So, do you guys shop at Play-Asia? If so, or if not, we'd love it if you responded to this quick poll question. Just click above, as we'll be using the data to make decisions, instead of reading all your responses.
Importing's an expensive hobby, so I don't do it much. But I did just like the recent Summer Sale, picking up SFA US for $20, and Time Crisis 3 Chinese for $10 or so (I don't even have a modded PS2 or any way to play imports yet, but I probably will at some point, and I'm curious to hear how the Chinese audio track sounds).
Basically, I think my game importing's been mixed between Play-Asia, Lik-Sang, and NCSX.
I've gotten imports from NCSX.com, VideGameDepot.com, JapanVideoGames.com's physical store, and a local import shop a couple of miles from JVG's store.
I didn't vote in the poll, but while I've yet to actually purchase from Play-Asia, I WILL be making a big order there soon. The only imports I've picked up have been from The Rage, NCSX and while physically in Japan.
I import every now and then, I usually use ncsx since I'm near where they're located, and I get stuff fast. P-A seems good if you're willing to pay for the non-cheapest shipping where it takes forever.
For me, I've always found importing too expensive. The only thing I ever imported was a Vdigi VD-Z3 transcoder, because I didn't have another choice. Paid almost as much for shipping as I did for the damn unit
There hasn't been anything worth importing for me in a long ass time, maybe one or two years. But when I did import heavily it was either from Game Express or NCSX.
I think GE as ceased carrying imported titles though.
I've only used Play-Asia once last year cause King of Colosseum II was about $20 less than the other online retailers and I also had a discount coupon.
Order from PlayAsia quite a bit since 2003. Funny how it costs less from a seller in Hong Kong shipping international than a New York importer like NCS. Buying an import doesn't cost that much more than a $49.99 + tax domestic game. So I go for the imports since the North American market doesn't really cater to my gaming needs that well.
I tend to use Play-asia over NCSX because EMS shipping is cheaper than UPS overnight and since games usually come out on a thursday if you do 2 days or more you'll have to wait until monday. Also NCSX raised their prices some time ago and Play-asia has the $5 off coupons. Both are good, but if I want to be playing a game the first weekend Play-asia is the cheaper choice.
I'll price shop on Play Asia and NCS... NCS is in Queens, which means shipping is a LOT faster. Shame they don't have a brick and mortar business though
I have not imported a game since King of Fighters 2001 for Dreamcast. The PS2 takes too much effort to get working with import games and there isn't anything for the 'Cube I want that hasn't been or won't be released in this part of the world. (Don't own an Xbox or portable.)
But accessories? Plenty. American retailers are too obsessed with inventory management to let us have anything interesting. (And SCEA apparently thinks brightly colored, translucent plastics are still trendy.)
I import from NCSX. When I order priority mail from them it invariably comes the next day. There's tax, but with the priority mail shipping, it's still cheaper than most shipping.
I use Play-Asia every once in a while, but mainly stick to NCS. Even if Play-Asia gets their stock a day or even several days in advance, it doesn't matter since it's going to arrive about the same time it would if I got two-day shipping from NCS for around $12. When I use Play-Asia, I refuse to use anything other than UPS, which usually costs a little more than $20, and takes about 3-4 days to arrive.