Famicom Climate in Japan

[vealchop]

Maybe this is more a question for our friends currently living in Japan, but I was just wondering, what is the famicom scene like in Japan? Are there a lot of collectors of Famicom stuff over there or is it bigger overseas? A lot of really rare famicom stuff seems to be pretty readily available if you know where to shop in Japan, which leads me to believe that a lot of people get rid of their old stuff a lot more than collectors do here? Plus they seem to take so much better care of their items in Japan as opposed to here, I've been to some flea markets and you'd be shocked at the condition of most retro games I've seen at those places.

[featherplucknfilms]

The scene's really big here, why do you think they keep releasing all these Famicom related toys, alarm clocks, pillows, etc. People are still loving it.  And yeah you can find lots of items for sale so its not  like everyone is holding onto there stuff for dear life.  You can usually find rare stuff in stores but those things are almost always ridiculously priced in the stores.  So they're available if you can pay the price.   I guess it compares to just how the scene is for NES in US, its a part of everyones past so they love it and  its still fun.  There are collectors and there are casual players.  I guess the biggest difference is there are more shops that sell retro stuff.    Almost every game store has a section for Famicom, or at least the cooler ones do    but prices can be super variable, two shops next to each other could have very differnt prices.  One game could be cheap at one and expensive at the other while a different game could be just the opposite.  But, so just like US theres people who found there system in their closet after 15 years and sell it off and people who buy "I am a teacher : Mario's Sweater" for $400.  I'm sure Famicom collectors in US keep there stuff more often though, just because its not as readily available.  Oh yeah, and Japanese definitely take much better care of there stuff and are much more picky about it.  Some stores give a rating for the games and even C ratings look good to me!!

[vealchop]

Wow! Thanks for all the insight man! I've seen pics of the shops in Akihabara, I could hang out in there all day! What are some of the things that dictate the price differences between shops over there? Do the shops that are in major areas charge more than shops in more suburban areas or is it just hit or miss? Do the people who work at the stores know their stuff or are they just working there because its a job and are not really fans? I only ask this because I've had so many bad experiences with people who work at game stores here in the states, from sales people who don't know shit to people behind the register being complete dicks.

[featherplucknfilms]

Yeah man, Akihabara is awesome.  I miss it a lot now that I moved away from Tokyo.  Definitely the shops in major areas are cheaper but even those can vary completely.  I have no idea why, it seems completely random to me.  Usually not huge differences but enough to wanna shop around before you buy if you don't really know what is a good price.  Also, of course, some stores are generally more expensive than others.    And actually my Japanese is really bad so I can't conversate too much with employees but they seem knowledgable as far as I can tell and I'm sure they love games.  And no slaes clerk is EVER a dick in Japan at any store, it's really sad going back to US in that aspect actually. Theres one shop in Akihabara that is owned by a family and its usually the mother/grandmother? who is there.  She's in her 50's or 60's and she knows her stuff!  Whenever I woudl ask if they have a game she always knows exactly what I'm talking about, even when I'm fumbling out parts of the name with my crappy American accent!!!

[JC]

Awesome, featherpluck. Damn how cool to hop around those shop like you get to. I wonder what some of these shops look like. Here in the US, at least where I live the gaming stores are all mega-corporate and well-organized, almost sterile. I enjoy a shop where things are scattered about -- I know you've said you have to dig around to find stuff sometimes. Most of the stores here around DC have moved on from 8-bit gaming. I only know of one store, and it ain't very good, that has NES games. I've only ever found one store in the US with Famicom games and that was in NYC, but I hear Texas has a good pirate market. Do they have stores there that are devoted to retro gaming, all messy and fun, or are all the stores a mix of the new and the old, very well-organized? I know you mentioned stores having a "Famicom section," so I bet there's a mix of types of stores.

Oh, and what sort of Famicom stuff do you find in the coveted space within a protective glass display case? -- probably that Mario's Sweater game, geez. I'm curious what other quirky items Japanese collectors drool over.

[vealchop]

I know of two stores in NYC that carry famicom games. J&L Trading on Elizabeth Street in Chinatown has some stuff, they have more post 16-bit stuff though, 80% import games, but their prices are RIDICULOUS! Then theres a video game store on St. Marks, filled to the brim with retro stuff, lot of pre-nintendo games and systems, the store is packed. This place is also very expensive though. They have a disk system in there for 300 bucks behind glass, and usually theres always kids in there just asking to play PS2 games. I found one place here in Chicago out in the suburbs that carries retro games, barely any famicom and their selection is pretty scant. I've dealt with a place in Seattle, Pink Godzilla Games, great store run by some great guys, they have a website you can buy stuff from, and they'll bargain if you buy multiple items.

Hopefully I'll visit Japan in the next 2 or 3 years and get to experience some real game stores.

[featherplucknfilms]

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

Here's a good site with a bunch of store pix from some stores in Osaka.  Super Potato also has a Tokyo/Akihabara store which looks very similar, that store is kinda like the mecca I guess, but sometimes they can be expensive.  There are some stores that specialize just in retro stuff, like Super Potato.  Then other stores sell everything.  The bigger stores have multiple floors, one for retro, one for portable, one for ps, one for xbox, one for dating sim/sex pc games, and so on.....you guys would love it!

[Doc]

I've only ever found one store in the US with Famicom games and that was in NYC

Ok, you must tell me. NOW!

[JC]

The bigger stores have multiple floors, one for retro, one for portable, one for ps, one for xbox, one for dating sim/sex pc games, and so on.....you guys would love it!

Holy damn! That many floors for one store! No way. Is a store with that many floors independent or part so a chain? I've never seen anything that massive here. The Nintendo World Store in NYC is only two floors and has hardly anything worth time in it, with the cool exception of three glass cases with NES console prototypes and other stuff, like, for some reason, a melted GameBoy played during the Gulf War.

[vealchop]

Cool I was at the Nintendo World store last xmas time. I asked the dude who worked there if it was a working prototype, he said it was. I asked him what game it was running and he didn't know, I'm guessing he was wrong and it was just a model. It was definately cool to see an NES Version of the Famicom Keyboard though! Also, I guess Nintendo World NYC is the only place outside of Japan that sells "King of Games" t-shirts. They're like 65 bucks! I picked up a Nintendo World NYC t-shirt for 10 bucks instead, and a bunch of namcot famicom gashapon toys that they had at the register for 3 bucks each! I bought 6 and almost got the full set on my first try.

[super56k]

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

Here's a good site with a bunch of store pix from some stores in Osaka.  Super Potato also has a Tokyo/Akihabara store which looks very similar, that store is kinda like the mecca I guess, but sometimes they can be expensive.  There are some stores that specialize just in retro stuff, like Super Potato.  Then other stores sell everything.  The bigger stores have multiple floors, one for retro, one for portable, one for ps, one for xbox, one for dating sim/sex pc games, and so on.....you guys would love it!

O_O...  My friend went to Japan for like four days about a year ago, he asked my what souvenir I would want.  I said "Bring me back a FamiCom,."  He gave me a couple of cool Japanese toys, and said that he could not find a FamiCom.... LIES!!!!!!!

[Doc]

It might've been too expensive...

I personally would've asked for games.

[super56k]

It might've been too expensive...

I personally would've asked for games.

That's just it, he went to Japan, and did not bring back a single game.  He went all over the place, even made like a hour video with his digital camera.  He went in and out of all sorts of game stores.   .....and did not bring back a single game.

In the video, he sees a second floor shop, with no sign.  The stair case leading up however, had each step labled with the name of a game system.  All the way up the stairs; Dreamcast, Playstation, Nintendo64... etc.  So, he shuts off the camera, and when it comes back on, he is walking down the steps commenting on how it was only an import shop for USA games!!! LOL 

[Japan-Games.com]

Hey there

I just thought I'd give my 2 cents worth since I was in Super Potato yesterday.

This is just my personal experience, and personal experiences can vary wildly in Japan.  I've been here for about 4 years and I've been doing game sales for about 3 years.  So depending on time and location in Japan people can have a lot of different stories and experiences.

The retro scene is mostly dying in shops that sell a variety of different products.  A few years ago you could find decent retro sections in older stores like Book Off which sell all used items but mostly they're selling off their stuff without replacing it.  The shops that sell new games are also phasing out their older sections as well, stores like Tsutaya. 

It's probably a mix of both Yahoo Auctions and the fact that retro really has no place to go at the point.  The gamers get older and other items start to compete for their dollars like the 360 and PS3.  The new gamers added to the mix every year just don't care as much about retro.  People can sell their stuff on Yahoo and get better prices than stores are offering so that's probably taken a bite out of trade-ins.

I'm mostly a DenDen Town guy.  Akihabara is nice but it's a lot bigger and has more stores that retro people aren't interested in.  So it feels like you have to do a lot more work just to find the same supplies that you can find on two streets in DenDen.  I spent the last three days there and did some buying:

Disk-kun stationary set
Disk-kun US Golf
Punch-Out!! Gold
Playstation 3
Famicom Mini Volume 1, 2, and 3
Casio PV-1000 with 7 games
Gakken TV-Boy
Neo Geo Top Loading Console
Neo Geo Front Loading Console
Neo Geo AES Console
PC-FX software

The stores are mostly the same players:  Super Potato, Softmap, Game Tiger, Mandarake.  Super Potato was bursting when I was there.  They had excess Saturn games in boxes on the floor.  I noticed a couple of stores closed down from when I was last there and I'm guessing that they stocked up on some cheap inventory.

The supply and prices are all over the place.  I saw two Game & Watch Disk-kuns but both were over $600 but they were also complete.  I saw only one stationary set and a few golf disks, but mostly over $400.   Softmap has a stack of 2 Neo Geo Metal Slug AES carts for $1,500 each.  There were a couple of Vectrex machines.  Game Tiger had a reall cool glass case with a Famicom Box, Atari 2800 boxed, and a Bandai TV-Jack 5000 AddOn all in a row.  Those are some pretty rare items, but all too expensive. I think the Atari was $400, the bandai was $200, and I don't remember a price for the Famicom Box.

I saw at least 3 boxed PC Engine LTs, a Darius Alpha HuCard, A Lady Cassette Vision (<--- very, very, very rare but still not worth it at $400), a Panzer Dragoon XBOX (first time to ever see that in a store, only 999 of them), 3 Famicom Lite Guns, etc.  It still has a ton of cool items I've never seen before like a game soundtrack on record. 

But mostly that stuff is in a display case where it's sat for years with price tags that were appropriate before Yahoo Auctions.  About 90% of the rare stuff is cheaper on eBay.  The sales staff I talk to are usually younger people who know nothing about retro gaming and don't understand that a Neo Geo CD of Samurai Spirits 4 shouldn't be on the shelf for $100.   Or they don't know a set has the wrong cables or what should be included.

It is amazing to see the items in person, tho, like seeing a movie star or something, but you aren't any closer to getting any action heh.  Just when you think you have a lot of knowledge about rare video games you walk into one of those stores and see games priced at $500 that you never even knew existed.  Just seeing it all in front of you and knowing you're looking at $5,000 worth of items in one glass case is pretty cool and worth the experience, if you ask me.

If you search long enough you will find a deal that you'll like.  Usually I spend my first day walking through each store and taking a mental note of any inventory that I might like.  I also have a PDA for things I want to make notes about to research on ebay.  Then the second day I return and actually purchase, and on the third day I do one more swing through the popular stores just to make sure I didn't miss anything.  The games are packed so tightly in the store that you can easily miss something that was hidden behind something else.

Anyway, to answer the original question more to the point, I think Famicom as a playable system is dying on the fringe and is mostly only found in the major game stores that really cater to the retro crowd.  That will probably happen more and more in the future and not just with the Famicom.  Famicom has spawned so many characters that a lot of companies are making toys and other products but the actual consoles aren't being played as much.  I'm sure more collector's pop up every year but they can't outpace the people leaving the market and the lower prices reflect that.

We'll see what the future holds...

Eric
Japan-Games.com

[vealchop]

Wow that was great! Thanks for the big write up! Do you do a lot of shopping in Osaka? I keep hearing the really classic Nintendo stuff is easier to find there.