RGN Feature Article:
Top 10 Rare PlayStation 3 Imports - PART ONE
This post is going to be something a bit different from all our previous posts. Today we are focusing on Sony PlayStation 3 collectors and looking at some sought after video game imports that you may want to add to your collection. The Sony PS3 was released in late 2006 and early 2007 depending on region and replaced the long running and extremely successful PlayStation 2. It didn’t start off very successfully as initially there weren’t very many good games for a while and it gained a reputation among gamers for not having any decent games in it’s library. However that soon changed as more software starting to come out and many good games started to come out on the PS3. The system now boasts a massive games library with over 2400 released titles listed on wikipedia. Among this colossal libraries are many hidden gems, exclusives, rare and sought after titles. In this article we are going to be looking at some of these lesser known games that were released overseas (outside of Australia) and considered to be rare and sought after import games. Every good video game collector doesn’t just have popular, best selling and common games in their software library but should have at least 1 game that is an import or rare title. This post will go through a list of imports that PlayStation 3 game collectors will find a useful guide in deciding which imported games they may want to add to their collection. Make yourself a coffee or hot cup of tea and enjoy this interesting read of some of the best rare import games that are available for the system.
#10. Gendai Daisenryaku 2016: Chitsujo no Houkai – Haken Kokka Shittsui (現代大戦略 2016～秩序の崩壊・覇権国家失墜~)
[BLJM-61266 / Japan]
Starting off with the most obscure and unknown game on the list. This game has an exceedingly long titled and was released on the 28th of April in 2016 which was very late into the PS3’s life. There is very little information about this game online so there isn’t too much that I can really say about it. It has the dual honor of being the game with longest title and being the latest game released on this list of imported games. It’s a strategy game, only released in Japan so [as far as I know] unfortunately there is no English version available. Because of it’s rarity and low print run this game goes for over $100 USD if you can find it on eBay.
Image take from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH28xQtenbo
#9. Initial D Extreme Stage (頭文字D エクストリーム ステージ, Inishyaru D ekusutorimu suteji)
[BLJM-60055 / Japan] [BLAS-50053 / Asia] [BCKS-10052 / Korea]
According to the wikipedia entry this game was released in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore on the 3rd of July 2008. Based on the very popular anime of Toyota AE86 teenage driving tofu delivery hero Takumi Fujiwara. It also was a sequel to the PS2 game and is very similar to the Initial D arcade game that used IC cards to store game data. To anyone uninitiated to the anime, it’s about a Japanese teenage boy that has been delivering tofu in a Toyota AE86 for his dad’s shop since before he was old enough to legally drive. Because he was making deliveries early in the morning on Mount Akina there was hardly any cars on the road and he would want to make his deliveries as quick as possible so he could go home and sleep. He started drifting naturally as he took the tight mountain corners at speed and soon became a natural at racing. The story follows him as he get’s involved with Japanese street racers and proceeds to beat talented racers who drive much more powerful cars than him but he beats them with his natural driving skills. The series perfectly captures the fun and exhilaration of driving an AE86, which I can attest to having owned and driven an imported 1984 Toyota AE86 GT Apex for quite a few years. Both the Asian and Japanese version of this game is in Japanese with a a little bit of English in there but not much, the instruction manual of the Asian release is also in English. You can find this game on eBay from about anywhere from $70 to $120 AUD.
#8. Puyo Puyo Tetris (ぷよぷよテトリス, Puyopuyo Tetorisu)
[BLJM-61097 / Japan]
This was released in the latter half of the PS3’s life, only in Japan on the 6th of February 2014. It’s a crossover of two well known puzzle games Puyo Puyo and Tetris. It was developed by Sega CS2 and published by Sega. It was released in other regions on other platforms. This is another title that is only available in Japanese, like all Japan releases are however because it’s a puzzle game incorporating elements of Tetris you don’t need to know Japanese to be able to play and enjoy this one. You can find the Japanese PS3 version on eBay selling from $50 – $60 AU$ and upwards for new and used copies.
#7. Lost in the Rain
[BCJS-30093 / Japan] [BCAS-20319 / Asian] [BCKS-10267 / Korea]
This is a game that was released in all regions on the PSN (PlayStation Network) and may even still be available as to purchase as a digital download today as the Sony still maintains the PSN for the PS3 currently at the time of the writing of this article. While this game is available in all regions as a digital release, the only physical releases for this game are the Japanese and Asian versions which were released on the 5th of June 2014. The Asian version released in Hong Kong and Taiwan contain an option for English and Traditional Chinese language options make it the only way to get the physical version in English which makes it a very sought after game release for collectors of PlayStation 3 games. It’s an adventure game with a heavy emphasis on story line driving the game. It features a very unique and novel game mechanic where characters are only visible when they are standing in the rain. The Asian version of this game (the one with English options) is the most sought after version of this game and can be found on eBay for $300 USD. Don’t get it confused with the much cheaper Japanese version as that is not in English and a lot more common, therefore not worth anywhere near as much.
6. The Last Guy
[BCJS-30033 / Japan] [BCAS-20073 / Asia] [BCKS-10077 / Korea]
This is a very well known and popular game for the PS3 available for purchase as a digital download on the PSN store. It’s described in wikipedia.org as a “maze video game” which I’ve never heard of ever being used to describe a game genre before. The gameplay itself uses real Google Maps footage to have a sort of satellite surveillance feel to it, like that movie where a dude is being tracked by satellite’s (which I can’t remember the name of). Your objective is to evacuate residents from the city to escape impending disaster from catastrophic monster attacks that is destroying the cities’ buildings and infrastructure. The goal is to safely escort the citizens to an escape zone and minimize casualties by avoiding the attacking monsters. The character you play is known as “The Last Guy” who has some special abilities that enables him to be able to help citizens to escape en-masse. You can easily get hold of a digital copy by purchasing it through the PSN webstore on the PS3, even at the time of writing this article it is still available on the Australia PSN store. However if you want to get your hands on a physical copy of the game in English then you have to track the Asian Korean version which is not easy to do without paying a lot of money. Expect a Korean copy of the game to set you back between $300 and $500 AUD for a complete copy. The game was very well received by the media getting game review scores of between 70-90% from the major video game press website’s and magazines.
End of PART ONE...
I hope that you enjoyed Part One of our special feature article Top 10 Rare PlayStation 3 Imports. In this part of the article we have looked at games #10 to #6 of the top 10 list that I have made. Stay tuned for the next half of the article Part Two, where we will look at the remaining games on the list starting from #5 and ending at the #1 rare import for the Sony PS3. The games aren’t necessarily in order of rarity or price they are more in order of games that are most sought after to have in a PS3 collection. Remember though that this is a subjective list, meaning it is based primarily on my opinion and what I like the most won’t be the same as what another collector would like. However I’m sure that all serious Sony PlayStation 3 collectors would welcome having any one of these games added to their collections if they could get them for a good price, below their market value. They may wish to sell them since some of them are worth quite a lot of money but they definitely wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to have these games in their collection if they could obtain them for a reasonable and affordable price. The list started off with some very obscure and mostly unknown titles, becoming less obscure with each title and ending with the well know game “The Last Guy”. The last 5 games in the list are a lot more known in the game collecting community and therefore are also sought after a lot more. You can look forward to a very exciting final five games to count down the list to the #1 most sought after imported title by Sony PS3 collectors.
Please leave any comments you have about this half of the list below. Were the games on the list what you expected? Had you even heard of all the games that were listed before coming across this article? Do you think some different games that I overlooked should have made this half of the list? What do you think about the value of the gameplay in the games that are in the list? Do you own any of the games that are in the list and what did you pay for them? Did you get a really good deal for any of the games or did you overpay for any of the titles? We are Retro Game News value your thoughts, opinions and feedback and really want to hear from all retro video gamers. As regular readers of RGN most likely know by now, we are based in Australia and focus primarily on aussie collectors. However we are still international and love to hear from overseas gamers and collectors just as much as we like to hear from locals. So please get involved in the conversation and feel free to share this post on social media and with your fellow retro gamers and game collectors.
Honorable Mentions – Games That Didn’t Make The Top 10 List
- PixelJunk 3 in 1 Pack [BCAS-20070 Asia] [BCKS-10074 Korea] $150 – $180 AUD
- El Chavo Kart [BLUS 31198SA Brazil] [BLUS-31198 Mexico] $170 – $250 AUD
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