Anything I should pick up while in Japan?

[Warp2063]

I'm in Tokyo at the moment. Now seems like the opportune moment to pick up some awesome stuff. I'm wondering what I should look for. I'm already planning to pick up some Super Famicom stuff. And I've kind of wanted a PC Engine for a while now...

[Xranger60]

Oh, yeah, just go ahead and get me a copy of Resident Evil 1.5, please!

On a serious note, enjoy tokyo!

Perhaps, if you don't have them already, the twin sticks that were so famous during the time of Virtual On? I would also try to grab one of those kool white Saturns-- they look so neat.

Maybe you could find a version of Saturn Bomberman there... could copies of that be more widely available?

[JerryTerrifying]

If you see a PC engine with the CD Add on and everything I'd be willing to pay up to $100 bones for one. OR a PC Engine Duo R also I can only go up to $100 bucks on it.

You'd be my freakin hero if you found one and sold that crap to me though

I would also say try and get the Twin Sticks for the Saturn. Maybe check out some wonder swan stuff on the cheap?

[Warp2063]

I'll see what I can find. There are some specific game shops we plan to go to in Akihabara on the weekend.

Please don't tempt me on the Wonderswan stuff. =P

[JerryTerrifying]

I would be eternally greatful if you helped me play some turbo CD games. That's like number one on my list a turbo duo R is number one on my most wanted list.

[Manji]

pretty cool man. i couldnt tell you what you pick up because your interest in certain games is probably a little different than mine, but since we're on the Saturn boards, i say pick up some Saturn games! actually, if you could find Doom, i remember Derek from here wanting that game because they actually tweaked it for the Japanese release.

[Warp2063]

Well, here's the scoop so far on what I saw in Akihabara today:

-I didn't see a Saturn Twin Stick, but I did see a Dreamcast one. Forgot to check the price. Big box.
-PC Engine, around 2000 yen. Cheap.
-PC Core Grafx. Forgot to check the price, but it was out of the box. Probably cheap.
-PC Engine Duo - not quite what you were looking for, but maybe it'll do? Unfortunately, it's 14600 yen. At the current exchange rate, that's about $170USD. I did see a PCFX, however. Don't know if it's compatible, but it was only 5700 yen.
-Saturn Memory carts around 1500 yen.
-Resident Evil Veronica Dreamcast system for 38800 yen. Ouch.
-Mega Adaptor (insert Master System carts into a Mega Drive model 1 but I don't know the compatibility with systems/games from other regions), 6000 yen.

I didn't see Doom while I was browsing, but I bet if I ask around, someone will have it. Unfortunately, I still haven't figured out how the Japanese organize stuff, so unless something catches my eye while I'm browsing or I specifically ask, it's hard for me to find specific titles. Didn't see Bomberman, either, but I'll ask around tomorrow when I'm not juggling so many things in my head or in my hands.

There were SO MANY different games for different systems at some of those stores. I wish I'd had more time, but as I said, I was carrying way too much in my head and in my hands. I made a note of the names of a few of them. Trader was a big one, and Retro Game was small but packed. I still haven't found Super Potato, which is another huge retro game store that my friends recommended. Hopefully they can show me where it is tomorrow.

I snatched up a bunch of Super Famicom games on the cheap as well as another controller and power supply for it. I may swing back and pick up Metal Wolf Chaos for the Xbox, which is something like 7600 yen. It's the one Xbox ISO I still have that I haven't replaced with a physical copy, only because you CAN'T FIND THE DARN THING as it only came out in Japan and no one seems to sell it on eBay. Scratch that - It is sold on eBay now... for almost 1.5 - 2x what I saw it for at Traders. Also, while I was grabbing Super Famicom stuff, I just happened to see a loose Saturn Twin Operator RG-VC2 on sale for a mere 1200 yen at Retro Game, which I quickly snapped up. I just looked up the guides I referenced back when I hunted down my RG-VC20 for more than that on eBay a while back... it's only an NTSC MPEG decoder (no PAL), and it says on the card itself that it will play PhotoCDs (although one of the guides disagrees with this... testing will be required when I get home). Still, great find! I'm excited to go hunting again tomorrow!

If you guys seriously want me to grab any of this stuff or any specific games, you need to let me know by maybe 9PM EST. It's going to be a challenge to fit more than one system in my luggage, though, and I wouldn't be surprised if I get charged some kind of import tax when bringing it back into the US. Be sure that it's something you are willing to and capable of paying for. I don't want to bring home a bunch of stuff that I don't really want. If it's not something I listed, let me know what you're willing to pay, and I can see if I can find it for that price, otherwise I won't pick it up. That PC Engine Duo is probably the most expensive item I could swing right now. That Res Evil DC is right out. If it's too big, I may have to ship it home, which will get expensive. :/ I won't charge you guys anything extra over the cost of purchasing it and any shipping costs.

Also note - all those system prices were in-box. I didn't see any out of their boxes, but they might be less if I can find one. As I said, hopefully I'll be able to hit up Super Potato tomorrow and see what they have, as well as the shops I visited today.



v-----TOO LONG, DIDN'T READ------v


I can't make any guarantees that I can grab this stuff - but I can try. If you're serious about buying something, just let me know what you're willing to pay before about 9PM EST (Yes, 9PM. That's 10AM here in Tokyo.) so I can make a list before I go shopping tomorrow. 10AM is an estimated departure time for me. If I don't see your message before I leave, I may not get a chance to look for whatever it is you want. Don't forget to consider shipping costs. Games are cheap to ship, but systems or large peripherals are not. :/ I'll try to be fair with what requests I can fulfill and which I can't, but if I have to, I'll resort to post order, starting after this post.

Bleh, I didn't want this post to end up with such a serious mood, but... *shrugs*

[JerryTerrifying]

If that PC Engine comes with a controler, AV cables and an AC adapter I'll take it. I think the PC endinge just uses Generic RF is that's the case I'll just need the AC adapter and controller.

Wish I had the money for the Duo...that would actually be my preffered system but that's just out of my budget at the moment.

[Warp2063]

Okay, I'll make sure to grab that PC engine for you, Jerry. I haven't left yet, so anyone else is welcome to put in any more requests. I'd say now to get the requests in by 11PM EST or maaaybe midnight. You're welcome to try to put in requests later than that, but no guarantees.

[JerryTerrifying]

If you see any super cheap PC engine games for like $5 or something I don't really care what they are pick one up Something like a side scroller or shmup just something super cheap. Just so I at least one cheapo PC engine game to mess around with.


And again thanks! I really do appreciate it. Wish I could be there myself.

[Manji]

this might be kinda late, but if you see any official Breath of Fire soundtracks (excluding bof 2) or a Magic Knight Rayearth game soundtrack. MKR has lots of soundtracks based off the anime but im looking for the official Sega Saturn game soundtrack.

also Monster Hunter 2/Dos for Playstation 2. if you can find a new copy i'd like to have that, even if its the best hits version.

[Warp2063]

Unfortunately, both of those last two posts were too late, so I didn't see them before I left the hotel for the day. Sorry, guys. That PCE one would have been a good one to see. ><

Manji: The MKR songs aren't just stored as audio tracks on the CD?

PC Engine: I have good news and bad news.
-Good news: It was the least expensive one I saw anywhere, and most of them didn't have the box. For 1980yen, it came with the box, instruction manual, controller, and power cable.
-Bad news: The RF Adapter is missing. The guy warned me about that before I bought it, but I decided to go ahead with the purchase anyway. I just checked on eBay, and it looks like you can snap an AV cable up for about $15 from a couple sellers.

If you still want it, you can buy it off me. (~$23USD + shipping) If the lack of AV cable or RF adapter is a deal breaker, then I got myself a PC Engine that I kind of wanted anyway. =P

Doom Saturn: I found one at Super Potato. I bought it, despite the fact that no one actually said anything about buying it. It was 1869yen (~22USD). If anyone wants it, they're welcome to buy it. I doubt I'll play it. I mostly picked it up for you guys.

Twin Operator RG-VC2 (PhotoCD/VideoCD decoder card for Saturn): I bought it yesterday for 1200yen (~$14USD). I mostly bought it because it was so cheap and because I remembered what a hard time I had getting my other one. I bought it kind of as a backup for my first one, but if anyone really wants it, I'm willing to part with it.


Forgot to look for Bomberman again. Darn it. I suppose if I got up crazy early in the morning, maybe I could get to Akihabara just as the shops open, look again, and then make it back in time to catch the bus to the airport... but probably not. Also, I'd probably have to withdraw more cash, which I don't really want to do, because I don't know what I'd do with over $100 worth of Japanese money in the US. I have just enough to pay for the bus trip to the airport and maybe breakfast at McDonald's. Come to think of it, I wonder if I can withdraw cash in smaller denominations than 10,000 yen...? *shrugs*

Unfortunately, I didn't have a whole lot of time in Akiba (the Japanese prefer to call it that rather than the longer Akihabara) today. I went to Odaiba first to visit Sega Joypolis, which is an indoor amusement park/arcade inside a mall. I didn't do a whole lot there, other than go to one of the horror rides, collect all the Sonic character stamps, play an arcade game (Lupin III: The Typing, which is basically Typing of the Dead except Lupin III-themed), and bought a Tails plushy. I had meant to look for the Lupin game in Akiba as well, but as I mentioned, I didn't have much time. I had to head all the way to Shinagawa to make a bus reservation for tomorrow, then all the way to Akiba. I only had enough time to buy a few of the things I'd planned to buy/look for before most of the shops closed for the night. I still wandered around a bit, but Akiba was winding down for the night. The girls from the maid cafes were still out soliciting customers, and some of the bigger shops were still open, but most of the hustle and bustle was done with.

While at Super Potato, I managed to score a few more Super Famicom games for myself (Two Ranma 1/2 fighting games and three Shin Megami Tensei games), and two more Saturn games (one's from a famous dating sim series called Tokimeki Memorial, the other has something to do with Revolutionary Girl Utena).

Super Potato is an amazing haven for classic games. So was Trader (not Trader 2, can't remember about Trader 3), where I picked up that PC Engine. Wish I'd had time to track down an official Puru Puru Pack (Rumble pack) for my Dreamcast. But there were shelves and shelves of games from systems I was barely even aware of. That wall of Wonderswan games... why did they tempt me so? And they had a working Virtual Boy running Wario Land. Now that I've actually seen one working, I am convinced that I need to own one the next time I get a good chance. I don't know if Trader has a website, but I know Super Potato does. Unfortunately, I didn't know enough Japanese to ask if they would ship internationally.

The next big challenge is going to be figuring out how to stick all this stuff in my luggage... good thing I'm pretty skilled at Tetris. =P

[JerryTerrifying]

I definitely want the PCE. I was under the impression that PCE's defualt video option was just RF and that you had to buy an adapter thing for AV out. And that the Core Grafx was the one with the built in AV out. So what actual Video out options are built into it?

What exactly is missing off of it? As long as it works I'm interested and want it.

Thanks for pickig it up dude that's way awesome of you to do and I really appreciate it!

[JerryTerrifying]

Sounds like you're having a kick ass time though. And I really love my Virtual Boy and especially Wario Land. It's a great game! I paid about $40 for mine with Mario Tennis shipped from ebay and I feel that's about right. The only thing it's missing is the foam eye piece which isn't that big of a deal.

[Warp2063]

I definitely want the PCE. I was under the impression that PCE's defualt video option was just RF and that you had to buy an adapter thing for AV out. And that the Core Grafx was the one with the built in AV out. So what actual Video out options are built into it?

What exactly is missing off of it? As long as it works I'm interested and want it.

Thanks for pickig it up dude that's way awesome of you to do and I really appreciate it!

Honestly, I don't know the answers to those questions. As I've never owned a TG-16 or a PC-Engine before, I've never had to deal with those questions. Also, I haven't opened the box yet, as it's sealed with the shop's plastic wrap. If you want me to, I'll go ahead and do that now.