Visiting Japan for a month, I have game buying questions and few non-game related questions.

Hello, first time posting in this section. Luckily this coming December, my wife and I have decided to send the whole month in Japan. It would be us and our 3 kids ages at the time of travel 6,4 and 1. This is life long dream trip of mine. But I have some selfish questions I would like answers too if possible. I have decided I wanted to get back into Saturn gaming, and thought I would buy it there. But how close are the ebay prices to retail shops in Japan, Because if there isn't much of a difference i'll just wait. Because from what I read most of the retro shops are being bought and resold else. Also is there any shops I would want to avoid? Is there a big price difference on jewellery in the country compared to the US, I thought of buying a few things if they were cheaper. Thank you.

 

It really depends on where in Japan you're going. Here in Tokyo, expect very close to eBay prices for Saturn games in most stores. Trader 3 in Akihabara (the one near Mr. Donut and Sofmap, I think) often has a nice selection and they probably have better prices than most of the other stores in the area. You should also try going to the Hard Off near Mandarake in Akihabara; they have these big tubs full of CDs, but often there's a few PS1, Saturn, Dreamcast, etc games scattered inbetween for great prices. But I find that the further away from Tokyo you go, the cheaper everything gets. I managed to pick up some Saturn fighting games (Street Fighter Zero 2, Xmen Vs. Street Fighter, etc) for a fraction of the price when I went to Sapporo (they were like 100 - 300 yen each).

Unless you want to go there to see cool shit, I would say you should avoid Super Potato. Prices there can be absolutely insane, especially for PC Engine stuff it seems (3500 yen for R-Type? I think not...). I haven't been for a few months so they could have lowered their prices but I severely doubt it.

I have no clue about jewellery I'm afraid, I haven't had a girlfriend for a while.

 

Well thank you, We are unsure exactly where we would be staying. But we have seen we can rent a house for a month and that would be cheaper than a hotel. So we have that going for us, We do know we want to explore as much as we can. We have a few cities we know we want to see Kyoto is one besides Tokyo. So I am more then open to ideas, we figure the more questions and research we do now. The better we can plan for when we get there. I am not looking for anything, that I personally would think of as rare. I know I want to get a spice (orange) gamecube, And maybe a dreamcast too. And thank you.

 

Well if you're coming to Tokyo, I could possibly buy you some things you're looking for off of Yahoo Auctions and just meet you somewhere so you can pay in cash. It's the cheapest way to get any of this stuff 99% of the time. Just ask @Digmac , I managed to score an orange GameCube for him for only 500 yen or so. As long as you give me a few weeks notice before you arrive I should be able to do it, I'm free pretty much all December (until I have to start packing the whole house, I leave for Australia in January).

 

Really, I think you are coming about 3 years too late. These retailers are not stupid, they see the prices that things are going online now and are going to price things accordingly. You might have better luck at Hard Off locations in smaller centers, but I would assume that in Tokyo, everything is going to have been picked through already. I live in a smaller center (Kumamoto), and the Hard Offs here do have used systems, though often without cables and power supplies. The games are generally in poor condition, and are dirt cheap commons. The more high end second hand stores around here have been liquidating their pre-PS2 stuff during the past year, and what they do have left is priced at levels that are most likely higher than Ebay. Three years ago, you could go into one of these stores and buy a bulk package of 20 games for 2500 yen. That time is long past.

 

You'd be surprised, I walked into Trader 3 about a month ago in Akihabara and found an orange Xbox Live Beta memory card for 934 yen. There are still deals to be found, just nowhere near as often.

 

Admittedly I haven't been for a couple of years, but I generally found that the best deals were in places that don't generally specialise in video games. Nobody seems to mention them in retro gaming threads (and the selection isn't great), but some of the best deals I've found in Japan were from Sofmap.

I would agree that Yahoo Auctions would be the best bet if you can get someone to make purchases on your behalf (although it does remove the fun of hunting down physical items in person) - I recently bought a boxed white Saturn in mint condition for 2500 yen (about 20 USD) plus postage.

 

I went to a Hard Off today, and they had a SFC with all cables and one controller for 5400 yen. Last time I went (in January), it was at least 1000 yen less. The prices are shooting up still. That isn't even the craziest thing, they were selling PS1 systems for the same price, and PS2 systems for over 10,000 yen. If this is a common thread, you might find it pretty tough to find a deal on anything.

 

About jewelry, in my experience you should avoid buying any from Japan unless it's something artistically unique that you can't find anywhere else. In general, at any given price point, Japanese jewelry will be much lower quality than its Western counterparts.
Same goes for clothes, incidentally - buy only unique fashion pieces. If you just get a solid color t-shirt or something you'll pay double for no improvement over Western wear.

 

Don't forget buying games there means you have to haul them home! Also, getting a week long rail pass is a great idea when visiting there. You can pretty much pick a place to get off and explore. It's not like the states, where if you get off the train in the wrong place you'll get mugged and killed.

 

If you want to buy games, it depends on what you want.

If you want choice and have a comfortable budget, Akihabara is great because you'll find a very large offer. But it's quite expensive. At least if you want to find a certain game or system, you'll certainly find it there.

But if you make a trip to Osaka, there is nothing very interesting about this city but one street in which there are many video game sellers, and the prices are more affordable there, albeit you're not sure to find what you're looking for. Unfortunately I don't remember its name

 

If you do go to Akiba (which I would recommend if you have any interest in anime/gaming) then make sure you check out all of the shops on the outskirts and the ones on the upper levels of the buildings. Those are better than the main ones you see outside right outside of the JR station IMO. You can find some real gems which you just would not be able to find online.

I wasn't really on the lookout for retro gaming (not really my thing) but I do know there is one good store on the main street which is packed with retro games/consoles.

 

That area of Osaka is called DenDen Town and it is good but I think to say there is nothing else interesting about Osaka is a bit off. The food and food culture in Osaka for example is very unique and people have travelled to Osaka from across the world to experience it.

 

I can't say I like Osaka much. I find the people noisy and rude us it's a little dirty.

 

It's dirty and rude by Japanese standards but probably still far less dirty and rude than any city that I have ever been to in a Western country I have to say.

Osaka is also a little sleazy for sure but that's just part of its charm I think.