Shopping for retro bootlegs while in China or Taiwan

[DarkKobold]

Has anyone here ever tried to shop for these old bootlegs while physically in China? Is it even possible? I know there is a smattering of old bootlegs on TaoBao. Is there even the possibility of finding treasure troves of old Hummer Team releases by shopping around in China?

[NintendoKing]

I'd say unlikely because for awhile Videogames were banned in China, thus all Videogames had to be turned over and destroyed. I know most were just exported for money beforehand to Russia and other places.

Taiwan is a different entity entirely, so there's possibility there for retro bootlegs.

[Flying_Phoenix]

You can find videogames and accessories in 'computer malls' and 'electronics malls' in most large cities of China, although physical shops tend to be fewer and fewer. Look for them in specific streets or malls, as they tend to concentrate near each other. You can still find lots of computer games and accessories for many consoles, most of it being non-official though. Retro stuff is pretty hard to find generally, unless you're happy with recent pirates for a variety of platforms like GB, GBA, DS, FC, MD and more. The real old stuff, be it official or not, is a rare sight in my experience.

As you can guess, they move their business to online shops or websites like Taobao.

As for the ban, there is some inaccurate information around the web. If the ban came into effect around 2000, a lot of stuff has been circulating in China in the 90s, official and not. Nintendo released Game Boy packs and games, and some shops imported genuine SFC and N64 material. Also, somebody needs to explain to me how Nintendo/iQue were able to release over a dozen GBA, GBA SP and DS consoles in different colours and packagings, and even some games, in Mainland China, if the ban was something as terrible as confiscating and destroying everything game-related. We are talking about 2000 to 2010, so I have a hard time buying this mainstream story. We need to research it more and better.

Not saying there was no ban, as there seem to have been. But you know, the whole iQue thing proves not everything was banned. Besides, there can be a ban, but still hundreds of factories producing games and circulating them. The ban itself doesn't mean authorities were enforcing it well, or at all. For what it's worth, I go to factories in China regularly. Most of them should be made illegal/closed down for a variety of reasons according to 'laws', yet everybody turns a blind eye. Business first, laws later.

[fcgamer]

Yeah, it's a misconception that the streets are paved with bootleg games, at least in Taiwan.  Can't answer about mainland China.  I've always assumed Hong Kong had easier access to the goodies, but I guess my preconceptions of that are the same as yours are for Taiwan / China, and that the reality is far different.

You can expect to find modern-made bootlegs at best.  You know, the cheap plastic xx in 1 cartridges found on Aliexpress and the like.  About ten years ago, my girlfriend had told me time and time again that there was stuff to be had, but things recently changed a lot.  You have the country cracking down on piracy a bit more than before (there as a semi-recent bust / arrest for selling DS cards and modern bootleg Famicom carts).  I can attest to this fact, when I first arrived in Taiwan I could find some vendors selling bootleg games, but that has been gone since maybe 2012 or 2013.

Then a lot of people are moving towards selling their items online, as it is just more profitable I guess.

And finally, the people just don't care about this sort of thing anymore.  Smart phone games are the rage, even stuff like the wii machines,  PS4, etc aren't overly popular it seems.

So you might find something here or there, but I wouldn't particularly waste time looking for it.

Edit:  Regarding Hummer Team stuff, a lot of that is incredibly rare, even over here.  Things like the full version Super Mario World just never show up, same with DK Country IV, Final Fight 3, etc. 

[Trenton_net]

To add, sure China had a ban but it was a pretty much a meaningless affair for the average user. If you wanted a legit modern console, you just purchased an imported one and installed a modchip. If you wanted retro games, you just bought the games outright. Since most clone manufactures built their systems into computer keyboards and sold them as educational products, they don't really count as a 'game' console. That means the software for them was easily available. It just 'happens' that the software is 100% the same as Famicom or Sega Genesis games.  

As for finding games in China, it's still easily available, but as a foreigner you won't be smacked in the face with people trying to sell them to you on every street corner or anything like that. The last time I was in China visiting family, a local mall department store had a game corner that sold loads of Subor machines and cartridges. A bunch of TVs were setup to demo games. The department representative even let me pick through the titles before buying to test them. It was pretty handy since a lot of the titles on the games are misleading, so in trying to track down some interesting games, I could see what I was getting before I pulled the trigger to buy.

Edit: I should also add that you can find game sellers at night markets as well. But the prices will be much more variable than buying from a storefront. Essentially, the amount of money you end up paying will greatly depend on your ability to communicate, to haggle, and to make friends. I've seen instances where tourists were gouged for almost 200%+ cost, just because they don't know Chinese and the seller knew he was their only choice. I've also been in instances where we've made friends with sellers and ended up getting bulk rates on FC/GB games as well as free gifts thrown in on top (like socks, packs of batteries, etc). In one case, to the point that the store owners wife came out and yelled at him publicly for "giving" away so much stuff and not making any profit. lol. He kind of just smiled and shrugged at her with that "friends are friends?" look.