The Child's Play Charity is reporting that it has raised over ONE MILLION DOLLARS this season ($1,024,400 according to the site today). This just goes to show that gamers aren't the anti-social hate and violence mongers that people like Jack Thompson think we are. So stick that in your pipe and smoke it Jack. The funds were raised through the charity's online toy drive and a dinner auction that brought some good things to some gamers but more importantly brought some toys to some ill children.

Here are some of the details on the auction items:

Now that I have covered the major points of import gaming I thought I would throw in a couple other points. Some are common sense, some might not be. But all must be taken into account when you are thinking about importing games and consoles from another country. The major points I covered were:

Part 1: Power
Part 2: Game Compatibility
Part 3: Video Signals

Here are my final thoughts on the subject.

If you are not familiar with the specifics of video signals then I shall enlighten you. There are currently three major video signals in use across the world. NTSC, PAL and SECAM. Without going into the gruesome details of interlace, frame rate and the like let me just say that all the pictures are created and processed with differing number of lines, pictures per second, frequency and some other color-encoding details. The big question to the import gamer is how to get around this. I am happy to report that it is far easier now than in the ‘Golden Days’ of gaming. Nowadays newer consoles have the ability to output digital signals which makes things much easier if you have an HDTV. You may need to purchase additional cables though which might be a hassle. Be sure to ask questions before buying something that is overpriced and unnecessary.

With the coming of the Wii we had hopes that there would be no region-lock restricting which games could be played. Alas we were all disappointed and there is indeed a lock. Nintendo's official statement said this was because of differences in the rating systems across the globe and not to actually stop importing and exporting of game titles. I loaded one of my USA GC games into my Euro Wii to see what would happen, the results were as I suspected. The Wii was not even able to read the disc.

Dear Mr. Gates:

Let me start by saying, I am a bit of a fan. I have not necessarily agreed with all of the decisions of your company, but I am pleased with your products and impressed with the success of your company.

During the anti-trust suits, I was a staunch supporter, arguing it simply was not a trust and your company was where it was because of successful products.

If you have never imported a game or a game console in the past then you might not be ready for all the problems that you could face when doing so. Being an American gamer living in Europe is rough sometimes. There are a variety of problems that should be taken into account before beginning to import games and consoles. I hope this series will be informative and useful. If you have any questions feel free to contact me through my email link in the right side bar.