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In this instance I could understand a gamer's frustration and why they might download it off the web (because they can't a company willing to ship overseas).

It's actually really easy to find companies that will ship overseas. NCSX and Play Asia are both big importers. Amazon.jp will ship to the US and accepts US credit cards, too, but you have to read some Japanese to use them. The only excuse for piracy is that you're not willing to pay, really.

PS3 Final Pricing, Allocation Details
Playstation 3 - Big in Japan
NCS Update: 11:58AM EST
      Japanese suppliers took delivery of their PS3 consoles about 6 hours ago in preparation of tomorrow's official launch in Japan. Quantities are scarce and prices are high. Much higher than their lofty projections from a couple of months ago. NCS will re-confirm preorders with our customers by email today but note that launch pricing is as follows:

20GB Playstation 3 Unit: US$879 + shipping
60GB Playstation 3 Unit: US$989 + shipping (Limited stock)

      Please be aware that even if you confirm at the higher prices, stock may not be available for the first shipment that is scheduled to arrive on November 13 (Monday) or November 14. Suppliers are essentially allocating their inventory to whomever will pay their asking price. If a competitor bumps their offer price up tonight and we're unwilling to match the higher bid, we'll receive reduced quantities on Monday-Tuesday.

Volatile Pricing
      The current PS3 prices are unstable. Despite the demand for the PS3 at the moment, prices can drop by as much as US$100+ within the following 2 weeks. If you confirm your order at the higher price, we cannot accept a cancellation since we will be locking in and paying the higher prices tonight for the launch inventory.

NCS Recommendation
      If the first batch of PS3 games aren't that compelling to your hardcore gaming sensibilities, NCS advises that you wait 2 weeks after the Japanese launch to see where prices settle. We expect them to be lower, especially with the imminent launch of the USA Playstation 3 on November 17.

For import gaming I always used National Console Support , I mainly used Lik-Sang for wierd stuff. So what I'm looking for is not a replacement import gaming place, but a replacement wierd stuff place. I suppose The Goat Store could help me replace some of this. (Note: An acronym for Games of all Types, some ./'s probably have an unreasonable fear of goats at this point.) Unfortunately, that's mainly a retro store, not a wierd stuff store. Telegames used to be good, but they've scaled back on the products they carry.

The only thing I can think of to differentiate yourself from the majors right now is to stock imports and the means to play them. In this way you will have things that the big chains mostly don't have. When I was contracting in Virginia I loved to drive out to this one non-chain store that carried imports. Ideas can be had from NCS and Lik Sang. Get a few Messiah NEX systems, and some old NES games for them to appeal to the nostalgic market.

There was one rap group that used a Beats of Rage mod to advertise themselves, though I have no idea how that worked out for them.

The biggest problem though is getting people actually to the store. If you could get people to come once a week, for some kind of competitive game night, they might buy or at least come back.

I thought this article about Animenation was interesting:

Right hobby, right time

Of course, they built their online business first and the retail store came later.

Gran Turismo 4 [JP/Asian release] shipped on 12/28/04

You can buy it at http://www.ncsx.com/ and other online importers.

http://www.ncsx.com/ncs0420/goldgb.htm

Nintendo released the GameBoy Light in Japan. It featured an Indiglo-style backlight.

Needless to say, it tanked.

I'd attribute this to the SP being the first Game Boy to have a screen that's viewable in total darkness

What about the Gameboy Light?

I originally thought that Microsoft would be OK, I mean, how could an American based company figure out how to screw American gamers? (Of course, Europe is another story, but I'm making a point...)

Well, as it turned out, I was wrong. After getting us all hyped up for Shenmue II on the Dreamcast, SEGA makes a deal with Microsoft to not bring out the fully translated Dreamcast version in the United States! Technically, it was SEGA who screwed us, but I tend to feel some sympathy for "dying video game company on life-support" versus "800 lb. gorilla of the American software industry."

I'll admit that from SEGA's perspective, it would've been a good gamble if the Xbox version had been a hit, but it wasn't. They probably lost some goodwill from some Dreamcast owners on that.

Of course, I bought the European Dreamcast version from National Console Support. Incidentally, it made me wake up from considering buying an Xbox, myself. I mean, whatever expedient arguments I made to myself to justify buying it, just evaporated when I heard about the Shenmue II thing.

Articles like this make me really regret owning a Gamecube (I knew what Nintendo was like though... but I can't afford to by a new PC right now and I like playing games, damn it!) Oh well, I won't have to worry about them for much longer, I guess, if they make stupid decisions like this. Soon it will be Sony versus Microsoft, I guess. (Nintendo is not doing well in Europe, and they aren't doing so well overall that they can afford to spit on customers. I know they have Gameboy, but I could see them deciding to focus on portables in the future and leaving TV consoles to the "big boys.")

I wonder if this have to do with the SD Gundam Eiyuden games.

I agree that blue is cool. But for backlighting and in a Mobile Phone I'd like to have a white LED backlight. Nokia has been doing this for a little while. It's a close second to blue in a lot of cases. More expensive though.

I changed the LED in my Nintendo to blue a month ago. I don't know if people are more shocked by the fact that my nintendo works, or that the LED is blue instead of the usual blinking red.

This also reminds me of the gameboy pocket with a blue(I think) backlighting.

Could NCSX be next? They don't sell modchips, but they do sell pre-modded systems for playing multi-region games. Far from hurting Microsoft, yes...but we know how nasty those lawyers get when they haven't had anything to do in a while...

You can preorder your DC BBA through NCSX, a reputable import gaming retailer, for only $49, less than the original BBA cost from Sega. Their site seems to be undergoing some work right now, but I placed my order a few days ago, $56.13 shipped! No, I don't work for them, but it's a great way for us who can't read Japanese to get in on this deal. I just hope it hits 1000 orders...

I know that pretty much noone is going to see this now, but for those who are still reading this, you can preorder your DC BBA through NCSX, a reputable import gaming retailer, for only $49, less than the original BBA cost from Sega. No, I don't work for them, but it's a great way for us who can't read Japanese to get in on this deal. I just hope it hits 1000 orders...

"Service has been turned off for this domain/site. Please contact the domain/site owner for reasons on why service has been turned off."

Anyone with any insight as to why?

Nintendo, on the other hand have hardly made it difficult to do region mods- National Console Support are a company dedicated to helping you import console stuff, and they will sell you a Japanese Cube pre-modded to also play US games very reasonably - a friend of mine has one from them and its a very professional job.

I'm sure I don't know; it certainly is slashdotted now. The frontpage is at http://www.ncsx.com. Thanks for your kind words. ^_^

This all depends on the genre of the game, of course. The game I really want for my dreamcast (which is now nicely modded, by the nice people at NCS), Shenmue, would do no good for me to import. I'd be able to play it, sure, but it makes so much use of Japanese that I would have no idea what's going on, and that defeats the purpose of that entire genre. However ,fighting games and such (Like the PS2's oddly anticipated Tekken Tag Tournament) are usually almost completely in English; or if they're not, there's no real Japanese in there, just English in katakana (or words everyone knows... ichi ni san shi etc).
I dunno why companies put a territory lock on their machines; the Game Boy didn't have one, and NOA didn't go broke because no one in the USA bought Japan versions of games. Sega doesn't care about locks any more; SOA has said that they aren't going to bother trying to lock out mod chips for the Dreamcast in any way. Japanese software is generally much more expensive to import than to buy locally; most inports are between $10 to $40 more expensive than a local release is. Generally USA localized versions are released within 3 or 4 months anyway.

And no, American stuff won't work on a Japanese PS2. But rather quickly upon the release of the US system, expect to see a "mod chip" of some sort bypassing whatever lockout schemes Sony uses. Stephen Keller

The GameBoy Light has thus far only been released in Japan, but it does exist. It uses a backlight similar to those found in certain Timex watches. See http://www.nintendo.co. jp/n02/dmg/hardware/light/index.html for more information (in Japanese) and photos (language independant).

Imported units are available in the U.S., you just need to search a bit. For instance, I've seen them listed in National Console Support's product pages.

I've no idea if Nintendo intends to release a U.S. version.