The above is probably the last photo that will ever be taken of Omocha Souko, my favorite game shop ever, which sadly closed in April. Within a few days all that will be left of that massive beautiful complex will be a vacant lot waiting to have a new pachinko parlor built on it.Now check this out, the latest dental clinic in town. Open 7 days a week. Located in Ropponmatsu within easy walking distance of the subway station.
Er....why am I showing you a picture of a dental clinic?Well, I actually went out to Ropponmatsu yesterday specifically because I was nearby and there was a retro game shop that I wanted to do a post about. I hadn`t been there in a couple of years, but the last time I visited they had a decent little Famicom game selection that I thought would provide good material for some photos.
Only when I got there yesterday I found that sometime during the last two years that the little game shop had closed down and been replaced with a dental clinic.
These two closures don`t seem to be isolated incidents but part of a growing trend of retro game store closures. No sooner had I posted about Omocha Souko`s closure than a reader alerted me to the fact that they had also closed their Maebaru store (out in the west end of Fukuoka) a year or two earlier. That was a surprise as I had visited that place once (without camera, hence no post about it here) and found it to have an excellent Famicom selection. Also as I reported in 2010 all of the GEO locations in Fukuoka, most of which used to have really good selections of Famicom and other retro games, completely liquidated all of their retro games and now only stock current (post-PS2) stuff.
I`m not the only one to notice this, Hollis on Super Gaijin Ultra Gamer also reported a couple months ago that his favorite retro game shop was getting out of the business.
While all these closures have been going on, no new shops have been opening up to take their place, meaning that it is getting harder and harder to find retro games `in the wild` here. Not impossible as there are still a good number of shops out there, but the herd is being thinned at an alarming rate.
I`m not sure what the immediate cause of this is. Internet sales providing too much competition? Maybe. Bad economy? Probably. People losing interest in the Famicom and retro gaming? NEVER!
Anyway, I hope the trend reverses itself. In all likelihood I was a little spoiled for a couple of years there between 2008 and 2010 when this city was awash with shops selling Famicom stuff. There may have been more than the market could handle. Kind of like the way in the early 1990s in North America every city breifly had about 50 baseball card and comic book shops, almost all of which suddenly went out of business by about 1995 or so. Well, I HOPE it isn`t that bad as I need these shops to be around, they are the lifeblood of my collection!
Anybody else out there in Japan noticed a similar trend of retro game shop closures? Or, I hope, openings?
Edited July 4 to add: Found yet another retro game shop that has bitten the dust yesterday.
Noticed a similar trend down here in Miyazaki-ken. A lot of places have dwindling amounts or are just getting rid of their inventory. Luckily I live close to a Manga-soukou, whihch has an AMAZING (if slightly overpriced) selcetion. But yeah, it's still a little depressing to see stores with little or no retro games.
ReplyDeleteYou don't think competition from Internet sellers has a lot to do with this, Sean? I obviously know little-to-nothing about Japan, but if Japan is anything like the US in this regard I wouldn't be surprised if Internet sellers of retro games are having a big impact. The fact is, Internet sellers are often able to offer up better prices than your average brick-and-mortar retailer -- or at least that's how it is here in the States. I hate to admit it, but there are a few nice Japanese/retro-focused stores here in Seattle, but I rarely if ever buy from them because the prices are ridiculous when compared to what I find on eBay. I know I should support a local business and all that, but the fact is that getting to these stores is a hassle for me and I also have a limited amount of money I can spend on games, so I tend to go with the person offering the lowest price tag. Anyway, all of this really is just a long way of saying "sadly, I think this is how things are going to go, at least for the time being." :(
ReplyDeleteThis saddens me. I keep looking forward to the day I'll finally be able to afford a trip to Japan and go on a shopping spree in all those awesome retro shops full of cheap prices.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, there's a nice place where I like to go, a nifty little old school shop downtown where I make my boxed Famicom purchases. Love going there and having long conversations about videogames with the manager.
A place in the U.S. that sells boxed Famicom games? You have me jealous... I wish I lived near some shop like that.
DeleteActually, no, I'm a brazilian from Rio de Janeiro. Sorry to disappoint you.
DeleteThey kind of ran out of interesting Famicom games to buy,though, save for this mahjong game that comes with a controller; yet I'm keeping an eye on their 32-bit selection.Plenty of gems in there.
You know, over the past year I've seen a lot of huge lots of Famicom, Super Famicom and PC Engine lots being auctioned off by Japanese sellers on eBay. Like, consistently. Maybe they all get their stock from closing retro stores in the area?
ReplyDeleteDave - same in Miyazaki too eh? We have a Manga Souko up here too and it also has quite a good Famicom selection. The one up here actually has decent prices, the main problem though is that it is located WAY out in the suburbs south of town and is thus a pain to get to, I`ve only visited it twice but both times walked out with a ton of Famicom carts.
ReplyDeleteBryan - Yes, I think that the internet is likely a big part of it. With the smaller shops their prices are usually higher than what they go for on Yahoo. Omocha Souko on the other hand would often have deals that were way cheaper than what was available online so it isn`t just that.
Kaibun - don`t worry, if you visit Akihabara in Tokyo I`m sure they will continue to have a ton of shops that sell Famicom games for a long time to come!!
Discoalucard - that is definitely possible. Actually Omocha Souko ironically enough used to get in huge lots of retro games from time to time that were obviously the stock of shops that had gone out of business, sometimes they still had the price tags from the other shop still on them.
As I think I mentioned on here before, the Omocha Souko type place in my city seemed to be getting rid of their stock as well with a ridiculous sale I took full advantage of. I haven't been back since then, though.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the Chameleon Club near my apartment has some retro games for sale, but I think all the carts they have on the shelf have some sort of sale going on as well, possibly to empty their supply, but it seems to be taking a while. Chameleon Club has a glass case as well, but none of the stuff is on sale yet. Too bad, I'm eyeing the copy of Utsurun Desu they have currently for 2600 yen.
Nate - it is great when they have those going out of business sales and you can score some cheap stuff, eh?
ReplyDeleteI`ve always wondered about Chameleon Club. I`ve never actually seen one and we don`t seem to have any in Fukuoka, but a number of my Famicom carts have Chameleon Club labels on the backs of them.
If they come donw on Utsurn Desu it might be a good buy. I think Mandarake in town here has it for a little under 2000 yen.
Saddening to hear. Here in the States though, 90% of the brick-n-mortar shops I knew of that sold imports died in the 90s. You'd think there would be a decent amount here in Southern California... especially LA, but sadly that's not the case.
ReplyDeleteThat is too bad, I guess it is a global phenomenah then!
ReplyDeleteIt explains where all those cheap Japanese retro games come from! ROTW win :D
ReplyDeleteYeah, if you see a ton of cheap games its probably from one of these places. Well, not Omocha Souko since I got all their good ones (Famicom ones at least) before the went out of business!
ReplyDeleteI found this blog oddly enough by searching for where I could find a copy of Mr. Gimmick and now it has sufficiently bummed me out. Finding decent Famicom games was one of the 2 reasons I talked my wife into going to Japan this year but now it sounds like I'm going to either be stuck paying the inflated prices in Akihabara or trying my luck at one of the "Off" stores. Is there really no good place to get a decent deal anymore? (Kicking myself for not shopping more in 2010).
ReplyDeleteDon`t worry, I`m sure you will find something, not all of the stores have gone out of business and there are still a lot of deals on Famicom stuff out there to be had, though it may take some looking!
ReplyDeleteSean,
DeleteThanks for the reply. Are the best areas still Aki and Den Den or should I venture out?
Thanks!
Aki and Den Den town are definitely your best bet. I`ve actually never been to either (whenever I am in Osaka or Tokyo I usually have other things to do so I never get around to game shopping), but they definitely offer the benefit of having several shops in a central area that you can hit all at once - thus making a nice way to spend a single afternoon. Since they are pretty famous and attract big crowds you probably won`t find too many mega-bargains, but you definitely will find a ton of cool stuff for cheaper prices than on Ebay.
ReplyDeleteThe really cheap mega-bargain type stuff is to be found in out of the way recycle stores, but I do not recommend trying to find to find them if you are here on holiday. The problem, in addition to the sheer difficulty of finding these types of stores, is that some of them have good deals on retro games but most (probably 80% in my experience) of them don`t and the only way to find out is to visit them in person. So you could spend days going from out of the way recycle shop to out of the way recycle shop and only come away with a few decently priced games, while having given up a good chunk of your holiday. These stores generally are located in the middle of ugly urban sprawl with very few public transport options, so it would not be a fun experience (especially if you are doing it with the wife)!
We'll be there for 3 weeks starting the 12th of August so I'm looking forward to it :-)
ReplyDeleteThe wife was gracious enough to give me a few days of shopping so I do have some of the closer *off stores on the list. Plus we'll be meeting up with friend for a day or two that can drive us to some of the more remote stores if time allows.
Either way both Aki an Den are on my list so I'm hoping to nab some loot!
That sounds like it will be fun!
ReplyDeleteI should qualify my last comment to say that if there are any Book Offs or Hard Offs in easy reach of where you are going then they are definitely worth a look, especially if they are big ones in central areas, which are more likely in my experience to have retro stuff.