A Cheapo's Guide to Akihabara

So there is a book, called "A Cheapo's Guide to Tokyo"
I don't have it, never read it, so can't tell if it's any good.
However, the author, Aaron Beggett, have made a chapter on Akihabara freely available.
I've read it, it has some good information on Akiba, some specific to game collecting, so anyone planning a visit might find something of interest.

https://drive.google.com/a/odigo.jp/file/d/0B3AQN9RuEKEgSnBhMmk3M3RianM/view?pli=1 (2.4 MB, PDF)

BTW, for the purpose of planning a trip to Tokyo, Cheapo website also has some really good information.

 

Interesting, but I don't think all 3 Trader stores sell retro games anymore. I haven't been to Akiba for a few months, but if I recall correctly the last time I went into Trader 2 it was all new stuff with nothing retro in sight. Trader 3 still does though.

 

Just Traders 1 as I recall. I remember well because I was trying to find the one that had retro games and it was the very last Traders I went into that had them. Their prices are often higher than if I had just gotten it from Yahoo Auctions, so I usually don't bother.

 

I was quite surprised when I recently went looking for retro games and game-related merch. From prior experience I fully expected Super Potato Akiba to be the most expensive of the places I visited, but it ended up being the cheapest place, followed by Nakano Broadway, and then Retro Game Camp as the most expensive. I had expected Retro Game Camp to be the least expensive.

 

For the most part, the days of buying cheap retro game gems in Japan are long gone. Most stores that even bother to carry old games, are pricing stuff going by online worldwide market demands.

 

If you're a cheapo, Akihabara really isn't your place 90% of the time.

 

I disagree. I think there still is a chance you can find good deals. (Just not in any major cities.) It just takes luck.

 

Finding small places that have low prices or don't know what they have entirely has dwindled though. At least compared to what I remember from the late 90's and early 00's. I guess it depends on how far you want to go back with the games you're buying as well. With the 8 and 16-bit stuff it's certainly changed alot in the last 15 years. None the less, the hunt is part of the fun. Maybe now even a bit more thrilling in some ways to come across a dusty gem, since the hobby has expanded so much in recent times.

 

Software isn't too bad, the prices can often be pretty compeditive and you're saving money by avoiding shipping of course.

By far, the best store for deals is Hard-Off. Not only are they often quite a bit cheaper even compared to YA, but there's many of them around. Their junk section is a treasure trove of random finds. ¥300 gold edition N64? Yes please!

 

¥300 gold N64 will be tough these days. HO is checking Yahoo Japan before pricing their items, and apart from the junk section most stuff has gotten quite streamlined with online prices. :S

 

They don't seem to be doing a very good job. Many times I've seen games for sale at a MUCH cheaper price than even the lowest current price on YA.

 

Really depends where you go, too. HOs inside the big cities are often expensive and don't have much. I got my best hauls from smaller cities and in the outskirts (Western Yokohama, Yamanashi, Niigata regions), but the days of 500yen CIB Neo Geo CD consoles are over, thanks to Off-group finding out about that "Internet" thing, and resellers.

 

Well, all the Hard-Offs I've been to are in inaka areas, so my perspective might be warped. You can still get pretty good deals from them. Boxed Super Scope for ¥1000? Why not?

 

You can blame buyers outside of Japan for that. When I first started using proxies I would see a lot of those items listed from not selling. Now it mostly nothing but proxy accounts. What personally bothers me are physical stores pricing by online sales, it's not the same market at all. It's not just Japan that does this, stores even here do it too.

 

I think the biggest problem, aside from finite available retro game supply, are tourists and resellers located in Japan. Akihabara nowadays is stunningly empty and foreigners are everywhere, digging through the few remainders (very different from even 2007, and that was already much different from 2000-2005, I heard). I also see a lot more resellers on ebay and in Facebook groups who are located in Japan and sell more than I've ever seen in all those years.

 

Hey all, so I have just been back from a 10 day holiday in Japan for the first time and Akihabara was first on the list, well, third day in.

It was good, at first, until I kept on seeing "DVD/GAME" thinking "Hey retro stuff!" and it turning out to be a Hentai store.....

ANYWAYS...

After almost 4 hours of going down back streets, back alleys, main roads etc and trying to find things (I went into Book Off and that was alright, picked up some Wonderswan and Saturn stuff) and I eventually found along the main road this little retro shop that I could barely fit in. It had most retro consoles and games, but it was overpriced. There was a 100Y bin out the front but it was crap of course, no hidden goodies (apart from a dead N64 controller with the control stick going around like it wasn't connected to anything). Literally the place was like, less than a meter wide each aisle and if there were people in your way...er..."sumimasen".
The people were nice in there and helped out a bit, but I would hate to admit it but, when my friend and I went to Super Potato, things just got a lot better. Prices weren't too bad (Got a 3DO, Saturn and an NTSC-J N64 and modded it for USA games), spent over 20,000Y in there - Worth it though. But I have been told so many things about Akihabara and unfortunately, it looks dead now. There's tourist traps everywhere but, nothing retro is even remotely around anymore. Being 6ft 2", I kept hitting my head on stuff that was attached to the roof and doorways -.-

Trader don't sell anything below PS2 now. XBOX and PS1 I couldn't see. I did come across some GC stuff but that's it, everything else was newer than PS2.

I went back there a second day and that's when I spent the 20,000Y, but just checking everything over and over and yeah, not to my expectations at all. Back in 2011 I think, another friend of mine went and he said there were "Roller door" places in alleys in Akihabara that would have retro stuff, sadly, nothing.

I think the best thing is Super Potato or Book Off for random retro stuff. If I go back I can go around and do more research etc. But yeah it just ain't what it used to be it sounds

Anyways, apart from looking for retro stuff, I had a great time over there and worked out the crane machines in the end, came back with an FC Clone and a Harry Potter wand LOL

 

Japan, 〒101-0021 Tokyo, Chiyoda, Sotokanda, 3 Chome−14−10, トレーダー本店ビル
^ This is the branch of Trader that has the retro stuff now. Prices vary from slightly too much to good, and sometimes there's the occasional bargain (e.g. SSFIIX for Dreamcast, mint, at 8000yen). The old Trader below the train line is now a sad place and I think there was a period of time when there wasn't a retro trader, but gladly they changed their mind in late 2014 or so.

It's not what it used to be, that's for sure!
The best place to buy retro stuff, in my opinion, are now Mandarake (prices are usually fair, with the occasional bargain), Trader, Potato in Ikebukuro & Osaka as well as all the Hard Offs and Book Offs. Book Off Super Bazaar, the large version of BO, usually has an "okay" selection of some retro games (GBA, GB, N64, PCE, SAT, DC) that's much bigger than in regular Book Offs.

Lucky bastard! I never won anything on these machines... what a scam they are, with their sticky-rubber surfaces everywhere that can hold boxes at a 89 degree angle

 

Yeah, only one of the Traders carries retro stuff, you need to go upstairs to find them. Don't go too far upstairs or you'll hit the eroge level

 

I visited Super Potato in 2013 (two of them actually, the one in Akiba, and the smaller one in Ikebukuro), and while it might have been "expensive" compared to Hard-off or other thrift type stores, it's still pants-on-head-stupid cheaper than eBayers want in the west, AND you're more likely to find what you want, if you're looking for something specific.

Hard-offs were awesome if you just wanted to "see what you could find", otherwise the popular/famous stores are still worth a visit, especially if you're just visiting Japan.

I'm headed back there in a few weeks. I want to hit some Hard-offs and Traders, but will for sure be stopping by Akiba to fill some gaps in the ol' collection. I'm also going to be in Narita city for two nights, so I thought I'd get a cab (or hire a car) and zip down to Chiba Kanteidan for a gander.

 

Seems that in the 2+ years since I was last here, the prices on Super Potato have become more eBay-like. Pity.

Shit stock levels too. When I last went they were overflowing with boxed Famicoms and loose 3DO's. Today the console shelf was nearly bare!