So, it's illegal to buy classic games in Japan

[comrade]

It seems that in April of this year, the Japanese government will place a ban on the second-hand sale of all electronics devices that are more than 5 years old. This is supposedly an action of the big players in the electronics market, complaining that people hang on to stuff for too long.

Seems pretty ridiculous to me. How they are going to enforce these laws? I have no clue. Check the link for more information.


click here you dirty criminals (http://www.akihabaranews.com/news-11230-X.html)

[Darren870]

What the fuck? Umm every shop in akihabara will close because of this.

Though this might not apply to games, after reading that article it doesn't seem like it will.

[Tan]

games themselves are a bit different, you don't replace them on a regulart basis, game systems on the other hand may be different, PC's are included in this law, and the modern consoles like ps2 etc. are considered computers as well, so i suppose it's up in the air, but by the sounds of it, i doubt any company is really gonna "stand up for the man", one thing not mentioned here though is what they expect people to do with old equipment, recycling electronics is not cheap, and they haven't specifically ruled out trading either.

[Ulticron]

I wonder how this will effect the JP/US classic import market. Maybe with any luck they'll try and dump all their stuff on us.

[chrisbid]

with laws like DMCA, im sure some geneyus lawyer will find a way to enforce this on the US market with a decade

[Roi]

Nope it isn't, the Japanese goverment is sharpening the laws but it isn't going to be illegal. The shop owners have to put a PSE sticker on there stuff tough.

[Darren870]

This is actually BS. I looked more into this because I didn't believe the article.

Found this on a different forum
[b]
HERE (http://www.mutantfrog.com/2006/02/22/2nd-hand-electronics-sales-will-not-soon-be-illegal-in-japan/)

[Matt-El]

Effective April 1st, anyone?.... LOL

[Tan]

"As ironic as it may sound to the uninitiated, April 1 is the first day of the Japanese fiscal year. Most laws that are passed take effect that day."

there are many conflicting reports one way or another, i guess we'll find out april 2nd for sure :roll:

[Iron Draggon]

Well as long as they don't ban the resale of classic games over 5 years old, I really don't give a damn. Otherwise we have a very big problem. How would I get more imports?

[Raedon]

In Japan it's not to far off to see everyone throw out their VCR the day a DVD player hits it's first year out. not sell it, put it on the curb.

[Raedon]

with laws like DMCA, im sure some geneyus lawyer will find a way to enforce this on the US market with a decade

It's odd how free Japan is in some ways and not in others. You can find vendors selling powerful mind altering drugs from shops and drinking heavily every night is seen as a norm where in the US we have laws about dance drugs and AA meetings for everyone else.

When it comes to Technology though, they are always cutting edge. We don't even have HDTV yet in my town besides DISH.

[Ed Oscuro]

Effective April 1, electrical appliances made before fiscal 2002 will have to be certified for safety to be put on sale...About 450 types of product will become illegal to sell without a PSE mark, meaning untold numbers of used electrical appliances, such as dryers and kotatsu heaters, will have to find a new home.
OH NOES

It'd be nice if people would bother to learn to use the [/url ] tags correctly:

[url=http://www.mutantfrog.com/2006/02/22/2nd-hand-electronics-sales-will-not-soon-be-illegal-in-japan]That article is BS ( ).

Here's the article linked to in the Mutantfrog.com article (http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200602210407.html) and which I quote above.

[SkiDragon]

Well, if it is illegal to sell old stuff in Japan but not illegal for them to sell it outside Japan, it can only be a good thing for us as we would inevitably see more old games available for import, and I assume cheaper prices.

[petewhitley]

It sounds like the effects of this are probably being blown out of proportion, but it will definitely have a noticable result. SofMap, a very popular retailer and one at which I've personally purchased 5+ year old consoles, has been displaying large signs informing customers that they will no longer be purchasing affected merchandise.

[Darren870]

Softmap is a duty free shop that sells all sorts of electronics. This wont have any impact on video games and video game systems.

DONE!

[Ed Oscuro]

Well, if it is illegal to sell old stuff in Japan but not illegal for them to sell it outside Japan, it can only be a good thing for us as we would inevitably see more old games available for import, and I assume cheaper prices.
Well, you've got some of the particulars incorrect (it's not illegal to sell old stuff), but there is a chance that there will be retailers dumping products overseas.

Most of what's affected will be regular appliances like heaters or refrigerators, though, and those wouldn't likely be shipped here, but perhaps other, less affluent parts of Southern Asia.

More from the article:


By law, a retailer can become a "manufacturer," authorized to conduct safety inspections and affix PSE labels, simply by registering with the ministry.

Registered "manufacturers" may attach PSE labels after confirming three very simple things: the product looks fine, works properly when turned on, and does not leak electricity at 1,000 volts.
I really don't see why anybody would shy away from reselling regular consoles, as they don't require 1,000 volts, only a fraction of that amount.


SofMap, a very popular retailer and one at which I've personally purchased 5+ year old consoles, has been displaying large signs informing customers that they will no longer be purchasing affected merchandise.
What's "affected merchandise?" Arcade machines??

[Darren870]

Softmap has like home appliences too, stuff that would be a problem i guess.

[tritium]

I wonder how this will effect the JP/US classic import market. Maybe with any luck they'll try and dump all their stuff on us.

Hurray!

[Richter Belmount]

damn and I was excited about taking a trip to japan. Sigh :hmm:

[PC-Famicom64]

It seems that in April of this year, the Japanese government will place a ban on the second-hand sale of all electronics devices that are more than 5 years old. This is supposedly an action of the big players in the electronics market, complaining that people hang on to stuff for too long.

Seems pretty ridiculous to me. How they are going to enforce these laws? I have no clue. Check the link for more information.


click here you dirty criminals (http://www.akihabaranews.com/news-11230-X.html)And after that The Japanese government will ban Fan made Manga as well,Not real yet but it just might happin. :hmm:

[smork]

I don't understand what the fuss is all about. How does this affect gaming? Clearly they just don't wanna have retailers selling old, unsafe products without getting them checked first. It's like owning an older car in Japan -- you can own a great classic car, but it'll require more in inspections, etc.

I doubt it'll affect game consoles at all for the same reasons Ed Oscuro mentioned above -- and even if it does, how bad would it be to have a little sticker on your console that said that somebody is actually certifying your console is in good working order? The flip side of that is the ones that are of poorer quality will just get dumped on the export secondary market, i.e. the people ordering from retailers in north america, europe, etc. It really can only benefit those of us who shop in Japan (if it affects us at all, which I seriously doubt).

But why would this affect the software market at all? A Saturn CD is no different than an audio CD except for content.

I'm pretty sure if you show up in Den-Den Town in May you'll still be able to find all your classic goodness in all the usual locations...

[Darren870]

I don't understand what the fuss is all about. How does this affect gaming? Clearly they just don't wanna have retailers selling old, unsafe products without getting them checked first. It's like owning an older car in Japan -- you can own a great classic car, but it'll require more in inspections, etc.

I doubt it'll affect game consoles at all for the same reasons Ed Oscuro mentioned above -- and even if it does, how bad would it be to have a little sticker on your console that said that somebody is actually certifying your console is in good working order? The flip side of that is the ones that are of poorer quality will just get dumped on the export secondary market, i.e. the people ordering from retailers in north america, europe, etc. It really can only benefit those of us who shop in Japan (if it affects us at all, which I seriously doubt).

But why would this affect the software market at all? A Saturn CD is no different than an audio CD except for content.

I'm pretty sure if you show up in Den-Den Town in May you'll still be able to find all your classic goodness in all the usual locations...

I don't think anyone else is reading the topic after the first post. Everyone is just posting after reading the topic title and the misleading and false article.

[Ed Oscuro]

I don't think anyone else is reading the topic after the first post. Everyone is just posting after reading the topic title and the misleading and false article.
Welcome to my world, man. LOL

[kedawa]

It seems that in April of this year, the Japanese government will place a ban on the second-hand sale of all electronics devices that are more than 5 years old. This is supposedly an action of the big players in the electronics market, complaining that people hang on to stuff for too long.click here you dirty criminals (http://www.akihabaranews.com/news-11230-X.html)If they have a problem with people keeping stuff for too long (which is a seriously reprehensible and irresponsible attitude in the first place), then why would they want to make it impossible for people to get rid of it?
You'd think they'd want people to dump their old stuff so they can replace it.

[Lozza]

This to me seems like a contradictory/hypocricy. In Japan electronics change all the time. So often that if you bought some sort of SONY media player, it would have had a new version come out in about a week. Things constantly change with Japanese electronics, and SONY and other companies don't worry about flooding the market, so why should a consumer worry about having old shit when theres new shit that just came out?

SONY themselves sell off older model electronics (they could be as little as a week out of date) for very low prices. If SONY and other huge companies didn't overload the streets with a constant flood of new electronics then they wouldn't have this sales gap that is clearly because people aren't buying as much new gear.

I figure the easiest way around that law is to sell the PACKAGING and the electronics or whatever inside is just a gift. Perfect loophole.

[Darren870]

I don't think anyone else is reading the topic after the first post. Everyone is just posting after reading the topic title and the misleading and false article.
Welcome to my world, man. LOL

Dude its driving me insane, I wish a mod would just lock this topic as its just spreading the false rumor even more. God, if people would just look down a bit.

[§ Gideon §]

I don't think anyone else is reading the topic after the first post. Everyone is just posting after reading the topic title and the misleading and false article.
Welcome to my world, man. LOL

Dude its driving me insane, I wish a mod would just lock this topic as its just spreading the false rumor even more. God, if people would just look down a bit.
Haha... My God, this is scary. We could have a secret conversation and nobody would even notice!

*starts secret conversation* So, you must do a lot of importing to have been concerned enough to find a rebuttal. What do you (and Ed) like about importing? And what's your usual source? I've only done a couple games through eBay.

[delafro]

Here's a good write-up of the situation on kotaku...

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/retro/japan-regulates-the-crap-outta-used-consoles-156423.php

Bottom line for gamers, looks like it will be tougher to find second-hand PS1 and Sega hardware in stores. A bummer, but not a huge loss.

BTW, the Japanese gov't is infamous for the over-licensing and regulation of anything it can get its hands on, so something like this is pretty par for the course.

[Darren870]

I don't think anyone else is reading the topic after the first post. Everyone is just posting after reading the topic title and the misleading and false article.
Welcome to my world, man. LOL

Dude its driving me insane, I wish a mod would just lock this topic as its just spreading the false rumor even more. God, if people would just look down a bit.
Haha... My God, this is scary. We could have a secret conversation and nobody would even notice!

*starts secret conversation* So, you must do a lot of importing to have been concerned enough to find a rebuttal. What do you (and Ed) like about importing? And what's your usual source? I've only done a couple games through eBay.

Well I actually go to japan every summer, cant this summer due to work but I will be going next summer. So I pick up whatever intrests me there. Saturn mostly as it better then getting raped on ebay, Neo-Geo too.

Last time I was there I got a Panasonic Q for $250, bunch of saturn and dreamcast games. All the KOF for neo-geo and some other common titles, and some GC and PS2 games.

Like I said I pretty much get what intrests me there. Next summer though i'll be droping another 3 grand on games and arcade stuff.

[§ Gideon §]

Cool! How much of the language do you speak? Also, I've wondered for a while how much it would cost to basically U-haul a load of inventory too/from Japan. You mention 3 grand for next summer, so you probably have a rough idea...

Japan has so many gaming artifacts. A prohibitive law would be... devastating (as I'm sure you know).

'Good deal on the Panasonic Q, by the way.

[Darren870]

I don't speak anything but simple phrases. You can get by pretty easy not knowing anything, but you have to know where you are going or want to go.

This law, like I said, seems like it is only going to be on hardware. Which isn't that big of a deal as most people don't buy to much hardware there. Super Patato (sell old stuff) would go out of business if it was software too.

I usually spend 2-3 g's when I go there. I bring a suitcase inside a suitcase. The suitcase inside I use as my carry on for the way back. Use this to hold the $100+ games as I am very paranoid. The big suitcase I use for small items/clothes and anything really big (panisonic q, samba de amigo maracas, tiato drums, boxed saturn etc)I will get a box from the hotel and use it as my other backage and well secure everything inside.

Oh yea, very good deal on the panasonic it was brand new.

[The Manimal]

down the line i will probably want to buy a Hi-Vision LD player ($$$), so i really hope this is fake!