Probaly a stupid question....but

[Kieran76]

I was thinking last night about life before the internet and when people were importing and buying MD and SNES games. Why was Britain flooded with certain import games - Dick Tracy, Gynoug, ESWAT etc.
In the good old days it was the small indie shop that I got my JPN megadrive games from and even though they had some more obscure stuff the shleves were generally filled with the same games. And when I went to stores elsewhere in the country it was the same story. Who made the decsion to mass import these certain titles?
Like I say in the title, it is probaly a stupid question with a simple answer. But then again, I am a simple man.

[pentarou]

Could it be down to whatever was reviewed in Mean Machines at the time?

[Baseley09]

Interesting, you certainly have a point.

I sometimes bought games nearly blind or with little info from grey import ads.

[Kieran76]

I do remember Gynoug getting rave reviews, but Dick Tracy? That game was everywhere. I remember trying to trade it in fro a copy of Marvel Land but being told they wouldn't accept it as they had loads already.

[monel]

I remember there was a chain of video shops and they started doing import Megadrive games, picked up Devil Crash from them and a small book retailer had Magical Hat which I got off him.

I wonder if there was some importing Mr Big like the boss in Streets Of Rage who controlled the UK import market...

[eastyy]

i got a import asian megadrive...they had japanese versions of gynoug/hellfire/eswat and bad omen

Never asked why though i assumed cos they could get them cheap

[Kieran76]

I wonder if there was some importing Mr Big like the boss in Streets Of Rage who controlled the UK import market...

That is exactly what I was starting to think.

[bingo83]

Most of the import games would have come from the same supplier. Basicially like the dropship wholesale retailers that are around just now. They would have been sending out flyers and promo materials for what ever was around and you can be assured that if they where getting a good deal on a less than great game they would be pushing it heavily to anyone on the mailshot.

[MattyD]

Something like Dick Tracey was probably common because it was a movie license, no? I guess the others were chosen simply because they didn't need a knowledge of Japanese to understand and were fairly conventional / Western in style.

[Leon Retro]

Loads of people were importing and selling Japanese/American console games back in the day. I knew people who sold stuff from home( went round a guys house as a kid - and he had an import business from his living room; sold me some Mega Drive games in the early 90s )

I bought my American 3DO from a newsagents. Some guy had a little counter at the back of the shop - and he was selling import stuff for a good price. £100 cheaper for the machine than CEX - and the games were £10 cheaper.

I used to get games from loads of one-man-band sellers. It was a healthy business back then. The memories do put a smile on my face, because the whole scene was extremely hardcore/obsessive, and felt really special.

[Fastware]

There were a few Mr bigs of importing for the UK, these would then sub distribute to the smaller indies. Do you really think that guy running the small import game store in a small out of the way town knew how to get direct contacts with Japan?

The games were sold on thier ability to be played without language barriers a lot of the time and also, this was a time before region lockouts for the Megadrive. It was an easy sell, usually earlier and at least 10 pounds cheaper than the official PAL release.

Also the Japanese wholesaler would get stuck with stock sometimes too. Offering a lot of unsold Dick Tracy to a UK seller for a cut down price.

[Leon Retro]

There were a few Mr bigs of importing for the UK, these would then sub distribute to the smaller indies. Do you really think that guy running the small import game store in a small out of the way town knew how to get direct contacts with Japan?

The games were sold on thier ability to be played without language barriers a lot of the time and also, this was a time before region lockouts for the Megadrive. It was an easy sell, usually earlier and at least 10 pounds cheaper than the official PAL release.

Also the Japanese wholesaler would get stuck with stock sometimes too. Offering a lot of unsold Dick Tracy to a UK seller for a cut down price.

Mr Big. Sounds like someone from a beat-'em-up. Gaming was sooo much more interesting back in the golden age of gaming.

[Kieran76]

There was a shop near me that just swapped SNES and MD games. It cost a fiver a time and was fantastic. However, I stil cringe at the day I swapped Secret of Mana for something like Dragons Liar

[nintastic]

Mr Big aka Mr C D Wonder where he is now as the story I was told the Triads were after him !

[Baseley09]

There was a shop near me that just swapped SNES and MD games. It cost a fiver a time and was fantastic. However, I stil cringe at the day I swapped Secret of Mana for something like Dragons Liar

Awesome

I traded Final soldier for F1 Pilot. One of the worst days in my life.