Useful Japanese phrases for buying games?

OK, I'm going off to Japan again in a couple of months and although I've told myself that I won't be buying much hardware (just because it's a bit of a pain to get home), I'm not sure I'll be able to resist, especially as I'll be close to Hard Offs in Otsu, Kusatsu and [not quite so close] Nagahama.

Now, in the past in smaller shops I've managed to get by by gesticulating at an employee (I lived in Italy for 6 years, so I'm a pro at this) and then asking in dreadful Japanese "sumimasen, kono geimu wa ikura desu ka" or "sumimasen, kore wa misete kudasai". However, in a larger store I would prefer to make purchases without having to drag someone with better knowledge of Japanese (be it a store employee or friend) around with me. So I would like to ask what are the more common notes that Hard Off are likely to put on consoles that are sealed up to protect them from prying fingers? As I've mentioned in another thread, the only word I'd recognise at all would be "キズ", so anything else would be useful....

 

You won't be able to read the notes Hard Off put on consoles due to the hand written kanji. Even I have trouble at times and I've been here for 11 or 12 years!

The best hing to do is ask if the console is working or cmplete. Also, you may want to buy something that is in the glass case. Best way to do this in simple Japanese would be to say "there's something in the glass case that I want to buy" to the staff at the counter. Hmm, simple enough would be "Sumimasen, gurasu keisu no naka ni, kaitai mono ga arimasu". I guess that would be the most simple way to ask.

Yakumo

 

also very handy for beginners, try to remember/recognize these:
中古: 2nd-hand (chuuko)
新品: new (shinpin)

 

I rarely ever talk when I am shopping for games. There really isn't anything to say. Just grab what you like what bring it to the counter.

Ones I see often at used game shops are:

(the lines mean there is usually something written there before or after)

汚れ- stained, dirty
傷, キズ - scratch
未使 - unused (but now new)
チェックする時_____ - when we checked
____欠品 - missing (as in not complete)
____不確認 - ____untested


there are a bunch more, but that's off the top of my head

 

Really? That's strange. In the hundreds of game shops I have been to from Kagoshima to Hokkaido I have never seen that.

 

Yeah, never seen that as well, unless it's an uber rare not for sale item in the Potatos show case. But then at least it is marked as [hibaihin].

 

Yeah -- no price tag generally means it's a decoration only.

 

I once made a list for a German game forum. Apparently it's in German, but I'll write translations chronologically so you can add them yourself. I only translated those in German, mind you - about 1/2 of the list in already in English.

Condition:
shinpin - brand-new
chuuko - used
mikaifuu - sealed
kizu ari - there are some scratches
nashi - without
tsuki - with
zenbu tsuki - often used for "complete"

Parts
hako = box

Versions
hibaihin = not for sale item
mihon = for display only

Consoles
...

General expressions
Eki = train station
densha = train
Esukareetaa = escalator
Erebeetaa = elevator





Questions in game shops would mostly be like:

* Ano [name of item] wa ikura desu ka (pointing at an item in a display shelf)
* Kore o misete kudasai (please show me this)
* Naka o miru mo ii desu ka (I bet the grammar is horrible here, but it always helped me getting a glance on the insides of a game/boxset ^^)
* Mo [name of game] ga arimasu ka (do you have game xxx?)

 

Here's the one I recognize instantly!


ジャンク {Junk}

I can thank looking at Yahoo Auctions japan getting my hopes up and running it through Google Translate and bam disappointed.

 

The expression "junk" is irrelevant IMO. They call EVERYTHING "junk" on YAJ, some of my best bargains were supposed to be junk. I remember an auction for a Mega Drive Wondermidi. Rare as it is it went for a 4-digit sum of $$$ but it was advertised as a JUNK item in the title. This would NEVER happen on ebay.

 

That's because anything from like new but untested to damaged and unusable is labeled as junk. It's equivalent would be "sold as is" rather than the translation as "junk".

I also had some great deals on YA with such listings, especially with games sold in bulk.

 

I bought a Ninja Warriors (JP) PCB for 15,000 yen BIN for a friend, which was junk. It did in fact need some work, but I think it was another 10,000 yen at most and a tweak of the +5v if I'm not mistaken. Now works like a champ. That's an 80,000 to 100,000 yen board.

 

"hibahin" means not for sale

For anyone who wants to ask seller if the concerned item is complete you have to ask : kampein desuka ?

it sounds near to "camping" or "campaign" if it cans help