Why Do Us In The UK Import ?

[Dreddz]

http://www.ntsc-uk.com/tech.php?tech...portVideogames
I hope all you sods in US read this and appreciate living there.
This is the cold hard truth......

[Tifa's Real Lover(really]

chill, get a plane ticket

[vampirepiggyhunter7]

Jeez... Sorry about that, it's not my fault. Please don't stereotype Americans either...

[DK]

Everything on that list apart from the two last games is on sale in my local games shop. And it's not a Game or EB, it's Stan's games, he's just a random guy with a games shop. I say, "what"

[~SapphireStar~]

chill, get a plane ticket

You going to pay for all the sufferers in the UK then?! Im waiting ...
And I had Animal Crossing for the GC, I got rid of it. My shop sells Gran Turismo 4 Prologue.

[edczxcvbnm]

Sorry but you guys don't count as a separate entity as the article would have you believe. You are not the 5th largest gaming market in the world. You are part of the third which is Europe. If you want to get with the times that much more then you have to eliminate PAL. End of story.

[MecaKane]

Oh get over it.
Blame the damn people who decided your whole continent was going to use crappy TVs. It costs money to change the games over and that's what they look at, will this make enough money to cover the cost of the optimization and languages and whatever else.

[Lindy]

Actually, UK TV's now support NTSC, and if you don't have one then you should concentrate on getting one of those first before even THINKING about games.

Secondly, PAL consoles can support NTSC signals, the EU version of Metroid Prime 2 and Geist on the GC were 60hz only games, straight out copies of the US NTSC version.

They don't even HAVE to change it to PAL to release them over here, it's not always down to the cost of converting a game, it's that we're not even damned considered as "RPG players", and Sony is certainly one of the major players that straight out ignore Europe when it comes to certain types of games.

Ever wonder why stuff like Baten Kaitos (made by Namco and Monolith Soft) found a release in the UK but Xenosaga (same companies) did not? Because Baten Kaitos was on the Gamecube and Xenosaga on the PS2.

"lolz u eu ppl play rts, kk?"

[MecaKane]

They don't even HAVE to change it to PAL to release them over here,

That's like saying they don't HAVE to release XBox360 games that will still work on non-HDTVs. PAL is the offical format and untill that changes they have to keep optimizing them.

[Lindy]

Except that TV's here support NTSC and so don't need to be in PAL format?

Seriously, it's been like that for like, years now, the only way it won't is if you have an ancient TV; it's hardly comparable to HDTV.

And I'd hardly call changing it to PAL "optimizing" when they reduce the quality and speed.

[Obsidian]

I can think of ONE time the UK got a better game release deal.

There is an obscure action RPG on the Sega Saturn called Shining Wisdom. The US got a crappy translation, while the UK got one with more TLC.

...

Well... It matters if you like the game enough. ;_;

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Europe also got ICO with the good cover art and all the extra features like the lightsaber, two player mode, translated subtitles for Yorda, and the watermelon ending.

[Rase]

Yes, because videogames are what make me appreciate living where I do.

[edczxcvbnm]

Except that TV's here support NTSC and so don't need to be in PAL format?

Seriously, it's been like that for like, years now, the only way it won't is if you have an ancient TV; it's hardly comparable to HDTV.

And I'd hardly call changing it to PAL "optimizing" when they reduce the quality and speed.

Have TVs supported NTSC over there for the past 15 years on all new models? If not then shut up about it. Before you can completely can PAL a lot of time has to pass so that people can get TVs so that making the switch is not noticible and affects no one.

In my house we still have a TV that works...from like...1984 or earlier? I have not known my life with out it and it still works 20 years later. If it ain't broke then don't fix it.

Even though PAL is worse it is still optimizing it for PAL only TVs. Since PAL is the standard.

[Zeldy]

Yeah, and?
Sometimes you can really drop on a bargain when you Import. 'Play Asia' is a nice site to Import from.
I didn't though, I payed £160 for my DS(+ Game) which was Imported from Japan. A few days (Yes DAYS) later the DS got released here in the UK for only £100. So I was -£60

But I have to admit, it is quite unfair how people in the US and Japan are playing a video game that people in the UK anxiously waiting for.
My brother has imported Mario and Luigi Partners In Time and Animal Crossing (For the DS) They are great games. Animal Crossing dosn't come out till.. March? Yay for having a Nintendo Fan-boy as a brother!