Imports
- 5 years 1 month ago
- Posts: 9091
All right, before we get to the main point of the topic, story time. Last December, I asked for a PowerPak, which is something you can put ROMs on to play NES games on your Nintendo. Now everybody knows I hate emulation, but I thought maybe this would be worth it because I could use the actual systems. Naturally, I eventually came to my senses and realized that this would probably just cause me not to want to import games much anymore since I could play them anyway, and it would practically kill my collection. So come December 14th, I get a box wrapped up. I open it, and inside is Capcom vs. SNK 2 for the Gamecube, along with a note. The note says that I could get a PowerPak the exact second they came back in stock, as they had been sold out for the past month. So I constantly check the update site, I was sort of regretting getting it but it would definitely be better than nothing.
Come January. Out of stock. February. Out of stock. March... still out of stock! However, somebody on this very forum had posted a link to the RetroDuo system, which allows you to play NES and SNES games, and SNES games apply for every region. I realized I had not imported any Super Famicom games, and although the system was a clone, it was only $48, while the PowerPak thing was about $160. So I look up auctions all day trying to see if I can get enough games to make the price equal the amount of the PowerPak, and after a whole day of searching through every game I might want, I came up with the best results: Final Fantasy IV, V, and VI, Mother 2, and Dragon Quest I.II, all those along with the RetroDuo for just $160 (even including shipping and handling)! I wanted some Super Bomberman games that were not released here a lot, but those were too expensive that I'd have had to opt out on one of the games. Yes, they're all RPGs in Japanese, but I think I've played them in English enough to at least get by a little.
Besides, they're mostly to collect, playing them is just a little extra.
So in about two weeks, I get Dragon Quest I.II, and another week later I get the RetroDuo. No sign of Final Fantasy IV, V, VI, and Mother 2 though, which as it turns out all came from the same seller. So on April 1st, my brother tells me my dad wants me for an e-mail about "some Mystic Quest" game. I panic, thinking he e-mailed him to tell him they mixed up the order and gave my four games to somebody else, but guess what? It turns out because it took them so long to ship it, they added that game to our order for free! Just two days ago, my final five Super Famicom games arrived.
I'm so excited, I'd already played a bit DQI.II on the RetroDuo, but it still didn't seem like much. Now with all six of these games, I can't help but constantly look back at them in awe. Perhaps I'm overreacting, but I've never gotten so many imports at once like this (well, not since elementary at least). I couldn't help but get quite a few pictures of all the games I've received!
Please ignore the bad angles and set-up, I've never taken pictures of these things before.
Anyways, yeah, I'm satisfied, and I think things turned out for the best, thanks to that one person on here who linked me to the RetroDuo. So what are some of your favorite Nintendo imports?
Game... ovahhhhhhhhh!!! Are you sure you want to delete this post? Yes | No - 5 years 1 month ago
- Posts: 9091
I'm not usually either, but as much as I love getting imports, even if I can't understand them, I'd like to play them through some means, and Super Famicoms are generally more expensive. Besides, now I can play SNES games in my room too without having to move the Super Nintendo! 
Game... ovahhhhhhhhh!!! Are you sure you want to delete this post? Yes | No 
- 5 years 1 month ago
- Posts: 9253
.....you do realize how easy it is to mod a snes to play jp games? just remove 2 small chunks of plastic inside the cartridge dock. I love the mystic quest...that's a really cool box. For gaming period I recommend the original hardware. I bought 2 NES clones and they worked....but it wasn't the same experience. Yes it saves money to buy a clone...but you don't get the real experience. I bought my super famicom mostly for collecting purposes, as my modded snes model 2 plays import games with better looking picture quality. My AV famicom however I bought for playing games because there was no US release of that system and it's by far the sweetest NES experience possible.
In the mail I have coming ff6 jp complete and super metroid jp complete. I plan on trying super metroid on my super famicom just because. As for using a cart adapter to read SD cards of downloaded games......well.....I dunno I prefer the original cartridge and sometimes the original box. You get the original artwork and it looks way cooler to have in your collection. I also got the super famicom because it looks WAY better than our model. And the controllers are nicer (x and y buttons aren't indented and you get the happy colourful buttons). However the super famicom box looks retarded so I just got some used model without a box.
For import snes games if you want to save money I recommend buying a cheap snes and just removing the plastic tabs. I made a video on youtube showcasing it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uZamQ3ssxA
I made it a while ago because a collecting friend of mine didn't realize you could do that. And then I noticed there was nothing on youtube showing anything about it so I made a semi instructional video. If you want import NES gaming and can afford it....get the AV famicom. And also if you get these import systems get an adapter that converts your electricty to japanese standards. I got one for like 26$ I think.
Most of the best games from japan for the snes and nes made it over here so we're lucky for that. Having the japanese cart and box is really cool if you're a collector. Probably the system with the most great japanese titles that never made it here is the PS2. If you're gonna mod your ps2 for import gaming then DO NOT get a mod chip. That will screw up your laser. Get a flip top with a boot cd. It's fairly inexpensive and is easy to find for the slim ps2. My roommate has one and it works beautifully. Just make sure you don't lose the boot cd as it won't work without that.
By the time nintendo started pumping out the gba, import gaming sort of became useless. Lots of my gba carts have a language select that you can choose to play it in Japanese if you want. And the japanese gba is identical looking to the US one. So really the only cool import gaming for nintendo would be the famicom and super famicom. And game and watch.
here's pictures of my current import collection
AV famicom box, manual, and pamphlet
ff4 complete, chrono trigger complete
snes without box: mario world, street fighter 2, castlevania: dracula x, secret of mana
nes: mario 3, mario 2/USA, megaman 2
AV famicom, super famicomAre you sure you want to delete this post? Yes | No - 5 years 1 month ago
- Posts: 9091
I'm aware of the SNES tabs thing, but I didn't want to risk breaking my SNES, especially considering how long I've had it. Not to mention I wanted to play it in my room anyway and technically it's "my brother's". I would've gone with a Super Famicom, but we had a lot of trouble with an old Famicom I had, long story but I don't think I'm gonna try that. Although if I got a working converter for it again I could probably use it again and not risk setting the house on fire. Ahem, anyways...
Yeah, that's a pretty awesome collection you got there, although I don't see how you could import so many games without the box. Whenever I order anything online I always get the box, because just getting a cartridge feels pretty... empty.Game... ovahhhhhhhhh!!! Are you sure you want to delete this post? Yes | No - 5 years 1 month ago
- Posts: 9253
Bomberman wrote:I'm aware of the SNES tabs thing, but I didn't want to risk breaking my SNES, especially considering how long I've had it. Not to mention I wanted to play it in my room anyway and technically it's "my brother's". I would've gone with a Super Famicom, but we had a lot of trouble with an old Famicom I had, long story but I don't think I'm gonna try that. Although if I got a working converter for it again I could probably use it again and not risk setting the house on fire. Ahem, anyways...
Yeah, that's a pretty awesome collection you got there, although I don't see how you could import so many games without the box. Whenever I order anything online I always get the box, because just getting a cartridge feels pretty... empty.
the answer is simple. I didn't import all of them. sf2 and mario world I bought in stores around here. We have some pretty cool stores around here for people like me. Except they really really overcharge. castlevania the box isn't that great looking and it would have cost an insane amount of money to get it with the box. And secret of mana I wasn't planning to get but I won it for 99 cents on ebay on a random bid because I noticed nobody was bidding on it and time was running out. I don't like the famicom as much as the super famicom so I didn't bother getting boxes for my famicom games. And you won't break your snes trust me that mod is so easy to do. But playing on a clone is terrible in comparison to the real hardware. Actually the best snes hardware nintendo ever released was the model 2 but lord that system is ugly. But it produces better picture quality than the original snes or the original super famicom. But still a modded regular snes would be way better than using a clone.
*edit* good luck finding an original rockman 2 with the box. Good lucking finding an original rockman 2 period. There wasn't any more copies on ebay last time I checked.Are you sure you want to delete this post? Yes | No - 5 years 1 month ago
- Posts: 9091
Why does it seem everybody who imports games has some local store around them that just happens to buy those? 
Anyways, this clone is actually perfect, I've read reviews and seen them, in fact it even has an added adapter for better picture quality (the television I use doesn't have a port for it but without it it still looks just like on the SNES). Just because it's a clone it shouldn't be judged right away. Perhaps removing the tabs is easy, but still, I'd manage to screw it up somehow.Game... ovahhhhhhhhh!!! Are you sure you want to delete this post? Yes | No
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