It was nice knowing you, Play-Asia: Amazon Japan now shipping (some) games and game systems to North America

OK, so that first bit of the headline above is a bit much. I don't really think Amazon Japan finally giving Americans and other foreigners the thumbs up to buy and internationally ship games and systems will result in the shuttering of import shops like Play-Asia. Nor do I want that to happen.

I wouldn't be surprised, though, if this surprising change of heart puts a dent in the business companies like AmiAmi, Play-Asia and other game importers are able to do.

Will it prompt me to alter my own online shopping habits? I'm not sure.



As far as I'm aware, the change only offers international shipping to foreigners who want to buy games and systems Amazon Japan itself stocks and sells. In other words, if you live outside of Japan and the game or system you've got your eye on is "fulfilled by Amazon" or is sold by a third-party vendor, you're out of luck.

As such, I'll probably buy the occasional current or current-ish game from Amazon Japan, but I'll also continue to buy games and systems from the North American Amazon site, AmiAmi, eBay and other online shops--depending on which actually has what I want in stock and which gives me the best price.

How about you? Do any of you think you'll turn your back on some of the online shops I've mentioned here and instead import games and systems from Amazon Japan from now on? Or will you continue to go to places like AmiAmi and Play-Asia for your Japanese gaming needs?

Xenoblade, Pandora's Tower and The Last Story fans take out their frustrations on Nintendo of America via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

Well, it seems that a rather sizable contingent of North American Wii owners has had it with Nintendo's failure to localize its recent trio of top-shelf Japanese RPGs: The Last Story, Pandora's Tower and Xenoblade.

What are they doing about it? They're taking out their frustrations on the company via the usual channels--e-mail and snail mail, especially--but they're also doing so via Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

For instance, nearly 3,500 comments in favor of a North American release for the above-mentioned games have been posted on Nintendo's Facebook wall in the last few days. Many similar comments have been aimed at the company's Twitter account thanks in large part to the folks behind Operation Rainfall.

Another way gamers are showing their support for a North American release of The Last Story, Pandora's Tower and Xenoblade: They're pre-ordering them (in the case of Xenoblade) and adding them (in the case of The Last Story and Pandora's Tower) to their wish lists on Amazon.com.

For more information on this campaign, check out this discussion thread at NeoGAF.com or click on the Operation Rainfall link above.

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should

In this instance, I'm talking about playing Super Mario Bros. on an Amazon Kindle.

According to ubergizmo.com, some uber geek is working on a NES emulator for the popular ereader. Here's how it looks running on a Kindle emulator:



So, basically, it looks worse than Super Mario Land running on a beaten-up, 20-year-old GameBoy.

Mario rocks out (ba dum tish) in new Super Mario Galaxy 2 trailer

The folks over at destructoid.com just made my morning by posting a fresh, new trailer for Super Mario Galaxy 2. (Watch it here.)

The trailer focuses on the title's numerous (new and old) power-ups, so if you'd like to remain blissfully unaware of such things until Super Mario Galaxy 2 hits store shelves later this spring (May 23 in North America) don't click on the link above (and, er, don't look at the image below).

By the way, Amazon.com is still offering a $20 video games credit to those who preorder the title. Here's a link to the online retailer's Super Mario Galaxy 2 page.

If you're planning to pick up Halo Reach or Super Mario Galaxy 2 ...

... you may want to head over to Amazon.com and preorder a copy ASAP. For the time being, the online retailer is offering $20 video games credit to those who preorder either title. (Here's a link to the Halo Reach page on Amazon.com, and here's a link to the site's Super Mario Galaxy 2 page.)

Don't tell my husband, but I just preordered a copy of Super Mario Galaxy 2. Now I can spend the next two months thinking about how I'll use my $20 credit. (Final Fantasy V Advance? Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon? WarioWare: D.I.Y.?)

(Via NeoGAF.com and tinycartridge.com)