AnimeSuki Forums

Kamali · 2004-08-10, 17:22

I remember having a binfull of PS imported games, on the back of them near all the warnings there was one that advised against the re-selling of video games, I also heard that it was illegal to resell video games.

I don't see the same warning on the back of the games anymore (however I also rarely get the chance to import now)- has this law even existed, if so- has it changed?

It would be nice to find a place that'll sell used imports, $60 a game is asking a bit too much now.

Rasseru · 2004-08-10, 21:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamali

I remember having a binfull of PS imported games, on the back of them near all the warnings there was one that advised against the re-selling of video games, I also heard that it was illegal to resell video games.

I don't see the same warning on the back of the games anymore (however I also rarely get the chance to import now)- has this law even existed, if so- has it changed?

It would be nice to find a place that'll sell used imports, $60 a game is asking a bit too much now.

It maybe says that for imported game. Because there no License where its being imported to. And plus they maybe don't want a mass of imported games being sold because they maybe License it later and want more people buy the License one. So the local companies can make profit for the translating and editing the game they worked on.

Kamali · 2004-08-11, 13:08

Oh, video games don't really have the same lisencing as Anime/Manga multimedia does. But video games do hold copyrights that sometimes don't agree with the copyright laws or previous/future copywrites within the country a game is being imported to- thus one of the reasoning why importing games is frowned upon and measures are taken to prevent it.

However, the law in question has nothing to do with exporting from Japan and importing to a foreign territory.

I don't know how long ago it was (around 1995 - 1998) when I read that article. Naturally, I don't want to waste much time looking for places within Japan that will send used games overseas if they're really not supposed to do so anyway. The only used games I have found that export from Japan are for older systems like Neo Geo AES or Super Famicom.

microlith · 2004-08-11, 19:43

Many games have a "NO RESALE" logo on the back.

It's wholly useless. Stores by the thousands in Japan do good business buying and selling used games. Book-Off made fair buck off me with used goods, as did the Tsutaya and Mandarake in Shibuya, and the various stores in Akihabara. In fact, all of the games I bought while I was over there were used. There's no law regulating it, much like there's no laws restricting the sale of used books, DVDs, CDs (and the price limit on CD sales doesn't apply to used goods), or games of any kind (including PC games, yes entire floors of used H games...................................)

As far as I can tell, there seems to be an agreement between retailers and the various game publishers to not distribute games internationally. Amazon won't ship games internationally from any of their branches. The sites that do ship internationally generally buy through a broker then ship them out.

Used games are generally harder to get their hands on because of this, since you can't order a bulk number of the same game at once. I do know that if I ever go back there, I could probably make fairly good bank selling used games on eBay to people in the states, especially for rare and out of print games.

Kyuven · 2004-08-12, 22:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by microlith

Many games have a "NO RESALE" logo on the back.

It's wholly useless. Stores by the thousands in Japan do good business buying and selling used games. Book-Off made fair buck off me with used goods, as did the Tsutaya and Mandarake in Shibuya, and the various stores in Akihabara. In fact, all of the games I bought while I was over there were used. There's no law regulating it, much like there's no laws restricting the sale of used books, DVDs, CDs (and the price limit on CD sales doesn't apply to used goods), or games of any kind (including PC games, yes entire floors of used H games...................................)

As far as I can tell, there seems to be an agreement between retailers and the various game publishers to not distribute games internationally. Amazon won't ship games internationally from any of their branches. The sites that do ship internationally generally buy through a broker then ship them out.

Used games are generally harder to get their hands on because of this, since you can't order a bulk number of the same game at once. I do know that if I ever go back there, I could probably make fairly good bank selling used games on eBay to people in the states, especially for rare and out of print games.

THAT'S why it's so hard to find a copy of the h-games i want...
i've been searching for Kanon for some time now and the only place i found doesn't take the only CC i have (American Express)

microlith · 2004-08-13, 09:33

H-games can be bought bulk, but I'm sure orders from abroad are low enough, and production runs are small enough that it's not profitable for either side to offer them up for sale.

The only company I know of that sells Japanese PC games (of all kinds) internationally is Himeya. Neither NCSX nor Play-Asia do. Otherwise you'd have to hit eBay or Yahoo Auctions Japan via a proxy service.

2004-08-10, 17:22	Link #1
Kamali Ow, my brain Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: FL Age: 39	Japanese laws - used video games? I remember having a binfull of PS imported games, on the back of them near all the warnings there was one that advised against the re-selling of video games, I also heard that it was illegal to resell video games. I don't see the same warning on the back of the games anymore (however I also rarely get the chance to import now)- has this law even existed, if so- has it changed? It would be nice to find a place that'll sell used imports, $60 a game is asking a bit too much now.

2004-08-11, 13:08	Link #3
Kamali Ow, my brain Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: FL Age: 39	Oh, video games don't really have the same lisencing as Anime/Manga multimedia does. But video games do hold copyrights that sometimes don't agree with the copyright laws or previous/future copywrites within the country a game is being imported to- thus one of the reasoning why importing games is frowned upon and measures are taken to prevent it. However, the law in question has nothing to do with exporting from Japan and importing to a foreign territory. I don't know how long ago it was (around 1995 - 1998) when I read that article. Naturally, I don't want to waste much time looking for places within Japan that will send used games overseas if they're really not supposed to do so anyway. The only used games I have found that export from Japan are for older systems like Neo Geo AES or Super Famicom.

2004-08-11, 19:43	Link #4
microlith Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Folsom, CA Age: 41	Many games have a "NO RESALE" logo on the back. It's wholly useless. Stores by the thousands in Japan do good business buying and selling used games. Book-Off made fair buck off me with used goods, as did the Tsutaya and Mandarake in Shibuya, and the various stores in Akihabara. In fact, all of the games I bought while I was over there were used. There's no law regulating it, much like there's no laws restricting the sale of used books, DVDs, CDs (and the price limit on CD sales doesn't apply to used goods), or games of any kind (including PC games, yes entire floors of used H games...................................) As far as I can tell, there seems to be an agreement between retailers and the various game publishers to not distribute games internationally. Amazon won't ship games internationally from any of their branches. The sites that do ship internationally generally buy through a broker then ship them out. Used games are generally harder to get their hands on because of this, since you can't order a bulk number of the same game at once. I do know that if I ever go back there, I could probably make fairly good bank selling used games on eBay to people in the states, especially for rare and out of print games.

2004-08-13, 09:33	Link #6
microlith Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Folsom, CA Age: 41	H-games can be bought bulk, but I'm sure orders from abroad are low enough, and production runs are small enough that it's not profitable for either side to offer them up for sale. The only company I know of that sells Japanese PC games (of all kinds) internationally is Himeya. Neither NCSX nor Play-Asia do. Otherwise you'd have to hit eBay or Yahoo Auctions Japan via a proxy service.