Coolest Famicom fan sites

[Shumi Nagaremono]

Yeah, a ton of the shops I used to go to closed during the time I was there.  The worst loss was the Omocha Souko in Kaizuka which had some of the best deals around.  I`M in Nagoya now, which has some decent shops in Osu, but the prices are way higher than they were at the shops I used to go to in Fukuoka.

I never got to check out Omocha Souko.  Everybody told me I needed to go, but I just never had the time. 

Earlier this year, I started working in Akiba.  I thought it'd be awesome, and sometimes it is, but it's like shopping for games online.  Everything is available all the time, and prices are either even with or *higher than* your typical 'net prices.  Now, most of my Famicom stuff comes from Book-Off stores or tiny little resale shops that I can't imagine are going to be around much longer. 

Since this thread is about the best online Famicom websites, I'd like to just take moment to complain about how the BEST Famicom websites are *not in Japanese*.  You'd think that there would a TON of amazing Japanese Famicom websites, blogs, etc.  But they are extremely few and far between.           

[senseiman]

That is true about Japanese language Famicom blogs.  The only one I follow is Famicom no Neta (http://famicoroti.blog81.fc2.com/ ) which is a good one, he posts lots of little news bits that you won`t see in English. 

[Shumi Nagaremono]

That is true about Japanese language Famicom blogs.  The only one I follow is Famicom no Neta (http://famicoroti.blog81.fc2.com/ ) which is a good one, he posts lots of little news bits that you won`t see in English. 

That looks pretty cool.  But why, oh WHY does every Japanese website look like a ransom note from MySpace and WebTV?  I guess it attempts to mimic how magazines are presented, but you can't *click* on every line of a magazine cover. 

I like to joke that you can tell how expensive something is just by glancing at it.  Is whatever you're looking at some kind of OCD nightmare?  It's probably pretty cheap.  Is it very plain and simple?  Then it's gonna cost ya.   

[senseiman]

That is a pretty good point, I have long wondered why all Japanese blogs, not just gaming ones, look so awful.  So cluttered but not with good stuff.

[Shumi Nagaremono]

That is a pretty good point, I have long wondered why all Japanese blogs, not just gaming ones, look so awful.  So cluttered but not with good stuff.

I just think it's funny that in a topic about the Cool*est* Famicom Fan Sites, there has been only *one* site mentioned that's in Japanese.  I wonder if maybe we're missing a few.  Like, maybe, buried under piles and piles of dead links and insane graphics, there's the *perfect* Japanese Famicom site/blog that's being criminally overlooked. 

I find that really strange.  When I visit the US and go to a comic book show or even a Transformers convention, and talk to other fans, everybody's got their favorite website, the one they go to at least a few times a week.  For comic books it's usually CBR or Bleeding Cool.  For Transformers it's Seibertron or TFW.  But when I talk to other Famicom fans?  Nothing.  There are GAMES that everybody likes to talk about.  And Game Center CX is popular with a LOT of folks.  But nobody says "Oh, yeah, check out this site/blog/etc."  It's weird. 

[senseiman]

Well in fairness most of the people on here don`t speak Japanese so its not unusual that so few would be mentioned.  But knowing what I do about the Japanese scene, its true.  Part of the problem might be that most Japanese bloggers seem to use fc2, which has one of the worst designed blog templates I`ve ever seen.  Wordpress or Blogger are just plain better but for some reason (I`m sure there is a reason, I just don`t know what it is) Japanese bloggers almost never use them.

Another thing is just plain differences in taste between foreign Famicom fans and Japanese Famicom fans.  The stuff Japanese bloggers write about isn`t always going to be of interest to foreign readers and vice versa.  Famicom no Netta posts some stuff that I find quite interesting but most of the other Japanese blogs I`ve looked at don`t.

[jinshu]

Hi,

maybe we should have a new post: "senseiman and Shumi Nagaremono conversations" hahaha,

but yeah its true, good Japanese blogs are rare, another great site is :

http://www.arcade-gear.com/

Its a store but there is so much info there and great pictures.

[Shumi Nagaremono]

Well in fairness most of the people on here don`t speak Japanese so its not unusual that so few would be mentioned.  But knowing what I do about the Japanese scene, its true.  Part of the problem might be that most Japanese bloggers seem to use fc2, which has one of the worst designed blog templates I`ve ever seen.  Wordpress or Blogger are just plain better but for some reason (I`m sure there is a reason, I just don`t know what it is) Japanese bloggers almost never use them. 

I suspect that at least part of the issue is that social media platforms like Twitter are so popular.  Why go to the trouble of creating and maintaining a blog or website when you can just use Twitter to share your gaming love.  But yeah, those that do use that infuriating fc2. 

Another thing is just plain differences in taste between foreign Famicom fans and Japanese Famicom fans.  The stuff Japanese bloggers write about isn`t always going to be of interest to foreign readers and vice versa.  Famicom no Netta posts some stuff that I find quite interesting but most of the other Japanese blogs I`ve looked at don`t.

That's a very big part of it.  Do you remember that list of the top 100 Famicom games from a few years back?  The one that proved completely baffling to non-Japanese gamers?  It had like all four DQ games in the top 10 while the first Rockman game showed up in the 20's or 30's.  It's (largely) because of how radically different the tastes of Famicom gamers and NES gamers were.  I love how different (unique?) console gaming in Japan was in the 80's.  It's always fun to swap stories with co-workers and new acquaintances.   

maybe we should have a new post: "senseiman and Shumi Nagaremono conversations" hahaha,

Since we're both Fukuoka boys, I imagine most of those conversations would involve imo shouchu and red-faced nostalgia about fishing out games from brightly-colored plastic tubs in shoppes with their own theme music. 

[senseiman]

That's a very big part of it.  Do you remember that list of the top 100 Famicom games from a few years back?  The one that proved completely baffling to non-Japanese gamers?  It had like all four DQ games in the top 10 while the first Rockman game showed up in the 20's or 30's.  It's (largely) because of how radically different the tastes of Famicom gamers and NES gamers were.  I love how different (unique?) console gaming in Japan was in the 80's.  It's always fun to swap stories with co-workers and new acquaintances.   

Yeah I totally remember that top 100 list.  It goes the other way too.  Like Yume Penguin Monogatari is an extremely popular game outside of Japan since it is both unusual and was never released outside Japan, but Japanese gamers just regard it as some random platformer that they barely remember.

One other thing that has recently been noticable in the Japanese language sites/blogs is a mild resentment towards foreign Famicom fans.  This is due to the effect we are having on prices in Japan, with games like Gimmick having gone through the roof in price based solely on the foreign market.  There is almost always some grumbling about this in comments about gaming prices. 

That will probably get worse with the weakening Yen making it easier for foreigners to buy up Famicom games.

Since we're both Fukuoka boys, I imagine most of those conversations would involve imo shouchu and red-faced nostalgia about fishing out games from brightly-colored plastic tubs in shoppes with their own theme music. 

Yup, i have a ton of fond memories of fishing through crate loads of retro gaming stuff in Fukuoka and scoring some incredible bargains.  And I also have a fondness for both shochu and exaggerating the size of my catches in conversation

[Shumi Nagaremono]

People all over the world gripe about the rising cost of retro games.  It's no single thing leading to the price hikes.  As people get older and have disposable income, they want to own the things they loved as children.  With few exceptions, prices have gone up because that's what the market demands.  In a way, it's probably good that the market is so strong, otherwise *finding* many of these older titles would be next to impossible. 

Gimmick is a 20,000 yen game *if you're lucky*.  But compare that to games for Sega Mark III.  Many of them are just as rare as Gimmick...but they're not worth ****.  Because there isn't enough interest to justify higher prices.

The "damn foreigners with their dirty money buying up all the good stuff out from under us" thing isn't unique to older games.  I swear, whenever Japanese TV stops showing "C-list celebrities eating out" shows, "look how much money these (usually Chinese) tourists are spending!" segments take their place. 

There's a place in Kawasaki I go to pretty often.  The actual store is just the tip of the iceberg, and the bulk of the stock is in storage units the owner will look through...if he likes you.  And for awhile, he *didn't* like me.  I was often looking for *boxed* Famicom hardware.  Because of that, he thought I was a collector or (worse) a reseller.  But once he understood that it was just the *hardware* I wanted boxed (mostly for my blog and youtube show) and that all the *games* I wanted just to play, he became a lot more friendly. 

He set me up with my new Famicom Robot set (after I stupidly sold my old one before the move...and right before the market on it exploded) and even found a Famicom Gun for me (too late, though).  He even offered me a great deal on a Sharp Twin Famicom and let me have a beautiful Super Famicom console for like 15 USD.  I've happily given the dude plenty of cash and will almost certainly continue to do so.  But he'd have rather just let the stock rot in those storage units than sell to a "collector" or "reseller".     

That store is like the best place I've found (online or off) for chatting about old video games in the area.  There are usually a few regulars in there and everybody has a different "history" of playing Famicom games. 

And he's totally got the tubs!  From old Hard-Off styled plastic tubs to ancient cardboard boxes, he'll just pull these freakin' crates out and invite ya to flip though 'em.  And *unlike* every modern Hard-Off, these aren't picked over.  Imagine going though a crate of loose carts that nobody's been through since the early 90's.  It's awesome! 

Whew.  I totally just CSB'd like crazy up there.  Gomen.   

[senseiman]

All true!

Its cool having a regular little shop to chat with the owner about gaming stuff.  Especially if he has bins!  That haven:t been picked over are the best!

[fcgamer]

All true!

Its cool having a regular little shop to chat with the owner about gaming stuff.  Especially if he has bins!  That haven:t been picked over are the best!

Yeah, the bins are great...until they become picked over.  I have one such buddy myself, though I suspect I cleared him out, basically (until he does more spring cleaning...I hope).  Every time I stop by his place, his wife gives me a coffee and some cake, we chat, and I (hopefully) get to look at his stash of goodies.

[senseiman]

Yeah, I hear that!  I used to go through the bins at Omocha Souko in Fukuoka on a weekly basis or so just to see what new stuff they had thrown in there since my last visit.  I amassed probably half of my collection that way and definitely some of the best bargains ever.

[UglyJoe]

A couple more member blogs:

fredJ - http://japanspel.blogspot.se/

AlexRUS - http://somerussianmariodude.blogspot.ru/

[pal52]

http://retro-video-gaming.com/famicom-cartridge-collage/