Intro : Akihaba-blargh! The supposed retro game capital of the world is actually a shocking rip off!

 I`m writing this as someone that has been to this town more times than I　can count and the "first time visit" sparkle has more than worn off, so if you feel you might be offended or worried that your Tokyo trip might be ruined by my old man cynicism or lack of fanboyism or reverence in this review, you have been warned..


I like playing games, I like CHEAP, unboxed games I can play and not put in a display case to repel women.  I don`t care for JPop, Moe kei Pedocrap or whatever, I`m also not very good at writing but who cares.

So, Akihabara - A to the K to the B , most of you have heard about it.

The geek mecca of anime, games, gadgets toys, "moe kei" stompy robots, sausage factory teenage girl singers and pedophilic comics.

Because of these things, it is also Akihabara : Home of the awkward often pedophillic nerd shut-in otherwise known as the the Otaku.

You`ll find tons of articles online such as Brian Ashcraft`s top 10 Tokyo game stores on the guardian website, and other ones listing Akihabara`s "Secret" game shops, listing 20 story electronics superstores and super potato likethey are some kind of well guarded secret.. They really aren`t.

To be honest, most of Brian`s Recommendations are either no longer there, completely rubbish or absolutely pillaged in the post GCCX retro game boom, and if there were any "secret" places they`re for buying used vinyl, not games. 

*pushes hipster glasses back on face*



Ignoring the massive toecurling building-side posters splashed with pastel illustrations of half naked children for the latest PC Pedoshit game,the smell of BO and unwashed penis wafting around the computer stores, the gangs of "really not very pretty at all" girls with teeth like broken piano keys dressed as maids or schoolgirls, enticing you into whatever ratty office or bankrupted shop has been turned into a dodgy "maid cafe",  you can actually find a few places to buy old video games.

..At a price.



"Okaerinasai Goshujinsama!! Would you like to pay 20 pounds an hour to be my friend?"

The main places to "dig" in the AKB are Trader, Super Potato, Book Off, Mandarake, and Retro game camp, an easy to find store on the main street.
Except its not really digging, it kind of feels like paying 100 quid on In app purchases to get to the top of the high score table on a smartphone farming game.

As you may have gathered, I really don`t like the place that much. Its crowded, the Otaku often REEK, and the constant soulless warble of Hatsune Miku, and idol music that sounds like an unrehearsed junior girls school choir set to an electro beat leaking from every shop forces me to wear headphones whenever I go..
That guy that drove a truck into the pedestrianised area of akihabara that Sunday and started stabbing people? No headphones.

Nothing like a tasteless joke about mass murder to start a review of some retro games shops eh?

So, First off, Akiba Book Off.. my go-to high street choice for retro bargains and surprises!

Of course! the game nerd`s shop of choice in the kingdom of the ubergamenerd would be a magical place!!


Except its not. 

At all.

All you`ll find in here is cheap junk, and the occasional average "B-list" cart at about 400Y - no one sells retro stuff to AKB Book Off because there are places like Retro Game Camp and SUPER POTATO that buy at higher prices.

The upper floors do occasionally have game art books and the like, but the sheer traffic of collectors in this town means all the good shit goes fast.

Next up, the legendary SUPER POTATO!



If you think this shop is ridiculously named, I have a clothes shop for middle aged ladies in my neighbourhood called THE MISSILE CRISIS.

Super Potato! Legendary retro gaming shop! packed to the roof with retro gaming goodness..

Obscenely overpriced retro goodness!

To see everything there stacked up in front of you for the first time must be quite an overwhelming experience - especially when you haven`t visited a Kanteidan Warehouse..I can see how the urge to melt a credit card could take hold..



Yes, they have TONS of stuff, but in all honesty unless you are only going to go here, and here only, should you visit, I wouldn't recommend treating this place more than a museum.

Lets take a comparison price of say, an unboxed Ninja Gaiden 1 on famicom, a playable action classic.

Book Off : 105Y
Yahoo Japan : 200-400 Y
Super Potato : 1800+Y



You can see an UNBOXED super Mario 3 cart there for 1344Y, I bought a loose one from BOOK OFF for 105Y, and later, another boxed for 450Y

For most desirable games you could buy here you could get up to twenty elsewhere - It blows my mind why anyone who's a resident of japan would even come here to spend money.

Even a replacement belt drive for a famicom disc system is marked at 3000 yen, another x10 markup compared to Yahoo auctions.



Twenty bucks for an elastic band... Take that in.. Go on, look at it again, long and hard..

Twenty.

Bucks.

The only positive I can give the place is that you have a high chance of leaving with what you`re looking for.

The one bargain I did find was a loose galaga 88 PCE card for 250Y that i bought to test some junk PC Engines I picked up recently.

I was also after a PCE pad, but the one they had for 3600Y was heavily tobacco stained and looked like it had been chewed by a dog.

I also noticed that games featured on Game Center CX were also sold a premium items, including legendary "kusoge" (shit game) as "Super monkey adventure" and the Taito "Beat Takeshi" game.. these are also in the 2000Y mark for a loose cartridge, Again, I found both at a Book Off for 105Y each.

Don`t get me wrong, its a cool shop, but just not to buy things from !


"Like, OMFG! Dude! I`m like, totally getting ripped off ! I LOVE JAPAN!"

TRADER is a chain of used games store - they carry everything from DVD`s, modern games, used games.. it`s a good general place to dig around for stuff in general, especially more recent stuff like PS2 and 360 arcade sticks and the likes, its more a modern used games store than anything else..

8 bit gear is around the same price as anywhere else in AKB, and they also have a bargain bin, but its all junk like Book Off, if you are filling in gaps in your collection, or just wanting to bring tons of crap home because you found it in japan, you might be in luck.



Manadarake is also another chain, located all over Japan but they usually don`t carry retro gaming goods, mostly manga, toys etc, but this one has a retro game floor.


 
The slighty neo fascistic - looking slab that is Mandarake.

Prices are sometimes a little tamer than SP and some rarities CAN sometimes actually match the Yahoo auction asking price, each cartridge is also boxed in a clear case and carry a few underground rarities like Irem`s "Holy Diver" at a price that would equal a bid win plus shipping.

their PCE and megadrive games are also at the uncomfortable end of "reasonable", but its still not sensibly priced.

RETRO GAME CAMP

..Is another retro shop, you can easily find it from the masses of Famiclones on display and a loud TV at the front blaring out some game to appeal to the passers by nostalgia glands.

Prices are the same as SP, 2000 yen for something you`d want, 1000 Y for something you`d want to laugh at. - Hardware is also identically priced, but cleaner and I suspect refurbished.

There are other more hard to find back alley shops that might have a few carts but invariably nothing of value, and not worth spending all day hunting for,  although on my last digging run I came across a tiny shop specializing in idol singer trading cards that had a small shelf in the back with some carts, I scored a mint, complete in box QUINTY (Pokemon creator GAME FREAK`s first game) - its probably the only store I`ll go back to if I need to go there for electrical goods, although I was lucky at the time, as the times I have been back, there`s been nothing of note.

So, yeah, Akihabara.

They have it, if you have the cash..