Messages

1

General / Re: Going to Japan, recommendations?

« on: June 25, 2016, 11:00:18 am »

As what some other's have said, the western collecting craze has really decimated Japan's second hand retro gaming market. I've even heard of people moving to Japan just to find and resell games on Ebay. If you can, hit up a shop called Super Potato. They are likely completely cleaned out of have adjusted their prices, but they used to be an absolute goldmine a few years ago. They are in Akihabara. I also think they have a location in Kyoto.

Thanks for the reply.  Yes, I am not getting my hopes up much.  There is a Super Potato in Nagoya (their most recently opened store I believe, but many have also been closing).  I will try to get to it.
These are my pickups from the last trip:
http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,4571.msg56429.html#msg56429

Did most of my video game hunting today. Book Off Plus was pretty good to me. Picked up the remaining Taiko no Tatsujin PS2 games I needed plus Bomberman Battles, a boxed super famicom, a couple extra controllers, and SF Final Fantasy VI.  They had 4 shrink-wrapped Wiis with all accessories for 1000yen ($10), but I'll be having to get creative to get the sfami back already and don't really need another wii.
Super Potato had a lot of stuff, including a good selection of PCE Hu/CD/SCD, Saturn, DC, and Megadrive that Bookoff lacked, but their prices were quite high.
Didn't get to go to HardOff (yet). Not sure how much more game shopping I'll be able to do though.

2

General / Re: First Game Ever Purchased

« on: April 19, 2016, 12:29:02 pm »

The first game I can remember buying was Zaxxon on cassette for Atari 400.  Wonder if I still have that somewhere...
Actually earlier I guess, I did buy Raiders of the Lost Ark for Atari 2600 for a friend for his birthday before I had any game consoles or computers.

3

Site Feedback / iphone problem

« on: April 18, 2016, 11:46:49 am »

I have an iPhone 5, and have a real problem with the VGCollect interface on the device.  In "popover" modal windows with forms (i.e. add item to collection, add gallery image)  the builtin safari browser can't seem to understand the dimensions of the modal, and will only let it scroll to the very bottom of the window.  This puts the submit button in the bottom area that brings up the toolbar if you try to tap it.  Trying to scroll or zoom tries to affect the page behind the modal rather than the modal itself.  Very frustrating if I just entered information on a new purchase, and I can see the submit button but can't hit it. 
Fixing it might be as simple as adding more bottom padding to .modal-footer on mobile devices.

I wonder if I am doing something wrong since I couldn't find any other complaints about this issue in the forums.

4

General / Re: Going to Japan, recommendations?

« on: April 15, 2016, 12:13:52 pm »

As what some other's have said, the western collecting craze has really decimated Japan's second hand retro gaming market. I've even heard of people moving to Japan just to find and resell games on Ebay. If you can, hit up a shop called Super Potato. They are likely completely cleaned out of have adjusted their prices, but they used to be an absolute goldmine a few years ago. They are in Akihabara. I also think they have a location in Kyoto.

Thanks for the reply.  Yes, I am not getting my hopes up much.  There is a Super Potato in Nagoya (their most recently opened store I believe, but many have also been closing).  I will try to get to it.
These are my pickups from the last trip:
http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,4571.msg56429.html#msg56429

5

General / Re: Going to Japan, recommendations?

« on: April 15, 2016, 11:38:49 am »

My bro did go to Japan a few weeks ago, but he wasn't able to do any game-related stuff besides going to local arcades. But he does reccomend checking those out, as they have some really nice ones that are multistory and have specific game genres on each floor.

Yes!  We have visited arcades every time I have gone.  I have noticed them moving more toward redemption games (UFO Catcher/ etc) just like here.  I'm a fan of the Taiko no Tatsujin series, so I always try to get in a few games.  This time we will likely go to Disney, so arcade time may be less.

6

General / Re: Going to Japan, recommendations?

« on: April 15, 2016, 11:31:40 am »

Yeah, having sorting and/or filtering options is definitely something a lot of users (admin included) have been asking for and is on the radar for future improvements to the site.

It will be nice.  But I'm sure it will take a substantial overhaul, not least because the region seems to be baked into the category field rather than being an independent field (at least in the exports), and non-existent in hardware/accessories

I'm excited and envious of your trip! I've only gone once, and that was back in 2013 (feels like ages ago) but didn't get a chance to go by Super Potato. I made a quick trip to one of the Hard Offs (maybe one in Akiba?) but didn't come across anything that piqued my interest.

Thanks!  I am going with my wife and 6-year-old daughter, so used game stores aren't at the top of the list, but hopefully I can make it to a few.  As others have said, shops in the metro areas are the most picked over, so I probably won't go in the Tokyo/Yokohama area. Mostly Nagoya.

Are you mostly interested in the games themselves only or also looking into the goodies that are in region-specific CEs? Their variety of figurines and such are amazing, though I always wonder where people keep all these things when the houses are fairly on the small side 

Mostly games, systems, and interesting controllers.  I am also interested in gachapon miniatures of game systems, and maybe some non-game-related  tchotchkes (Gatchaman phoenix or completing my medicom Tron toy collections).  Limited time to look, limited space to pack it back, and a mildly disapproving wife will govern a lot of that 

7

General / Re: Going to Japan, recommendations?

« on: April 14, 2016, 06:22:37 pm »

Relatedly- It would be super nice to be able to sort my wishlist by country and then platform so I could quickly look for (say) JP games when I am in Japan.  Guess I can do that myself by exporting my wishlist, but it looks like the Alternate Name (which often has the -kana/kanji name) isn't included in an export.

8

General / Going to Japan, recommendations?

« on: April 14, 2016, 04:51:20 pm »

I'm making another trip to Japan this year.  Nagoya/Kyoto/Yokohama.
Any tips on any videogame related things to look for?  I have no systems newer than PS3, but most consoles PS3 -> Genesis/TG16/SNES.
I've taken trips to Japan in 2005, 2011, and 2014.  I have noticed the "recycle" shops like Hard Off/Book Off have generally gotten progressively worse each time for finding nice old video game stuff.  I guess that is kind of a worldwide thing.  If I had the benefit of future knowledge, I would have got a whole lot more in '11, when I recall seeing stacks of Saturns and PCEngines at Hard Off very cheap.
From articles I have read, seems like a combination of foreign buyers, online auctions, and some resurgence in popularity of old games has pretty much gutted the (cheap) brick&mortar market.  Regardless, I do plan to check out the Book Off group stores around Nagoya, and probably Super Potato, and see what they have. 

9

Modern Video Games / Re: PS3/X360/Wii Cool Imports List

« on: November 24, 2014, 12:43:45 am »

I decided to create this thread because it was mentioned that a separate list should be created for some imports. I'll start off with some.
PS3: ( Easiest console for imports, only games locked are Persona 4 Arena, and Way of the Samurai 3 for Slim models')

Okami- Action game that is like the PS2 and Wii versions, but in HD, and also has a Hong Kong Version with English text options.

Note the Japanese version of Okami Zekkei-ban has English text when installed on a US PS3.  You don't have to seek out the Asia/HK version.  But even though it is a physical disk, you have to install the whole 7+GB game in order to play (and also have the disk in)

10

Off Topic / Re: Anyone been to japan before?

« on: September 27, 2014, 12:44:53 pm »

Anyone been to japan before?

Yes, three times so far. Pics of stuff from my most recent visit in March is here. http://vgcollect.com/forum/index.php/topic,4571.msg56429.html#msg56429

11

General / Re: March 2014 - Recently Added to Collection/Recently Purchased

« on: March 28, 2014, 11:09:20 am »

Those Tron things look sweet - I'd love to see a closer shot of those. 

I'll try to get some better shots soon.  Meanwhile, there are some nice pictures of them in these articles:
http://toyhaven.blogspot.com/2010/04/medicom-kubrick-tron-set-b-revisited.html
http://toyhaven.blogspot.com/2010/04/medicom-kubrick-tron-set-c-d-revisited.html
http://toyhaven.blogspot.com/2007/09/tron-group-shot.html

I wasn't really expecting to find them, I have been watching them go for about $50+ each on ebay for years.  At $7.50, seemed worth the hassle of getting them to fit in my luggage.  They were bigger boxes than I had thought.

12

General / Re: March 2014 - Recently Added to Collection/Recently Purchased

« on: March 27, 2014, 06:49:58 pm »

Hi,
First post, though I have been tracking my collection here for a while.

Took a trip to Japan earlier this month.  This is what I came back with.
-3 of the 4 Tron Medicom/Kubrick sets (B, C, and D)  ¥750 each
-Rez (PS2) ¥250
-Cybersled (PS1) ¥105 (New, sealed)
-Macross VF-X2 (PS1) ¥500
-Okami HD (PS3) ¥2000
(Those from Book Off/Book Off + in Nagoya)

-Bomberman 1-3 (SFC) ¥1000 for 3
-Bomberman 4 (SFC) ¥1190
-Saturn Multitap S-BOM SS ¥2100
(From a random classic game shop in Nagoya.  They also had a bunch of the miniature gashapon game console models, "Not for sale"  Saturn Twin-stick for ¥2100 (too big to pack or ship back) )

Nausicaa Moewe model from Ghibli Museum in Tokyo

Also visited a Hard Off in Nagoya that had a lot of stuff the last time I visited, but was a bit bare this time.  They had a set of DC Maracas for Samba de Amigo for ¥500, but with the sensor bar, too big to fit in my bag.