Parallel importing in video games
Import gamers are a subset of the video game player community that take part in the practice of playing video games from another region, usually from Japan where the majority of games for certain systems originate.
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 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 just to be able to play these games. Additionally, the region provisioning in some regions does not make sense- for example, NTSC/J was assigned as the region for South-East Asia and many games were released in Japanese, despite the fact that few people in the region understood Japanese.
- Advance release. Some do not wish to wait for a game to be released in their local region, and import the Japanese copies to obtain the game sooner. This is very common in English-speaking countries 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 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 in mind. PAL specs used in the EU require changes to the source code of these games. While some games are rewritten accordingly, some aren't. 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, but this may be out of the scope of some users, could potentially invalidate the system warranty, and in some instances could disrupt "PAL optimisations" that the coder applied. Another factor to consider is that certain features are inherently included with software in some territories, 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, 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.
Region-free consoles
- 3DO Interactive Multiplayer
- Atari Jaguar
- Atari Jaguar CD
- Game Boy/GB Pocket/GB Light
- Game Boy Color
- Game Boy Advance/GBA SP/GB Micro
- Game Gear
- Neo Geo
- Neo Geo CD/CDZ
- Neo Geo Pocket Color
- Nintendo DS/DS Lite
- Nintendo Switch
- TurboGrafx-CD/PC Engine CD-ROM2 System
- Master System
- PlayStation Portable
- PlayStation Vita
- PlayStation 3
- PlayStation 4. Although Sony has said that it is possible to region lock titles, they strongly discourage developers from doing so.
- Super Game Boy
- Super Game Boy 2
- Super NES
- Nintendo 64
- Vectrex Vectrex games, Controllers, 3D Imagers, and other accessories are not region specific. The box and manual language printing are the only differences.
- Virtual Boy
- Xbox One – Initially to be strictly region-locked by means of IP Geolocation through a mandatory network connection so that the console will not be usable outside its intended region, however Microsoft has retracted the function and the console is now technically region-free.
Most handheld video game systems are region free due to most of them having a built in screen, run on batteries and being much cheaper to produce if they do not have a region lock on the system or games.
Disk-based protected systems
The majority of disk-based home consoles released in more than one region feature regional lockout, the main exceptions being the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer and the Sony PlayStation 3.Modchips are a popular choice for many of these consoles as they are generally the easiest to use; however a poorly installed chip could permanently break the console. Some modern consoles, such as Xbox, cannot be used for online play if chipped.
Boot disks are another common choice, as they are generally reliable and do not require risky installation methods. These disks are loaded as though they are local game disks, then prompt the user to swap them for an imported game, allowing it to run. A Wii "Freeloader" boot disk was launched by Codejunkies. However, the Freeloader boot disk was rendered unusable with the release of Firmware 3.3 for the Wii. Most Wii users have since turned to "hacking" their Wii instead using the "Twilight Hack", and when Nintendo patched the bug that allowed the exploit to take place in Firmware 4.0, users soon discovered another method, aptly called the "BannerBomb Hack". This, when combined with the Homebrew channel and a disk loader application, allows users to bypass region checks for Wii games. Aside from the Freeloader series, other boot disks include the Action Replay, the Utopia boot disk, Bleemcast!, and numerous other softmod disks.
The Sega Saturn has a fairly unusual workaround; while a disk-based console, it has a cartridge slot generally used for backup memory, cheat cards, and other utilities. This same slot can also be used for cartridges that allow imported games to run. Some of these cartridges include regional bypass, extra memory, RAM expansion, and cheat devices all in one, while others feature only regional bypass and cannot play certain Japanese Saturn games that require RAM expansion cartridges.
The Xbox is not very restrictive due to the console being capable of "softmods" which can do things such as make the console region-free, allowing for burned games to be used and homebrew and multimedia functionality
All three major game console makers refuse to repair any system that has been modded or if boot disks are used.
Single-region consoles
Some consoles are only released in one region, and therefore have no protection. These include:- NEC PC-FX
- Bandai WonderSwan
- Bandai WonderSwan Color/SwanCrystal
- Fujitsu FM Towns
- Fujitsu FM Towns Marty
- Casio Loopy
- Daewoo Zemmix
- Sega SG-1000 Mark I
- SG-1000
- Sega SC-3000
- Neo Geo Pocket
PC-based import gaming