A big old chat on retro game shopping in Japan 2024, it's not a scam and my recent bargain pickups

Youtube's algorithm is finally doing good to me. I hit the sub button very quickly lol. Great Video!

Thing to add regarding Super Potato. Yes they have a high price point. From that, you are not just buying an old cartridge. They actually recondition the pcb and replace the cmos batteries. Proper reconditioning steps are taken for all cartridges they sell.

Your videos are great, and you come across very well. Whenever I see a new one, I immediately click on them and watch. Never doubt yourself!

one of these days I would like to take a trip over to the country so I appreciate the reality checks and the useful tips you provided my only experience with buying Japanese games as of now are the options I have living in America, sometimes imported games show up at game stores out here but mostly I tend to buy games online either through proxy services or other online shops I'm trying to go for a complete retail Famicom cartridge set and thankfully outside of the well known expensive games prices haven't ballooned like crazy on that stuff so it's been fun picking up cheap carts as I find em and as long as I can have fun with this hobby then the least of my worries is claiming things are scams because you aren't willing to pay for an expensive item lol

Hello Vix, I could listen to you all day! I cherish your passion, and I am grateful for the opportunity to tune into your channel. I’m now inspired to start my own retro-game collection, though it may not happen too soon. If I were in Japan, perhaps it would be a different story. I’d probably end up declaring ‘game over’ on my finances from buying too many games and mangas! Nonetheless, I love seeing you amidst your collection, sharing your knowledge with us, it’s truly a gift and for that I am grateful. I understand the appeal of owning original cartridges in their original boxes, which have a presence and weight of their own and an historical an artistic value, plus interacting with people who work in that sector, visiting real shops, and scrolling through the shelves in search of something special or inspiring. I’ve only recently begun to revisit retro games, and I’ve learned more in the last two months than ever before. When I play a new game, I actually feel the need to see how the original box was made, so I look for those in digital format, which is sad, really. (The last random thing I've learned is that the original player-2 controller for the famicom had a built-in microphone, which you could use in ‘The Legend of Zelda’ to defeat the Pols Voice monster by shouting into it and in Takeshi's Challange you had to sing into it to progress into the game) I recently acquired one of those handheld consoles you mentioned in your video, specifically the Miyoo Mini Plus, with OnionOS and Retroachievements. I wanted a readily accessible system, something to eaily pick up, turn on and play. But more than that I consider it like a portable museum of retro video games rather than just a handheld device, I purchased two of them in case one should die on me. I wanted to explore some retro games in the most comfortable way while modernizing the experience with retro-achievements, which, although I’m not heavily into it, it's a nice concept in my opinion, I love when things transcend time and space and open up. It may not be as ergonomic and solid as a real Game Boy, though, but you can simulate the overlay display and the light of day. I couple of months ago I wouldn't even consider these kind of things but at least now I have no more excuses to delay when I crave some retro-game hour. And even though it’s not entirely fair to have a library of fifteen thousand games on a single device that can emulate over fifty different systems—twelve of which are retro handheld consoles that perform splendidly, (even one of those WonderSwan that I've seen in some of your video) and two of which are the Commodore and the Amiga, complete with simulated floppy-drive or cassette loading sounds—it doesn’t compare to having a personal library of tangible boxes and manuals, from that point of view it feels kind of lame unless you have both. The digital experience is only half the journey, if not less, considering the effort involved in creating and following a quest to purchase those games, as you do in Japan, and the resources invested. It’s akin to those modern RPGs or JRPGs if you think about it where you traverse a vast map in search of collectibles, except it’s real life. They should make a video game about collecting rare retro video games in Japan, where you battle against mythical yōkai and rivals you fight along the way, for the best finds. Gambatte!

Cex would class those boxes as mint 😂😂 Great video.

Long Time thought id check how your doing in Japan , really happy your doing great and the bargin pickups are fantastic

Today the YouTube Goddesses introduced me to your channel. I am tempted to just sit and have all her videos play on one gigantic loop on my TV today.

Yeah, last time I went to Super Potato and then went to look on the bookoffs and Traders and find some bargains. In every country are some tourist tramps and SP is one of them, is cool to go and see the place and maybe buy some stuff reasonably priced but the retro/vintage scavengers know that the best stuff takes time to find and a little more effort than just go to a place.

Hey thanks for the shout-out! 😊 Btw: Dr.Mario sucks just as much as Outrun on the Amiga 😂

Most JP mainstream retro games are nicely priced, and in better average conditions than their western counterparts. Only those games that are rare, or for huge collectors, have, sometimes a very excessive price. Of course, almost all retro games are more expensive than years ago, they are older and more scarce :)

great video, thank you.

I only buy my Japanese games from Italian scalpers