Did you ever import games?

I started importing games on the PS1. I was really into JRPGs but got annoyed that so many were not being ported and released on the UK and Europe, yet they were being converted into English for the US market. So I got my PS1 mod chipped and started to import the US NTSC version so games that didn't see a UK release.

The original good CeX store in Southampton also had an imports section with a good selection of US and Japanese imports. I remember getting my copy of Xenogears from there. And the guys who worked there were real enthusiasts who know everything about gaming. I would spend ages chatting to them about PS1 RPGs and would often get recommendations for some I didn't have that they had in stock. Great place. Sadly CeX today isn't like that. It's now full of highly overpriced retro consoles trying to cash in on the retro hobby.

I was looking through my PS1 collection the other day and had forget just how many games I had imported. I've got a near complete original collection of PS1 RPG, JRPG and SRPG releases and about half of them are US NTSC imports. Some are probably worth a fair bit now, but it's not something I'm interesting in selling as they would be hard to finds again (which is why they are worth a lot these days).

I also imported a few games on other platforms, but not to the extent of the PS1. Some Dreamcast games, some N64 and PS2. And a few Nintendo games. Animal Crossing on Gamecube for example was released in the US 2 years before the UK and a UK Gamecube magazine gave away a coverdisk that allowed you to boot the US version, which made me import it.

On the Dreamcast there were a few games such as the SNK 2D beat em ups (like Mark of the Wolf, Last Blade 2 and Fatal Fury) and RPGs such as Elemental Gimmick Gear, and og course Bomberman Online. But the Dreamcast was unique in actually getting more games as UK PAL releases more than the US did. The last year of Dreamcast releases were almost exclusively for the Japan and UK. I was even buying games for US contacts and shipping them over for them. Such a shame the Dreamcast wasn't more of a success.

These days with everything being digital downloads importing games is pretty much a thing of the past. Does anyone still import anything from other regions?