Hi guys! I'm going to Shanghai, China in a couple of weeks for the first time in my life, but I'll be visiting it a lot because my work is now connected with it. Can you recommend some places of interest for a retro video game collector? Not only in Shanghai, but any other city - I'll be traveling a lot. Any info will be helpful because I just dont know where to start looking from)
There is a huge mall called Metro City in Xujiahui. On the second floor, there are plenty of video game stores. Employees are fucking stupid and prices for the most part are kinda expensive compared to what you can elsewhere. Talking about that, you should go to Beijing Road, it's full of small stores, from electronics to computer parts to video games. Usually the owners are gamers themselves, which means that not only do they know what they are talking about but also they won't try to rip you off. The prices are not that expensive and if you buy many items, you'll probably have a reduction in price. Also, beware of bootlegs and fakes, some of them are easy to spot because they are cheaply made, but others are almost as identical as originals... I hope this will help you. Have tons of fun in Shangai!!
Nintendo has localized some GBA, DS, and Wii games into Chinese. Though I have no clue where to look for originals. It's probably worth checking out. I doubt you'd ever acquire them elsewhere.
If you have the opportunity, you should definitely go to Hong Kong as well... And if you like gambling, Macau ^.^
I haven't been everywhere in Shanghai, but are you sure you don't mean Nanjing road? ()? Apologies in advance if there is in fact a Beijing road that I'm not aware of. As for stores, you won't really find a lot of retro stuff these days. Just lots of 360, PS2, PSP, and DS items. Also bare in mind while you may not find the prices expensive (For your currency/country/purchasing power), you'll almost certainly be given a "tourist" price. A good trick is to walk away like your sure you can find it elsewhere and most sellers will knock off the price right away just for that alone.
Can you find many legit copies of games in China? A Chinese friend told me he only has bootlegs because they are sold everywhere for $1/piece and they work without problems, even online-gaming is possible. Why would people still buy legal copies if piracy is so widely tolerated, and of course, functional?
Sure you can get original games. But you'll be raked over the coals if you don't know what your doing. Most original items are placed on display but only for show. That way if there is any legal dispute the seller just goes "I only have legal games here. What you see is what you get.". More often than not, if you ask for one of those items they'll instantly turn around and try to sell you the cheaper version they have in the back room or behind the counter. If you insist on buying the legit copy, most sellers will jack up the price on you by a significant amount. Enough to discourage you from wanting to buy, what perhaps could be, their only legit copy of a game. Essentially it saves them the trouble of having to worry about the display items being sold. Though, if your crafty enough/chummy enough with the people sometimes you can get good or at least fair deals on them.
