I only purchase the ones that bundle both the Blu-Ray and 4K UHD discs together. They end up costing more (as I import Region A than purchasing Region B) since Region A copies by default have the subtitle language (i.e. Japanese, Traditional Chinese) I want while Region B does not have it included since they often focus too much on European languages (i.e. Spanish, French or German). Do you consider 4K UHD better than Blu-Ray?

I have plans on upgrading my hardware to the Switch 2 (日本語・国内専用), having two consoles is kind of annoying to manage: as I still have my Zelda OLED (ToTK) which is a "special edition" and I've changed the region on my alt account to Japan (my main account is Japanese) since I've already placed a pre-order for the Zelda 40th Anniversary Switch 2 (Console) for ¥64,607 (includes a screen protector and pre-order bonus) and the OoT Remake for ¥7,755 via Amazon.

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When I eventually get my hands on the Switch 2: is it worth keeping the "old" Zelda OLED or sell it right away? The thing is that, as of now: that variant of the console is still available but there'll be a time it may become rare as they'll eventually stop making them. By then, would it carry any sentimental value? I'm conflicted whether I should sell it when upgrading my hardware or keep the old Switch in the case it'll be deemed an antique and possibly a collector's item.

The reason why it's difficult to pre-order: scalpers. Besides that, if you managed to secure a pre-order for both the console and game in either the US or EU, how much did you end up paying (with sales tax / VAT included)? Although, the price for both varies in your region and how much the retailer sells it for.

The Zelda Themed Switch 2 itself is ¥64,607 ($410 / 364€) which includes a screen protector and a pre-order bonus while the physical copy of the Ocarina of Time Remake is ¥7,755 ($49 / 44€). I've pre-ordered mine via Amazon (Japan) for ¥72,362 ($459 / 408€) which is way "cheaper" than in the US & EU.

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I'm talking about using a normal card or multi-currency card for digital only services (subscriptions) and store fronts tied to a specific region where a valid billing address & phone number (a local one) is required (must match the country too) upon entering card details via the App Store, PS Store, eShop or Steam won't accept US cards on a non-US account on these storefronts (like JP App Store refuses US bank cards).

This is the issue with going "cashless" as it's REGION LOCKED in this case, as they demand a billing address including a phone number alongside a new card that matches that country (meaning your home country's bank card is useless for a foreign Steam account, since refer via BIN: where the card is from rather than letting the transaction go through, it'll display an error when using a US card on a Japanese steam account).

The thing is that, why do physical retailers accept foreign cards for tourism but App Store, PS Store, eShop or Steam refuse to allow cards from tourists as these services use BIN as an identifier, basically them saying "tourists can't have another country's apple ID as a billing address & local card is required" only an expat or PR holder can really do this since they have a new card and live in the country (has billing address).

Travelers use multi-currency cards but remain stuck when it comes to App Store, PS Store, eShop or Steam as that is tied to where they are ACTUALLY from rather than the destination they're visiting. Even PayPal is region locked (only expats can register a foreign account as they live there), a PayPal account is tied to where YOU live as banking information has to be consistent with their residential status rather than visiting.

When it comes to Kanji from Japanese, it gets annoying upon people misidentifying it as "Mandarin". Don't get me started on writing Japanese names all in Kanji since that too gets mistaken for "Mandarin" (i.e 近藤浩治) when it's not. I mean let's say you're learning Dutch and can that get misread as "German" since the alphabet is near identical.

The thing is, if you're learning another language (i.e. a Slavic one like Ukrainian, gets mistaken as "Russian" due to Cyrillic), you get the picture. It happens A LOT with 漢字, even if I handwrite in nihongo (not zhongwen) Like, are you able to distinguish which character set is Japanese & Mandarin since they both use 漢字:

I mean, pre-order bonuses for the remake of Ocarina of Time (on Switch 2) vary on region: Japan gets bonus art cards, stickers and a paper stand while both the UK and some EU countries gives buyers spiritual stones (France has a wallet) & Canada gets a N64 slipcover for the game. The only thing "universal" for pre-order bonuses is the textured foil cover, other than that: the USA doesn't have anything unique given to people there.

This is the kind of sentiment I had when people ask me about 日本語 regarding: "do Japanese people memorize all 50000+ Kanji?" I'm like "NO" since they don't know all characters as only a small percentage of that is taught & used, around 2136. Although, some people learn jargon catered to specific fields (science, medicine) leading to them knowing 3000+ Kanji.

The estimated count for the "number of words" in English is 1,000,000 but that's not an exact answer. The thing is, how many words is a native English speaker expected to know & understand? How much vocab do they teach students at school (from spelling to grammar)? After learning the alphabet, what types of words are taught across schools in the Anglosphere to kids?

For perspective, kids in Japan only learn 80 Kanji in their first year (mainly common & easy ones: 犬、校、九、女、男、名、森、右 to list a few) but the number expands through their years. I mean, something "similar" exists in English with spelling being taught at schools (teachers give a list of words to memorize spelling followed by a spelling test later).

The vocab lists expand from elementary to high school with difficult words (there's a difference in difficulty with trying to spell a word like "animal" to "conscientious"). It's like how a Japanese kid knows how to handwrite 海外 but has a hard time on trying to understand 傭兵 (ようへい) since 傭 is a harder Kanji to write in comparison to 海.

I see the inverse of this, with native speakers of languages that use ABC (alphabet) to learn a language that’s logographic such as Japanese & Mandarin (since both have 漢字) as a single character is a word (difficult concept for them to grasp at first). However, even if let’s say a Mandarin speaker with zero exposure to English leans ABC for the first time, would the grammar be hard even if they’ve managed to master the alphabet?

There are sounds that don’t exist in both JP & ZH like words that start or end with “TH” (i.e. Thorough, Moth) as they don’t have that in their phonology. Don’t even mention the misleading pronunciations of certain words in ENG based on spelling that stump them like “Colonel” (大佐・上校) since most speakers of ENG say that as “Kernel”. Even if “alphabet” based languages are easy, the grammar can be hard for a non-native to learn.

As in, what would it be like for a Japanese & Mandarin speaker learning a Euro language (all alphabetical based) from 漢字 > ABC or Cyrillic as it’s alien to their own plus huge differences in vocab with zero similarity (like this: “Salida” from ES is equivalent to 出口 in JP & ZH) including common things most Euro languages have: gender cases (no such thing on JP & ZH), definite and indefinite articles for example to list a few.

I'm subscribed to Apple One (JP) which has Apple TV bundled and happy with it being -$13 cheaper since:

• Apple One is ¥1,350 ($8.55) per month in Japan
• Apple One is $21.95 per month in the USA

I managed to find some shows I'd liked (Masters of the Air for example) but do you know anymore? Regardless, they offer the same thing inrespective of region: iCloud (50GB), Apple TV, Arcade & Music for an individual plan.

Also, why does it cost $13.40 less in Japan but $13.40 more in North America? Are you subscribed to Apple One in US & Canada? If so, is it a rip off? (I've heard it has increased from $20 > $22).

I've played Norn 9 in Japanese first (during the PS vita's prime) as well as the Switch port in 2018 before it was localized for a US release, at the time the translation in English is just plain garbage (I've heard the localizers back then were on a tight deadline), the text felt like they've just copied & pasted it via Google Translate but for the Switch re-release, the translation is improved as a new team of translators were hired.

All nations within the Anglosphere (US, UK, CA, AU & NZ) have JD imposed towards citizens. I know that the US & Canada both inherited that from Britain, which explains why they have it. However, should it be entirely only the judge making the conviction (some countries operate on a lay-judge system meaning juries aren't used, such as Finland or Japan for example) rather than leaving that decision up to jurors?

Is it because Japanese pronunciation is easier to pick up than Mandarin? Also, is there a such thing as "Chinese" anime (as in made in China / Taiwan being originally in Mandarin), they do have an equvalent of Manga known as Manhua (漫畫) but is it even popular to the same extent as the Japanese counterparts? Why do those types of foreigners favor Japanese (language) over Mandarin regarding pronunciation?

Are sentences in Japanese easier to pronounce in comparison to Mandarin? JP does not have tones (rather pitch accent) with an "alphabet" of some sort (known as ひらがな & カタカナ) even though they have 漢字 (Furigana is used for placing kana above Kanji for native speakers to understand) while Mandarin places a big emphasis on tones and its entirely written in 漢字 (for transliteration, either Pinyin or Bopomofo is used).