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

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    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.

    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!

    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
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    Quote Originally Posted by MonoTekETeA View Post
    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.

    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!

    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!

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    Quote Originally Posted by ANONPLOX View Post
    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.

    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
    Last edited by MonoTekETeA; 11-14-2008 at 12:32 AM.
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    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.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Okagawa View Post
    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:



    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:



    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 )

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    Quote Originally Posted by MonoTekETeA View Post
    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...

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    Speaking of PM's, Smork, Mimi, did you get the PM I sent to both of you a while back?
    "As you traitors roast in your own juices, I will be safely ensconced three miles below the earth's surface, listening to my wax-cylinder player and enjoying a delicious phosphate!"

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    Quote Originally Posted by MonoTekETeA View Post
    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.

    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).

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    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).




    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.


    Last edited by Okagawa; 11-16-2008 at 02:07 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Okagawa View Post
    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).




    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.


    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.

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    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.

    [IMG] [/IMG]

    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.




    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).

    [IMG] [/IMG]

    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?).

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    Quote Originally Posted by Okagawa View Post
    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.

    [IMG] [/IMG]

    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.




    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).

    [IMG] [/IMG]

    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?

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    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)



    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.




    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).




    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.




    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.

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    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!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Okagawa View Post
    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).

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    Quote Originally Posted by smork View Post
    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:



    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:



    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.
    Last edited by Fuyukaze; 11-18-2008 at 09:41 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Fuyukaze View Post
    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.

    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
    Yippy Kie Yo Yai Yay
    I am really bad at spelling...no really.
    v A gift from Drexel923, Thanks homie! v

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    Cherry (Level 1) fpbrush's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ANONPLOX View Post
    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

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    Cherry (Level 1) Xander's Avatar
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    I would like to thanks everyone who shared pictures too. Keep 'em coming, it's an awesome sight!

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    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:



    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.

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