What are the best arcades and game shops in Japan / around Tokyo?

NeoEsZ

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Hey all,

Some of you might know already, but I'm getting ready to go to Japan for the first time. For the first three days we're staying in Akihabara, then our band is going on tour for a week or so, we'll be in these areas:

Aug. 25 in Sangenjaya
Aug. 27 in Nakano
Aug. 28 in Yokohama
Aug. 29 in Wakayama
Aug. 30 in Osaka
Aug. 31 in Kyoto
Sept. 1 in Gifu

Then we'll be back in Akihabara for a few days. Looking for recommendations for arcades, game shops, etc. I have my own little list, but I'm sure I'm missing more than a few spots.
 

ChopstickSamurai

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When I went to Japan a decade ago Super Potato and Friends were both pretty dope. I'm not sure if they're still around, but if so check those out. Mandarake in Akihabara and Nakano Broadway were awesome too.

Be sure to check out the Junk Boxes at various retailers as well. Lots of good deals to be had there. Most places have them right by the door as you enter. All the "junk" I bought worked great.

I've never been to Osska but I've heard good things about the Den Den Town area.

Have fun! I'd love to go back.
 

godzilla43

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I was in Tokyo this May. I recommend Beep-store in Akihabara. I found Last Blade 2 MVS cart for 5000yen so that was okay deal.
 

vincewy

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I hate to burst your bubble but the prices are insane at this point. I just visited Super Potato in Osaka (Namba), a few pics speak a thousand words.

The only cheap AES games in good conditions are SS, SS2, FFSP, AOF2, FF2, and KOF94
 

Late

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^Plus there are probably conversions in there somewhere, thanks Neo Ayato!
 

Dr Shroom

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I wouldn't waste my time with Super Potato.

lonestage i'm in osaka next april if you want to meet n' fuck
 
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LoneSage

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lonestage i'm in osaka next april if you want to meet n' fuck

I truly will never understand people who have a chance to travel outside their country and waste it going back to Japan to the same places.
 

Heinz

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I'll be in Osaka next october but that's somewhere I ain't been before sage! hah! don't waste your time going back to places you've been, at least don't make them the highlight anyway. I went up to Hokkaido in August which was great, totally different kinda place and great weather that time of year.
 

vincewy

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^Plus there are probably conversions in there somewhere, thanks Neo Ayato!

There's a good chance that Pulstar is a conversion, I'm hanging on to my old copy (even with defects) and not wanting to switch at this point just because it's most likely conversion (besides cost). That copy of Breakers is probably genuine (sunfade copy) but for almost 600K yen? Keep in mind there's sales tax of 10% now.

I have pics of the rest of inventories, I'll need to figure out how to crop/edit down to under 2MB to upload the pics. The second floor is a heaven for retro game lovers.

I truly will never understand people who have a chance to travel outside their country and waste it going back to Japan to the same places.

Most of us have limited time and we don't get to see everything I want at once. Plus airfares are relatively cheap these days (hotels cost will kill you, try to use your hotel points earned back in US).
 
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LoneSage

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I'll be in Osaka next october but that's somewhere I ain't been before sage! hah! don't waste your time going back to places you've been, at least don't make them the highlight anyway. I went up to Hokkaido in August which was great, totally different kinda place and great weather that time of year.

I dunno, I just feel Japan is worshipped by so many people and it's shocking to me they choose to go back, year after year, instead of going to a new country. Japan is probably the most boring and lonely place I've been to as a solo traveler.

edit: I still had an incredible time in Japan. I think my favorite besides the deer at Nara was renting a bicycle in Kyoto for the day, getting lost and coming across a castle.

edit x2: The time for buying retro games was 14 years ago.
 
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vincewy

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I dunno, I just feel Japan is worshipped by so many people and it's shocking to me they choose to go back, year after year, instead of going to a new country. Japan is probably the most boring and lonely place I've been to as a solo traveler.

To me I like Shinkansen. I came because my dad wanted to visit Osaka area, I went in Kyoto earlieryesterday, it's suffering from overtourism just like Barcelona, Paris, and Venice, you can blame cheap airfares within Asia for this.

This is not a popular opinion, but one country I feel I need to keep going back is China (beside Turkey, New Zealand, and Switzerland on my list). I went to grottoes and temple along the cliff in Gansu and I was one of few visitors there (麦積山石窟)
 

LoneSage

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Dude, very nice. Western China is indeed really quite amazing, I've also been to the Maijishan Grottoes, it's impressive. Because they're far from the main tourist spots along the east coast, there are much fewer foreign tourists.

Over the past two years, I visited and documented all the grottoes in Hebei province as well. It is wild how much there is to see that is still far off the tourists path.

Central Asia (all the -stan countries) is probably my favorite because of the combination of historical sites, hospitality and lack of tourists.

edit: my bad for getting offtopic. Shroom just triggered me.
 
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Dr Shroom

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I truly will never understand people who have a chance to travel outside their country and waste it going back to Japan to the same places.

I'm going to Nara and Kyoto too. Stop getting triggered. I've only been to Osaka for half a day last year.
 
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LoneSage

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Shroom can't you see I'm triggered because you're going to Japdogcountry and not Commieland
 

wataru330

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Midori Marts in the country side (or even Yokohama/Chiba/ somewhere not akiba) are the life hack move. Thrift stores in atami also...get off the beaten path, and you’ll find hella pleasant surprises.
 

oldschool

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Wonder what triggered the necro post? Too bad Kowloon Walled City recently closed. :crying:
 

NeoEsZ

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Didn't expect this thread to get bumped. I actually had a great time hunting for games - Playstation 1 games in particular were really cheap last year as were most Playstation 2 games. I bought a new piece of luggage and filled it with all the scores.

Honestly, Super Potato is super neat. I went to three different locations and spent an hour + in each just looking at everything. I had a grand total budget of $800 I saved up all year to spend, so I was careful with how I parted with it (to an extent, at least). Most of my money was actually spent at various Book-Offs throughout Japan. I found a complete/mint Einhander for $8, for instance.

If there's any advice I can give to someone who was in my position last year, it's that you should look into used hardware - namely controllers. I was able to snag a couple Playstation 2, Sega Saturn and Super Famicom controllers in pristine condition on the cheap. The shops there know how to clean/maintenance their hardware, that's for sure.

Most expensive game I bought was probably Gunner's Heaven for PS1, but I grabbed a bunch of licensed/anime games from the ps1/ps2 era and felt like I made out like a bandit. You just have to like terrible games like I do XD
 
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