Sold a bunch of games I never play and paid $11 total out of pocket for these.
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Well this is only my second Japan trip, but I plan to make it an annual or twice a year thing from now on. Hauling that by myself is part of the fun, but yeah things would be simpler with fewer pieces of luggage, only bigger. Wanted to get so much back, specially Neo games, but really ran out of space, and shipping to Mexico gets rather expensive, best save up for another trip later this year.
I can only imagine how good it was back then, before prices went up for everytning! Still a better deal than paying ebay prices.
The golden Age of Akihabara was before the PS2 came along. That console basically ruined Akihabara in my opinion. Before it was a thing there were so many excelent Retro game stores but once PS2 took off many retro game stores turned in to DVD shops and then came the stupid maid caffees. The maid cafés have nothing to do with the PS2 of course but the bloody DVDs did.
I used to visit twice a year from 1995 to 1998 before moving here for good in November 1998. Akihabara was golden back then. Games as far as the eye could see. Multiple stores using entire floors dedicated to one or two systems and of course prices were cheap or reasonable. I’m pretty sure rip off merchants, Super Potato weren’t around then either.
The ubiquitous porn shops (“DVD” lol), maid cafes, idol crap, and persistent smell of BO makes Akiba unbearable today IMO.
That’s a really great deal on skies of Arcadia!
Welp, that’s me out
In reference to persistent smell of BO; I recently found myself thinking about how far my hobbies have come in that regard. Where at one time in my life it was just a fact of life at any event/dedicated hobby shop I went to but now it stands out in an oddly nostalgic kind of way. Like “oh yeah, I remember how terrible this use to be”.
Guess it’s similar in that way to the smell of smoking. Where I wouldn’t even make note of it before it was so prevalent but now it is noticeable only because it isn’t.
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Yup! Zelda on NES came with a map, and it’s much better to play with one imo.
Picked up a bunch of 5$ games for Xbox, Wii, PS2 and Xbox360:
I also finally bit on the PlayStation Classic, for a whopping 29.99$. Man those things tanked hard (good price for me though!):
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You’re in Ottawa, right? Did you happen to find a thrift store that actually carries videogames?
Hey @poptart, yup I’m in Ottawa.
Only got Mario Party 8 from a Thrift store, all others were bought from various private sellers / game stores in Ottawa and Montreal.
The local scene is pretty dry, I have to admit. I’m so glad I made most of my retro gaming purchases over 10 years ago…
I didn’t smell any BO while I was there however I wasn’t there in the middle of summer and I’m also 1ft taller then anyone else in the area. I had a fantastic time in Akihabara and had a good laugh Everytime I went to the floor marked " DVD" and was promptly greeted by a poster or video of a woman with tentacles doing uh, what tentacles do. One elevator even had a video explaining how to properly enter a woman. It’s absurd and definitely not something you would see in a random store here in Canada.
The maid cafes struck me as incredibly sad though. Every girl I saw dressed up and passing out flyers looked absolutely miserable.
I few of my pickups over the last few weeks.
All of the Pokemon games and Super Smash Bros were $3 each.
I got the Metal Gear Solid 4 PS3 for $40. I put a jailbroken motherboard into it.
Of course the first thing I had to do was play Metal Gear Solid 4 on it.
Still a great game. I’ve got a little more work to do to it. Anyone know a good way to touch up the paint.
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My Soul arrived. Ordered via Malaysia on ebay…shipped via Germany? shrugs
You are 100% spot on. It’s a sespit compared to what it once was.
Dude, if you thought it was good you probably would have had a heart attack if you had seen it 20 years ago. It trully was a better place.
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My only visit to Akihabara was in 2004, so 15 years ago now. Super Potato was there and so were a few porno video shops. Prices were good, I bought a load of WonderSwan stuff, a Hori GameCube controller, PS2 Katarmari Damacy (bought chipped PS2 on my return home). We had a great time. Feels like a lifetime ago.
https://www.flickr.com/search/?tags=superpotato&user_id=45699499%40N00&view_all=1
This is a great post. Particularly you prefacing its shift with the circumstances of the PS2 at the time, while I’ve only visited ‘modern’ Akiba, from what I’ve seen in magazines in the past of how it used to be (especially when you see photos of the area during game system launches in the 90s), it’s clear it’s very much shifted with the times as it were, which is a shame.
Today’s Akiba really isn’t ideal for retro game shopping, it’s okay if you’re interested in what’s current (or PC games) but even places like Sofmap have slipped in quality (the merger with Bic Camera probably did it). As others have mentioned, with retro games you’re always going to be paying a premium, with places on the chou-dori generally being rip-off merchants with poor selections. Maybe it’s also just a symptom of the tourist-trap nature of the place now as well. Even chains like Book-Off feel overly-tourist friendly in Akiba, with multi-language store announcements and store layouts aimed at non-enthusiasts.
The stores worth visiting are few: Friends, Beep, one of the Traders and a retro-focused Surugaya around Junk Street. But it’s slim pickings and you’ll still be paying the Tokyo tax/premium.
In the Kanto region I found myself better off just visiting Book-Off and Hard-off stores in prefectures outside of Tokyo, especially Book-Off Super Bazaars. I got my Virtual Boy there, and that particular Book-Off (near Omiya) had an extensive selection of older games at reasonable prices.
Didn’t notice any issues with BO, but I’ve only visited when the weather is milder.
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I posted that I got it in a other thread but this thing doesn’t have a remote so I can’t dial it in. But at least it works.
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I’m pretty sure that’s the first TV I ever bought