To preface this, I am an '05 Zoom Zoom so yes I'm asking this because I wasn't there. How did one import Japanese games in the 80s, 90s, and early 00s before eBay really took off? I know it was possible, but did you get a catalog or did you just have to know someone who regularly went to (or lived in) Japan? Did any anons import before eBay and other e-commerce sites became popular?
>>12393769>Username No idea why that happened sorry.
I don't know about legit imports but myself and some friends in the late 90s early 00s would buy bootlegs from china town. There was even a few places that would mod systems for you, not to mention bootleg tapes/DVDs of anime and import movies too. I'd imagine there was a similar market for legit media.Though you'd be surprised at how early this stuff became accessible to people with an internet connection. If memory serves I was burning ps1 and dreamcast games wih my old i486. I'd bet pirating and bootlegging was the norm vs.actual imports.
>>12393769>'05 Zoom ZoomI'm going to ignore your question and ruminate on the past. Remember when importing something actually meant something back then? Games that never made it to the UK or getting an import copy of a game before it released in the UK? Completely different covers, sometimes having extra content, all in unreadable japanese or dogshit american spelling.I never imported anything until the playasia era, my relatives either got from their friends or visited certain game stalls at the market.
There was a Japanese community around my city so there was a video game store that had local and imported games.
>>12393769Local game stores and mail order companies that would advertise in gaming magazines. Pic related.
>>12393851This, I would see these advertisements in the backs of magazines frequently in the late '80s through the '90s.
>>12393769The only import game I had back then was a Goemon Game Boy game I got from someone at school. I didn't ask when he got it from, and of course I couldn't read it.
>>12393851That's very neat. The prices seem pretty fair too considering the time.
Latin american monkey here.I got to play mostly japanese games, equally if not more than american games, due to bootlegs that were imported from china or taiwan and were cheap.Mostly Famiclone, Genesis (most consoles were actually bootleg clones as well) and modchipped PS1. I got an early japanese PS1, the "audiophile" one with the original japanese smaller pad, from a vidya store in my city and it already came modchipped. Majority of ps1s sold already came modchipped as this was necessary since stores didn't sell original PS1 discs at all, it was all bootlegs, also imported from Asia. The only black disc of ps1 I ever saw back then was the demo disc that was included with the console.Because of this, a lot of games were actually japanese. I had for example Street Fighter Zero 2 on PS1, not Alpha 2.This way I also got to play a lot of anime games, was playing dbz legends, ub22 and final bout around 1997. All in japanese, not the PAL versions.For Super Nintendo, bootlegs were less common, or at least, Nintendo had an official presence in my country so you could at least find original games at stores, but bootlegs did exist too. Most of them had the SFC/EU snes cart shells but would fit on american SNES because they had the 2 small spaces on the back to fit on the cart slot. Games like Super Butoden on SNES were fairly popular, they were even on rental places (mom and pop video clubs)If you mean actually importing original stuff, you had to find a soecialized vidya store, but there were a few and often advertised on magazines. Some of them were owned by japanese guys who would travel back and forth and bring stuff or get them shipped monthly.Some major mainstream stores also had some imports, I remember seeing a japanese N64 as early as July or August of 1996 at a shopping mall toy store, and then the specialized vidya store I frequented had it too, but the owner advised me to wait for the american one because of cart compatibility, etc.
I was born in the late 80s so I mostly missed out on what was happening in the 90s, but by the early 2000s, I was obtaining import games from online videogame import stores, ebay, and videogame forum members.
>>12393769I knew magazines and dirtmalls you could get them from but I never bothered because it didn't interest me. Usually the magazines would have a couple ads in the back pages or in the classified section, a lot of times with going rates for popular games. Flea market's would usually have at least one guy who specialized in movies and games and he'd have imports and bootlegs, used games and movies, would probably offer modchips that he or some guy he knew would install. Sometimes they'd have 2 guys and a lot of times the other guy used to work for or with the 1st guy. Forums were a good place to find them, in the late 90s people started to have their own websites. Basically back then if you wanted something you'd look around or ask around till you found it. Crazy but back then you couldn't find anything you could want in 5 seconds. Hell search engines were still a new thing.
>>12393769booths at conventions for me
Ads in the back of Gamefan. Better have $$$
NCSX was big in the 90s and their archived weekly release update lists are a great resource for the 90s import scene. Still around but they mostly sell figures and trickle of occasion imports. https://web.archive.org/web/20080604144314/http://www.ncsx.com/newcllct.htm
>>12393769There was an underground scene of VHS anime subbers arranged around comic book stores, gaming stores, and college campuses. This same community usually had at least one store in the area that did imports. Back then you could make an almost full time living importing Japanese shit to sell at game/comic stores and anime conventions because no one else was doing it, there was really only competition around New York/Los Angeles/Virginia/Pacific Northwest, which also happen to be the areas with the largest/oldest anime conventions.If you were not cool enough to know those guys, or there wasn't one in your area, you had to order stuff from sketchy ads that were in the back of every gaming mag. You could have a Saturn or PS1 in 1994, a Dreamcast in January 1999, or a PS2 in March 2000, but you were going to pay $700 minimum for the privilege.
>>12394072>You could have a Saturn or PS1 in 1994, a Dreamcast in January 1999, or a PS2 in March 2000, but you were going to pay $700 minimum for the privilege.or you could go full retard and strike a distribution deal with your favorite developer, only to destroy the products you're supposed to be distributing because of reasons. stranger things have happened.
>>12394085>Mock your loyal customer base and bully them into paying you a monthly membership just for the privilege of being able to get into a ranked system where the more you buy the more you are allowed to buy and the more of a BYG TYMER with bootlegged packagings you areDion was a fucking demon
>>12394072>If you were not cool enough to know those guysCool? All the ones I knew were nerds (like me). The last remaining holdout in my area was your classic ponytailed tub of lard.
>>12394086he got the idea from Rolex dealerships. just nuclear powered guido energy. incidentally, Shawn sold his solid gold Rolex on the Neostore around when he started selling Atomiswave kits. I wish I'd shot screens, the reactions were priceless lol
>>12394085Don't forget the followup pic where Dion put that (terminally ill) kid in a headlock against his will because kid was a member of neo-geo.com and called Dion out on freaking stuff.
>>12394119I got to talk with Jigen for a bit, the dude was pure class and a 100% hardcore gamer. he would've loved this place. RIP
>>12394119Getting a pic like that at all with Dion would be enough to be a certified Byg Tymer though
>>12393769>picvery comfy interior shots of that place http://www.joysjapanimation.com/storeinfo/history.shtmlSo cool it would have been to browse Roman Albums, VHS tapes, and shit in a place like that local.
If you lived in a big city, you'd usually be able to find some stuff in your Chinatown, generally bootleg in the CD era. If you wanted legitimate discs a lot of times they were mail order. Gaming magazines tended to have ads for services, usenet or irc or occasionally websites with inventory lists. If you were lucky you had an independent game store that would stock some imports (it sorta depended on what personal connections they had and if the local market was there, no one wants to get stuck with inventory they can't move).The only "big box" (relative) store that carried any amounts of imports was Electronics Boutique with Saturn games, because it was easy to boot imports without any hardware mods, and Gamestop if you lived in Hawaii would get Japanese games (We accidentally got a copy of Japanese Pokemon Gold at my Philadelphia suburb Gamestop that was supposed to go to Hawaii).Could you have gotten a friend in Japan to buy it all for you and ship it? Sure, but if you're not a shitbag you're not gonna waste that friends days hunting down games for you.You'd develop trade rings with other people in your area, we had some Neo Geo guys who were importing CD stuff (all mail order iirc) and trading them around. You'd have local "hot" games that you'd swear are rare (I remember some dudes talking up Hermie Hopperhead for PS1 and Super Tempo for Saturn as "crazy rare" which is funny because I ended up grabbing a copy of Little Ralph for PS1 in Japan and on one wanted to touch it locally). Fighting games were hot, action games were hot, some well known JRPGs were hot like Sakura Taisen. Once you made friends with someone in the import scene they'd fill you in on where online to get stuff. Neo Geo and PC Engine communities were tight knit and self regulated down to price, everything else was mostly the wild west.
>>12393810I recently "imported" an audio CD from the UK and had to pay almost 12€ customs fees because you retards quit the EU. And because my shit government thinks it's worth the hassle of calculating those fees for a 10€ CD.
>>12394238bad luck but you should've told the seller to mark the package as a gift or return.
>>12394206>US not a shithole>Whole nation of blackmailed and kike'd pedo governmentYeah, ok.>>12394238>I recently "imported" an audio CD from the UKSome banging UK 90s dance tracks?
>>12393769Living in the middle east you would find there were backrooms in computer shops where jeets would sell Japanese and European import games and show American versions in the display / storefront itself. You'd often inquire about these games after establishing some rapport buying the American copies. Many were real copies sealed in box, others were Chinese made cartridge bootlegs.
>>12393769There was a site called "Lik-Sag" that was basically the gaming equivalent of Hobbylink Japan with selling Japanese-market stuff to the west. I bought a few games from them after losing patience waiting for the very-very-slow localization and release. Back then it would take up to two years for a game to show up in the US once it released in Japan, and it was frustrating.Sony successfully sued to put Lik-Sang out of business, which was a shame. They didn't sell fakes of anything, and sold legit copies of Japanese-market games and consoles.
Lik Sang
>12395237>To preface this, I am an '05 Zoom Zoom so yes I'm retarded enough to ask how something was done over a period longer than I've been alive.I don't know man, I think I read it right the first time. Anyways, I've enjoyed reading the answers you guys have posted so far. Hearing personal experiences is far more valuable than a Google search so I appreciate that you guys took the time to write them out.
>>12393769>How1. Call mail order company.2. Order latest import game3. Wait two days4. Joy & happiness
>>12393769In the early 00s, there was at least one video-game shop in any French cities that had some Japanese games. It must have been the case in the mid 90s too as I knew a guy that had some US and Japanese imports (his dad was well-off and a huge vidya fan).
>>12395541>In the early 00s, there was at least one video-game shop in any French cities that had some Japanese gamesTrue, mine was in a back street and the guy was mostly dealing in Magic cards to make a living. I stole the booklet of the Japanese version of Resident Evil Code Veronica from him with a camera pointing straight at my hands but he was too busy checking his precious Magic cards to notice.
>>12394206Weakest racebaiting I've seen on this board by far. How mild can you get?
>12396405Your writing style is becoming very noticeable. When are you gonna start accusing people of being pedophiles? Remember to ignore their posts and pretend they don't exist anons. They crave attention and every (you) is like a hit of heroin to them.
>>12394192>http://www.joysjapanimation.com/storeinfo/history.shtml>all those VHSnot bad, i hope more people had pics like these.
>>12395481Wait two daysYou weren't getting stuff via mail order in two days
>>12395481>3. Wait two daysPLEASE ALLOW 6 TO 8 WEEKS FOR DELIVERY.
>>12394072>sketchy ads that were in the back of every gaming magI remember first seeing these in GameFan. All kinds of anime, video games, toys, and other japanese imports. Shit was absolutely expensive, though.Toward the end of the 90s there was some dedicated Japanese import store that opened up in Boston that I went to with some of my weeb friends. Just a little hole in the wall, but I think it was on Newbury St. I'll be damned if I can remember the name of the place, though.
In the late 90s I had a local game shop that carried limited stock of imports. Could also request whatever title
Game magazines had a small preview or import corner, and you could find some ads as well in them, then you'd call and ask if they had the game and they would then ship it out and you paid the postman when you got it.. IN GERMANY. The prices were outrageous but if you ever had the displeasure to play German FF7 you'd gladly pay double for a NTSC version.
>>12398951as someone across the pond, what was the process like to get the NTSC version working on your hardware? Can PAL tvs/monitors display NTSC signals without any sort of converter?
>>12399367Pretty sure I just used a SCART cable (a real steal nowadays..), or composite. To play the games I had a chip installed. Modding was also advertised in magazines. I just called ahead and then sent the console with a letter and money, and it came back modded with a "viel Spaß" note.
>>12398856This is the only way I ever knew of. I mean, other than personally knowing somebody in Japan I guess. I never imported anything myself, until well after eBay had arrived.
>>12398856Fucking based
