Have you ever randomly found import games in the wild?

[BetaWolf47]

A few years ago, when I was hunting for Game Boy games, I saw a Japanese copy of Pokemon Silver in the display case of a Gamestop.
Also, just a few months ago, I was looking around at GBA games and saw a European copy of Shining Soul. I thought it was a pirate at first, since the boxart was different.
Up until about January 2009, the Play N Trade in my hometown had a bunch of SMS games. I saw Sonic the Hedgehog (if that wasn't an import copy I'm going to kick myself), Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Sonic Chaos there. I assume some of the others were imports as well, but won't know since most US and European copies of SMS games are identical.

[pseudonym]

Yeah, I've found Mega Drive, PCE, and Famicom pirates in the wild a few times.

[scottw182]

About a year ago I found the Japanese version of FFVII at a Goodwill. A local Play N Trade has had the Japanese version of Pokemon Crystal for a while.

[Gameguy]

I've come across several import games used, really too many to mention. One game that stands out for me is a new European copy of Star Fox Command that's in an HMV store near me, they don't deal with used stuff so I'm not sure why they have a European copy available. It's not like they deal with import stuff either, it's just a chain store in a mall.

[ApolloBoy]

I got a few Japanese Game Boy games at the flea market last month, one of which was Pokemon Green. I also picked up the European version of Sonic for the SMS at the same flea market a few years ago.

[pseudonym]

I've found a few Euro games too, last time was Psychic Detective (PS1) in a pawn shop.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

I'm not going to get into a discussion on whether Sonic SMS is US or not without the UPC...

I've picked up two European SMS games, a handful of NTSC-J Dreamcast and a PAL Xbox 360 game in the wild in the past year. I've left behind a few NTSC-J PS3 games that I'm planning on picking up.

It really just depends on where you look. These were at a nearby Play-N-Trade, but I could go into downtown Orlando and find imports all I want...

[ssjlance]

Found Eternal Arcadia for JP Dreamcast and a Mickey Mouse Super Famicom game at the same flea market, and the entire run of Japanese DBZ games at a local chain once.

[Aussie2B]

Well, outside of the places that normally deal in imports and the rare exceptions the big retail stores make (like when GameStop had European Shenmue 2 for Dreamcast), I got my one and only PAL format game, Shaolin for PlayStation, at a garage sale from a guy that said he bought it during a trip to Australia. And back when there used to be a Salvation Army about a block from me, I saw some Japanese Dreamcast games that weren't particularly noteworthy.

I like spotting other imported stuff when I hit thrifts, though. When I search in Washington state, it's almost a given that I'm going to see at least one Japanese or Korean movie or children's book or something.

[phreakindee]

I found a Mega Drive Sonic 2 at a local pawn shop in North Carolina. A few random European PC games as well.

[BetaWolf47]

Oh yeah, when I was in Ohio a few years ago, I saw the Japanese version of one of the SFC Terminator games. Also saw one of the DBZ SFC arcade games.

[Matt-El]

Constantly find copies of Sonic 2 for megadrive and the occasional misc mega drive game. nothing spectacular mind you.

[cracked8ball]

I've seen a Super Famicom Donkey Kong Country 2, and just about every Japanese pokemon game for the original gameboy at this independent game store in my area. I've also seen some PS1 imports at various Movie Trading Companies.

[izarate]

I once found an Atari 2800 in the trash:

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/1309/img3425q.jpg

Apart from that, just a few SFC games.

[shopkins]

I found Japanese and other regions Game Gear games at K-Mart once. It was near the end of the console cycle and they were repackaged (just some plastic packaging), apparently used, cart only ones, all mixed together and including imports. I didn't buy them because I didn't have a Game Gear, but I thought it was interesting.

K-Mart sold repackaged used games with other console games, too, but those were all US ones. I guess the Game Gear not being region-encoded made this make more sense, though.

[Daria]

I bought a copy of Yu Yu Hakusho for the GameGear at Target when I was a kid. They used to sell used games. I thought it was so weird to find something in Japanese that I just had to have it.

[DDCecil]

I found Asterix and Chuck Rock for SMS at the local thrift back in 2000.

As others have mentioned, there were a bunch of loose Euro and Japanese Gameboy and Game Gear imports at Fred Meyer and K-Mart.

[Daria]

Oh I almost forgot. Last month I picked up a ton of Genesis games from a flea market. Included was some European Winter Olympics game. Too lazy to check the shelf for the exact title though.

[Julio III]

I've bought some Japanese Mega Drive games at car boot sales. Oh, plus a American version of Sega Rally on the Saturn. And a few independent game stores nearby sell American DS games because they are region free.

[LaughingMAN.S9]

by wild im assuming you're not counting import shops so i'll leave those out, but i do recall finding some random dragon ball z sega saturn game at a local game shop 2 years ago, i just bought it cuz he marked it down to 5 dollars, its never even seen the inside of my saturn :(


i also bought cowboy bebop for the ps1 last week, but that was at an import shop going out of bussiness, i'm counting that because they really arent a game shop, mostly just anime , manga and asian movies, less than like 10 games in the whole store


all in all, a decent pick up i think :)

[Atarian75]

Just the other day, I picked up Wild Choppers for the N64 at a local store and in the past I have found the following:

Radiant Silvergun for Saturn at a pawn shop
Shining Force III for Saturn at Goodwill
e-cup for NGPC at a local store

-Atarian75

[betamax001]

I have seen some Famicom games before at stores. At ACen a rather large anime convention in Chicago, I have seen a ton of import Saturn, Playstation, SFC, and N64 games. I think when I go again I will have to get some SFC games if they are cheap enough.

[Baloo]

Saw a Japanese Saturn game at a flea market once, I think it was a Darkstalkers game. I also picked up (unknowingly) a PAL copy of Street Fighter Alpha cart only at a Gamestop.

[Sosage]

I've only found two at a flea market. A famicom Dragon Quest game and a Gameboy multi-cart that doesn't work. I think the DQ is a pirate as well, since it doesn't have a title on it. Just some artwork. *shrug*

[Ace]

I've found a fair bit(these are the ones I purchased):

-Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Master System(European)
-Jaleco Rally Big Run for the Super Famicom
-Super Mario World for the Super Famicom
-Popeye for the Famicom
-TwinBee 3 for the Famicom
-Salamander for the Famicom
-Cyber Core for the PC Engine
-Sega Rally 2 for the Dreamcast(Japanese)

And others I've seen:

-Super Thunder Blade for the MegaDrive(Japanese)
-Bare Knuckle(Streets of Rage) for the MegaDrive(Japanese)
-Space Harrier II for the MegaDrive(European)

[Gapporin]

Back where I used to live, there were imports in pawn shops all the time. Not to sound racist, but the town was built around a college that excelled in engineering, so a lot of Asian and foreign exchange students attended there. The best import I ever found in a pawn shop (and we're talking a real guns-and-ammo pawn shop) was Gradius Deluxe Pack for the PSX.

[GameBoyGeek]

I've seen a japanese pokemon dimond in the wild at my local play n trade Also a few years back I found a japanese double dragon for gameboy at gamestop.

Most recently I found and purchased asterix for the gameboy.

[Yukima]

I saw a couple of random Naruto DS games and a weird Taiko Drum DS game at Cool Stuff some time ago. Other than that, I haven't seen much.

[kupomogli]

There was a Japanese version of Metal Gear Acid at one of my local Gamestops a few weeks ago. I was told someone brought it back in after purchasing it used. The case was the US case, but the Japanese game was in there.

Also before EB and Gamestop merged, EB used to sell imports. I've seen imports in Best Buy. Play and Trade sometimes has imports.

[deltoidsteep]

Think the only thing I've seen is a Japanese copy of Metroid Zero Mission at the local retro game store.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Another local PnT has a Japanese copy of Virtual Wrestling 64...thought it was interesting, as it's the first import N64 game I've seen in the states.

[Hwj_Chim]

I have found many import Saturn and Dreamcast games in the wild. But the best import I found was Sin and Punishment at a pawn shop.

[Steve W]

I've bought UK versions of Philips CD-i games, a couple Super Famicom games (a Dragonball Z game and another anime fighting game I can't recall), a couple Japanese Mega Drive games (Granada and an F1 driving game), a couple British Mega Drive games (a multicart and another one I can't remember), a few Saturn games (not really a game, it's some J-pop thing with a 3D model of the singer dancing around, and a disc-only copy of Dark Saviour to name a couple), and a bunch of Japanese Dreamcast games I didn't pick up. I also have some imported pirate Atari 2600 games, Frogger and Othello from Central/South America, and Space Robot possibly from Asia. Plus, Gain Ground for the Sega Master System just a couple days ago.

I've actually seen a lot more imports that I didn't buy. I never knew it at the time, but I passed on a Japanese Dreamcast, a PS1 special edition type of thing of Policenauts, Popful Mail for the Mega CD, and a few Japanese rhythm games for the PS1 (or maybe it was PS2). 98PaceCar bought a proverbial shit-load of Japanese Dreamcast games from a shop I pointed him to.

The local Fry's Electronics stores were dealing in Japanese imports when the Nintendo DS and the PSP first hit the stores. They had huge amounts of imported games, some of which really couldn't be played easily because of the language barrier.

[fergojisan]

Years ago at a flea market in Corning, NY, I found a bunch of PAL Atari 2600 games. Most of them were US commons (with the p on the end label), but I did pick up Asterix. That was weird.

[ScourDX]

I purchased Super Darius, Valis 3 & 4 for PCE at my local thrift. Most of my Import purchase came from Craigslist.

I did encounter Import games at EB games. One time I saw Metal Gear Solid 2 Japanese version at EB games and I don't know how it slips through the crack. Typically EB games don't except Import game not in English language.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Odd list of games...I picked up Valis 3 & 4 for PCE together at the flea market. Interesting how those seem to stick together.

[The 1 2 P]

I've found a few imports at certain stores. At Gamestop I've found an occassional Japanese import fighting game way over priced. I've also found import PS1 and Game Gear games at Goodwill and another local game store. I seldom pick any of these up since they never really have anything good. But one time I did find a copy of The Coca Cola Kid for the Game Gear so I had to pick that up.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Oh yes, unfortunately not as much as I would like, but I'll take what I can get. :D

[Sanriostar]

I feel that if you haven't at least found a Famicom multicart, you haven't been searching for games hard enough.

[shoeshot]

I've found about 20 or so complete Super Famicom games, 2 NES multicarts, and a complete Ninja Gaiden for Pc Engine at my local Value Village.

[Smashed Brother]

I picked up the Asia version of "Ridge Racer 2" (PSP) at Gamestop for around $9 used. That actually worked out, because I was interested in importing the game anyways!

[Pantechnicon]

I've occasionally seen loose Famicom carts at a locally owned thrift store, and I once even found, but did not buy, a CIB Megadrive there, but that's about it.

The locally owned game shops don't do all that much with imports in the first place. There just doesn't seem to be the local demand. One shop has a modest selection of a few dozen import Saturn and Dreamcast titles which they keep in a locked display case, and they hardly move. Imo, this hardly counts as "in the wild" since they make such a spectacle about it. The other shop has a handful of loose Famicom and Megadrive titles which have been sitting in the bargain bins for years untouched. Now that I remember it I did buy an import copy of Shenmue II for the DC at this second place a few years back, which was priced at about what you'd expect to fairly pay for it ($30).

On the other hand I've also seen this second shop try and sell the occasional Famicom pirate multicart for around $50 ("That's $1 a game!!!" :roll:). It's hard to justify paying that kind of price in light of simply knowing that the streets of Akihabara are more or less paved out of those carts, and I know damned well the store owner, who is Vietnamese-American, knows it too.

[buzz_n64]

GAME GEAR
BATMAN

GBA
(2 PIRATE MULTICARTS)

N64
DORAEMON NOBITA TO 3

SUPER FAMICOM
NBA ALLSTAR CHALLENGE

FAMICOM
TRANSFORMERS MYSTERY OF COMVOY (bought at transformers convention in 2004)
(multiple pirate carts)

[Snappaccino]

I found a PAL copy of Bust-A-Move 2 at Value Village which I didn't buy.

I also found a loose copy of Street Fighter 2 for the super famicom, again didn't buy it cause I wanted it in the box.

This next one is quite odd, I found a complete copy of Shenmue 2 PAL import for the DC at a old used DVD place, this is probably the only good game this place ever had. I usually just go in when I want to buy a cheap DVD and my friend pointed to this display case that has Ipods and speakers in it and hes like "hey its shenmue 2" I look at where he was pointing and behind this big mess of electronics there it was. with a 20 dollars sticker on it... needless to say I bought that very quickly.

[Famidrive-16]

I found the European version of Star Fox (Star Wing)

I've also got several Japanese Game Boy titles, one of which I found at Gamestop of all places.

[Compute]

Once found a copy of S.O.S. for Super Famicom at a pawn for like $3. At the time I considered this notable as I was a huge fan of that game.

Also, not an import, but a local game store has the (unlicensed) Dreamcast DDR clone published by the Goat Store.

[PentiumMMX]

I've seen some, but it's rarely anything I'd be interested in...except the time I found a complete-in-box copy of X-Men vs. Street Fighter for the Saturn (It even had the official 4MB RAM cart that went with it), but didn't have enough money on me to get it, let alone a modded Saturn to play it on.

[Dr. Dib]

Usually I just come across some DBZ fighting game for the Super Famicom at a local game store of mine. I think they also had Soul Calibur 2 for GCN there once. They also at one point had some odd looking Sonic 2 cartridge. I'm guessing it was Japanese, but I didn't ask to see it for whatever reason.

I've never purchased an import game mainly because I've never seen any I've wanted or that I can play.

Edit: Well I guess I lied there. I did purchase a Play-Yan micro, which sort of counts. I got that from Play-Asia though...

[SparTonberry]

A store near me has a number of SFC carts and PCE CDs.
I also got a Japanese copy of Power Stone. Dumb that despite it being legit, I hear I have to pirate it just to be able to play it on a NA DC. :P
And one NES pirate multicart with a $200 tag that's been sitting around while :D
(well, I guess NES because that's the shape. Of course they keep it locked since they think it's valuable.)
Yeah, I saw a copy of the older Jump Stars DS game at a Best Buy. But I admit I wasn't hugely interested in the game, so I didn't want to pay the $50 (or more?) price.

[bones11]

Some of my best scores have been import games found locally. Have found 18 Famicom games for a buck a pop, $5 Sharp Twin Famicom console, Japanese Bare Knuckles 3 boxed, boxed Japanese Mario 64, and a few import Saturn games in a huge box of US games, including Radiant Silvergun. I try to pick them up when possible, makes for a fun little side collection.

[BetaWolf47]

Yeah, I saw a copy of the older Jump Stars DS game at a Best Buy. But I admit I wasn't hugely interested in the game, so I didn't want to pay the $50 (or more?) price.

Oh yeah, I forgot that Best Buy had some import DS games for a short while. It was in 2006 I believe.

[Voliko]

I was at this consistently over-priced used games place, and the guy had an imported Pokemon Soul Silver on DS and was asking $70 for it. What a rip-off. He also had a bunch of Japanese Gamecube games for some reason...

[Thrillo]

I found a genuine Famicom at a thrift once. It was in such good condition that the second player's controller even still had the original shrink wrap on it! Apart from that, mostly SFC and Megadrive games, with a few random ancient FC pirates (ie. Doki Doki Panic...which I lost the rom board to when I was fiddling with it after I bought it for a buck or two in the mid '90s :( ).

[Steve W]

And one NES pirate multicart with a $200 tag that's been sitting around while :D
(well, I guess NES because that's the shape. Of course they keep it locked since they think it's valuable.)

It doesn't happen to look like any of these cartridges (http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=Myriad+6-in-1&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2&aq=f&oq=&aqi=), does it? If so, then buy it. Fast.

[Loremaster]

I once found a Japanese PC copy of Star Wars Episode 1 Racer at a local game store. Didn't pick it up because I just wasn't that interested.

[SparTonberry]

It doesn't happen to look like any of these cartridges (http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=Myriad+6-in-1&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2&aq=f&oq=&aqi=), does it? If so, then buy it. Fast.

Definitely a pirate, it had a cropped image of the Japanese SMB3 cover, like so many.

[primalmaster]

I found Ninja Gaiden III the ancient ship of doom and ninja gaiden II dark sword of chaos on a flee market here in belgium a few years back.

[NCN]

I found a stack of five or six Super Famicom games at Half Price Books this week. I have zero experience with SFC, so I don't know what to look for. All I know is that they were $4.95 each and I saw SF II in there.

[sixwayshot]

1. Desert Speedtrap for the Master System. Loose. Terrible condition.
2. Donkey Kong Land 3 for the Game Boy. Cart only. I didn't notice until I saw the Super Game Boy logo, saw it wasn't like other ones I've got.
3. A crazy-rare copy of Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition for the Genesis. Mega Drive cart with a Genesis label. Got the box and game in great condition.

[FayeC86]

Ive seen lots of portable titles in the area around where I live, but the only one I've bought was Tales of Eternia for PSP (PAL).

I also picked up a PAL exclusive GBA SP1 model a few weeks ago.

[Xexyz]

I actually found a PS2 import I was wanting to pick up at a local specialty store last month. It was Tatio Memories Gekan for the PS2. They had 3 other imports, all SNK fighter compilations. I already have the domestic releases, but I might consider picking up the imports next time if they're still there.

Gekan was only $9.99 (and in immaculate condition as one would expect from an importer) since it would probably sit on their shelf forever if I hadn't of come by.

[Dirkfunk]

I've purchased a few and seen many more.

The best Import I found would have to be Mega Man: The Wily Wars for Mega Drive. . . for $3. Along with a Converter for $3.

I also got Puyo Puyo and Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition in the same transaction for $3.

I also own Hokuto no Ken 6 (why? I don't know) and Jaki Crush Pinball (from Naxat, the makers of Alien and Devil's Crush) for Super Famicom.

I found those in Burnsville, Minnesota. A Minneapolis suburb.

I've seen a few here and there at specialty stores. Mostly Mega Drive, Famicom, or Super Famicom.

I've never seen any imports at a thrift or pawn shop.

[RPG_Fanatic]

I use to see them a lot in the playstation days but haven't really seen them since.

[BetaWolf47]

I actually found a PS2 import I was wanting to pick up at a local specialty store last month. It was Tatio Memories Gekan for the PS2. They had 3 other imports, all SNK fighter compilations. I already have the domestic releases, but I might consider picking up the imports next time if they're still there.

Gekan was only $9.99 (and in immaculate condition as one would expect from an importer) since it would probably sit on their shelf forever if I hadn't of come by.

Nice find there! It's a shame we missed out on the Taito Memories games in the US.

[Xexyz]

Yeah, unfortunately I'm still missing the Memories II releases, which have TATE options for the vertical screen games. Oh well.

I just remembered, I did see Magical Hat no Buttobi Tabo! Daibouken complete for the Japanese Mega Drive in a small pile of Genesis games last summer at the flea market. Would have loved to pick it up, but the insert was tattered and creased to all hell and was also sporting some water damage.

[Slate]

Yep, I bought a Virtual Boy in a goodwill once and it had some Japanese baseball game in it. My best guess is someone bought it on eBay, Spilled soda on the controller and since the buttons stuck in the controller they donated it rather than taking it apart and cleaning it which I did easily.

[VG_Maniac]

I've found import games in the wild a lot...but that's mostly because there are quite a few game stores around here that carry imports (especially Pink Godzilla/Gorilla).

[ReTrO-pLaYeR]

Japanese olympic games for Sega Genesis a while back at a thrift shop

[Jimmy Yakapucci]

I picked up a couple SFC games at a flea market one time and I also found the Japanese Dreamcast Web broswer at another flea market.

JY

[Flippy8490]

A few years ago I found Super Mario Bros. 2 (J) at a yard sale. THe owner had NO idea what it was for, because they had a Super Nintendo and said "it dosen't fit". haha.

So I picked that up for like 10 bucks. Best deal.

[blue lander]

I've found...

a bunch of Famicom cartridges at a thrift store (mostly pirates)

Several boxed Japanese Megadrive games at a thrift store (also mostly pirates)

a Chinese Elevator Action cart for the Gameboy at an EBGames

Korean version of Sonic and Knuckles at a thrift store

a European Pong clone at a thrift store

[YoshiM]

K-mart used to have import Game Boy games when they sold used cartridges. Beyond that, I only ever found a Super-Fami tennis game at a Goodwill.

[Ze_ro]

I found a Super Famicom along with about 8 games at my local thrift one day. I bought 'em all of course.

Fairly recently at the same thrift, I ran across about a dozen Famicom games... they were all Chinese bootlegs, so I left them all behind except for TMNT Tournament Fighters, which to my understanding was never (legitimately) released in Japan.

--Zero

[BetaWolf47]

A few years ago I found Super Mario Bros. 2 (J) at a yard sale. THe owner had NO idea what it was for, because they had a Super Nintendo and said "it dosen't fit". haha.

So I picked that up for like 10 bucks. Best deal.

Wow, nice. Was it a repro or the Famicom version?

[Steve W]

Today I came across a small group of Playstation games, but they're the PAL releases from the UK. I bought Crash Team Racing and Cool Boarders, and left the Tony Hawk games and assorted other sports titles there. The Crash Team Racing is nice, since it's got three or four inserts inside it, I'm guessing it's complete. I'm not sure though, since I have no experience with British PS1 releases.