I hear about emergency preparation in certain countries like the UK or Japan (as they anticipate either a incoming cyberattack or another Iranian conflict) in case things end up becoming as if its the rapture all of a sudden. However, the weird thing is that neither are discussed openly on MSM or shown on the top feed of social media (perhaps due to censorship or hate being called out for fearmongering).

I've heard about Sony receiving bad publicity due to their plans on phasing out physical games by 2028 (heck even the upcoming PS6 has no leniency for a disc drive as its digital by default), so that leads into the question: is it worth spending money on a PS5 knowing their recent business practices? Also, the library seems lacking if you're looking for unique exclusives to play (since most are ports from PS4 titles).

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 as there's no ENG?)

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. (Also, the classifications use CERO framework rather than ESRB). Like a CERO D (17才以上対象) is akin to a ESRB M17 & CERO C (15才以上対象) is similar to ESRB Teen.

I've seen this 2015 documentary of some sort from the perspective of Japanese vs Australian kids being able to commute to and from school on their own without parental supervision. The thing is that parents in Japan encourage kids to be independent from a young age without being "babied" too much while apparently in Australia it's common for parents to drop kids at school.

Now: why is it common for American parents to either drop kids off themselves or kids using the stereotypical yellow school buses on commuting to school rather than letting the kid use public transport themselves or walk to school on foot on their own? I've heard that a father got arrested in the US just for letting his son walk to and from school due to accusations of "child endangerment".

Note: I'm not asking for legal advice. Rather, it's a thing in some countries (like Japan or Indonesia) as I recall watching a video depicting an Australian tourist in Indonesia witnessesing people pursuing the phone snatcher by ganging up on him in which they eventually caught the dude & undercover cops managed to arrest him. Now, the question remains: are people in the US allowed to conduct a citizens arrest in the US?

For perspective: there was a power outage that took place across the Iberian peninsula (affecting mainly Portugal and parts of both Spain & France back in 2025), at least people there didn't resort to looting immediately the moment everything was in disaray (transit networks were down, internet & phone connections were offline, contactless payments were disrupted and people were made to leave public venues). At least, the federal governments of their countries managed to act fast the moment this occurred nationwide.

NOTE: This is not a thread discussing modding consoles or anything of that sort. Rather, the main topic is about the recent news on a guy who managed to hack the Switch 2 by adding third party content into MKW (which isn't natively on the game) all because of a "game" found on the eShop (I think it got removed). He was using the global unit of the console. I'm ordering the region locked variant (日本語・国内専用モデル).

The difference between that and the international models are minor: mainly with the language and eShop, as the region locked one can only be used in Japanese and the JP eShop is only allowed (but would that alone be jail broken with hacks reverting a Japanese language only console adding other language packs basically turning it into a global unit despite this specific model being intended for domestic use only?).

Currently, Australia holds the record on having the highest duty free threshold: A$1000 ($703 / £525 / 626€) since both US & EU rescinded theirs recently (the UK is planning on removing de minimis, at the moment it stands at £135 or below duty free). I mean, do travelers (bringing in stuff they purchased elsewhere) and importers (who bought stuff online from overseas retailers) now have to pay extra taxes in the US & EU?

Has it actually been enforced already? You only notice it when you either travel and bought stuff (unopened and brand new) whilst on vacation upon returning back to US & EU they hit you with those charges or buying stuff across borders as the package is being held at customs waiting for tariffs to be paid. Is this just an excuse for their governments wanting to extort money from citizens trying to deter them from buying stuff abroad?

Let’s say if I were to import a game console that’s close to ¥63,000 ($401) instead of paying $581 including sales tax if purchased in US, however would that alone save me approximately $180 after paying shipping costs? There’s no sales tax as the item is sold abroad as you are the one importing it, but the real question remains: is there a guarantee that the package will arrive tax free or not?

As in, they give you a contract to sign or lay out a set of terms of conditions hidden behind a language barrier as you don't understand the written fineprint since they just say "sign here" in broken English. It's a loophole that employers or sponsors of domestic workers (who are hired from "third world" countries) use as leverage, the indentured servant is stuck in limbo as they later found out "I didn't consent to this nonsense!"

The right approach would be asking for a localization (as in a translated copy of that document) if they have one, or hire a professional third party who is fluent in both the contract's language and the signee's language rather than relying on AI translation (since legally binding documents have nuance that LLM's can't grasp, since terminology can connotate different definitions or outcomes based on context).

At the time of its release, the manner on how it they'd marketed that was confusing as they showcased the Wii U gamepad as if its a portable console (its not) since its rather the main controller for the Wii U console. I was in high school when the console was first revealed, my reaction to that was "WTF?" as I thought the gamepad was portable, as the ads often flex that it can be (or the way they showed it came off as that).

I've heard they've rescinded the threshold on allowing duty free imports of 150€ and below (it used to exist). The thing is that I'm a avid Zelda fan and would rather import my Switch than paying 520€ for the console alone (the game is 70€), don't even talk about the pro controller with the stand (that's another 110€, like WTF?).

Now, I've listed the same counterparts upon pre-ordering these things alongside accessories:

• Zelda Switch 2 (日本語・国内専用): ¥62,980 (~354€)
• Zelda Pro Controller w/stand: ¥12,980 (~73€)
• 256GB Micro SD Card (Express): ¥12,000 (~67€)
• Zelda (OoT) Remake: ¥7,755 (~43€)
• TotK NS2 Edition: ¥7,264 (~40€)
• BotW NS2 Edition: ¥7,236 (~40€)
• Switch 2 Case: ¥3,790 (~21€)
• Pro Controller Case: ¥2,490 (~14€)
• Screen Protector: ¥1,598 (~9€)
• Joy Con Stick Covers: ¥999 (~5€)

It adds up to ¥121,119 in customs value. The import VAT varies based on country, I won't disclose where I reside but let's say I'm importing to Spain where the rate is 21%. (This is after paying shipping costs via a courier).

spoiler

I've used a import duty calculator to estimate the quote, again: this is not representative of the real thing.
850€?! ARE THEY INSANE! WHAT A RIP OFF!