Holiday Tokyo 21st October 2012 need advice please with hard off hobby off stores ?

Hi Guys


Im off to Tokyo from the 21st October 2012, for a week (thats all i could afford) I've been before but shopped for retro stuff, round akihabara.


Im staying in Ikebukuro and was wondering what hard off or hobby off stores that are good places to visit and can i walk to them from the nearest station is that possible and what ones.


Im after games mainly i might go to Osaka i don't mind walking to the stores just not sure what ones are accessible by walking.


If i get a cab there what sort of prices do cabs charge from the nearest station ?


Any help would be great thank you.

 

Not a lot of Hard Off's in Tokyo. Hundreds of Book Offs though. You'll need to go out a bit for the former.

 

Here's what GP said, in picture form.

 

Puts "tsunami" into a whole new perspective when you look at it like that.

 

Hi Guys

thanks for trying to help me, im after console games mainly, are there any in Osaka, is it Hobby Off stores or hard off stores that have console games ? and whats the best area for these and how do i get there by train or walking from the station and if i go to Osaka are there any good game retro stores ?

any help would be grateful

 

Just google for Den Den Town. Easy access by train.

See here for example: http://www.osaka-info.jp/en/search/detail/shopping_5186.html

 

Thanks Guys for your help im def gonna go to Den Den town, but is it Hard off stores or Hobby off stores that have console games etc. just need some guidance as i want to make the most of this trip to find games for my gamming needs to play all the games i want.

 

Book Off stores have console games. It really depends on the store though how good the selection is and, most importantly, how far back they go gaming generation-wise. There are 131 stores in Tokyo and here's a big one in Ikebukuro: http://www.bookoff.co.jp/shop/shop20422.html

 

cez you are the man ive been twice now to Ikebukuro and never been past the book off in Ikebukuro but that will be sorted i thought hobby off was for console games but i stand corrected thanks mate for your help. just another question do the hardoff stores do console games or just console hardware ?

 

Hard Off stores tend to carry general electronic goods, dvds, laserdiscs, music cds, records, games, etc. Hobby Off tend to carry collector cards, toys, figures, model kits, etc.

If you have days to waste, then it would be worth travelling out to the hard off stores outside of Tokyo but do remember you would be using half a day to travel to a store, some maybe a good walk from the nearest train station and there is no gaurantee they will have anything you would want or that it would be cheaper then what you could get it for from a dedicated games shop in Tokyo. Some Hard Off stores have very little in the way of games and others will have an aisle worth.

 

Yes if you are in Osaka go to Ebisucho station

Exit 1b is the best and you can go to super potato and a couple other game stores there.
if you are in Tokyo on 21st maybe you want to go to Tokyo game show?

 

hi guys thanks i wish i could go tokyo game show but it in Sept isnt it but i will go to super potato im def going to the Bookoff stores in Ikebukuro, Akihabara just not sure if Ill visit Osaka what are the prices for games like in Osaka especially Super Potato ? ive been to Super Potato in Akihabara.

Are there any cheap places to get games or is it just look around the games are for me im not selling them just in to retro gamming mostly just got a X68000 and its awesome but shipping from Japan is exspensive just got to get a multi sync monitor.

 

Tokyo (in the city) is generally picked over and there are no cheap games. Hard Offs that you've seen on YouTube are in the sticks. The ones close to the city either don't have games or are picked over.

 

ah ok guys thanks for your help does any know what the best hard off store is good and easy to reach by train etc..... thanks

 

We're looking at traveling before the end of the year ourselves - staying in Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. Not fussed on super cheap games, but anything reasonably priced works - will save on postage costs and it'll be fun to experience retro game shopping

Akiba is on the list, same with Den Den Town. I was simply going to take the approach of walking around to get some idea on pricing and see what happens - any recommendations while I'm there? I've read through old posts on Assembler and have watched Yakumo's video tour through the district from quite a few years back, but I'm not sure how current all that is in 2012 (no diesrespect to Yakumo as I love Retro Core, just wanted to make sure I can still use it for a reference all these years later In fact, I might go watch it again now!). Looking at games for Mega Drive, SNES, Saturn, PSone (figure it's time I started collecting games for this one, as I think I'm finally over my irrational Saturn fanboyishness and can accept the PSone wasn't a bad console ), and some extra controllers for the PS2 and GCN. Also keen for some Fami carts and some HuCards as well as I don't have much for these consoles.

 

Define good? Sometimes a store will have decent stuff and other times you wish you had not wasted the train fare and the best part of a day to get there. I do visit quite a lot and even in 6 months, a store can change a lot. A lot of the half decent ones will still be a long walk from a train station. Also remember that prices will vary from store to store and sometimes you will find stuff priced at the same or higher prices then you could have got from a shop in Akihabara (and this sometimes includes the junk stuff).

 

Thanks for the quick reply mate

To clarify, I meant any stores I should keep an eye on when in Akiba and Den Den Town, otherwise I was going to wander around and look for some of the obvious ones (Super Potato, Trader, Sofmap, etc), look for anything else that seems weird (I can read enough katakana to know how to read "Game" ), but I won't have the luxury of spending the entire trip game hunting, hence why Akiba and Den Den Town are useful because they're not too far out of the way and I'm happy with the knowledge that I'll be paying a bit extra for the convenience of city retro shopping.

BTW, do the publishing houses take kindly to gaijin fanboys visiting? At the very least was looking at traveling where possible to visit the HQ of some places (Capcom/Konami/Nintendo/Sega) and getting a photo on the outside of the building, but it would be even better if there were some cool omiyage to take home if I have the balls to wander inside the office foyer

 

going to Den Den town and Akihabara should satisify most of your retro game needs. As long as you are not hoping to pick up bargains (like a 1000 Yen Radiant Silvergun) or rarities like a Sharp X68000 computer then you should be good. PS2 pads you can still buy new, although you might as well buy new ones in Australia as they wont be any cheaper... GCN pads are surprisingly hard to find, although some department stores may have the white GCN pads for the Wii and I would buy these if you can find them.

Do research on games you want and the going rate for them.
Do not buy cheap games because they are cheap, buy them because you want them as most of the cheap games are cheap (or overpriced and unsold) on Ebay.
Do spend a day in both Den Den town and Akihabara. Explore the area as they are quite big and both have at least 8 shops with reasonable retro game stock.
Do not buy the first game you see as chances are the further from the station the shop is the cheaper games are.
Do try to at least learn katakana so finding games will be easier at worst, print Japanese game names off on a printer as it will make finding them easier.
Do learn some Japanese, most tourist books should give you enough basics to ask for something and to be polite.
Do remember that there are lots of Adult game stores in both Akihabara and Den Den town, so make sure you can tell the difference if you are with people that are easily shocked.
Do remember that although "Junk" can mean untested or damaged, it could mean that the game is scratched or not working, some shops will not let you look at these (as most are dirt cheap) nor will they let you return them if they do not work.
Do not go to Akihabara or Den Den town on the weekend as they tend to be crowded places and on Sunday most shops will not open until late.
Do try to get there about 10am on a weekday morning as you will give yourself more time to browse.
Do make a note of when shops close, some shops shut at 6, some at 7 and the rest around 8.
Do make use of coin storage lockers at Akihabara station and at Nippombashi station especially if you have bought a lot of stuff, makes going to the smaller shops, visiting an arcade or having lunch or dinner much easier.

 

Wow, thank you so much for the reply Jamtex - I'm not sure if I can give you a +1 of something for that, as there's some awesome content in there!

I'll be travelling with my wife who would generally be bemused rather than offended if we wandered into the adult section, so that's handy if I take a wrong turn

My Japanese is rusty (studied it for a while at Uni), but I can read enough katakana and hiragana (and some kanji) to go shopping

I've also already got my game lists sorted and have an idea of current market value of the titles I'm after, so as long as I can pick it up for a comparable price to online while in Japan (and therefore save on postage ), I'll be happy. I figure the bargain hunting is better outside of the city center, but the risk of finding nothing and losing half or a full day isn't the best use of time when we won't be there for a huge amount of time. Especially as it seems there's a number of retro shops closing up over the last couple of years (from watching Retro Core and reading Sean's Famicomblog and Hollo's Super Gaijin Ultra Gamer sites), I'm comfortable with buying stuff at reasonable prices in Akiba and Den Den Town and accepting it won't be a crazy bargain hunt

Out of interest though, what's the average rate for Radiant Silvergun? I think I'll just be excited to see a copy in person, but would love to know the going rate!

Oh, and also wanted to say thanks on the tip for using the storage lockers - didn't even think of that! Pretty sure we've timed our itinerary so that nerd shopping can happen on weekdays too, so that's handy

Again, thanks for the detailed response mate, really appreciate it!

 

I want to thank you all for this thread. I was just about to post nearly the same thing. My wife and I are headed to Tokyo for a week in May/June next year, and the information in this thread will be mega useful for my retro shopping day(s).

Edit: Also, first post, hi there!