In the U.S., if you were to buy from an importer, store or online, you'd find that that import games are marked up a bit to cover the store's cost of importing and handling, although some good deals can be found. Normally, you're going to pay a bit more for an import than your average domestic title, and regular importers should be used to that by now. In Japan though, sometimes import games suck so much that they won't sell, and they'll just have to give them away.
This seemed to be the case at Amazon Japan on Friday, as they sold a few U.S. titles for 1 yen. At current exchange rates, that comes out to .08 cents U.S., and that basically says 'take me'. This Japanese blog managed to snap a screenshot, showing turds like Star Trek: Legacy for the Xbox 360 and Def Jam Icon for the PS3.
In stark contrast, now the sale link brings you to an Amazon Japan page where the same games are grossly overpriced, with games like Def Jam Icon starting at about 88 dollars after conversion. What the hell happened? These may be their domestic versions.
The closest deal I could find in the reverse situation is this craptastic pachinko game for the Super Famicom, going for $2.90.
Dale North is Destructoid's Editor-In-Chief, a founding editor, and specialist in Japanese gaming. An accomplished musician, Dale was reporting from Japan during the earthquakes of 2011. Luckily, he got the fuck out alive and is home in America now with his wife and beloved corgi, Einstein. Dale is also a co-founder of Destructoid's sister anime site
Japanator. Likes Corgis, Sega Saturn, PSP, iPhone, Photographic tools.
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7:37 PM on 04.15.2007
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