Videogame Imports PART 2 - The Bad

Having highlighted some of the good aspects of videogame imports in Part 1, we will now discuss some of the bad aspects that should be considered before buying foreign imports.

1. Price
As the hardware and software from the United States and Japan are usually released before European versions, the cost of buying the latest releases can sometimes be extortionate to say the least. The price charged by importers for the latest games are often extremely high, and it would not be uncommon for a product to be double, triple, or even four times the original price from its country of origin.

To illustrate the point, below is a comparison between the original prices, typical prices charged by retailers [for latest releases], and the eventual price of the official versions:

From the table, we can see that there is a high price to pay for the advantages of imports. From a gamers' point of view, it is easy to put the blame on retailers for the high price of imports. But in reality, many retailers pay high prices for them in the first place as well as having to incur shipping costs and VAT, so despite the high price, the profit margins for retailers are often the same as those for cheaper official products.

Although the price for the latest imports is high, this does not mean that bargains can't be had. As long as your main reason for buying the import isn't to overcome the delay of the official release, there is a good chance that you will be able to buy for a cheaper price nearer the time of the official launch. As mentioned in Part 1, the price of imports can be a great advantage if you time your purchase correctly and on a practical level, this is the best way to make the most out of the import market.

2. Incompatibility
Another main issue plaguing the import scene is the issue of incompatibility between hardware and software. Even if you decide to buy the latest imports of games, the chances are that it would be incompatible with your official machine - or vice versa. With the latest CD based platforms such as the Playstation 2 and Dreamcast, methods such as disk-swapping, chipping and mod-carts are the only real options to overcome the problem, where in the past simple cartridge converters were a much easier option. In addition, there are also compatibility issues regarding power supplies where step-down transformers are required for imported machines, and televisions that actually support the NTSC standard in order to get the most out of picture quality.

When put into perspective, the blame for incompatibility should be laid solely on the manufacturers who impose such tactics. The only comforting element is that selected platforms such as the Gameboy and Gameboy Advance have no incompatibility issues, which is arguably one of the main reasons behind their global success.

3. Language
US games aside, for the majority of us, there is a clear problem when it comes to Japanese imports in terms of the language. Although the problem is often insignificant for games such as beat-em-ups, shoot-em-ups, and other games not consisting of extensive control mechanics and story lines. The issue slowly becomes prevalent especially for games from more strategic genres such as role-playing and mission adventures. For gamers who buy such imports, the language barrier is certainly an issue when it comes to resale - especially for text-based games, as not all gamers are willing to bear the consequences.

Despite the problems caused by language, increasing sources available on the Internet such as strategy guides, walkthroughs, and even language conversions have helped the import market in terms of linguistics so it needn't be such a big concern anymore. Nevertheless, gamers who are new to imports should seriously bear this issue in mind.

4. Rate of Obsolescence
Regardless of the initial price paid, once the official version of the product has been released, imports are very likely to lose their value considerably. This is certainly bad in the gamers' perspective as they could potentially see the value of their purchase (hardware and software) decrease by a staggering amount in a short space of time. To compound the problem further, since official versions are available, there would be no further incentive for the majority of gamers to buy imports, making the prospect of resale even more difficult.

However, exceptions whereby games that are not released officially or which the official versions are recognised as inferior will not lose their value, and for extremely rare examples such as Radiant Silvergun on the Saturn and Metal Slug for the Neo Geo, their value has actually increased.

Join us next week for Part 3 where we will delve into the dark side of the import market, and for recommendations of the best sources for buying the latest imports.