Where do you buy your japanese games ?

[Tomoko Kuroki]

I know there's some on amiami, and play-asia, but play-asia is so expensive !! even the shipping 

 

 

Is there a reason why japanese games are expensive ? Most vita games brand new are 39.99 for example, or a bit more if you buy physical.

 

But brand new games or even old ones, range from 69.99 - 100+$  on most sites.

 

Is this the price in japan ? or do they just skyrocket it because they know westerners wanna buy them ? ><

[N7-XenoRoxas]

I usually order it from play asia or amazon.

Sometimes I use eBay but Amazon is usually way cheaper.

[30 Year Old Boomer]

I think they just make the price higher for us Americans

And I used eBay and amazon for some

[Kashiyuka]

It's simple why Japanese games are expensive - they're imports.  You're paying to get something that's not from your region into your region.  Technically speaking, you're not meant to have it: I'm not saying it's illegal, but you have something normally not available to you.  So the handling fees for the websites to purchase the item --> sell it --> pay the extra price for international shipping is what makes imports cost a pretty penny.  Aside from that reason, they're rare outside of Japan, so they're much more valuable than the game you go down the street to buy in your local GameStop.

 

Coming from someone who has a hobby of importing Japanese Visual Novel limited editions, take this one piece of advice: avoid Play-Asia like the plague.  I only ordered from them once ever, only because one of their limited editions were on sale for a good price (even then the shipping added up more than I'd have liked).  Their shipping is horrible in pricing, and their prices aren't great.  AmiAmi is a good website, but their availability of games is a bit all over the place: you either get the game on release or you'll never see it there again.  In the end, I couldn't recommend Nippon-Yasan enough - they're a French company I believe, but even their cheap shipping is incredibly fast, and their prices are the cheapest on the net.  I also find eBay a treasure trove for Japanese games, but of course, make sure the seller is safe, and take precautions (try to avoid sellers where the only picture available of the item you're buying is a stock photo of the front cover, or they have little to no info on the item, etc.)

 

An average Japanese game on release is a bit higher than over here; however, the prices for their games go ridiculously cheap after a short while as well (I'm talking about a potential ¥2,000/€15-20 difference in just a few weeks), even more so if the game gets poor/average reviews.  Plenty of friends I know who visit Japan regularly have told me that this is the case in Japanese gaming stores.

 

Japanese developers pay little to no attention to importers from Europe or America because importing Japanese games is probably the most niche hobby you could have in gaming, so our input to the sales is fairly non-existent.

 

Personally, I've just gotten used to the pricing, and at this point I can safely tell the difference between a good deal and a rip-off with imports.  Some games just become rare on release and thus the prices are sky-high for importers (both Umineko no naku koro ni Visual Novels come to mind, costing a minimum of €70 on most websites.  You have to just keep checking frequently to find someone selling it for cheap, which is what I did with the first game.  Long story short, importing costs a pretty penny and most people can't do it all too frequently, unless you either live in Japan where the prices are normal or you are pretty wealthy.

 

Hope that helps

[Tomoko Kuroki]

It's simple why Japanese games are expensive - they're imports.  You're paying to get something that's not from your region into your region.  Technically speaking, you're not meant to have it: I'm not saying it's illegal, but you have something normally not available to you.  So the handling fees for the websites to purchase the item --> sell it --> pay the extra price for international shipping is what makes imports cost a pretty penny.  Aside from that reason, they're rare outside of Japan, so they're much more valuable than the game you go down the street to buy in your local GameStop.

 

Coming from someone who has a hobby of importing Japanese Visual Novel limited editions, take this one piece of advice: avoid Play-Asia like the plague.  I only ordered from them once ever, only because one of their limited editions were on sale for a good price (even then the shipping added up more than I'd have liked).  Their shipping is horrible in pricing, and their prices aren't great.  AmiAmi is a good website, but their availability of games is a bit all over the place: you either get the game on release or you'll never see it there again.  In the end, I couldn't recommend Nippon-Yasan enough - they're a French company I believe, but even their cheap shipping is incredibly fast, and their prices are the cheapest on the net.  I also find eBay a treasure trove for Japanese games, but of course, make sure the seller is safe, and take precautions (try to avoid sellers where the only picture available of the item you're buying is a stock photo of the front cover, or they have little to no info on the item, etc.)

 

An average Japanese game on release is a bit higher than over here; however, the prices for their games go ridiculously cheap after a short while as well (I'm talking about a potential ¥2,000/€15-20 difference in just a few weeks), even more so if the game gets poor/average reviews.  Plenty of friends I know who visit Japan regularly have told me that this is the case in Japanese gaming stores.

 

Japanese developers pay little to no attention to importers from Europe or America because importing Japanese games is probably the most niche hobby you could have in gaming, so our input to the sales is fairly non-existent.

 

Personally, I've just gotten used to the pricing, and at this point I can safely tell the difference between a good deal and a rip-off with imports.  Some games just become rare on release and thus the prices are sky-high for importers (both Umineko no naku koro ni Visual Novels come to mind, costing a minimum of €70 on most websites.  You have to just keep checking frequently to find someone selling it for cheap, which is what I did with the first game.  Long story short, importing costs a pretty penny and most people can't do it all too frequently, unless you either live in Japan where the prices are normal or you are pretty wealthy.

 

Hope that helps

Wow !

 

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge, you answered every question I ever had.

 

Im glad you showed me about nippon yasna, i took a quick look, it looks great, And yes play-asia is crazy -.-. but theres alot of stuff, I order figurines from there sometimes still.

[Nelson_]

I stopped importing after country customs hit me pretty bad so i just go digital now,

and it was coming directly from japan amazon.jp trough a friend.

[DEMON]

Nippon Yasan, decent prices with good postage prices, they also undervalue the package so tend to never really get hit by customs from them.

 

Also, Nippon Yasan being French? All their packages seem to have came from Japan to me.. unless they order at a warehouse with your address or something.

 

Nippon Yasan also don't put crazy amounts on top of the price either, I'm importing the standard edition of GGXrd for PS4 from them and it's only costing me about £45, that's postage included (I always go with Air-Registered to be safe), which is kind of mad as over here whenever and if it ever gets released, more likely be £49.99/54+ just to get it from store as PS4 games are stupidly overpriced here.

Edited September 28, 2014 by DEMON

[Sikatiiker]

The rarity makes the price go up. If you're interested in Japanese games I think it'd be better to make another PSN account for Japanese store. Not sure if it's actually legal though, anyone??

[Tomoko Kuroki]

The rarity makes the price go up. If you're interested in Japanese games I think it'd be better to make another PSN account for Japanese store. Not sure if it's actually legal though, anyone??

I dont know either.

 

Custom fee's are skyrocketing sometimes I agree.

 

I know some people reset their vita to get jpn games on psn, but that seems like a big hassle.

Edited September 29, 2014 by Lilth

[Sakraali]

If you're interested in Japanese games I think it'd be better to make another PSN account for Japanese store. Not sure if it's actually legal though, anyone??

 

From Sony's side that's okay, maybe even preferred, but the whole giving them false info might be a bit in the grey area. That being said, I reckon no PSN account has ever been closed due to being used from other region.

 

Many people run multiple accounts without any issues. I also got TH, JPN and US accounts, where TH account I use for playing and US account has PS+ active.

[Venocide]

Yeah, Play Asia's prices are ridiculous, I only bought one game from them, the rest I bought off eBay.

[TheVader66]

I am so jealous of all of you, I wish I can play Japaneses games, but I don't know any Japanese, as soon as I went into High School they took funding away and my school couldn't afford Japanese or German classes anymore.

[Dalez1658]

I am so jealous of all of you, I wish I can play Japaneses games, but I don't know any Japanese, as soon as I went into High School they took funding away and my school couldn't afford Japanese or German classes anymore.

 

You can learn a good deal of Japanese over the internet these days.  I'm not saying it's going to be quick, or easy, but there are a ton of resources online designed for self-learners, and if you have the time and are willing to put in the effort it's entirely possible to gain a good amount of reading proficiency just by studying on your own.

 

Importing is just an expensive hobby overall no matter how you look at it.  Personally I don't have any specific complaints with Play-Asia, but I would really only recommend them for stuff that you absolutely must have at release.  This goes for digital PSN cards as well, with Play-Asia you do get them instantly, but there's a pretty substantial mark-up on them.  New releases can be quite expensive in Japan but as I understand the used game market is huge, and if you're willing to wait a bit you can often find them much cheaper on Amazon/eBay, as was mentioned before.

[TheVader66]

You can learn a good deal of Japanese over the internet these days.  I'm not saying it's going to be quick, or easy, but there are a ton of resources online designed for self-learners, and if you have the time and are willing to put in the effort it's entirely possible to gain a good amount of reading proficiency just by studying on your own.

 

Importing is just an expensive hobby overall no matter how you look at it.  Personally I don't have any specific complaints with Play-Asia, but I would really only recommend them for stuff that you absolutely must have at release.  This goes for digital PSN cards as well, with Play-Asia you do get them instantly, but there's a pretty substantial mark-up on them.  New releases can be quite expensive in Japan but as I understand the used game market is huge, and if you're willing to wait a bit you can often find them much cheaper on Amazon/eBay, as was mentioned before.

 

Do you know any good sites to learn Japanese?, and also how can you get Japanese games from amazon? sorry I am extremely new to this.

[Dalez1658]

Do you know any good sites to learn Japanese?, and also how can you get Japanese games from amazon? sorry I am extremely new to this.

I'll try and keep it brief to avoid derailing the thread too much, but here are some of the sites that have helped me a lot when studying.  Disclaimer: I'm relatively new to this myself, so others with more study experience than I are free to chime in as well:

Tae Kim's Guide to Japanese:  A good grammar reference guide and probably a good place to start overall.  Hiragana, Katakana, and *some* Kanji but is mostly focused on grammar.  If you find it a bit too terse or hard to follow, TextFugu is a bit friendlier but only the first season is free, the rest requires a subscription.

 

Kanji.. is difficult.  If there's any one textbook I would recommend it'd be Heisig's Remembering the Kanji as he does a very good job of explaining how the various elements in a Kanji come together and how to remember them.  Aside from that there is Kanji Damage which may or may not be good, and Asahi Kanji is useful if a bit outdated and also has a smartphone version.  RealKana and RealKanji are online tools for practicing kana and kanji readings respectively.  There's also Read the Kanji which I find a bit more useful for practicing readings as it gives you the words in the context of sentences and tracks how well you know a particular Kanji, but most of it requires a subscription.

 

Rikaichan and Rikaikun are add-ons for Firefox and Chrome respectively that are basically a dictionary in your browser, by hovering your mouse cursor over a word written in Japanese it will give you the meaning as well as the romaji reading, as well as detailed information on any Kanji in the word.  If you need to look up a word or Kanji manually, Denshi Jisho is a good online dictionary.

 

That's about all I've got.  Hopefully some of that helps.

Edited September 29, 2014 by Dalez1658

[TheVader66]

I'll try and keep it brief to avoid derailing the thread too much, but here are some of the sites that have helped me a lot when studying.  Disclaimer: I'm relatively new to this myself, so others with more study experience than I are free to chime in as well:

Tae Kim's Guide to Japanese:  A good grammar reference guide and probably a good place to start overall.  Hiragana, Katakana, and *some* Kanji but is mostly focused on grammar.  If you find it a bit too terse or hard to follow, TextFugu is a bit friendlier but only the first season is free, the rest requires a subscription.

 

Kanji.. is difficult.  If there's any one textbook I would recommend it'd be Heisig's Remembering the Kanji as he does a very good job of explaining how the various elements in a Kanji come together and how to remember them.  Aside from that there is Kanji Damage which may or may not be good, and Asahi Kanji is useful if a bit outdated and also has a smartphone version.  RealKana and RealKanji are online tools for practicing kana and kanji readings respectively.  There's also Read the Kanji which I find a bit more useful for practicing readings as it gives you the words in the context of sentences and tracks how well you know a particular Kanji, but most of it requires a subscription.

 

Rikaichan and Rikaikun are add-ons for Firefox and Chrome respectively that are basically a dictionary in your browser, by hovering your mouse cursor over a word written in Japanese it will give you the meaning as well as the romaji reading, as well as detailed information on any Kanji in the word.  If you need to look up a word or Kanji manually, Denshi Jisho is a good online dictionary.

 

That's about all I've got.  Hopefully some of that helps.

Thank you for all of your help and also i am so sorry I made you work so hard.

[Sikatiiker]

From Sony's side that's okay, maybe even preferred, but the whole giving them false info might be a bit in the grey area. That being said, I reckon no PSN account has ever been closed due to being used from other region.

 

Many people run multiple accounts without any issues. I also got TH, JPN and US accounts, where TH account I use for playing and US account has PS+ active.

Yeah I know people who got Japanese accounts as well. Just in case I haven't done it as I've not been sure if it's legal to make an account claiming I'm Japanese

 

At least the language wouldn't be a problem as there's plenty of sites with step-by-step manuals about how to make a Japanese PSN account and I think you can then translate your PSN Store in English.

[Satoshi Ookami]

 

 

Also, Nippon Yasan being French? All their packages seem to have came from Japan to me.. unless they order at a warehouse with your address or something.

It is. Their main branch is in France. I believe they have sub-branch in Japan and they send the products from there to their main branch in France.

 

Not sure if it's actually legal though, anyone??

Considering there are many people who use JP accounts, I don't think Sony gives a damn.

 

 

I am so jealous of all of you, I wish I can play Japaneses games, but I don't know any Japanese, as soon as I went into High School they took funding away and my school couldn't afford Japanese or German classes anymore.

Watch more anime =D

Like, seriously, that's pretty much the only way, because J-games do not care about simplicity and are filled with many uncommon kanji...

And if you are a bit fluent in listening to Japanese, you can at least get a hold of the context just by hearing it and it's much easier than searching for kanji by radicals or trying to actually find it =D

[Sikatiiker]

Considering there are many people who use JP accounts, I don't think Sony gives a damn.

This is what I thought. This is getting a bit off-topic now, but there's nothing said about making a Japanese acco on the forum. So, if I'd make a Japanese account would it have to be primary acco to play its games on other accounts? If I'd make a new account I could make it a primary one right?

[Sakraali]

So, if I'd make a Japanese account would it have to be primary acco to play its games on other accounts? If I'd make a new account I could make it a primary one right?

 

There's no such thing as "primary account" really, so doesn't matter. Every account on the system can play games downloaded/purchased on another account.

[Satoshi Ookami]

There's no such thing as "primary account" really, so doesn't matter. Every account on the system can play games downloaded/purchased on another account.

On PS3 (and presumably PS4?). Not on Vita.

But you are right.

 

 

This is what I thought. This is getting a bit off-topic now, but there's nothing said about making a Japanese acco on the forum. So, if I'd make a Japanese account would it have to be primary acco to play its games on other accounts? If I'd make a new account I could make it a primary one right?

Like Saraali said, you just need to log with you JP account to your PS3 under new PS3 account and you will be able to play games you purchase through your Japanese account (after downloading them) on your account you have now.

Edited September 30, 2014 by SatoshiOokami

[Sikatiiker]

Yeah I guess I got confused with primary system setting (on PS4) and the master - sub account thing. Japanese accounts get a free 3 months PS+ subscription so maybe I'll consider it.

[Kashiyuka]

Watch more anime =D

Like, seriously, that's pretty much the only way, because J-games do not care about simplicity and are filled with many uncommon kanji...

And if you are a bit fluent in listening to Japanese, you can at least get a hold of the context just by hearing it and it's much easier than searching for kanji by radicals or trying to actually find it =D

I'd recommend games for improving Japanese tenfold over anime.  With games you have the text and can go at your own pace unlike anime (and you're playing something fun in the process - a great way of learning).  Games have made me learn so much when I began learning (especially Visual Novels), I barely used anime.  Aside from that, anime has an unrealistic and exaggerated way of speaking not at all like how it is in day to day life over there.

[Sakraali]

Japanese accounts get a free 3 months PS+ subscription so maybe I'll consider it.

 

They still do? I thought that was cancelled long time ago? I'd be interested in this as well if they still do give those out.

[30 Year Old Boomer]

From the shadow dark mark under my bed.