The Five or Possibly Six Most Import-Friendly Video Game Systems

Happy Thanksgiving! Tomorrow signals the beginning of the Madness That Will Consume Us All Christmas shopping season, and I know what you're thinking: which systems are best for playing games in a language I do not comprehend? ...okay, so I know exactly what you're not thinking. But nonetheless, importing games can be extremely rewarding even if you don't have a taste for blundering through JRPGs. Here are the five (or sort of six) easiest systems to import for.


5. Tie: 360/PS3


From what I hear the PS3 is the better of the two, but both consoles represent a more relaxed attitude about region-locking- probably because most of the traditional workarounds also make piracy a breeze. Big-ticket games do still get locked on 360 though, and occasionally unfortunate things happen: I really wanted to play a specific Gundam game, but it was cancelled here in the US and is region-locked in Japan. Dammit! (Not that it's probably any good, mind; Gundam games not containing the words "Vs." "Dynasty" or "Warriors" in the title tend not to be.)

4. PS1

This is the system we first did a lot of importing on. If you have the original-model PS1 and an Action Replay or clone that plugs into the back of the system, you're set. Just find a small spring to keep the sensor button inside the lid pressed, start the system with a US game disc, and swap in a Japanese disc once the first CD stops spinning. Then hit Start Game. Simple!

(Think about that, too: it must've taken engineers and programmers a good while and a fair amount of money to design the regional lockout for the PSX... and you can defeat it with a penny's worth of coiled metal. The moral of the story should be "don't even bother," but that's a moral game companies took forever to even consider.)


3. Gamecube

Even simpler! Same basic idea, but no spring needed as most Action Replays for the GC have the Freeloader built right in. I guess Nintendo decided to be nice about this since it was relatively hard to pirate minidiscs. You will need a separate memory card, though, as memory cards are also region-formatted on GameCube. Better answer "iie" to everything and not save until you've got one.


2. Super NES

Two tabs are the only things standing between you and that amazing Squaresoft RPG that never came out here. (Which one? Pick one.) If you're not feeling brave, you can also play any game without Super FX chips through a Game Genie- once you hack the tabs out of that.

1. Game Boy/DS

The best of all: you plug a game from anywhere in the world into one of these and it plays. Unfortunately the DSi is breaking this streak because European gamers were importing US games to get them sooner and cheaper. Hence why poor ThatGuy spent $190 on a DSi XL for Pokemon Black and then couldn't actually use it. Kind of ironic that Sony and Microsoft are lightening up about importing just as Nintendo tightens the reins. I don't want to suggest that being region-free was a major factor in the Game Boy and DS series of systems being some of the most popular gaming systems ever, but I'm sure it didn't hurt.