Are you able to trade foreign games in the US & Canada?

Submitted ⁨⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨TactMerc@retrofed.com⁩ to ⁨games@lemmy.world⁩

I have physical games that are Japanese only regarding language support, if it’s a PS5 disc or Switch cartridge: the covers are of course written in Japanese & the region code for it is JPN (even if consoles are region free, why are language locks still a thing regarding the software?) but, can you still trade them despite accepting this caveat: locked under a language barrier as the UI’s in game cannot be reverted to English.

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Peffse@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
ESRB is not a government entity. It’s a US game industry rating board.

As long as whoever you are trading to accepts that it is Japanese only, there should be no problems at all. My local game shops have a section for imports that people trade-in.

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jordanlund@lemmy.world ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Forget trading them, there are stores where you can outright BUY them.

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RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Depends on the shop. You might also get a lot less for it, especially if it requires a region matching console; its going to sit on store shelves for a while, so the store owner might feel like the hassle isn’t worth the low cost unless its a rare game or something.

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Auster@thebrainbin.org ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
On why only have one language, maybe size, licencing for a given translation having different rules than the rest, focus in a given market, position of the planets... Could be N reasons.

On if you can trade games, only vaguely familiar with Canadian and American laws, but afaik, nothing should be stopping you? Maybe aside from a game being explicitly forbidden (dunno if either have such a list), or if they break some law.

Also more broadly, among people with Japanese as a second language, native Japanese speakers living in the two countries, collectors, resellers and import sales, I'd say you have a non-zero chance of finding someone interested.

And about age-rating boards, I don't think I've seen them have Executive/Legislative powers in either countries, only as a recommendation/guideline measure. May be good to confirm on that though.

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