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I can't believe how much Game Boy prices have gone up. I got a working glacier blue GBA for $20 on eBay, and 2 broken original Game Boys for $20 each that I just made into one working one.
I was recently surprised at the Dreamcast prices. I got mine like a decade ago from a thriftstore for 20 dollars. Included two controllers. It had a bad laser, which I fixed. When I first bought it, I felt like I was somehow "over paying". lmao!
I love the idea of a white Australian man walking through a cramped game store in Japan with his wife and children, going up to the clerk, and handing them "Panty Party".
I now want a trip to Japan with James and Wade, where they rent a car and tour Hard Offs. That's it. That's all the video needs to be. 45 minutes of two guys going to Japanese Cashies please.
The "holy sh*t" I yelled out when the GBA dock just worked. I watched Retro Future's video on it and the trouble he had getting it to work, and then you posted about it on FP and I swore it would be a whole hassle to get it working. Nope, worked right away
I went to Japan in September 2023. I bought a Saturn from super potato for ¥33000 and later found several in the hard-off in Akiba for less than ¥2000 each. 100% agreed super potato’s prices are ridiculous.
The only thing going for Potato is that they seem to test every single ware they sell for defects or damage, so at least you are more or less guaranteed to get something that technically works (at least is the excuse I was given when asking around). But it’s still a huge rip off. If it’s second hand stuff, Second Street or the Off stores are the way to go for me. If it’s brand new stuff and you need a physical copy of a game or get the feel for a peripheral you plan to buy, I usually go for Edi-ON or Mario Camera.
6:44 I’d like to imagine the Japanese definition of “junk” is essentially what “clearance” is to us English speakers. Primarily given how R and L sound relatively the same in Japanese.
More or less. At least for the Off stores is more of a “clearance, untested”. Anything that had some minimal work on testing and repair will often be on shelves, if it’s electronics like handheld consoles or phones they will also be inside a locked glass case. Most game discs and cards for the more recent consoles will also be empty, so you take the item from the shelf and the cashier retrieves the actual thing from the storage (or asks for someone to do that depending on how many are manning the store). Edit: also on those that get tested, they also have seals explaining if the item was refurbished or what kind of issues it might have.
A single store getting big enough to spread out over multiple physical locations is really cool. There actually used to be a few stores in Toronto like this, but they are all long gone now.
Yeah I've seen as game collecting in Canada is becoming more popular, less and less games are appearing in the wild, and less and less game stores are keeping above water. Two just closed near me last year (for different reasons) and the one closest to me has a very limited library simply because the area I'm in houses a lot of buyers and very little sellers. I like that more people are getting into the hobby, but also it makes it much less fun to go game hunting. Sure it's easy to buy all your games on eBay, but where's the fun in that?!
@@koolaid33 The problem is that retro games are becoming expensive investment vehicles like what happened with early to mid 20th century sports cards and comics in the 80s, where people getting into their 40s with money are willing to spend big to relive their youth. For instance I think I paid like 30 bucks for an old Dreamcast 15 years ago (and you could still get some new old stock accessories for it like the VGA box for quite cheap), and now people are asking outrageous money for them. Even if the market declines I don't think 6th gen (maybe even 7th gen stuff is getting valuable now idk) and below stuff will ever really get "cheap" again. And we are probably at least a decade past the "golden age" of retro game shopping in Japan (especially in Akiba which has been a tourist trap for a long time), when things like old arcade boards where basically being given away.
I'm surprised that handheld console makers of the earlier eras didn't think of portability and docks.. it was aftermarket who came to the rescue before steamdeck and Nintendo.
The Sevii Islands are exclusive to Fire Red/Leaf Green and were intended as a way for players to be able to acquire the 100 Pokemon added in Generation 2 since they couldn't trade with Gold/Silver/Crystal, and they didn't want to include them in the original Kanto areas, so they made a new region. Unfortunately, lots of them aren't actually able to be acquired, since a lot of Pokemon were only unlocked with the E-reader, a card scanning attachment that worked with certain cards, but it wasn't released outside of Japan (if I remember correctly).
The device was released outside of Japan, but was discontinued in NA by the time FireRed/LeafGreen came out, so any version of that game that's not Japanese won't be able to scan the e-Reader cards (those specific cards are Japan exclusive)
"junk" bins in japanese stores are usually for used and sometimes light damaged goods, they're not literally junk as we would understand it but often just untested the shots of akiba made me nostalgic I haven't gone there since 2018
I visited that first shop in akihabara recently. It really is worlds apart from anything we have in australia. Just so crazy to see things that were only rumours when I was a kid!
I got back from Japan a few weeks ago and I travelled from place to place and I got my most expensive stuff from Fukuoka and Hiroshima which resulted in me getting a fully working super famicom for ¥2500, when a similar one would have cost me anywhere from ¥9000-¥22000 in Akihabara.
So fantastic, did the same thing last year with a friend. The Hard-off's near train lines were often picked clean, but a friend of mine hired a car and found me a mint virtual boy in box at one you can only get to with a car, so that advice is great. I wish I knew about beep in Akihabara and I wish I had explored that area more for retro systems. Cool stuff!
The fantastic thing about Japanese second-hand stuff is that it's almost always in immaculate condition. I put that down to Japan's animist indigenous religion that purports that spirits live in inanimate objects. That explains their attraction to robots in addition to immaculately cared for second-hand gear.
Those steering wheel controlers on arcade machines where the bane of my existance, i always wanted to use them and i never could bc arcades costed a kidney in my country and when i finally got to use one in a racing game, they sucked! that thing barely responded to the imputs, idk if the machine was borked or what, they really sucked, i was so disapointed, had to wait a few years and get a home steering wheel with force feedback to feel what i always wanted to feel when using a wheel like that hhaaha
Those wheels used pretty crude potentiometers/variable resistors to determine their position. After decades of wear and corrosion they're pretty scuffed unless someone's gone in and rebuilt them recently. It's like a bigger version of Joycon Drift.
@@ToastyMozart yeah, as a kid i thought they would be awesome, so underwealming, also they tend to wabble a lot as the bearing probably gets shot or something haha it's understandable for the age tho, i totally get it, i just had too much expectation back in the day
Just wanted to say, I'm really glad to hear you shout-out BEEP and acknowledge that Super Potato is overpriced. It seems like every game-collecting RU-vidr in Japan, or Japantuber doing the requisite Akihabara video, can't help but talk up what a magical, incredible place Super Potato is. And yeah, the retro arcade is cool and there's some good merch to be found there, but the fact is... it's a tourist trap. Literally everything there is overpriced. You want actual competitive prices on retro games and hardware in Akihabara, BEEP really is the place to go -- there, the Suruga-ya Game-kan right next door to BEEP, and (surprisingly!) Trader #1. (Some would also add Friends or Retro Game Camp to the list of must-browse spots, and I would certainly recommend checking both out just in case, but it's unlikely you'll find anything there that BEEP, Suruga-ya Game-kan, or Trader #1 doesn't have on offer for a much lower price.) Also glad you mentioned Nakano Broadway! Prices there can vary pretty wildly (and sadly do tend toward the inflated for retro games), but it's nonetheless one of the coolest places to shop on the entire planet as far as I'm concerned. I simply adore Nakano Broadway for its chaotic quirkiness and unapologetically old-school aesthetics. It's basically a flea market of the highest caliber, and the sheer variety of things you'll find there (including from non-Mandarake locations) is staggering. If you should ever find yourself in Japan again, I highly recommend looking up "Eco Town Hachioji Owada" on Google Maps and making the trip out west of Tokyo proper to check it out. You mentioned the "Off" brand stores in this video -- well, Eco Town in Hachioji is one of the central hubs for their entire operation. Within one massive interconnected complex of like three different four-story buildings, you'll find a Book-Off, Hard-Off, Hobby-Off, Off House, Mode Off, and Liquor Off. And I don't just mean, like, there's one of each of those inside some unrelated mall -- no, those six "Off" brand stores ARE the mall, utilizing every corner of every floor of each of those buildings, each one representing the very best of its kind. The Hard-Off and Book-Off there are the biggest and most well-stocked I've ever seen, the Hobby Off is like the most incredible toy store you've ever laid eyes upon, the Off House is basically a mansion's worth of Cashies (complete with an everything's-for-sale art gallery and the biggest furniture selection I've ever seen in Japan)... it's absolutely incredible. And best of all, it's like, right at the base of Mt. Takao, so even if it's hard to justify going all the way out to some of the westernmost parts of Tokyo-to just for retro game shopping, you can justify it by the absolutely stunning (and family-friendly) mountain hike with some of the best views of Tokyo you'll ever see.
GiGo is also one of the eligible leagues for the "Bemani Pro League" a series of rhythm game tournaments, to the point of having special music select themes for Konami's on going Beatmania IIDX series
Japan's culture of Shintoism has made it so that nearly all Japanese people treat their possessions with a degree of respect that those of us in western cultures would think is silly, but that just means if you buy something 2nd hand in Japan, there's a 99.8% chance it's going to be in near-mint condition.
should always be noted when japanese secondhand electronics are at play that "junk" just means untested rather than garbage, trashed, thrashed, or in especially poor condition.
Beep! is amazing, they have things that even other stores in Japan didn't have. Marui Annex Shopping Complex in Shinjuku is also amazing. 15 dollar N64 controllers that are mint. Mint I tell you!
Got an overdose of nostalgia seeing those game stores. Think there's maybe a handful left in the UK and you have to really hunt them down, big pawnbroker chains have completely decimated and sanitized the entire concept.
Old memory from when they originally came out, but I'm 99% sure there's a super easy RGB mod for the Tv de Advance. Though there's other ways to get a cleaner picture nowadays, so it's probably better leaving it that kit as stock.
James, you scheduling the next trip here already right? RIGHT?! Glad you had a blast here even if you couldn’t do all you wanted because you were with family.
I went to a hard off he’s not kidding about the junk section I have been in Japan for about 2 weeks from today and been collecting mostly GBA games. Awesome Content JAMES 👍
I always go to every Hard Off I can any time I visit my relatives in Osaka. But even Hard Off, at least in the Sennan area, is just overstocked with saltwater fishing gear. It's like "ah yes, fishing for kurodai in Osaka Bay, my favorite form of electronics. When I think of Nintendo 64 games, I just get the itch to fish."
JUNK is a weird phrase. I first saw it on ebay on Gameboy. The english descriptions were kinda rough so I thought it must be a translation issue, it means something different for them. Usually they check the item and if it doesn't come on on first try or has button or sound issues it's automatically labeled as JUNK. Sometimes all it needs is a disassembly and cleaning the battery contacts (leaky battery can be severe too), clearning the pads under the buttons (just some rubbing alcohol) but sometimes you need soldering skills to replace a spear, a power button or potentionmeters. I love buying stuff from Japan, they have all the best stuff!
Bought a "broken" Phat PS2 for around 13 USD$ back in 2016 when visiting my cousin living in Japan. Fixed by just replacing the CMOS battery and a ribbon cable for the reset/eject buttons
Junk zone means not necessary something it’s broken, it means untested due the amount of things they buy there it’s really hard to test everything and they focus on modern tech or expensive things, and others simply are throwed in a box, ironically most of hard off stores have a section we’re cou can plug things and testing by your self also you can pick a tv to plug a console. Another reason for the junk section it’s having a big amount of the same article and simply put in a shelf to avoid testing or packing it individually, and you can find real gold mines over there waiting being found
Ooh you got a StudyBox! The belt on mine is broken so I can’t test my cassette. I’ll upload a stereo recording of it somewhere if you want to try making your own copy of the tape
I think the Tap-tap game is used. Japanese people really take good care of their stuff and because space can be limited for some families it's common that you completely put away something when you know you're not gonna use it for a while...I learned about this because the Virtual Boy box has cute illustrations on the flaps which tells you how to put back everything. Edit: after I commented James confirmed that it is indeed used haha. Its awesome how mint Japanese stuff is.
One retro item i have, and i never seen people talk about is the gameboy micro. Its just a tiny gba with a changeable front. I spent the week playing kong: the 8th wonder due to a lack of internet.
I'm sure that DDR Disney Rave had a U.S. version. At least I remember it being demoed with a Playstation at a Fry's Electonics (may that chain rest peacefully) in Sacramento.
I like how you're gradually becoming more like Wade behind the camera as time goes on lol 6:39 Is that an all-in-one Famicom/FDS unit?! Never knew they made such a thing!
