Local game stores, Japan style (lots of pics!)

[smork]

I promised a few months ago that I would take some pics and write about some of my local game stores. I've finally gotten around to starting this and will try to update this periodically.

I'd like to start with the store closest to my apartment, Urayasu Kanteidan.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3213/2963982717_8cf5b3c39f_b.jpg

This store is a bit of an enigma. They are less than a 15 minute walk from my house and are open until 2am, and they have tons of selection (I got my Towns Marty here). They are very disorganized and pricing is almost random, so it's a bit of an adventure.

The store carries all sorts of stuff -- games, music, porn, movies, toys, manga, even some used clothes. The games section is probably the biggest (along with the porn and manga).

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3247/2964816604_1098e6a6ef_b.jpg

The first section you see is the console and accessory section. Some of the consoles are ultra minty and complete (like my Marty was), others are more well-worn. Pricing takes condition in to consideration, though.

It's hard to tell, but amongst the PS1s, Saturns, and GCs are an SG-1000, a PC-FX, and a Super-Grafx.

They have consoles stuffed everywhere -- look on top of the case in this picture:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3042/2963982705_ab658f14bb_b.jpg

And way-y-y-y up top in this one (I have no idea how one would retrieve a console from up there):

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3237/2964816576_de6c5772c0_b.jpg

Here's some more, a little closer to ground level.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3041/2963968555_01457489ed_b.jpg

That's a boxed Super-Grafx, a Loopy, a Pico, a boxed front loader NGCD, and a boxed Twin Famicom, among others...

Stuff is fairly mixed together. Here's a section with GC hardware, N64 carts, Hu-cards, GB carts -- and an Aura Interactor (!)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3293/2964816602_a07e078151_b.jpg

This is their 'showcase' -- I use the term liberally since half the time the entire case is buried behind boxes. There's some good stuff in there (old handhelds, etc) but who can tell for sure?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3027/2963968563_ef6bbbf24e_b.jpg

Here's a wall of FC and SFC carts. There's some random stuff mixed in there as well, like a few Neo Rom carts, some PC-FX, and who knows what else.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3280/2963968533_0d21069e72_b.jpg

Along the back wall there's a bunch of loose carts:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3190/2963968547_76c7a50e70_b.jpg

A bunch of bargain bin FC/SFC games. That's hentai manga in the back -- this is Japan, after all:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3016/2964816594_f4e63d1465_b.jpg

[smork]

Here's a bit more that wouldn't fit in the first post.

This place has a bunch of current-gen and last-gen stuff, too. There's also a big strat guide section.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3035/2963968539_70645631dd_b.jpg

And finally two racks of bargain packs. There's all sorts of gold in here, usally. There's a some MSX and even some x68000 in there:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3026/2964816582_5252ff14c2_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3254/2964816592_3be9ce57fd_b.jpg

There are more retro game stores very near me, this is just the nearest. I'll post more stores later!

[Vectorman0]

Very cool, thank you for sharing. I look forward to seeing more stores.

[fpbrush]

I always love seeing posts / pictures like this . Even better that you are looking at local stores instead of just the same big akhibara names. Nice post ! Looking forward to more.

[eskobar]

:hail: I am impressed !!!!!!


Those stores are one of the most important reasons for me to travel to Japan; wanna go there in my honeymoon next year ... :lovin:

[Drixxel]

Good lord, the sheer magnitude of selection in that store is staggering. Oh, the hours I would happily invest spelunking about..

Awesome post, thanks for sharing.

[schnuth]

:love: I really need to get myself back to Japan some day.

Aaron

[Clownzilla]

Lol, how can anybody find anything in that place!

[Fuyukaze]

As much as I enjoy looking at all those wonderfull games, the devil in me suddenly wondered how long it would be to sort them. All of them. Still, nice stuff! Good to see a few big box games in the shots I actualy have. That Love Hina game's as big as a suit case!

[Coldguy]

Smork, I will get ahold of you to get this info on the site. At the moment I am rehauling it.

[The 1 2 P]

I am so jealous of you smork. Well, jealous of were you live. I'm also sending you a pm about something related to the thread.

[josekortez]

Damn, that is some beautiful inventory.

[SpaceHarrier]

Whoa, motherload! Great pics. I'd love a store like that over here..

[GnawRadar]

That's awesome. This is just giving more reason for me to get my ass in gear to continue my studies and head on over to Japan to study abroad and then possibly working over there after college. Nice work, Smork, and I'm looking forward to seeing more pics from your local stores.

[RetroYoungen]

Dude... next time I'm in town, we GOTTA hang out and need you to show me around just a little! O_O

[darkslime]

Holy shit! I want to live in Japan now. ^_^

[Sailorneorune]

This further proves my case that local stores are awesome.

[Okagawa]

That's a great store! Where is Urayasu?

I also live in Japan and have a couple of stores like that near me, I'd always thought it was because I lived in the country so stuff stayed on the shelves for longer than they would in some of the more famous collectors spots.

I was in Takarajima earlier and saw one of the guys I recognised from a local store wheeling out their entire stock of Dreamcast/Neo-geo/MSX/Saturn etc. games which he'd obviously done a deal as a job lot with.
It explained a lot as to how his store had ended up looking like this one does.

[Daft Punk]

That looks like it would take hours to look through there.

[smork]

That's a great store! Where is Urayasu?

I also live in Japan and have a couple of stores like that near me, I'd always thought it was because I lived in the country so stuff stayed on the shelves for longer than they would in some of the more famous collectors spots.

I was in Takarajima earlier and saw one of the guys I recognised from a local store wheeling out their entire stock of Dreamcast/Neo-geo/MSX/Saturn etc. games which he'd obviously done a deal as a job lot with.
It explained a lot as to how his store had ended up looking like this one does.

Urayasu is in the Tokyo area. Disneyland is in Urayasu, for reference sake. Maybe 10-12km from Akihabara, just over the border in Chiba. It's not out of the way at all for someone visiting the east side of Tokyo... There's another decent game store a few blocks from that store, though the prices tend to be a bit on the high side there.

I love these sorts of jumbled up local stores. They are so interesting, even if the prices aren't fantastic (though I've found most of them to have great prices on most things). My all-time fave is this one I used to go to down in the Osaka area when i lived there -- they had stuff shoved everywhere, and some damn fine finds. At one point they had a pile of loose Twin Famis for something like 3500yen, boxed Neo CDs for 2000 yen, NEW Neo Pockets for 500 yen. Obscene! They even had a pile of Dreamcast Karaoke systems (a pile = at least 20). Last time I was there maybe 6 months ago they didn't have anything special like those deals, but you can imagine they'll have them again.

Where are you in Hokuriku, anyway?

[smork]

That looks like it would take hours to look through there.

It does. I always find something I want buried behind something else, or in a crate in a corner. When I found my totally mint Towns Marty there maybe a year ago it was after being in the store for ages -- and even then I only found it because I happened to be looking way, way up at the pile of consoles stacked on top of the shelves.

I'm convinced half the things I am looking for are in that store, they're just hidden somewhere.

[Okagawa]

Where are you in Hokuriku, anyway?

I'm in Fukui. It's a pretty unknown prefecture/city, not famous for much other than nuclear power stations and beaches, but full of collectors stores where nothing much moves off the shelf and I can sometimes find some great deals.

I go round the stores and markets with a Japanese friend of mine who manages to make a bit of cash buying stuff from shops just to sell on Yahoo to Tokyo. Strangely enough the stuff which he is looking for to sell domestically is very different to what is in demand outside of Japan.

[Dreamc@sting]

Thats pretty insane, I'm going to Japan next summer and I been saving up, I know if I find a store like this I will be broke..quickly

[Mimi Nakamura]

So....

I finally had a reason to drive to Chiba last week, and I decided to check out a few of the Kanteidan stores, including the Urayasu branch that Smork posted photos of.

Whilst they had a nice selection, they had a tendency to overprice anything that even had a hint of rarity, AT LEAST a good 25% more expensive than Akihabara. Most items were pretty dirty and discoloured too. I ended up buying nothing.

Seriously Smork, why did you make out that these stores were cheap? I wasted money on petrol, and time, thanks to you making out that the stock in these stores were cheaper than those in Tokyo. It's not such a big problem for me, since I live in Tokyo, but I'd hate to imagine someone travelling thousands of miles to Tokyo, and wasting their time on a one and a half hour journey out to one of these stores only to find that the stock is ridiculously expensive.

[smork]

Whilst they had a nice selection, they had a tendency to overprice anything that even had a hint of rarity, AT LEAST a good 25% more expensive than Akihabara. Most items were pretty dirty and discoloured too. I ended up buying nothing.

Seriously Smork, why did you make out that these stores were cheap? I wasted money on petrol, and time, thanks to you making out that the stock in these stores were cheaper than those in Tokyo. It's not such a big problem for me, since I live in Tokyo, but I'd hate to imagine someone travelling thousands of miles to Tokyo, and wasting their time on a one and a half hour journey out to one of these stores only to find that the stock is ridiculously expensive.

Mimi, if you're going to bash me in my own thread, could you at least have the decency to PM me instead? I really don't like arguing in public.

Since the door is open, I best close it. To clarify what I thought was clear at the top of this thread, this is not the "Tourst Guide to the Best Game Stores in Japan". This store happens to be the closest to my house and, as I said, an enigma due to weird pricing and very odd (but fulfilling) finds.

Urayasu Kanteidan isn't a store I normally spend alot of money at -- they have high prices on their modern games (as do most local-style stores), some of their stock isn't all that fantastic, and their "showcase" doesn't look to have been opened in 10 years, even on the chance you can find it. But no deals? I suppose if you don't think boxed Twin Famicoms for 10000 yen (they go for 12-13000 loose in Akiba), a boxed SuperGrafx for (I think) 3500 yen (at least 10k in Akihabara), 4000yen pristine Towns Marty (who knows what they cost in Akiba, I've never seen one there in the 6 years i've been viisitng). I'm haven't even mentioned their boxed SFC games for 200yen or the disc only DC games for 10-50 yen

There's a style difference at work here. To use a US analogy, it's the difference between shopping on eBay (usually has what you want, prices are known variables within a range of values) versus hunting in Flea Markets, Pawn Shops, and garage sales. If you want a copy of Rez, you go to Gamestop or shop on eBay as they're more likely to have it and you know what it'll cost. But maybe you want to find that good deal --- instead you rummage through the garage sales for that nugget in the rough, the kind of deal that makes you say "YEAH!" (I had one of those with my Koi Koi Mahjong that I found at a local store for under 200 yen. If you find it in a collector store it's more likely to be 20000 yen)

For me, the enjoyment of collecting isn't just in the acquisition. If I liked only that I could stay at home and buy everything off Play Asia, Amazon, or Y!J. The real thrill is hunting for that something special, that great find you can't wait to come home and tell everyone about.

Also for the record, I wouldn't recommend alot of the Chiba Kanteidan stores, even to locals. The Soga store is one of the most pitiful stores I've been to, the Chiba Kita branch is WAY overpriced on everything (though I got my Hello Kitty DC for the same price as a regular DC there), the Minami Funabashi branch is only worthwhile at the holidays (when they sell EVERY loose console for 1000-1500 yen and sell tons of games at 2-1 or 3-1). I get the warm fuzzies only at the Shisui and Funabashi branches, but even then you need to wade through overpriced Hu-Cards and weird accessories to find what you want at a good price). Togane is just too damn far. The point, though, is these stores are FUN to dig through, and even if you can't find what you want one time you may the next.

As far as visitors go -- none of these except for Urayasu Kanteidan and the Minami Funabashi branch are within a whiff of public transportation, so none of this applies to visitors anyway. My only point to the thread is to show my local stores, good or bad.

[Mimi Nakamura]

Urayasu Kanteidan isn't a store I normally spend alot of money at -- they have high prices on their modern games (as do most local-style stores), some of their stock isn't all that fantastic, and their "showcase" doesn't look to have been opened in 10 years, even on the chance you can find it. But no deals? I suppose if you don't think boxed Twin Famicoms for 10000 yen (they go for 12-13000 loose in Akiba), a boxed SuperGrafx for (I think) 3500 yen (at least 10k in Akihabara), 4000yen pristine Towns Marty (who knows what they cost in Akiba, I've never seen one there in the 6 years i've been viisitng). I'm haven't even mentioned their boxed SFC games for 200yen or the disc only DC games for 10-50 yen

You've got your Akiba prices all wrong. Dirty, faded, Twin Famicoms, missing cables, in terrible condition boxes for 10,000 Yen isn't much of a deal - one in the same condition would definitely be less in Akiba. A mint early serial number loose Twin Famicom might go for 12-13000 Yen in Akiba, but only at an expensive store like Super Potato.

Towns Marty's are rare, but one always shows up every few months at Mandarake.

An excellent condition boxed SuperGrafx would be over 10,000 Yen in Akiba, but not a dirty one like the consoles on show at Kanteidan!

As for boxed SFC games for 200 Yen, their are loads of Book-Off and Tsutaya stores in central Tokyo that sell boxed SFC games for 100 Yen!!
Trader 2 in Akihabara has loads of disc only DC games, some as low as 10 yen.

The reason for me not PMing you was because I was worried by the responses of some of the people on here who were possibly planning to spend a lot of money to travel to Japan and waste a lot of time seeking out these stores in Chiba.

[smork]

The reason for me not PMing you was because I was worried by the responses of some of the people on here who were possibly planning to spend a lot of money to travel to Japan and waste a lot of time seeking out these stores in Chiba.

Thanks for threadcrapping again -- highly appreciated! :(

[Mimi Nakamura]

Thanks for threadcrapping again -- highly appreciated! :(

Well, perhaps you should make it clear to people that they can find everything in these stores for at least the same price, and most likely cheaper in the far more accessible Akihabara.

Would you honestly be happy if someone wasted one of their precious vacation days in Tokyo in one of these stores hoping to find a bargain based upon the information you have given in this thread?

I'd just like to add, for others reading this who are thinking of travelling to Tokyo, and are not too sure of where to go in Akihabara, then PM me and I'll show you around.

[smork]

Well, perhaps you should make it clear to people that they can find everything in these stores for at least the same price, and most likely cheaper in the far more accessible Akihabara.

Would you honestly be happy if someone wasted one of their precious vacation days in Tokyo in one of these stores hoping to find a bargain based upon the information you have given in this thread?

I'd just like to add, for others reading this who are thinking of travelling to Tokyo, and are not too sure of where to go in Akihabara, then PM me and I'll show you around.

Please make your own thread instead of criticizing me in mine. Call it "Mimi's criticism of Smork".

I'm trying to share some information about local game stores and you keep saying "Akiba Akiba Akiba" like you own property there. Quit it. It's really not appreciated.

[Mimi Nakamura]

Please make your own thread instead of criticizing me in mine. Call it "Mimi's criticism of Smork".

I'm trying to share some information about local game stores and you keep saying "Akiba Akiba Akiba" like you own property there. Quit it. It's really not appreciated.

Great work in avoiding my main point.

I mention Akihabara because it's an easily accessible destination for tourists in Tokyo, but I'm pretty sure you knew full well why I mentioned it.

[smork]

Great work in avoiding my main point.

I mention Akihabara because it's an easily accessible destination for tourists in Tokyo, but I'm pretty sure you knew full well why I mentioned it.

Yes, and there's less than one day's worth of game shopping there, too. Everybody already knows about Akiba. There's thousands of web pages about it. There's probably hundreds of pages HERE about it.

The thread isn't about Akiba, it's about some of my local game stores. Full stop. Feel free to post information and photos about your own local Japan game stores.

[Xander]

I appreciate the thread because of the awesome pictures of an actual japan gaming store.

Mimi, if you want to warn people that their might be better deals somewhere else, I think it's cool. You live there, your insight on where to find the best bargains is invaluable to people who are thinking of taking a trip to Japan. But you could have done so in a matter that would have been more courteous to OP, who simply offered to share his experience with fellow DPers. You come off as fairly rude to OP =/

[ANONPLOX]

I was just wondering are there websites for these most awesome stores you are providing for us and is there a site in which I could look it up throught that would allow for it to be translated because if the price is right I may just buy a famicom and disk drive plus games (I already have a few fami carts so atleast I got a start), maybe a PC-Engine + games, and maybe some Neo Geo carts (if the more modern ones are over priced as they are here). Looks like I have ALLOT of stuff to buy now especially since I just splurged on an early release of the PSP-3000 from Play Asia.

[ANONPLOX]

Yes, and there's less than one day's worth of game shopping there, too. Everybody already knows about Akiba. There's thousands of web pages about it. There's probably hundreds of pages HERE about it.

The thread isn't about Akiba, it's about some of my local game stores. Full stop. Feel free to post information and photos about your own local Japan game stores.

Yea id love to come out there sometime myself I've always wanted to minus the language barrier so I may end up getting one of those speaking translators. I do wana see Akihabra atleast once while I'm there and check sum local shops maybe pickup a few old consoles and games, a region free player if they sell any and you can probly guess why I would want a Region Free DVD player and that reason isnt the sometimes often odd Japanese porn (well maybe sum) no its mostly for Pro Wrestling Noah and Pro Wrestling Zero-One DVDs.

[smork]

Yea id love to come out there sometime myself I've always wanted to minus the language barrier so I may end up getting one of those speaking translators. I do wana see Akihabra atleast once while I'm there and check sum local shops maybe pickup a few old consoles and games, a region free player if they sell any and you can probly guess why I would want a Region Free DVD player and that reason isnt the sometimes often odd Japanese porn (well maybe sum) no its mostly for Pro Wrestling Noah and Pro Wrestling Zero-One DVDs.

It is definitely worth a visit for anyone into games, or anime, or electronics, or just people watching. I'll be down there myself this weekend for some arcade parts and computer parts.

Believe it or not you can get by pretty well without much Japanese as a tourist, though a translator is a help. My first visit some 6 or 7 years ago I didn't know any Japanese but "arigatou" and knew nobody, but I spent 3 weeks by myself sightseeing, shopping, etc and loved it.

There aren't any good English websites that I know of for local stores. The cheapest bet for an overseas person is to find a good importer -- there's a couple of threads in import-mania about recommended online merchants!

Oh, Japan's a pretty poor place to buy a region free player, actually -- they're cheaper in the States :)

[ANONPLOX]

It is definitely worth a visit for anyone into games, or anime, or electronics, or just people watching. I'll be down there myself this weekend for some arcade parts and computer parts.

Believe it or not you can get by pretty well without much Japanese as a tourist, though a translator is a help. My first visit some 6 or 7 years ago I didn't know any Japanese but "arigatou" and knew nobody, but I spent 3 weeks by myself sightseeing, shopping, etc and loved it.

There aren't any good English websites that I know of for local stores. The cheapest bet for an overseas person is to find a good importer -- there's a couple of threads in import-mania about recommended online merchants!

Oh, Japan's a pretty poor place to buy a region free player, actually -- they're cheaper in the States :)I meant more on the lines of a website that translates non-English websites.

[refan]

Looks like an amazing place.

[Hitman Tyler]

That looks like it would take hours to look through there.

It seems they take anything and everything.

Also do I see Sonic 3 for $8,000 USD? Yes I do.

Looks like a great store though.

[ANONPLOX]

looks like I got my importer lol

[DKTheArcadeRat]

It seems they take anything and everything.

Also do I see Sonic 3 for $8,000 USD? Yes I do.

Looks like a great store though.

Really? Where do you see that? I see a Sega Genesis that includes Sonic 3 for 8000 yen, but thats about it.

[MonoTekETeA]

Word up Smork, I love small time stores/flea market types. Give me a toothbrush and some windex, and the darn thing will be looking minty, maybe a board wash for good measure, and the system will be kicking tail and looking great. I'll tell you what, Smork, if you want to make all of us 'tech-e' dudes drool, show us some of those broken system bins in certain stores where you can get broken Turbo Duos for like $10 and stuff. :-P

So awesome, thanks for the insider information.

Oh yeah, I know a lot of people who say they shouldn't be taking photos in certain stores and what not. Always hear stories like that in Akiba or big Arcades, but what about Urayasu? Were they friendly, or did you have to sneak these also? -_- Lol.

Keep up the insider info, and hell, Mimi and Okagawa, if you guys find yourselves in a shop with a camera! :wink 2:

Totally different world man. Stinks as I look at Urayasu, and think about America...first thing that popped into my head with those overhead shelves, were that they were a lawsuit waiting to happen. Meanwhile, you guys get to feel like a kid in a cardboard fort all over again, but in the cardboard are awesome and obscure accessories and systems. Too cool for school.

Rock and roll man.
-Jeremy

[ANONPLOX]

Word up Smork, I love small time stores/flea market types. Give me a toothbrush and some windex, and the darn thing will be looking minty, maybe a board wash for good measure, and the system will be kicking tail and looking great. I'll tell you what, Smork, if you want to make all of us 'tech-e' dudes drool, show us some of those broken system bins in certain stores where you can get broken Turbo Duos for like $10 and stuff. :-P

So awesome, thanks for the insider information.

Oh yeah, I know a lot of people who say they shouldn't be taking photos in certain stores and what not. Always hear stories like that in Akiba or big Arcades, but what about Urayasu? Were they friendly, or did you have to sneak these also? -_- Lol.

Keep up the insider info, and hell, Mimi and Okagawa, if you guys find yourselves in a shop with a camera! :wink 2:

Totally different world man. Stinks as I look at Urayasu, and think about America...first thing that popped into my head with those overhead shelves, were that they were a lawsuit waiting to happen. Meanwhile, you guys get to feel like a kid in a cardboard fort all over again, but in the cardboard are awesome and obscure accessories and systems. Too cool for school.

Rock and roll man.
-Jeremy

Jeremy we really need to head to Japan at some point!

[MonoTekETeA]

Jeremy we really need to head to Japan at some point!

I don't know, few years I might, a friend of mine bikes everyday and wants to take a trip over there and just bike the land. That idea is sounding fantastic to me, and while I would love to go for the typical shopping frenzy, some of the scenery is just gorgeous and relaxing. So are some of the pictures of the game stores ;) But differently.

Not to mention, I wouldn't want to be anywhere with you in public, next thing I know, you might start wearing about a black fro with a v for vendetta mask on, or any other 4chan meme that might creep out of ya.:onfire::help:

But yeah, one of these days, a trip would be nice.

Smork and Co. Livin a dream for some people, but don't worry, we have some really good road stretches in the midwest that people can just unwind in a nice drive on. I am not living in any undesirable spot either. We need a superpotato throne out of US NES carts at NextLevel though.

-Jeremy

[Okagawa]

If smork doesn't mid then I can try and get some photos uploaded from next time I head down a store. The places I go aren't as extensive as this one looks, the prefecture I live is very country, but it certainly has piles of stuff which are pretty interesting.

The guys in there laugh when I get there and start asking about MSX stuff as I don't think anyone else has in 15 years.

Pretty much backing up what smork was saying I'd say the general price of things in these stores isn't as cheap as other places. For new games it certainly isn't as cheap as a Tsutaya or Yamada denki (video/electronics shops), for most retro and rare games then you'd be better off going to Akihabara or even a Hard Off (very common chain of used stores which have junk buckets at the back full of hardware and software), but for the thrill of the hunt then nothing comes close to local stores.

If you're willing to go looking then it is possible to find things which would never get missed by the pricers/buyers in Akihabara. From looking through computer games and DVDs in these stores I have found things which I have sold for literally hundreds of times what I bought it for.
You have to go looking, you are not guaranteed to find anything, but when you find a shelf of big box Neo-Geo carts ticketed up at 2000yen standard price regardless of title, Oh Boy.

[smork]

If smork doesn't mid then I can try and get some photos uploaded from next time I head down a store. The places I go aren't as extensive as this one looks, the prefecture I live is very country, but it certainly has piles of stuff which are pretty interesting.

The guys in there laugh when I get there and start asking about MSX stuff as I don't think anyone else has in 15 years.

Pretty much backing up what smork was saying I'd say the general price of things in these stores isn't as cheap as other places. For new games it certainly isn't as cheap as a Tsutaya or Yamada denki (video/electronics shops), for most retro and rare games then you'd be better off going to Akihabara or even a Hard Off (very common chain of used stores which have junk buckets at the back full of hardware and software), but for the thrill of the hunt then nothing comes close to local stores.

If you're willing to go looking then it is possible to find things which would never get missed by the pricers/buyers in Akihabara. From looking through computer games and DVDs in these stores I have found things which I have sold for literally hundreds of times what I bought it for.
You have to go looking, you are not guaranteed to find anything, but when you find a shelf of big box Neo-Geo carts ticketed up at 2000yen standard price regardless of title, Oh Boy.

Okagawa -- absolutely, please share some photos! I passed through Fukui on the way to Kanazawa back in August, but didn't get a chance to stop....

I LOVE finding those weird pricing deals. Like one of my stores in the area -- normally it's pretty difficult to find Samba de Amigo for the DC maraca sets, this one store had at least 10 of them, boxed, for less than 2000 yen. Or the one that (I've probably mentioned before, maybe in this thread, heh) had many loose Twin Famis in nice cosmetic shape for 3000 or 4000 yen. And everytime I see those 10000+ yen SuperGrafx I look at my 3500 yen one (in pretty decent cosmetic shape, just not a nice box) and smile.

MonoTekETeA, there are all sorts of stories about what you can find in the junk bins here. Hard Off (as Okagawa mentioned) is great for this. Basically anything old that they don't feel like testing is "Junk". "Junk" is usually in fine working order, just old. My 3DO was "junk" -- and only $5. Took it home, worked great. Sure it's not in 'museum condition', but it was $5 freaking dollars. I've actually got two Turbo Duos I got on the cheap, The second is the one I play the most, a Hard Off "junk" special in lovely shape. Cost me about $60 or so:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3018/3029880092_1a35736d1a.jpg?v=0

OK, i'll admit -- there's a minor bubble on the plastic of the controller. Other than that, maybe I'm not picky enough but it's freakin perfect.

My other Turbo Duo is a Duo-R. It's probably my favorite 'gaming find' story. I was wandering through semi-rural Nara prefecture a few years ago (this is near Osaka) when I saw a 24h Adult Video store. As I walked past I saw a smaller sign that said "games". What the hell, I'll check it out. The store was 90% porn with a small, small game section in front. I look on a grotty rack and what do I see? A Duo R in a basically destroyed box. Price, something like 5000 yen. well I take it to the front and I ask the guy to look at the system. He opens the box, I look at it and it's a bit cosmetically challenged, but has all of the hook ups and supposedly works:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3145/3029880072_5fa49f1868.jpg?v=0

I hesitate a bit thinking, and I make an "Umm..." sound. The guy looks at me and says "OK, 4000 yen!" Well, yeah!

So my Duo-R was bought in a porno shop in the countryside for about a quarter of the going rate. Who's going to complain about cosmetics with a deal like that? (Fuyukaze -- if you're reading, this is the Duo-R that's going to be yours next month :) )

[smork]

ISmork and Co. Livin a dream for some people, but don't worry, we have some really good road stretches in the midwest that people can just unwind in a nice drive on. I am not living in any undesirable spot either. We need a superpotato throne out of US NES carts at NextLevel though.

Damn right, Jeremy. I lived in Texas most of my life and you can't deny the charms of a good drive on a nice road, tunes on and watching the world go by. I've lived in several countries since and visited many more, and it's one thing the US has that's just pretty unique. I'm a driver here and you just can't ever settle into that same groove on the road that you can back in the states...

[k8track]

Speaking of PM's, Smork, Mimi, did you get the PM I sent to both of you a while back?

[ANONPLOX]

I don't know, few years I might, a friend of mine bikes everyday and wants to take a trip over there and just bike the land. That idea is sounding fantastic to me, and while I would love to go for the typical shopping frenzy, some of the scenery is just gorgeous and relaxing. So are some of the pictures of the game stores ;) But differently.

Not to mention, I wouldn't want to be anywhere with you in public, next thing I know, you might start wearing about a black fro with a v for vendetta mask on, or any other 4chan meme that might creep out of ya.:onfire::help:

But yeah, one of these days, a trip would be nice.

Smork and Co. Livin a dream for some people, but don't worry, we have some really good road stretches in the midwest that people can just unwind in a nice drive on. I am not living in any undesirable spot either. We need a superpotato throne out of US NES carts at NextLevel though.

-Jeremy

Hey Im NOT from 4chan for the last time Jeremy I originated from 7chan, moved to 420chan became an exile and moved to 711chan, im on a years "vacation" from 711chan so I decided to loaf and meander about 99chan and Desuchan. Other then that I wasnt thinking of rushing right over next year I wana build up my monies first, 2k monies wont go for much in the exchange rate (right now I wish I had 2k monies). Ill Save Scenery for later in the trip or towards the end im lookin to enjoy the food, wrestling, arcades, video game shopes (trust me with enough monies im gona be carrying home a sizeable amount of systems and plenty of games to accompany them).

[Okagawa]

Ok, so I thought I would add to the thread with some new images as the ones which smork added seemed to be appreciated by nearly everyone.

I was going to head down to a real games store to take some photos and do some shopping, but popped into Hard-Off on the way down the highway and ended up spending some time in there instead.
It isn't as exciting as the place smork showed, but I still thought people from outside Japan might like to see the place where I reckon a lot of imports end up coming from, even if the place isn't very exciting for those of us who live here.

The "Off" chain is fairly ubiquitous all over Japan, in my experience every city will have quite a few of them around and if you arrived in Japan as a tourist you'd be sure to see one if you got out of the city centre.
The place to go looking for games, consoles, dvds etc is Hard-Off, but there are also other branches called Book-Off, Hobby-Off, Off-House which I know of. These have some interesting things in them and are often attached to Hard-off, but I don't spend a lot of time in them. All of them are shops selling used gear, or new stuff which they have got as a job lot from somewhere.

They are easy to spot as a yellow and blue store (after taking all my photos I realised I hadn't taken one of the actual store so this is just an internet image of one, they all look pretty much the same).

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/8867/hardoffxt0.jpg (http://img404.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hardoffxt0.jpg)
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/hardoffxt0.jpg/1/w320.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img404/hardoffxt0.jpg/1/)

Inside the store they are generally well organised and contain a whole load of stuff which people have got bored of and brought in to sell. In my experience every store has about 50% musical instruments, a rack of CDs, and some over-priced fairly new electrical equipment.

I apologise now for the image quality I was taking these pictures quickly with my mobile phone.

http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/3581/shopbp0.jpg (http://img388.imageshack.us/my.php?image=shopbp0.jpg)
http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/shopbp0.jpg/1/w480.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img388/shopbp0.jpg/1/)

[ANONPLOX]

Ok, so I thought I would add to the thread with some new images as the ones which smork added seemed to be appreciated by nearly everyone.

I was going to head down to a real games store to take some photos and do some shopping, but popped into Hard-Off on the way down the highway and ended up spending some time in there instead.
It isn't as exciting as the place smork showed, but I still thought people from outside Japan might like to see the place where I reckon a lot of imports end up coming from, even if the place isn't very exciting for those of us who live here.

The "Off" chain is fairly ubiquitous all over Japan, in my experience every city will have quite a few of them around and if you arrived in Japan as a tourist you'd be sure to see one if you got out of the city centre.
The place to go looking for games, consoles, dvds etc is Hard-Off, but there are also other branches called Book-Off, Hobby-Off, Off-House which I know of. These have some interesting things in them and are often attached to Hard-off, but I don't spend a lot of time in them. All of them are shops selling used gear, or new stuff which they have got as a job lot from somewhere.

They are easy to spot as a yellow and blue store (after taking all my photos I realised I hadn't taken one of the actual store so this is just an internet image of one, they all look pretty much the same).

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/8867/hardoffxt0.jpg (http://img404.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hardoffxt0.jpg)
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/hardoffxt0.jpg/1/w320.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img404/hardoffxt0.jpg/1/)

Inside the store they are generally well organised and contain a whole load of stuff which people have got bored of and brought in to sell. In my experience every store has about 50% musical instruments, a rack of CDs, and some over-priced fairly new electrical equipment.

I apologise now for the image quality I was taking these pictures quickly with my mobile phone.

http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/3581/shopbp0.jpg (http://img388.imageshack.us/my.php?image=shopbp0.jpg)
http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/shopbp0.jpg/1/w480.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img388/shopbp0.jpg/1/)

Hey we have a Fairly decent Book-Off (small and sometimes the selection on certain items like Wrestling DVD and Anime Soundtracks can be limited) up in New York and they tend to have a decent amount of Import PS2, PSP, DS, GBA, GC, XBOX/360 ETC. games. Of course theres the alternate in J&I biggest selection in US and Import games for most system from GBA to DC to PS2 but can be over priced depending on demand I guess.

[Okagawa]

If you're looking for older stuff then the best thing to do is head to the back of the store where you will see rows and rows of blues boxes with a sign saying JUNK above them.
This is where the stuff which they don't want to take up any more space at the front of the store goes. It is thrown into boxes and doesn't have a guarantee that any of it works. In my experience most of it does work unles sit is something new which wouldn't otherwise be in the junk section.

These boxes are labelled with what should be inside. Generally all of the main console formats and CDs, laserdiscs, handhelds, TV remote controls etc.

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/6695/boxestf3.jpg (http://img511.imageshack.us/my.php?image=boxestf3.jpg) http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/boxestf3.jpg/1/w480.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img511/boxestf3.jpg/1/)

Here is an example of what you find in any of the boxes you decide to pull out. Here is the Super Famicon box. Some boxes are all loose carts, other are fully boxed and certainly don't look like junk. I bought Secret of Mana today as someone had asked me to look for it, the Dragon Quest V game was the most expensive in this box at 700yen.

http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/926/sneshq1.jpg (http://img160.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sneshq1.jpg)
http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/sneshq1.jpg/1/w480.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img160/sneshq1.jpg/1/)

On top of the junk racks are the stuff considered junk but which doesn't fit into a blue box. This is my favorite section of the shop as they always have some old consoles which I find most interesting (but are generally to big to get people to pay the postage on).

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/2493/consolespx0.jpg (http://img504.imageshack.us/my.php?image=consolespx0.jpg) http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/consolespx0.jpg/1/w480.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img504/consolespx0.jpg/1/)

The ones I can see in this half shelf photo are a Dreamcast karaoke (1000yen), some Bemani rhythm game, PS expansion pack, PS light gun, Twin Famicon, and 2 Playstation addons which I didn't understand but seemed to have a coin solt and flashing lights (pachinko simulator?).

[ANONPLOX]

If you're looking for older stuff then the best thing to do is head to the back of the store where you will see rows and rows of blues boxes with a sign saying JUNK above them.
This is where the stuff which they don't want to take up any more space at the front of the store goes. It is thrown into boxes and doesn't have a guarantee that any of it works. In my experience most of it does work unles sit is something new which wouldn't otherwise be in the junk section.

These boxes are labelled with what should be inside. Generally all of the main console formats and CDs, laserdiscs, handhelds, TV remote controls etc.

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/6695/boxestf3.jpg (http://img511.imageshack.us/my.php?image=boxestf3.jpg) http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/boxestf3.jpg/1/w480.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img511/boxestf3.jpg/1/)

Here is an example of what you find in any of the boxes you decide to pull out. Here is the Super Famicon box. Some boxes are all loose carts, other are fully boxed and certainly don't look like junk. I bought Secret of Mana today as someone had asked me to look for it, the Dragon Quest V game was the most expensive in this box at 700yen.

http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/926/sneshq1.jpg (http://img160.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sneshq1.jpg)
http://img160.imageshack.us/img160/sneshq1.jpg/1/w480.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img160/sneshq1.jpg/1/)

On top of the junk racks are the stuff considered junk but which doesn't fit into a blue box. This is my favorite section of the shop as they always have some old consoles which I find most interesting (but are generally to big to get people to pay the postage on).

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/2493/consolespx0.jpg (http://img504.imageshack.us/my.php?image=consolespx0.jpg) http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/consolespx0.jpg/1/w480.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img504/consolespx0.jpg/1/)

The ones I can see in this half shelf photo are a Dreamcast karaoke (1000yen), some Bemani rhythm game, PS expansion pack, PS light gun, Twin Famicon, and 2 Playstation addons which I didn't understand but seemed to have a coin solt and flashing lights (pachinko simulator?).

yo whats the price on that Twin Fami and which color scheme is it?

[Okagawa]

Although not retro game systems I thought I may as well take some photos of the remainder of the store having chanced my arm with the camera and not been stopped.

They also sell figurines, which are much more popular among Japanese collectors than the old systems (it is where my friend who sells stuff within Japan spends most of his time looking). These are similar things as to what you would get in any collectables store, but being a hard-off the pricers generally don't have much of a clue and will sometimes give some generous offers.

These range from stuff they have deemed worthy to put in a cabinet (500 - 1000 yen)
http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/6968/figuresny7.jpg (http://img355.imageshack.us/my.php?image=figuresny7.jpg)
http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/figuresny7.jpg/1/w480.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img355/figuresny7.jpg/1/)

To stuff which people have got from capsule toys and free with bottles of cola (100 yen). The general theme to this rack seemingly being girls in bikinis.

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/3227/capsulesmo4.jpg (http://img247.imageshack.us/my.php?image=capsulesmo4.jpg)
http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/capsulesmo4.jpg/1/w480.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img247/capsulesmo4.jpg/1/)

They can have some oddities from time to time which I like to see like full size pachinko machines and lounge cushions of idols (I took this one as someone had been actually been asking around saying he wanted a set of these cushions but couldn't find them anywhere).

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/4965/pachinkoum5.jpg (http://img233.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pachinkoum5.jpg)
http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/pachinkoum5.jpg/1/w480.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img233/pachinkoum5.jpg/1/)

Not everything is cheap. The final photo being of some too expensive Gundam models which seem to be unerringly popular, with the big one at the bottom going for over 20000yen.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/9368/gundamqg1.jpg (http://img208.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gundamqg1.jpg)
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/gundamqg1.jpg/1/w480.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img208/gundamqg1.jpg/1/)

I hope this has been of interest to people yet to be able to come to Japan, or for people to see where some of their imports might be coming from.

I will try to take some better pictures from one of the real game stores next time I go down if people are still interested.

[Okagawa]

I think that the Twin Famicon was 6500, I have no idea what colour scheme it was as I didn't have a very close look at it. The store is 4 minutes drive from my house and I will pop in tomorrow to pick up some more stuff tomorrow so will have a look for you.

The only other prices I remember were 3500 for a Pokemon N64, 1000 for disc famicons, and 2500 for a 3DO. My house is typically Japanese sized and the missus is already annoyed by how much "junk" I bring home so I don't tend to tempt myself too much by hanging around the consoles for too long!

[ANONPLOX]

I think that the Twin Famicon was 6500, I have no idea what colour scheme it was as I didn't have a very close look at it. The store is 4 minutes drive from my house and I will pop in tomorrow to pick up some more stuff tomorrow so will have a look for you.

The only other prices I remember were 3500 for a Pokemon N64, 1000 for disc famicons, and 2500 for a 3DO. My house is typically Japanese sized and the missus is already annoyed by how much "junk" I bring home so I don't tend to tempt myself too much by hanging around the consoles for too long!

Im guessing you didnt see any Famicoms theres because 6500Yen ($67.15 if the converter is right) maybe doable unless a seperate Fami/FamiDS is more cost effective (damn economy driving up S&H).

[Fuyukaze]

Okagawa -- absolutely, please share some photos! I passed through Fukui on the way to Kanazawa back in August, but didn't get a chance to stop....

I LOVE finding those weird pricing deals. Like one of my stores in the area -- normally it's pretty difficult to find Samba de Amigo for the DC maraca sets, this one store had at least 10 of them, boxed, for less than 2000 yen. Or the one that (I've probably mentioned before, maybe in this thread, heh) had many loose Twin Famis in nice cosmetic shape for 3000 or 4000 yen. And everytime I see those 10000+ yen SuperGrafx I look at my 3500 yen one (in pretty decent cosmetic shape, just not a nice box) and smile.

MonoTekETeA, there are all sorts of stories about what you can find in the junk bins here. Hard Off (as Okagawa mentioned) is great for this. Basically anything old that they don't feel like testing is "Junk". "Junk" is usually in fine working order, just old. My 3DO was "junk" -- and only $5. Took it home, worked great. Sure it's not in 'museum condition', but it was $5 freaking dollars. I've actually got two Turbo Duos I got on the cheap, The second is the one I play the most, a Hard Off "junk" special in lovely shape. Cost me about $60 or so:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3018/3029880092_1a35736d1a.jpg?v=0

OK, i'll admit -- there's a minor bubble on the plastic of the controller. Other than that, maybe I'm not picky enough but it's freakin perfect.

My other Turbo Duo is a Duo-R. It's probably my favorite 'gaming find' story. I was wandering through semi-rural Nara prefecture a few years ago (this is near Osaka) when I saw a 24h Adult Video store. As I walked past I saw a smaller sign that said "games". What the hell, I'll check it out. The store was 90% porn with a small, small game section in front. I look on a grotty rack and what do I see? A Duo R in a basically destroyed box. Price, something like 5000 yen. well I take it to the front and I ask the guy to look at the system. He opens the box, I look at it and it's a bit cosmetically challenged, but has all of the hook ups and supposedly works:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3145/3029880072_5fa49f1868.jpg?v=0

I hesitate a bit thinking, and I make an "Umm..." sound. The guy looks at me and says "OK, 4000 yen!" Well, yeah!

So my Duo-R was bought in a porno shop in the countryside for about a quarter of the going rate. Who's going to complain about cosmetics with a deal like that? (Fuyukaze -- if you're reading, this is the Duo-R that's going to be yours next month :) )

My precious is a pretty thing of wonder, I look forward to her arival longingly. I have games for her already and she will be quite enjoyed thank you very much.

Also, I for one dont expect things to be dirt cheap. The game selection looks nice and I'm certain there are some great deals, but anyone stupid enough to believe everything will be sold at junk prices just because it's on a shelf marked junk isnt being realistic. I'm far from being an expert but somehow, I'd expect stuff to be overpriced depending on market demands and regional supply. Still, it's nice to sit back and look at the pics of all those games. These days, atleast here in the states, many of us have to look at our own collections to see even a small percentage of classic gaming as shown in the photos. All the big box stores and national game chains have generaly abandoned older games. Even if they were expensive, what gaming fan wouldnt want to just walk in and spend a few hours looking around at various games seeing stuff they either forgot about or didnt even know existed? Its not as if we dont already waste time doing other pointless crap as it is. Though, I'd seriously have to question the sense of traveling to Japan just to buy a butt load of games. Unless you were buying either an unbelievable amount of games or got a killer deal on stuff one had the intent to re-sell for profit, it would generaly be a horrible waste of time and money.

Thank you Okagawa and Smork. The photos, reguardless of quality were much apreciated. They gave some of us an insight into what Japanese specialty shops look like and the view from here looks grand, even if the prices arnt quite as nice.

[MonoTekETeA]

Thank you Okagawa and Smork. The photos, reguardless of quality were much apreciated. They gave some of us an insight into what Japanese specialty shops look like and the view from here looks grand, even if the prices arnt quite as nice.

Ditto x2.

Thanks for the new Pictures Okagawa. Way to be a renegade. :devilish:

That store is looking to be a lot cleaner then Smork's store. But they also seem to sell a lot of other things as suggested by your pictures.

-Jeremy

[fpbrush]

Hey we have a Fairly decent Book-Off (small and sometimes the selection on certain items like Wrestling DVD and Anime Soundtracks can be limited) up in New York and they tend to have a decent amount of Import PS2, PSP, DS, GBA, GC, XBOX/360 ETC. games. Of course theres the alternate in J&I biggest selection in US and Import games for most system from GBA to DC to PS2 but can be over priced depending on demand I guess.

Book-off NYC carries games? I've been there quite a few times but I never really saw any. It has been awhile though. Is J&I that store down in chinatown? It's been forever since I've been there, I remember it being a bit on the expensive side though.

Good photos everyone, keep them comin :)

[Xander]

I would like to thanks everyone who shared pictures too. Keep 'em coming, it's an awesome sight!

[smork]

Okagawa -- that looks like a nice Hard Off. I really <3 Hard Off. If you find one that carries a decent selection of game 'junk', you can check back and usually find a great deal.

I went by a new one this weekend and was totally unimpressed -- probably the worst Hard Off i've been to in Japan (and I've been to at least 20). For gaming goodness, at least. I swung by a favorite one later, and picked up a nice find:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3232/3062918544_0fd9150279_b.jpg

It's a Twin Fami (no AC adapter), an FZ-1 3DO including memory unit, an AES KOF '94 (complete), and an original NeoGeo stick -- for 1200 yen (around US$12).

Yeah, as I may have mentioned, I <3 Hard Off.

[smork]

So it's been a few weeks since i've posted new pics. I had a different game store than this one in mind, but I had a massively fortuitous find at this one, so it comes next :)

Monday was a holiday in Japan, so I played golf with some co-workers in Ibaraki prefecture, which is to the north of Chiba (where I live) and NE of Tokyo. It's considered part of the Tokyo region, but it's quite country up there. After my round I decided to poke around the nearest city, Kashima. I found that there was a large Kanteidan there - Ibaraki Kanteidan.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3226/3062077413_c3b233eb13_b.jpg

I apologize for the poor pic - I had to take it from my car as it was pouring rain and in the 40s outside. (The rain moved in about halfway through my golf round, which made the last few holes extremely miserable)

Inside was lots of gaming goodness, with pricing totally at random. Still, lots of good stuff to be found! This store is quite well organized for the most part (except for systems -- you'll see in a minute), especially compared to Urayasu Kanteidan. Here's the first aisle I saw while walking into the game department -- DS on the left, GBA on the right, and a tunnel of Famicom at the end.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3144/3062890404_c07f83534c_b.jpg

I found the Famicom section to have universally awful prices for some reason. There's a big wall of FDS games, but I don't think any of them were below 1000 yen.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3223/3062052053_d699f1b5f4_b.jpg

The Super Famicom section had some deals -- mostly on some nice game bundles that I didn't snap any picture of. They has some nice Mega Drive bundles, too. Here's a view of the SFC section:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3226/3062906584_43aa6ce9e9_b.jpg

Right next to that was a decent sized section of AES games, with some PC-FX games at the bottom.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3151/3062904800_d9f3834dd7_b.jpg

Look at the wall of loose + boxed Game Boy games, pretty cool.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3061/3062916016_77f6b5e07d_b.jpg

Here's some more Famicom and PC Engine games.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3138/3062059817_c9b03c377f_b.jpg

Almost any system you can think of, they had some games for it. Virtual Boy, SG-1000, Super Cassette Vision, Game Gear, WonderSwan. Here's a Swan section -- too bad it was all overpriced, IMO.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3274/3062893328_b412e61701_b.jpg

More in part 2!

[smork]

So - Part 2. Here's where I found some deals. In response to a previous question -- I don't think they like people taking pictures so much, so I try to be fairly sly. This day there was a security guard around me pretty much the whole time I was there -- he didn't seem to be too concerned with me, but it still felt a bit odd to have him nearby all the time. I took these pictures when he moved away, but then he saw me later with my camera around my neck and the lens open (but not taking a picture). He gave me a strange look, but said nothing. Perhaps I am paranoid.

To continue with the photos, here's the Saturn section. I thought it and the DC section had quite nice prices -- thought I didn't get any Sega stuff this time.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3237/3062063209_78a903ecd1_b.jpg

As I mentioned in the last post, the system section was the only disorganized part of the games area. It still wasn't too bad, especially compared to Urayasu Kanteidan. Here's a view -- check out the loose Twin Famis (sold as Junk as they had no AC adapters and were untested).

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3003/3062909804_81d8e0403a_b.jpg

And another view, this one not so disorganized:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3249/3062056627_8c7746064d_b.jpg

Look, up there! 3 PC-FX systems.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3019/3062914428_26cdf3882a_b.jpg

I found the prices in the system section to be really nice. There was good and bad condition stuff, and the bad was discounted nicely for condition. I like that as a collector -- get the systems you want in great condition, but if you want a 'player's system', you can get that for a cheap price, too. Like this pic:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3282/3062071463_1bd62efab4_b.jpg

2 items in that picture are now in my apartment :)

But the best part for me, a hardcore NeoGeo collector, was the Neo Pocket section. It was a part of this wall here:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3171/3062912988_537ceb1c5c_b.jpg

A full 90% of the NeoGeo Pocket systems on this wall looked to be NIB, and CHEAP. It was as if someone dumped a few boxes of new old stock on the store -- which someone probably did, maybe a local retailer.

The Neo Pocket game section was the best of all for me -- as I found a game I was REALLY looking for (and for the past 3 years, too!). It was cheap, and NIB. It's in this group:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3237/3062894996_eef22062f5_b.jpg

Hey, look! It's the last super rare Japanese Neo Pocket game I needed, Pachinko Hisshou Guide Pocket Parlor! I grabbed a ladder, dug through the games on the wall. No, it's 6 Pachinko Hisshou Guide Pocket Parlors! All NIB! This is why I root through these game stores, for the FUN of finding something you're really looking for, up on some wall in the middle of nowhere.

Naturally, I bought all 6. Don't they look nice?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3013/3062920058_dacdc1a539_b.jpg

[Tron 2.0]

Looks nice damn that shop has a nice selection of fds titles.

Either loose or cib damn i wish i could aford a trip there.

Given when trying to get fds games cib on ebay can be a pain.

[Azraelscross]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3003/3062909804_81d8e0403a_b.jpg



whats that interesting konami box at the bottom.

and i always liked the Japanese game stores but all i have in my town in an EB cause microplay got shut down so long ago so its nice to see something different even if its pictures

[MonoTekETeA]

So - Part 2. Here's where I found some deals. In response to a previous question -- I don't think they like people taking pictures so much, so I try to be fairly sly. This day there was a security guard around me pretty much the whole time I was there -- he didn't seem to be too concerned with me, but it still felt a bit odd to have him nearby all the time. I took these pictures when he moved away, but then he saw me later with my camera around my neck and the lens open (but not taking a picture). He gave me a strange look, but said nothing. Perhaps I am paranoid.


Hahah, you dog! You could replace the old Sam Fisher(RIP), all stealth like.

Lol, all of those Gboy Printers, you can probably find extra printing paper over there too.....OH WAIT I SEE A ROLL! Lol, that is crazy.

Recently got some stuff from Japan, and loved how entertained I was to see one of the famicom games still in it's baggy. It is funny how we can get stupid little kicks out of stuff like that, never having it ourselves.

I really like how they package their stuff, the systems and I think the Neo-Geo AES games, they are all in those plastic tube bags and folded over and taped. A real clean look if you ask me.

Another great upload Smork, thanks! :-P

[Hwj_Chim]

Great pics. I love seeing all of those games like that.

[s1lence]

Wow, if I visited or lived there I would be SOOooo broke.

[BenG76]

smork and okagawa, Thanks for the great pics. I would love to dig through a game store like one of these.

[raylydiard]

like aladdin's cave
wow wow
do they have any shenmue stuff
wheres the shop to i know japen or hong kong
could some one give me some idea where they are as some time next year i am takeing a trip there to buy all the sega stuff as i like all this stuff

[ubersaurus]

Hey smork, on that store near Nara...I think I know which one you are talking about! They didn't have any Duos...but I ran into another store nearby that did, pretty cheap >D

[smork]

Hey smork, on that store near Nara...I think I know which one you are talking about! They didn't have any Duos...but I ran into another store nearby that did, pretty cheap >D

There's a couple of good stores there. The one that was a long walk from JR Takada station gets these big lots of super cheap shit now and then. For a while they had boxed Neo CDs for 2000yen, then they had new, boxed NGPC for 500 yen, and they later had loose Twin Famis for 3000 yen. Helluva cool place. I must make a point of going back there in the next few months!

There was another one nearby in Kashihara that had a massive selection of desirably odd stuff. Old computers, Laseractive - stuff you don't find every day. I love the countryside :)

I should have some more game store pics after this weekend!

[hellfire]

japan is so fucking lucky

[smork]

As promised, more game pics!

I made a little road trip around the area on Sunday and found a few shops I hadn't been to yet. One of them was a really nice Hard-Off that seemed to specialize in games. It had more games than almost any other Hard-Off I've seen, so it's one I'll be going back to.

I went to three other new stores. One had a very small selection of retro (but fantastic prices on what it did have). The other two were great all around, and I can't believe I've missed them till now. I'll get to the one closer to me soon, but tonight I'll share some pictures from Otakara-a! to Market.

This is a little chain - I know of three stores, but this is the first time I've been to the one shown here. I quite frankly wasn't expecting much as the other store I had been to had nice newer stuff, but not so much retro. This store had a neat selection of all sorts of games, and at good prices. The best part of it is, unlike most of the places I go to that are inconvenient from public transport, I can recommend it for anyone visiting Tokyo who takes a train to or from the airport, as it's right across the street from Keisei Kozunomori station, only 10 minutes or so from the airport.

Here's a view of the outside:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3365/3246617003_c48e751e19_b.jpg

Here's the obligatory shot of loose SFC games. I wonder how many loose SFC games there are in Japan? It's gotta be an insane number.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3461/3247445718_2b73e1547b_b.jpg

One of the great things about this store is that while they don't have the largest volume of games by a long shot, most of the games were pretty reasonable. Not to mention, they had at least a few games for a staggering amount of systems. Here's a selection of Wonderswan games:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3466/3247444468_32eb29cc42_b.jpg

I walked out of here with a few WS games, the Tarepanda LE set, Gransta Chronicles, and Slither Link. Gransta Chronicles in particular was a bargain; it goes for a pretty penny in stores and on the auction sites, but this place had it for ~$15.

Out of one of the showcases I snagged a Super Cassette Vision game as well. Look at some of the handhelds here:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3106/3247444920_7eb7c0ae99_b.jpg

Here's a nice selection of PC Engine and Dreamcast, with PS2 at the end. The other side of this aisle has Sega CD, Saturn, NeoGeo CD, 3DO...

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3381/3246615155_afcd492195_b.jpg

This store wasn't big on systems and accessories, but what systems they had were fairly priced.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3093/3246616407_cf52cdf294_b.jpg

This store was alot like a specialty music store, where there is a somewhat eclectic selection of artists but not necessarily everything under the sun. My purpose in this thread isn't to make it into a "Tourist Guide to Japanese Game Shops" - I just want to share some pics of the places I've visited -- but in this case it is so convenient for a collector who's in transit to the airport to make a quick stop here that I can't help but recommend it.

[MonoTekETeA]

Lol, nice, I decided to check DP for the first time in a while saying to myself "I wonder if Smork updated his thread." Still a few acessories that I have never seen before, and the size of the store really surprizes me, unless all of that in width isn't the game store...or maybe just a general store with games. Enlighten me/us if you don't mind Smork. Thanks again holmes.

-Jeremy

[Breetai]

I picked up my complete boxed PC Engine Duo for 5000yen from a Hard-Off, as well as my 3DO for 1500yen (no hook-ups, but that's not a problem). I saw a Neo-Geo CD system for 3000, and the original AES joysticks for 500yen(!) each, but I passed it by as I'd rather score an AES system. I also picked up a complete in box Dragon Quest III for the Famicom for 100yen, whereas it's usually about 1000yen in other used shops.

Hard-Offs are awesome sometimes.

edit: I've now found and bought Final Fantasy I-III (III was CIB) and Dragon Quest I-IV (III was CIB) for the Famicom and Final Fantasy IV-VI and Dragon Quest V & VI (VI was CIB) each for 105yen. I was patient and managed to pay the absolute minimum for each! These are not in perfect condition, but they are all at least in decent condition.