Going to Japan in April. Where to buy NeoGeo/retro stuff?

Lord Igniz

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What Yamazaki said. The only decent deals you'll find in Japan are, maybe, in Yahoo auctions.

Hard Offs and similar stores, where you could find good deals a few years ago, have their own online shops now (so prices aren't good anymore) and their junk sections are raided on a daily basis by Yahoo/eBay power sellers. For common games, just avoid Mandarake, Super Potato and, most of all, Retro Game Camp and you'll maybe find some decent deals when you visit Akiba, Den Den Town or Center Plaza.

On the other hand, PS3/4 games have really good price points now. For these, I'd suggest taking a look in GEO stores (which are all over Japan) and Trader in Akiba.
Yahoo Auctions are the way to go. I buy most of my Japanese games on there now, using a friend that I pay a small fee to ship it over to me. There are third party websites like Buyee and Zen Market that also provide that service, but I feel they have a lot of hidden fees.

Overall, I echo the sentiment of most people on here in terms of game prices. If you were to have gone to Japan in the early-to-mid 2000s prices were ridiculously low on all second hand games. Very few tourists, no English anywhere, it was quite an adventure just to walk in that wondrous land. Today, while it's still an awesome place, it has definitely been affected by globalism and an increasing tourist industry. The magic is mostly gone now, but going to the more rural areas still has that feeling of adventure you will not get in Tokyo or most other big cities.
 

rodolfocm

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The best deals I ever managed to find were at recycle shops. Search for an Otakara shop (I don't know that this is a national chain, but they're definitely all over east Japan) or an A Too in a less populated area. From my experience, this will be your best option. Nothing insane, but got a NGCD for like ¥7,000, NGCD controllers for basically nothing. Got a bean stick for ¥300 once (still have it, with that price tag). Plus, recycle shops are fun to browse for all sorts of other things too.

What's a recycle shop?

I've been to Japan a few times in the last couple years. First time was sensory overload, but since you're going back a second time I think you'll enjoy it much more. Anyways, gaming suggestions:
1. DO NOT shop in Akihabara in Tokyo. Prices are super overpriced, especially places like Super Potato. DenDen town in Osaka is a much better location if you're looking for the rare stuff, I found pretty much everything they have in Akihabara but at a lower price over there. My favorite store in DenDen town is called "Surigaya speciality shop" (I believe that's the name). Really hard to miss but they have an incredible selection of rare stuff in good shape and very reasonable prices.
2. Book-Off and Hard-Off are your friends! The "Goodwill" of Japan, everything I bought from those stores was in amazing condition, and even the stuff in the "junk" section was in relatively good shape and all worked! Main issue is that you probably won't find any Neo Geo stuff there, it's all second hand stuff that people donated or traded in, so the real rare and expensive stuff isn't always around, but you might get lucky.
3. Go to some of the smaller, less touristy cities or areas of a city. When you start seeing that everyone around you is Japanese, that's a good sign. I've stumbled upon some mom-and-pop game stores in more suburban areas that had really good prices and things weren't so picked over like they were in main parts of Tokyo and Osaka.
4. Remember to bring your passport wherever you go. Most stores in Japan offer you to pay everything tax-free if you spend over 5,000 yen, so that's 10% off. Quite a savings.

Enjoy your time in Japan, hope I was able to help a bit!

P.S: Don't forget to check out the nature and countryside of that beatiful country. The big cities are overrated, going through a forest during a typhoon- that is my favorite Japan experience.

Amazing, thank you so much! First time I went I spent 3 days in Kusatsu Onsen and it was an amazing experience!
 

LoneSage

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Three days at a hot spring resort :spock:

Guy was probably figuring he could live out his harem anime fantasy :thevt:
 

Heinz

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Three days at a hot spring resort :spock:

Guy was probably figuring he could live out his harem anime fantasy :thevt:

I can crack a tinnie, sit in the bath and imagine the same thing for 30mins and probably be more refreshed.
 

rodolfocm

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Three days at a hot spring resort :spock:

Guy was probably figuring he could live out his harem anime fantasy :thevt:

It's not a resort and I stayed in a ryokan so it was a very different experience compared to the big city.
 

Lord Igniz

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What's a recycle shop?
He just means shops like Hard-Off that have a "junk" section and will be sent to the recyclers if not sold after a while. Always your best bet to check out those "junk" sections as everything I got from there worked perfectly and was just a little dusty/maybe minor scratches. I picked up a special blue PS2, Saturn, platinum GCN (w/ gameboy player), and Dreamcast all for 300 yen at one hard off. All are in great shape.

Amazing, thank you so much! First time I went I spent 3 days in Kusatsu Onsen and it was an amazing experience!
I would recommend Kinosaki Onsen near the sea of Japan. I went there last trip and it was an amazing time. I think one night/2 days per hot spring town is enough. I also went to another one in Gunma prefecture that was awesome, but don't know the name as it was a surprise where my friend took me there on my last visit. Try out a new one each day. Super refreshing.

Also, JR pass is a must.
 

smokey

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Last time I went was 2015 but then you could still get some good deals, but you really had to go to the sticks to find a Hard-Off nobody ever visited. The last I went it was with four other enthusiasts and we just crossed trough japan to pick up goodies. Some highlights Radiant Silvergun (saturn) for 50 euro, Iron Commando (SFC) for 2.5 euro. PCFX loose for 25 euro. A NeoGeo CD boxed with like 10 games for 75 euro.
Here you see mee and my buddy heading back to the trainstation with that NeoGeoCD:
10430872_10152556623491813_5059563815662298066_n.jpg
 

Atro

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I went once there and had a great time. I found out that the better deals were on arcade stuff. while not cheap, it was still acceptable

The funny shit was when I went to an arcade shop, I found a welsh guy from here!! I dont remember his nickname, but it was fun. I introduced myself and spoke about these boards. he told me he had an account too.

then he told me he didnt like to post much in here because he said: "only Bigbear likes me over there" :lol:

He spoke very well japanese tho. We shook hands and I left.

Apparently, he was *very* annoying around here.
 

rodolfocm

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He just means shops like Hard-Off that have a "junk" section and will be sent to the recyclers if not sold after a while. Always your best bet to check out those "junk" sections as everything I got from there worked perfectly and was just a little dusty/maybe minor scratches. I picked up a special blue PS2, Saturn, platinum GCN (w/ gameboy player), and Dreamcast all for 300 yen at one hard off. All are in great shape.


I would recommend Kinosaki Onsen near the sea of Japan. I went there last trip and it was an amazing time. I think one night/2 days per hot spring town is enough. I also went to another one in Gunma prefecture that was awesome, but don't know the name as it was a surprise where my friend took me there on my last visit. Try out a new one each day. Super refreshing.

Also, JR pass is a must.

Thanks! I will check Kinosaki. I'm going with my partner and it's his first time so we might stay in the bigger cities only but do side trips to smaller places. And, yes, we will get a JR Pass (I got it when I went the first time), I agree that it's a must.

Last time I went was 2015 but then you could still get some good deals, but you really had to go to the sticks to find a Hard-Off nobody ever visited. The last I went it was with four other enthusiasts and we just crossed trough japan to pick up goodies. Some highlights Radiant Silvergun (saturn) for 50 euro, Iron Commando (SFC) for 2.5 euro. PCFX loose for 25 euro. A NeoGeo CD boxed with like 10 games for 75 euro.
Here you see mee and my buddy heading back to the trainstation with that NeoGeoCD:
View attachment 55501

Oh, interesting. I will see if I have time to go to smaller cities. Thanks!
 

rodolfocm

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By the way I'm also going to Seoul. Any thing I should keep my eyes on while there? No idea how South Korea is regarding retrogaming.
 

c0nn0r

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I found some nice items (eg. Final Fight JPN CPS1) at G-Front in Akihabara. Prices were steep, but the selection was great. They had a bin of cheap MVS near the front door, and there was a Phantom-1 converter from !Arcade on the shelf :)

gfront_1.jpg
gfront_2.jpg
 
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c0nn0r

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Oh, nice. By the way are you in Toronto? I see "Toronto, Ontario - Canada" in that sticker, lol. I'm in downtown. :-)

I am in Toronto - Downtown as well ;-)
 

c0nn0r

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Cool! Is there a NeoGeo scene in Toronto? I would love to network with retrogamers in the city.

Not much of a cohesive scene that I know of (I'm a new Dad, so don't get out much, plus I have my own arcade at home), but I'd be down to grab a beer with ya! I work at King and Spadina.
 

rodolfocm

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Not much of a cohesive scene that I know of (I'm a new Dad, so don't get out much, plus I have my own arcade at home), but I'd be down to grab a beer with ya! I work at King and Spadina.

I'm game! I work at King and Dufferin so we are not that far away. Let's keep in touch in Instagram.
 

Neo Alec

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By the way I'm also going to Seoul. Any thing I should keep my eyes on while there? No idea how South Korea is regarding retrogaming.
There's nothing to speak of in Korea in that regard. Console gaming never really caught on there. Just enjoy the food and sights.
 

Atro

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There's nothing to speak of in Korea in that regard. Console gaming never really caught on there. Just enjoy the food and sights.

there are fantastic KOF and Tekken world class players from there tho.
 

Ajax

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This is the shop I'm talking about:

https://otakara-akamichi.com/

There are at least a few of them around Shizuoka prefecture, and I know there are some in Hokkaido and in Tohoku, so maybe there are some around Tokyo as well.
 

basic

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I don't. I'm going for the second time because I love the culture, the people, the cities, the food. The pop culture (games, animes, etc) is part of the package.

what do you like the most about the culture and the people?
 
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