Parallel Importing in Video Games - Reasons For Importing

Reasons For Importing

There is no uniform motivation among import gamers, but some common reasons for importing include:

• Wider selection of titles. Not all video games are available in all countries, and a large fraction of games are not released outside of Japan. This is especially true of the visual novel medium, or many games based on licensed anime/live TV series where very few titles have ever been given overseas releases. Those who are interested in these games but do not live in Japan can only enjoy them through importing. This also applies to Anglophone European gamers who purchase North American game releases, as it offers an extended selection of English titles. Japan is not the only region to have exclusive games which attract importers, simply the most common.

• Localization issues. Many import gamers do not want games that feature edited dialogue, changed names, re-dubbed audio tracks, removal/censorship of content, and/or other similar changes which often appear in translated versions.

• Collector's value. Sometimes, a die-hard fan of a series that is released in their local region will buy both the domestic and the Japanese copies. This is also sometimes done for special print or premium box versions which are more common in Japanese releases than those from other regions and come with special extras.

• Language factor. Import gaming is common among students looking to improve their language skills, and for native speakers of Japanese who do not live in Japan. This is also occasionally done with games in other languages, though less commonly. Some non-students who import games would learn foreign languages (English and Japanese) just to be able to play these games.

• Advance release. Some do not wish to wait for a game to be released in their local region, and import the Japanese (non-domestic) copies to obtain the game sooner. This is very common in English-speaking countries (i.e. UK and Australia) where games are often released later than in the USA. This is also sometimes done with consoles; shops offering advance PSP imports recently made news when Sony took action against them.

• Financial reasons. Due to high release-prices, it is often considerably cheaper for gamers to buy Japanese(non-domestic) versions of popular games that have already passed out of the "new release" phase of their marketing in the foreign country. Furthermore, because of variations in international exchange rates and international video game market demand, import gamers may save money by importing games instead of buying localized versions, even when shipping and handling costs and import tax are taken into consideration. This is also true within the used games market offering used import games way cheaper than local new games due to the localization delay. Before, however, the introduction of the Euro, new import games were commonly sold 40% more expensive by import shops than the European local edition. Similar price disparities exist between American and Asian markets.

• Technical issues. US and Japanese games are developed with NTSC television specs (480 lines, 60 Hz) in mind. PAL specs (576 lines, 50 Hz) used in the EU require changes to the source code of these games. While some games are rewritten accordingly, some aren't (or are done so only partially). Issues include black bars on top and bottom of the picture to make up for the 96 missing lines, resulting in a distorted image. Due to the different refresh ratio, some PAL games are about 17% slower than their NTSC counterpart. An infamous example would be the entire SquareEnix lineup on Sony systems, as well as other RPGs of different make. Users could often override these effects by applying their own software or hardware modifications to their setup (thus forcing the PAL software back into its native 480i/60 Hz resolution), but this may be out of the scope of some users, could potentially invalidate the system warranty (as opening up older cartridge-based machines was necessary to force 60 Hz), and in some instances could disrupt "PAL optimisations" that the coder applied (such as PAL-optimised video or 576i menu screens - even where the game itself was not PAL-optimized). Another factor to consider is that certain features are inherently included with software in some territories (such as the 480p option on NTSC Nintendo GameCube consoles), but not on others. As HDTV hardware is spreading however, games for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are typically being programmed in 720p or 1080p (which are standard across all territories), thus eliminating the TV specs hurdle. Also - starting with the Dreamcast - most software in PAL territories included the option to play PAL software in its original 480i/60 Hz format.