3 months in Japan

[Cornelius]

So say you were going to Japan for three months and you would be living near a place called Akibahara ... full name Akibahara Denki Gai, which translates to "Nerdy Electric Town" (Awesome!). Apparently, its THE place in the world to buy electronics, video games, comics, etc. What would you pick up? And for arguments sake, let's say you don't own anything 'import' already and are starting from scratch.

[MarkMan]

Wellllllllllllllllll, if money was no question, I'd buy some arcade game PCBs and head over to super potato doing headspins and one handed cartwheels...

[geneshifter]

I would finally go get me a Nintendo Disk System with some games just to finally try one out. I wish I could find one cheap here in the US :/

[DaveD]

Would buy all the Japanese-porn DVD's I could carry...
(just kidding).....
I would go through the "old school" stores and get all the good PC Engine, Mega Drive, Super-Fami titles that never saw the light of day here in the US. By now they should be plenty cheap...

[Wolf]

I am planning a trip in about two years time, going to bring around 1.5mil yen for 2 weeks or a month depending on a few things. I will have more than that but I want to keep it around that limit.

I will check out aki but I will hook up with alot of my mixi friends to find out about some cool shops, then go on a spending spree hunting down stuff like a neo geo and tons of psx and ps2 titles I want badly. What I might do before I leave is pack all my shit and sent it ups or something so when I get home I will just pay duty without any airport hassle or shit like that.

After that it is a no brainer, j girls and j arcades FTW.

Gotta love japan...ah paradise.

[Icarus Moonsight]

I'd do most of what has been posted... I'd like to pick up some sweet toys (anime/manga, transformers etc) and maybe a few select Japan-only electronic gadgets I hear about so much. :) I would need most of the three months sailing my stuff home on a boat. Would be cheaper than the freight charges. Though I wonder, If I were in Japan that long... would I want to leave? Not sure about that one. hmm

[InsaneDavid]

One word: pachinko.

[smork]

Ah, 3 months. Did just that last year, but in Kansai. Let me tell you what I did:

a) Got to know the area a bit, especially the areas outside the normal districts.
b) Find out where electronic shops are. For example, in Kansai, most of the collector-oriented shops are in Den-Den Town in Osaka. That's great, but if you want a deal, you need to look outside the collectors ghetto. After alot of exploration, I found one shop in Nara that had a fantastic selection of retro, all MUCH cheaper than in the collector shops.
c) Pick up only stuff you really like and don't just go apeshit. It's easy to just grab what's cool and interesting and blow all your budget, but your money is better served by spending only on stuff you really like -- there's alot of cool stuff, and it's too easy to get distracted.

I'm moving back to Japan later this year (to Kawasaki), it's a 4 year contract. Much easier to parcel my time and spending out!

Oh, and geneshifter -- I have an extra unboxed Twin-Fami for sale, if you're interested :)

[Cornelius]

Good comments.
Unfortunately I'm not the one going to Japan, but a good friend of mine is. I probably won't ask him to get anything for me, but he's enough of a gamer that he might grab a few things.

But it got me thinking, and I really have no idea what I'd be after. I just don't know enough. An FDS would be cool, probably with metroid cause saving games would just be cool.

Anyway, since I'm an import noob, what are some of the better games that never saw the light of day over here. Doesn't really matter what system. And I know that's a very broad question, but maybe try to pick 2 or 3 specific games. Even if I never get to play them, I still like to hear about cool games I've never heard of before (and should keep an eye out for).

Or is there some website ore previous thread I should know about?

[ubersaurus]

Good comments.
Unfortunately I'm not the one going to Japan, but a good friend of mine is. I probably won't ask him to get anything for me, but he's enough of a gamer that he might grab a few things.

But it got me thinking, and I really have no idea what I'd be after. I just don't know enough. An FDS would be cool, probably with metroid cause saving games would just be cool.

Anyway, since I'm an import noob, what are some of the better games that never saw the light of day over here. Doesn't really matter what system. And I know that's a very broad question, but maybe try to pick 2 or 3 specific games. Even if I never get to play them, I still like to hear about cool games I've never heard of before (and should keep an eye out for).

Or is there some website ore previous thread I should know about?

Where's he going? There's a couple decent shops on Teramachi in Kyoto that I'm aware of. Lots of famicom games at one in particular.

When I last went i was there and over in Takamatsu, on Shikoku. Also crossed the strait once to hit Okayama. There's a couple game shops over there. One in particular in Takamatsu had a boatload of 500 yen Famicom cartridges, which is about as cheap as I saw a lot of them on my trip. Also where I picked up Gradius II :P

[Icarus Moonsight]

One word: pachinko.

I'd also tag along with David so he could remind me to slow down and take in the culture. :D

How in the hell did I forget about pachinko? **smack**

[Kroogah]

Would buy all the Japanese-porn DVD's I could carry...

I don't care if he was kidding, this is the correct answer. :D

Well, that, and every Bemani game for the PS2. And the full run of Ashita no Joe because they're taking their sweet goddamn time as far as releasing it in the USA goes.