Probably as rare as sliced bread, it didn't sell much during its lifespan, so you find a lot of boxed/mint/as new console on ebay or japanese auctions. Some of the games are a bit pricey like DBZ, but it should be easy enough for anybody to build a decent library of software. Personally I found the Playdia not great game wise, but really good to help me learn Japanese. Still I like the toy-like look of the console and it sits nicely in my collection.
May I ask in which way did it help you learn Japanese? I suppose the games do not have any english text.. I am also looking foward to learning the language, so any help would be appreciated.
Well most of the games are intended for kids so the level of language used is significanly simpler than a Metal Gear Solid in Japanese. The Sailor Moon game for instance is quite good for learning Hiragana and there are a few other educational games as well. In order to learn a languages I need to hear a lot of it spoken, 'cause that's the way my brain works. So I watch a lot of movies and I found the Playdia quite useful, 'cause there's a lot of speech. The more I hear, the more I can reproduce, that's how I learned english, thanks to music and DVDs.
I see. But isn't there any Sailor Moon title in english, so we can learn Japanese words ands stuff? (I am a big SM fan btw xD!)
hehehe, i'm glad to know someone in portugal is Are you thinking of expanding the colection Treamcaster? And have you gotten a dreamcast kiosk yet ?
xD We actually have a portuguese SM community, where portuguese episodes are shared, among some other neat stuff. Oh well, still not sure, but who knows? Not yet, the ports are f*c*ed up!
How rare is Playdia - Not very. I managed to get an almost complete collection (missing two idol games) in less than a month. And cheap as well. Still good stuff for the money. If you pay more than 2000 yen for a game you are probably wasting cash if you actually want some gameplay.
I thought about trying to collect all of the playdia software, but the few great games on the system diden't justify all of the crappy ones.
I remember Super Potato having brand-new units for 3000yen each. May be not the average price, but it gives you an(other) impression how rare it is. Outside of Japan though I'd say its a rather uncommon console that can fetch high prices at times. I remember one going for €100+ and you also need to pay shipping from Japan to your country.
