Japan's best kept secret, until now!

neorichieb1971 · Post by **neorichieb1971** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 8:31 am

http://tokyopia.com/tk/archives/000378.php

Check it out, MINT condition RSG's for Y3000 ($30) WOOOOT!

Best read it all, it will only take you 10 minutes. Lots of pics for you to foam at the mouth at!

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 11:07 am

Don't believe everything you here. There are mispriced items all over the world... not just Japan. Something like that is a fluke, and why most tourists are usually disappointed by the time they get to Japan.

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 3:29 pm

Yeah, and I've seen $10 sealed Tactics Ogre and Rhapsody in TRU, $20 sealed Valkyrie Profile in Wal-Mart, and $30 sealed Suikoden II in Gamestop before. Doesn't mean you'll ever come across those deals. Not to mention RSG was a $40 new game at EB back when they carried Saturn imports for a short time.

LoneSage · Post by **LoneSage** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 4:27 pm

I was more interested in all the pictures; I'd probably lose all bodily functions if I ever went to Super Potato Osaka.

Hey Gaijin, have you ever been to any of those stores in that article?

kong · Post by **kong** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 5:06 pm

When did EB ever charge $40 for an import game? They used to have crazy import prices when they tinkered with selling imports in the saturn era. My local eb's had rsg for $80 back when it was a new import release.

The n00b · Post by **The n00b** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 5:39 pm

This was a secret? I've been telling everyone ,for like years, that the whole RSG thing was a stupid scam. The game is not rare, just overpriced. Want to pirate RSG? Go ahead. You won't hurt the collector's market since there could be a billion copies of RSG out there and it will still be overpriced. Most of those people don't even want to play the game, they just cream their pants because they have "an unopened mint condition RSG with a fingerprint of a treasure programmer in the top left corner!" I swear that when I finally move on to Saturn collecting I'm going to buy one mint copy of RSG and post pictures on here of me tearing up the spine card and grinding the jewel case into tiny shards under my foot.

judesalmon · Post by **judesalmon** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 7:05 pm

When I went to Tokyo in December I was really disappointed that I didn't get to go to Osaka - the best videogame shopping in Japan.

greg · Post by **greg** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 7:09 pm

Aaaaahhh... pics of Super Potato in Osaka's Den Den Town! Natsukashii!

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 8:55 pm

kong wrote:When did EB ever charge $40 for an import game? They used to have crazy import prices when they tinkered with selling imports in the saturn era. My local eb's had rsg for $80 back when it was a new import release.

Sucks for you then. Towards the end of that period, my EBs were clearing their Saturn games out for $40. Told a friend about either DBZ Legends or UB22 at the time for $40; he went out a week later and couldn't find anything. Went back 2 weeks later and sure enough, no more Saturn games.

LoneSage · Post by **LoneSage** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 9:03 pm

I know a guy who bought Radiant Silvergun for $60 at EB or GameStop back in the 90s, so it appears that the prices fluctuated across the country.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 11:42 pm

Super Potato in Akihabara is the only store in the original article that I had been to. It's still relatively new since it's competitors have been there for years.... long before I ever went. Super Potato is definitely worth going to... just for the stacks of stuff, and the rarieites in the showcase. You can find some decent-priced stuff, but most of it is too pricey.

The other shops worth going to in Akihabara:

Medialand: Way overpriced (always has been) but their cockiness seems to come in waves. I have gotten good deals from the showcase even. They used to be the only shop in town with a LOT of $100+ games for old systems.

Trader: Started as one store, but expanded becoming Medialands biggest opponent, and opened up Trader 2 just down the street. They've got about the same amount of rarities as medialand on any given day I'd say, but Trader 2 is a smaller store. For what it's worth, Trader 2 had multiple copies of Delisoba Deluxe, Eyeful Home, and Heim Waltz all at the same time (probably still do).

Messe Sanno is a great place to buy games when they first come out, b/c just about all new relaeses get some type of bonus. Whether it be a poster, or a telephone card. They also get some weird shipments from time to time. They got about 100 Princess Crowns LONG after distribution had stopped, and listed them for 4800 yen (I bought 4). They also got a stack of Derby Stallion Saturns, just a few years ago, and sold them for 5000 yen apiece.

The only time I went to Osaka was to party, so didn't make it to the game shops, unfortunately. Stupid move probably, but I had a good time.

NOTE: I'm in the process of making an Akihabara flash map for Japanese Gaming. I actually started it before I moved, then Gamespy went tits up for a while, so I put that on hold. I'll probably get back into it, but could probably use a better source map than what have. If anyone has anything to add, that'd be great.

Blue Lander · Post by **Blue Lander** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 12:31 am

GaijinPunch wrote:NOTE: I'm in the process of making an Akihabara flash map for Japanese Gaming. I actually started it before I moved, then Gamespy went tits up for a while, so I put that on hold. I'll probably get back into it, but could probably use a better source map than what have. If anyone has anything to add, that'd be great.

Say, now there's a good idea. I don't know if I'll ever go to Japan, but if I did I'd like to know the best place to get loot. I'd probably return with my own weight in X68000 and PC Engine games!

Kakizaki · Post by **Kakizaki** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 3:10 am

When did EB ever charge $40 for an import game? They used to have crazy import prices when they tinkered with selling imports in the saturn era. My local eb's had rsg for $80 back when it was a new import release.

I was able to get RSG at EB for $54.99, TF V for 29.99 and Metal Slug for 45-50 bucks -- pretty good prices for new titles if you ask me.

greg · Post by **greg** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 4:11 am

GaijinPunch wrote:Super Potato in Akihabara is the only store in the original article that I had been to. It's still relatively new since it's competitors have been there for years....

Wow, a Super Potato in Akihabara? How long has it been there? There were several locations in Den Den Town, but now there's only one. The rest of the locations are now called Big Tiger.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 4:36 am

I don't know. There were times when I didn't go to Akihabara for say.... a year or so, like when I got sucked into 8 months of PSO. :/ I think it's definitely been in the last two years though. I would've never found it, but they were blaring some Legend of Zelda MIDI from the 2nd floor... it was almost like it was calling me.

The rest of the locations are now called Big Tiger.

Trying to think of which is worse for a games store. Super Potatoe or Big Tiger.

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 5:36 am

Kakizaki wrote:
When did EB ever charge $40 for an import game? They used to have crazy import prices when they tinkered with selling imports in the saturn era. My local eb's had rsg for $80 back when it was a new import release.
I was able to get RSG at EB for $54.99, TF V for 29.99 and Metal Slug for 45-50 bucks -- pretty good prices for new titles if you ask me.

Which is why I still kick myself for not purchasing that TFV instead of my first Dual Shock. It's all your fault, Sony!

Neon · Post by **Neon** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 5:43 am

I got TF5 saturn for $35 shipped just recently...not that big a difference

Dylan1CC · Post by **Dylan1CC** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 2:17 pm

Back in September '98 me and my family were visiting relatives in WA. The very first time I saw RSG was in an EB there. $29.99! Much earlier the year before I had bought Mischief Makers and wanted to know all I could about Treasure. When I saw that not only was it a shooter but made by Treasure my eyes practically popped.

What I wouldn't have given to have had a modded Saturn at the time and a little extra cash.

Anyways, the pics from the store are very cool.

Blue Lander · Post by **Blue Lander** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 3:45 pm

I wish I had taken advantage of Electronics Boutique back when they carried Saturn imports. The only one I bought from them was the MSX collection, but I forget how much I paid for it.

judesalmon · Post by **judesalmon** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 8:42 pm

Akihabara is quite the experience for a gamer. Or anyone actually. The manga porn shops outnumber the games shops though...

Ord · Post by **Ord** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 8:48 pm

judesalmon wrote:Akihabara is quite the experience for a gamer. Or anyone actually. The manga porn shops outnumber the games shops though...

I couldn't believe the number of hentai stores i saw there. All my wife could mutter was..."very strange"

judesalmon · Post by **judesalmon** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 8:50 pm

Ord wrote:
judesalmon wrote:Akihabara is quite the experience for a gamer. Or anyone actually. The manga porn shops outnumber the games shops though...
I couldn't believe the number of hentai stores i saw there. All my wife could mutter was..."very strange"

I couldn't help but laugh at how filthy some of that stuff was.

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 4:52 am

I lived in Osaka for one year, and I'm up in Gunma (~100km north of Tokyo) right now. I've been to multiple Super Potatos (Potatoes? What do you do with a store name in this case?

) and Big Tigers and what have you...

Yes, the selection at stores like that is great. Fantastic. You'll never see a selection like that in the states. Naturally, as these are all Japanese games. The stores are cramped as hell, but still a ton of fun to visit. Note that you'll pretty much never find a really good deal in either Den-Den Town (Osaka's mini-Akihabara) or in Akihabara... the days of stores not knowing or not caring about the value of collectors games are over. You want RSG? You'll pay RSG prices for it. Rare X68k games? The rare ones aren't cheap. I highly recommend coming to Japan to visit (tons of fun~) but don't expect to save vast amounts of money on rare games.

judesalmon · Post by **judesalmon** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 6:05 pm

Cthulhu wrote:I highly recommend coming to Japan to visit (tons of fun~) but don't expect to save vast amounts of money on rare games.

I got loads of stuff when I was there, and I did save a good deal of money, than if I'd bought the stuff here (mainly my PSP and Sakura DC).

Post by **BulletMagnet** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 6:35 pm

Cthulhu wrote:I've been to multiple Super Potatos (Potatoes? What do you do with a store name in this case?)

"Let's call the whole thing off."

greg · Post by **greg** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 7:11 pm

judesalmon wrote:I got loads of stuff when I was there, and I did save a good deal of money, than if I'd bought the stuff here (mainly my PSP and Sakura DC).

Hey, great! Now I know I'm not the only one here who can brag about having a pink Sakura Taisen DC.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 11:49 pm

I think I might be the only one here that can brag about having a Biohazard Stars DC.

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 1:18 am

DantesInferno's Star Wars DC OWNz your puny game systems, human.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 5:37 am

I'll keep my STARS, thanks.

greg · Post by **greg** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 5:49 am

Specineff wrote:DantesInferno's Star Wars DC OWNz your puny game systems, human.

Huh? That wasn't an official release, was it? If not, IT DOESN'T COUNT!