We have the Right to Buy Import Consoles and Games if We Want

[wraggster]

Sonys battle with Lik Sang over the selling of PSPs really got my back up, when companies such as Sony piss us off and yes mainly thats people in the UK and Europe by making us wait up to 6 months for a console release.

Why should we have to see fellow gamers in Japan and the USA enjoy the latest consoles and games and be told to wait like children.

In the article today Sony said this


"Ultimately, we're trying to protect consumers from being sold hardware that does not conform to strict EU or UK consumer safety standards, due to voltage supply differences et cetera; is not - in PS3's case - backwards compatible with either PS1 or PS2 software; will not play European Blu-Ray movies or DVDs; and will not be covered by warranty."

Ok so lets be damned honest. Most that import consoles know you need a converter for power, its not rocket science, we also know that apart from handhelds that there will be some problems with games or films that are region specific.

Why do companies such as Sony etc think that the Gaming public is thick, if we as a community want to import then we should bloody be allowed to.

All of my recent consoles have been either from Japan or the USA mostly because the UK is the Taxshithole of the world, if i can buy say a Wii console from the USA for a big saving then i will and the same goes for games, a 40 pound game in the UK will cost say 20 pounds plus delivery from the US/Japan, so you can see why so many import in the first place.

Another factor is that the UK/Europe always and that goes for every console ever released misses out on some great games that never get released here.

Anyone else got views on the Whole Import Gaming Buisness, for and against then please say your views via the comments

[splodger15]

We should be able to import are consoles either release at the same time for everyone or let us import them

[punkypine]

A) game companies need to make money, they dont do it cuz they like you. and yes, that includes nintendo. and microsoft, even tho they loose money, is doing the xbox for more than just your happiness.

b) the reason games dont come out europe in the same time because the market isnt as big probalby, more language problems, and none of the major console makers is situated there

i mean, why has sony become a bad guy for trying to make a profit? because if thats the case, about 99% of companies out there should be hated. and they arent.

[Makaveli777]

Theres not enough for everybody though. They barely got enough for their home country. If all these people start importing then the people that it was originaly launched to wont get enough. Then it defeats the purpose of not having a worldwide launch so I see where they coming from.

[S34MU5]

Go Team!

[NoQuarter]

Two words:
Free Trade!

[Jonesyxxiv]

Theres not enough for everybody though. They barely got enough for their home country. If all these people start importing then the people that it was originaly launched to wont get enough. Then it defeats the purpose of not having a worldwide launch so I see where they coming from.

My thought exactly. There are only 500,000 PS3s ready for launch in the US and Japn combined. 500,000 is not nearly enough for the US alone. If this was a world wide release or if people tried to import PS3s there would not be enough.

EDIT: hey this is my 100th post. yay.

[lo]

Free Trade!

[SwordOfZork]

If there aren't enough units for a launch, the obvious solution is to not announce your deadlines so early.

[bobnickelson]

"Protection"? i pretty sure Lik Sang already protects customers, by telling them exactly what sony is say, such as when selling a japanese console it says that it will not play european and us games... sony wants to protects the money that the customers pay... if was really about protection then drop region specific games there really is no reason for it, movies are understandable do to different video formats however sony should grow up and stop trying to monopolize

[kando]

are they gonna sue ebay next?

[Anger]

i think its utterly ridiculous that there basically saying we cant buy anything sony from another country. i mean theres just no reason thats justifiable for this action. we should have the right to buy whatever we want from whomever we want from WHEREVER we want, and at this moment we can - except for the sony psp (and soon to be ps3). i think the judge presiding over the case should be shot for allowing this to happen - maybe he got a bung. well if sony want the ps3 and psp to cause a mass financial loss then there welcome to it, it will be there fault and there fault alone. i think the only proviso to allowing imports is that we have to agree that it may cause compatability problems and that the warranty will also be void. once again sony stoops to a new low, i stand by my decision that i wont be buying the ps3, unless and until it ends up real cheap in the bargain basement.

[picketf]

As a side note:
It's hard to believe that "Mario Basket" for DS needs 6 months to be translated into the 5 Euro languages from the US release. By the time it is released on European market the OST CD in Japan most likely will be sold out & not available anymore.
I d' love to know if it's just general lazzyness or if it has a purpose like filling up empty months with no releases

In the wired world we live in there is no excuse for not co-operating for world releases. In my opinion local entities are just not eager enough to work on a global scale product to satisfy the costumer and that's why I blame Sony in the video game market first for being one of the top in the bussines with bad ethics towards imports.

They have to realize the world we live in doesn't work like the 70's. You can't release a game called "Pacman" on one side of the world when everybody can look up "Puckman" on google. Even if there's a reason behind it.

[cloud_952]

i mean, why has sony become a bad guy for trying to make a profit? because if thats the case, about 99% of companies out there should be hated. and they arent.

Helpful note: =D Sony makes Japanese and American PS3s as well, so for your argument about Sony "trying to make a profit", it's kinda screwed.

Sony makes a profit no matter who I buy it from. In fact, Sony's liable to make MORE money, because if I import a console, I'll eventually want to play local games and buy ANOTHER one. Good job, Sony. =D Yay for putting on the retard cap.

Oh.. and, I live in America. So.. screw it. o_o But my heart truly goes out to all those that DID get screwed by this.

[**1_Man_Matrix**]

It should be completely up to us. If we are going to import a console, knowing full well it wont be 100% compatible with our region, then so be it.

I live in Australia, so I know all about getting everything last, consoles, games etc.... Sucky :P

[Psyberjock]

A) game companies need to make money, they dont do it cuz they like you. and yes, that includes nintendo. and microsoft, even tho they loose money, is doing the xbox for more than just your happiness.

They (the companies) do it for more than just happiness yes, but the people who are actually making the things (not the companies who empoly them) are doing it because they love it. We're playing games. What part about that is not some form or cause of happiness? There is a fine line between people buying things because its made and making things because people want to buy it.



b) the reason games dont come out europe in the same time because the market isnt as big probalby, more language problems, and none of the major console makers is situated there

Yes, it's unfortunate that Europeans aren't making their own consoles, but the real problem lies in Sony. Sony promises to sell a product and does it on a descriminitory basis. There is no good reason why Europe should fall behind on release dates.


i mean, why has sony become a bad guy for trying to make a profit? because if thats the case, about 99% of companies out there should be hated. and they arent.

Sony has become a bad guy for very good reasons. I'm an American living in Japan. I have come to see and understand the ugly face of Sony and companies in general in Japan. This truly is the land of the samurai. Their past strategies have spilled over into their current business model. There are no anti-trust laws in Japan. Everybody owns everyone else and there are only about 4 real corporations here, and they make everything. If you fall in corporate battle, you fall into your capturer's ranks. Its the honorable thing to do.

Sony owns a great deal of Japan. Here in Japan, Sony decides what the people will buy. If Sony builds something, its the duty of the people to accept it and believe that its the best thing out there for them. Why do the people in Japan go along with it??

I even believe that Sony blocks some things from being imported to Japan. For example, I can't buy a San Disk memory stick over 1 GB. Sony is only just releasing their 4GB sticks and they cost over $300 US. Why is that happening? 2 reasons. The Japanese people as a whole are ignorant consumers. Sony has too much control in this country.

How are abuse of power and descrimination based on location not bad guy things?

I feel for you Europe. I'll stand up for you when I can.

[kidSN]

FU!K S-NY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! now they have realy pi$sed me oFF HOPE ALL THERE FIRMWARE GETS HACKED N EXPLOITED TO HOW ITS SUPOSED TO BE!! might have to wich to a NON-money hungry nintendo kmt ..hope a psp fals on to the CEO of sonys toe! ...the little toe may i add! also that his ps3 burns down while testing GTA4! ....(*but neer release date he sudenly lowers the price of the fantastic ps3 & includes more than they promised....with icecream on top!)...not icecream on top of the ps3 you fool but ..well u know...i hope....NOW look what they made me write! o_O" ..mofos

[shadowhawk22]

Game companies like that don't deserve your business. I say we just stop buying from companies that refuse to release in the UK in a timely fashion. We're the customers, so we should deicde whats right and whats wrong!

[Anger]

well nintendo who was previously guilty of shipping to europe last has finally done the right thing and has scheduled us to get the wii console within a short period of the other regions so it wont matter about imports with the possible exception of the price. so with that said i commend nintendo on finally doing the right thing and i say shame on sony for all the 'bad guy' things there have been and are at this moment still doing. like nintendo they will learn the hard way or they will go bust.

[ikarimaru]

Ever hear of the difference between PAL and NTSC, bobnickelson? ;)

That aside, I love having the ability to import items. There are so many good games that you just can't get in America, and if that means importing a system to play them, well, so be it, but they shouldn't really be getting their panties in a bunch over a fairly small import niche anyway. I mean, small compared to the number of people who just buy off the shelf at their local Walmart...

[bobnickelson]

Ever hear of the difference between PAL and NTSC, bobnickelson? ;)


Ever read my whole post ikarimaru?, i mentioned when i said the difference between video formats, i'm sure its possible to just have sort of a dual boot system in the software and have the system load up the correct video format based on system settings, i remeber some dreamcast games had a menu at the boot up of the game to choose which video format is needed

[T-2000]

i hate Pal , its slower, boarded, ntsc anytime..

[ExcruciationX]

What about Free Trade? That's bullshit! We should be able to buy, whatever the hell we feel like!

[Emulation_Chief]

Hello:

Okay, The companies have one point about power conversion and NTSC / PAL issues when comes from video games.

But now, that boundaries are gone. Power converters can be used to connect US/JAP equipment to EUR plugs; software can be twitch a little to match the TV screens.

Then, the question comes again: Why developers still uses region encoding for their video games? In case of Japan, national issues is probably the number one reason. You don't bother much about the language when playing an action game or a fighter or even shmup's. But on RPG's and other genres that requires lots of reading and listening are much more difficult to play, even with translated guides.

Altough Japan emerges as an electronics and computing giant during the 80's, their economical philosophy and strategic thinking is too unconventional and nationalistic for a global economy market. Most of their gaming list are in any of the three written languages and sell exclusively inside the country. Porting a game out from their homeland requires some scrutinity. Japanese tastes of video games aren't identical to European or American ones.

However, European tastes are somewhat similar to those of the Americans. You can count that on games like Fable and Halo on Xbox, which are very popular on America and Europe. I would like to see Crazy Frog Racer available here in USA.

If developers decide to bring a game on a global market, they work on three main versions of the same game to be distributed. That stratergy increase the operational cost. If the hardware manufacturer bring a region free console will solve two main problems of today's industry.

The first problem is the reduce of operational costs of creating and developing the games and the second, avoidinig delays in releasing them. To acquire this, developers also has to overcome to big obstacles. First, the language and second, cultural matters.

Apart from that, other factors like distance can overcome using technology, a big bandwidth network and lots of security encryptions to prevent hackers to catch their transmissions.

Let's hope in the future gaming companies can finally support importing and start a real revolution.

[ferds108]

Sony can release their games and systems wherever they want, whenever they want, but companies like lik sang should be able to to the same thing. Sony shouldn't have a problem with other companies doing what they have the right to do. If people want to import things, let them do it.

[Junior]

If only some game companies went ahead a started developing titles with the intention of making them available in all major languages, they'd set an example.

I believe if this strategy was adopted it would greatly increase sales on the long run because the vastly different games will appeal to a much greater (new) audience. If suddenly all the games from Japan were to be made available in America and Europe we'd suddenly find ourselfes amidst a video game boom unlike any we've seen before.

If this was done with every game (even if it was just practise among a few companies) the effort of translating them and converting them would get cheaper overtime, because it would become the new norm. They'd do all the math and calculations with the translation and conversion as factors in mind - right from the beginning, every time, standard procedure!

It's my dream alright. But still .. if some of them would do that, chances are the dream would become reality.

[3x3]

Lik sang rocks!
Bought my first Jap. psp there, and I'm from europe,
and I got a plug to take care of the voltage.
Sony are just a bunch of wankers.

? Some games don't even hit our coast ?

[Turn2]

I don't see a promblem with importing, and anyway, as far as the games their selves go, the Big Blue-Ray disc is supose to carry all regions and languages anyway or that is what they use as a selling point for Blue-Ray. So what is the difference besides whos pockets are getting lined?

[Manya47]

The voltage thing is a crock. Self switching transformers have been out for years and making the exact same console for everyone would reduce costs simply by running one production line. I still don't understand how you cannot save money by making one console for all.

I've got a jap xbox360 and have been happy with it so far, as a lot of games are region free (besides EA and Take2 games)

[R4mbo]

Everytime i start to like Sony again, they go and **** something up. Hope they loose some customers again, i dont gonna buy a ps3 (for the release date&price)

[dejkirkby]

I've beeen saying all these points for months now and have been absolutely slated for it, called a whinger and the like. Wraggy writes the same thing and everyone jumps on the band-wagon.
Cheers guys!

[JD/]

This is disgusting I can already see some sites saying that they wont ship to the e.u (yes sadly that includes me in london). I hate what sony are doing to they're own customers by releasing it 6 months after they release it in japan and for a bonus they stop us importing it .I thought the world was generally a free market I guess I was wrong. A well I wont be buying a ps3 on launch im going to wait till it gets to about half price or I might buy it second hand just so they dont get more sales.

[blackalastor]

"wraggster" please can you teste any kind of game like resident evil or dino crisis or parasit eve may be work well ? (sorry for bad english)

[werpu]

As a side note:
It's hard to believe that "Mario Basket" for DS needs 6 months to be translated into the 5 Euro languages from the US release. By the time it is released on European market the OST CD in Japan most likely will be sold out & not available anymore.it.

Actually it is from everything counted in about a month including QA, but I would not even bother with the Euro releases for the DS anymore, they are way too overpriced.
It is quite common here that DS games are sold for 50 Euros which is close to 70 Dollars, importing them and selling them off used, might even give you a profit in certain countries here even if you pay import taxes.

[benn]

If there aren't enough units for a launch, the obvious solution is to not announce your deadlines so early.

:p hee hee

[benn]

oh and btw...


I've beeen saying all these points for months now and have been absolutely slated for it, called a whinger and the like. Wraggy writes the same thing and everyone jumps on the band-wagon.

stop whinging!! jeez!! ;)


Cheers guys!

no problem - anytime :p

[Broadus]

Region-specific is such bullcrap. Sony isn't protecting anything but their own pockets.
European games are exactly like US games*, they just have more languages. Why are they sold as completely different objects?
What's the point in taking out languages in the US version of a game? Like a small, six-year-old child playing a Rated M game can't figure out what language to set the game in the US, but could easily do the same thing in the UK.
Well, the US does have pretty low education ratings...

* Well, for the most-part. Whoever controls European games sure does seem to censor a bit.

[MUDD]

oops wrong ppls

[lo]

i hate Pal , its slower, boarded, ntsc anytime..
OFFTOPIC:
A 60Hz Pal games is as fast as an NTSC game (most TVs can display 60 Hz PAL), it has higher resolution only the crappy NTSC colors are missing.
And maybe just use Euro-Scart and RGB, the best for normal TVs.

*******

And for all those saying no Free Trade:

Give back your Japan imports like:
Ikaruga, Radigly, Under Defeat, Segagaga, Space Channel Part 2,..
Or European:
Headhunter, HOTD2,...

Greetz
lo_

[Psyberjock]

And for all those saying no Free Trade:

Give back your Japan imports like:
Ikaruga, Radigly, Under Defeat, Segagaga, Space Channel Part 2,..
Or European:
Headhunter, HOTD2,...

Greetz
lo_

I don't think anyone was saying that they don't want free trade, they were asking about what has happened to free trade.

The answer is simple: It never existed.

Japan does not have a free trade agreement with EU. They have several with the US, but none with the EU. (though they want one with the Swiss)

A Free Trade Agreement is not as simple as just give us whatever we want and we'll give you whatever you want. Each FTA (free trade agreement) applies only to the items that are specified in the FTA. Usually things like food and fuel are included in FTAs long before anything like PS3s and 72inch LCDs. However, some are very comprehensive and include many things and some may be restricted to only certain items.

One of the ideas of an FTA is to remove import and export taxes, making those items easier to trade and cheaper to buy. (again, think of food and fuel)

If you want an FTA with Japan in your country, you should write your representatives/congressman/president/king/dictator/or-whoever-rules-your-country.
And be sure to tell them what you want the FTA to include. (ie PS3s and NDSs)

[lo]

OK, maybe I misunderstood those and they said they are pro Free Trade:


Theres not enough for everybody though. They barely got enough for their home country. If all these people start importing then the people that it was originaly launched to wont get enough. Then it defeats the purpose of not having a worldwide launch so I see where they coming from.


My thought exactly. There are only 500,000 PS3s ready for launch in the US and Japn combined. 500,000 is not nearly enough for the US alone. If this was a world wide release or if people tried to import PS3s there would not be enough.



And I think it's really bad, that I can't even buy a black (charcoal) DreamCast controller at amazon.com if I life in europe. Even if you allowed to import it, the major companies tell you what you have to do and they start sue the other (like Lik-Sang), that act different.
They want to have a globalized world, with factories and cheap workers all around the world, but the people sould not be allowed to buy the things all over the world. They should buy in the land they life with their high profits and late release time.
Yep, let the sheeps wait ... standing in a line.

Greetz
lo_

[pibs]

Even if they released it in Europe, people would buy the jap/us version since they would most likely be cheaper. Face it Europe market is expensive and i know this because i recently got screwed over from a uk shop. ($20usd for a replacement power plastic switch for psp >< not the one with the circuit board but just the dang plastic!)no other site carried it or where out of stock so that just sucked!

oh and translation for games? i play euro games all the time here in america and it is fairly the same language wtf can some1 explain this:confused: