March 28, 2024, 08:41:49 am

I hate Akiba

Started by Shumi Nagaremono, November 25, 2014, 10:59:16 pm

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Shumi Nagaremono

Wow!  There's a sentence I never thought I'd type!

Let me dial that back just a bit.  Akiba is friggin' awesome if you're a fan of Japanese retro games (or just about any other hobby you can enjoy in Japan).  If you *ever* have the chance to spend a day or so there, do it. 

But I work there.  And it has made the collecting aspect of my retro gaming hobby...less fun. 

First complaint:  Just about everything is priced either at or well over online prices.  With the exception of a bunch of baseball games, the Dragon Quest series, and Final Fantasy III, cheap games are hard to come by.  Obviously, those "holy grail" titles aren't going to be cheap.  And you're never going to find popular titles in the bargain bins.  But even the most common titles cost (sometimes well) over your standard online prices.  Street Fighter II for SCF is a 100 yen game (often CiB) just about everywhere in Japan.  But in Akiba, it's around 1,000.

And stores can sell their stock at that price because it DOES sell.  Don't want to hunt for a game?  Don't feel like waiting a few days after buying it online?  You can suck it up and buy it in Akiba.  Hell, even *I* did that once.  I was putting together a set of Pulse Line carts and found I was only missing Gomokunarabe.  Retro Game Camp had it for 500 yen (It sold on Amazon for about 12 yen at the time) and I just bit the bullet.  There are enough visitors to Akiba on a daily basis that just about ANY common cart will have a buyer in a similar situation after too long. 

The worst bit, though?  Between Super Potato, Retro Game Camp, Trader, Friends, and Mandarake, literally ANY game I (and probably you) could ever want is there.  At a high price, sure, but it's there. 

I probably sound crazy, complaining about an almost unlimited selection of games just waiting for me to get out of work, but hear me out. 

I've spent most of the last decade in Fukuoka and Hiroshima.  Most of my collection came from small-ish second hand stores.  Most of the time, I'd find nothing.  Once in awhile, I'd come across something really cool.  I was over the moon when I picked up the Famicom Robot sets at a Hard-Off for 5,000 yen and the Power Glove at Book-Off for like 2,000.  And if I found something I *really* wanted, it was like it was meant to be.  That was an awesome feeling! 

I love "hauls," too.  It's great seeing what other fans and collectors pick up.  "Oh, you found a CiB Neo Geo CD in Shingu for 4,000 yen?  That's awesome!"  "Where'd you get the Zelda no Densetsu handbills?  Oh!  Some dude in a smokey old store in Nishijin had a whole binder full of things?  Fantastic!  Anything else cool in those stores?  Not even a little?  Tremendous!" 

Now, I see every rare Famicom EVERYTHING every time I stop by after work.  Super Maruo and All Night Nippon SMB?  Super Potato has 'em.  Gold Punch-Out?  Friends.  Gold Mega Man 4?  Mandarake.  Contra CiB?  Trader.  Wild Gunman gift set?  Retro Game Camp.  Anything I buy doesn't come with a cool story.  "Whoah!  How'd you get THAT?!?!"  "I, uh, selected one of the half dozen available from off the shelf and paid a few thousand yen to a cashier who never even looked at me."  Not a great story.   

I'm pretty sure my first reaction to reading a post like this would be "Oh, boo f***ing hoo!  Complain more about working in the middle of the Famicom Mecha."  But it has had a negative effect on my buying habits. 

The first month, I was picking up stuff left and right.  That Wild Gunman set?  Got it.  Kung-Fu?  Sure.  Contra? Finally!  Disk System stuff?  Don't mind if I do! 

The second month, I narrowed my focus down to only games that I felt were noticably absent from my collection.  Those gaps were filled in a day. 

The third month, I was mostly just searching for something *unique*.  Something I thought looked cool that I'd never seen before.  That stopped being feasable by Wednesday.

After that, I just kinda played tour guide for visitors.  THAT was a blast. 

Now, I rarely even stop by any of the used game hot spots.  Just about any game I want to play, I can order on Amazon for much less.     

Whew.  Feels good to get that out.  Thanks for letting me vent.

80sFREAK

Take it easy, man  ;D Someone goes fishing, someone to supermarket.
I don't buy, sell or trade at moment.
But my question is how hackers at that time were able to hack those games?(c)krzy

Shumi Nagaremono

Quote from: 80sFREAK on November 26, 2014, 12:45:12 am
Take it easy, man  ;D Someone goes fishing, someone to supermarket.


Haha. 

Akiba's fantastic.  But, man, working there ruins the experience.  :)  Still, like Frisbee Golf, I'm glad I gave it a shot.

UglyJoe

Makes sense to me.  It's like how you can buy pretty much any NES game online, but it's just not the same as finding it at some grandma's yard sale.

And I thought Den Den Town was the new Akiba?

P

Yeah I think you can get tired to anything. But if you move away you are eventually going to miss many parts of it.

Den-Den Town is Osaka's version of Akiba. There's no way it could be as big as Tokyo's.

JessicaWolf

Honestly I tell people to stay away from most places in Akihabara. Places like Super Potato and the likes are just too expensive for most collectors and I suspect those places do most of its business with middle-aged salaryman/otariiman who are looking to relive their childhood, haha. I got a few good deals from the Mandarake in Akihabara after going through their stock thoroughly (most of their stuff was close to the price of Super Potato type sellers). By far though, I got the best deals from BookOff stores AWAY from Akihabara (¥500 CIB Chrono Trigger? Yes please. ¥800 Gamecube? Sure why not).
Here are a few games I am looking for right now
Super Puzzle Fighter II X (Sega Saturn)
GeGeGe no Kotarou (Sega Saturn)
Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu (Sega Saturn)
KiKi KaiKai (PC Engine) (CIB)
Puzzle Bobble (Super Famicom) (CIB)

zmaster18

November 26, 2014, 01:48:24 pm #6 Last Edit: November 27, 2014, 10:20:47 am by zmaster18
Even if these prices seem like a lot to you ($5 for Gomokunarabe seems good to me!) the prices for retro game stores in Canada is a joke. Look at senseiman/FamicomBlog's post about a game shop here in Toronto, unfortunately the 'best' game shop, and you'll see what us Canadians have to deal with.

I imagine retro stores in the States are little bit better though.  :redcart:

Shumi Nagaremono

November 26, 2014, 07:31:20 pm #7 Last Edit: November 26, 2014, 09:42:34 pm by Shumi Nagaremono
Quote from: JessicaWolf on November 26, 2014, 01:26:44 pm
Honestly I tell people to stay away from most places in Akihabara. Places like Super Potato and the likes are just too expensive for most collectors and I suspect those places do most of its business with middle-aged salaryman/otariiman who are looking to relive their childhood, haha. I got a few good deals from the Mandarake in Akihabara after going through their stock thoroughly (most of their stuff was close to the price of Super Potato type sellers). By far though, I got the best deals from BookOff stores AWAY from Akihabara (¥500 CIB Chrono Trigger? Yes please. ¥800 Gamecube? Sure why not).


I visited my in-laws in Kyushu over the summer.  Picked up about 40 Famicom games, mostly decent-to-good stuff, including Mother CiB, for under 10k. 

I love Akiba.  I just hate what working there has done to my personal enjoyment of the hobby.



Post Merge: November 26, 2014, 09:42:34 pm

Quote from: UglyJoe on November 26, 2014, 03:15:53 am
Makes sense to me.  It's like how you can buy pretty much any NES game online, but it's just not the same as finding it at some grandma's yard sale.



That is just about the *perfect* way to describe it.  Hunting for games in Akiba is just like searching online, in that you're about 99% guaranteed to be able to find ANYTHING you want, even if you're not especially happy with the price. 

Seriously, though.  It is an absolutely amazing place to visit. 

Retro Game Camp has probably the highest prices of any spot in the area, but that means they're almost always fully stocked.  If you're into hardware, you'll almost always see some *really* off-the-wall stuff there. 

Super Potato's selection is just about unbeatable and *fairly* well organized.  That's where you'll see most of the "only a few known copies exist" stuff.  And you will come across some good deals there once in awhile.  I snagged a CiB Mario the Juggler Game and Watch for about 30k at a time when they were selling for upwards of 80k. 

Friends has some good uncommon stuff on their first floor and just about the only "bargain bin" than has some Famicom stuff in it you'll see in Akihabara.  Their *second* floor is mostly CDs, guides, and CiB consoles STACKED TEN FEET HIGH.  They'll also fix your Disk System/Twin Famicom for about 3,000 yen.

Mandarake has the best selection of CiB titles, at prices that aren't unreasonable.  They've also got a damn nice shelf of loose carts that aren't super well organized. 

Trader has a loose cart selection even better than Mandarake's, but their prices are more in line with Super Potato.  Their junk/bargain section is ALWAYS good for a look, though.  This is the place I still pop into every week or so.  They set me up with my CiB New Famicom for like $80.  They're also incredibly trusting of their customers not to trash the place.  They had a 95k Sega CDX console just sitting on the shelf.   

But if you're like me, and you're just into crusing for whatever old cames you stumble across, stay the hell out of Akiba in particular and Tokyo in general.  Just about everybody with games to sell/trade does so here, so EVERYTHING is picked over. 

I've only been to Den Den once, and that was back before my hobbies skewed more towards old toys than games.  Even then, my friend and I filled up one of those huge paper bags (I'm sure most of you know the ones) with SFC, Saturn, Dreamcast, and Famicom stuff.

fcgamer

This is why you need to migrate into more exotic stuff, such as the large world of unlicensed games.  I can guarantee they don't have all of these there, and many of those don't even show up with any sort of frequency online OR in the country they were developed.  ;)
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Shumi Nagaremono

Quote from: fcgamer on November 27, 2014, 12:18:25 am
This is why you need to migrate into more exotic stuff, such as the large world of unlicensed games.  I can guarantee they don't have all of these there, and many of those don't even show up with any sort of frequency online OR in the country they were developed.  ;)


Retro Game Camp often has a pretty nice selection of things of that nature.  But you're right.  No way would collecting that be just a few card swipes away.  What do you recommend?

maxellnormalbias

Unlicensed games? Hard to find!?

Let me show you a little site called Ali Express. Search "FC Game Card" in there and you can get anything from Dian Shi Ma Li to a Little Samson pirate for $10 or less. Seriously they're selling copies of Little Samson, just type in "lickle" and you'll find it.

Protoman

I did notice that the prices are higher there than in other parts of Tokyo/Japan but I still found most of them lower than ebay prices (except boxed games, those were pricier).

I bought Super Donkey Kong cart only and Mickey Mouse Tokyo Disneyland in a store near my hotel in Nishikasai, both for 100 Yen,which to me in insanely cheap.

fcgamer

Quote from: maxellnormalbias on November 27, 2014, 09:30:33 am
Unlicensed games? Hard to find!?

Let me show you a little site called Ali Express. Search "FC Game Card" in there and you can get anything from Dian Shi Ma Li to a Little Samson pirate for $10 or less. Seriously they're selling copies of Little Samson, just type in "lickle" and you'll find it.


Those are just reprints, not the originals.  Purchasing them and calling it a day would be akin to purchasing repros of the whole licensed Famicom catalog and calling it a day ;)
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maxellnormalbias

Well, I know little samson's not legit, but stuff like Dian Shi Ma Li you can't really argue what's a reprint and what's not, because it's production wasn't standardized in the first place.

Although you can find some cool stuff on there, like a Mario pirate multicart with all the unofficial sequels, as well as copies of Bit Corp Duck. You can also buy those 9-pin playstation-like controllers used on the Game Fillip, as well as a variation using the Super Famicom button colours.

fcgamer

Quote from: maxellnormalbias on November 27, 2014, 09:26:02 pm
Well, I know little samson's not legit, but stuff like Dian Shi Ma Li you can't really argue what's a reprint and what's not, because it's production wasn't standardized in the first place.

Although you can find some cool stuff on there, like a Mario pirate multicart with all the unofficial sequels, as well as copies of Bit Corp Duck. You can also buy those 9-pin playstation-like controllers used on the Game Fillip, as well as a variation using the Super Famicom button colours.


Well actually, a lot of those games you CAN argue what is a reprint and what was original / legit.  ;)
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