Gaming Why do People Insist on Purchasing New Consoles from Japan?

[Otter 1,941]

I mean, I would much rather be able to, oh I don't know, understand what the bloody heck is going on in a game rather than own the console a bit earlier. It's like going to a midnight release of a game: Are you really that impatient that you can't just get some sleep and go get it the next morning? So what if you get the game 12 hours before everyone else? Does that make you a Super Ultimate Gaming God or something?

 

Edit: And I don't mean that I think buying from, say, Nintendo is bad just because they're Japanese. No, I just think people should wait for the console to come out in their own region.

Edited May 17, 2012 by HylianMadness

[Aureity 3,054]

Yes. Some people are just that impatient.

Oh well, it's not like they hurt anyone. (Except those who get trampled by rushing crowds)

[Tom The Diamond 1,822]

>Some people might be able to read Japanese

>Some people might own a Japanese system and can only play Japanese games due to region locking. Or maybe vice-versa

>Some people might want to play a game in it's original form. Translators tend to change things for different regions for a variety of reasons

>Some people might want to play games that will never get localized.

>Some people don't want to wait for a long period of time for a game to be localized

>Not all games are text heavy. You don't really need reading ability to play games like Mario or Tetris

>Some people want to do it for the collector's value

>Some people want to do it because why the hell not?

 

Those are just a few reasons, I might have forgotten some.

Edited May 17, 2012 by Tom The Diamond

[SrFrog 924]

Maybe if console makers didn't region lock their consoles perhaps it wouldn't be such a big issue. Seriously, I don't quite understand their logic of locking down a game to a single region sometimes.

[ScottishUnicorn 284]

They could be really impatient, or they want to play a game that is only available in Japan. Before Demons' souls came to the US it was a popular game among Japanese gamer enthusiasts.

[Espelancer 108]

While there is no longer any reason to import consoles or handheld systems due to the video game industry effectively doing away with region codes (something that the film industry needs to let go on DVD's), there are plenty of reasons to import games from Japan (or elsewhere).

 

Personally, I am studying Japanese, so playing Japanese games is actually a very effective way of learning because not only am I reading Japanese text -- in most modern games I am also listening to a considerable amount of voice acted segments while reading along.

 

There are also plenty of great games that come out overseas that never reach US shores, and many which you really don't need to understand Japanese to play and enjoy. You can play Valkyria Chronicles 3 without knowing a spit of Japanese and have fun doing it since the gameplay is easy to master (yet addictingly fun and challenging) and there are plenty of visuals to give you a pretty good idea of what is going on in the story (although you will be missing all of the details of the story if you don't know Japanese).

 

There are even some games that are released in Europe that haven't been released in America. The Tales of Eternia PSP port is one such example, which is why I have imported the British version of the game.

 

Even just being able to play a game several months early is a valid enough reason. The video game industry is no longer tied to region codes because region codes are just wrong and are not conducive to the free market as a whole. If you are a company selling another game, do you really care where the purchaser lives? In fact, if said game gets localized, that same person may even buy the localized version, effectively buying the same game twice. Even if you don't agree with any of these above reasons, every consumer has the right to spend their money how they choose, whether it is on overseas imports or domestic products, and nobody has the right to tell them otherwise.

[Speedy Transition 788]

It's like going to a midnight release of a game: Are you really that impatient that you can't just get some sleep and go get it the next morning?

 

.....................

 

 

.............need i say more?

[Otter 1,941]

.....................

 

 

.............need i say more?

 

Never played BioShock, so I'm not really looking forward to this game.

[Speedy Transition 788]

Never played BioShock

 

[cuteycindyhoney 13,160]

 

I think everyone does it just to annoy you...

[Flow 1,599]

I was impatient enough to get a Japanese Pokemon White Version translated into English. then I got an American copy of Black version, I don't have White anymore. (They were all roms)

[Bunni 1,075]

I've only been on a midnight launch one time and that was for Battlefield 3. I was so hyped for it xD

[Dizzy Ditzy Doo! 1,120]

I did it because Capcom got the impression there wasn't as many fans here in America than there was in Japan. http://mlpforums.com/public/style_emoticons/default/dry.png

 

Namely their Monster Hunter franchise...because of poor advertising and marketing made here in America, it didn't relish the same amount of favoritism it did in Japan. There, it is a very successful, popular franchise...while here...only survivors of the first title Monster Hunter still linger, playing on from the distant lands that barely even understood the concept...Well not this hunter, me and a handful of survivors reached out to get our hands on the latest and will surely keep up, even if Capcom turned it's back on us with this particular series.

[I used to be a stranger 7,983]

They want to spend more money.

 

It's a capitalist's dream.