage of the warranty on a Nintendo product?

In favour of USA NTSC:
- The exchange rate has never been so good, so say hello to cheap Virtual Console points and games.
- You can buy American games for less money. Movietyme.com has most of their titles in stock for about 25-26 pounds delivered.
- You are guaranteed 60hz video on every single title.
- Release dates are almost always ahead of the PAL regions.
- ADDITION: Virtual Console games play properly, they're not vertically squashed (bordered) and are not slowed down.

This is a much more attractive list of reasons to me. The games you buy from America are in English and in 60hz video. We speak English and nowadays we'll all have a TV that can handle 60hz video. It would, IMHO, be utter lunacy to pass up the chance of owning an American machine and getting good treatment.

My attitude is this - if you go PAL, you run the risk of being screwed over so know what you're getting yourself into.

[Dock]

Another advantage to the UK Wii is that you can use a game rental service. This saved me a fortune with the 360, allowing me to play dozens of games in the slightly lame initial 12 months of the console, when they were still appealing due the newness of the console.

That said, the US Wii is also very awesome (about six months ago I was all set to get one) and I think everyone who bought one won't be disappointed. I'm equally tempted by the Japanese Wii though if I'm going to get a 'second' Wii, it has the best VC stuff as well as a huge ruck of unique titles. Like I said though, I really want to wait and see what happens with importing.

[retrend]

Windwaker was out earlier in Europe than America, thats the one release I remember really burning my m8 I convinced to get a US GC.

DS games dont actually come out in Europe tho, which makes me scared for PAL Wii releases

[Dock]

Windwaker was out earlier in Europe than America, thats the one release I remember really burning my m8 I convinced to get a US GC.

I don't think that's true. I pre-ordered the US one and it definitely came out a couple of months before the UK.

[Lyris]

Windwaker was out earlier in Europe than America, thats the one release I remember really burning my m8 I convinced to get a US GC.

Nope, Wind Waker came out about a month and a half later in Europe.

The US release was in March sometime, I remember this because I held off buying it so I didn't mess up my exams! Then the European version came out at the beginning of May.

There was a Zelda game on the GBA that came out in Europe ahead of America though...

[retrend]

oh right, ok, well in that case, theres no reason to buy a PAL