Amiibo's are proving very popular with Nintendo fans! However, the only game to fully utilise them at the moment is Smash Bros. I know they can be used in basic ways in other games such as Mario Kart 8 and Hyrule Warriors but they don't really take advantage of them. So I've been thinking of some other cool ways that Amiibo's could be used in other games to make them even more fun!!
Mario Maker:
Maybe this idea would be more suited to a more general game maker from Nintendo, but the idea of placing the chosen character anywhere in the level, either as an enemy, an npc or a player character could be a lot of fun! Imagine for example, you want to play as MegaMan in the game, so first you'd place the start icon then hold megaman up to the gamepad, and voila, megaman is now your playable character! Say he was supposed to fight Dark Pit at the end, you'd take the dark pit figure and scan it in as a Boss and there you have it! Players could finally make the proper Mario & Sonic game they have always dreamed of!
This could make for some really unique settings and a game reminiscent of the mash up of characters that was the Subspace Emissary in Brawl! But one that was entirely user created!
Each Amiibo character could also come with their own set of objects and items for the level editor, based on their own series. Or provide alternate themes such as a Donkey Kong Country inspired one or Metroid themed one for Samus!
They should just rename it Nintendo Maker! It would be amazing!! :D
Mario Kart 8:
I know this would take a lot of work on Nintendo's part, but as they already have many non-Mario characters, I think it would be great if, instead of just giving your mii a new outfit, you could actually play as whatever Amiibo character you wanted and get them added to the proper character roster! Imagine playing as Sonic in Mario Kart! I thought Link was strange enough!
Kirby:
Does kirby need a new ability? Scan in the Amiibo character you want to turn into and Kirby will eat it and gain their ability! This shouldn't be too hard as he can already eat everyone in Smash Bros anyway! Could be used to solve puzzles too, need a fire ability? Scan in Samus! Need to go extra fast to get somewhere? Scan in Sonic!
Starfox:
Need some backup, call in an Amiibo to fly alongside you and help you shoot down Andross's army! Each Arwing could be designed based on the character you scanned in. Imagine Link flying round in an Epona styled Arwing (They already did it with a motorbike in Mario Kart!)! Or Donkey Kong flying past in a barrel, shooting banana skins out into space!
Nintendo Sports Games:
I'm not so much a fan of sports games in general, but I do enjoy some Mario Golf or Tennis occasionally, I even enjoyed Mario Strikers although i'm not a fan of football at all! Instead of "Mario" Golf etc, they could make a general "Nintendo" sports series and allow you to play as your favourite characters!
Animal Crossing:
Want your favourite Nintendo character to move into your town and kick out that annoying Sheep for good? Talk to Tom Nook and ask him to kick out a villager and replace them with an Amiibo! Have you always wanted to live next to Gannondorf? Of course not, but now you can anyway! You could save their house layouts onto the Amiibo and bring them round to a friends house so they too can share a neighborhood with the Dark Lord!
Let me know what you guys think! And if you have any game ideas you want to share, feel free. I'd love to hear them!
Most of you probably know Game Freak as the creators of the Pokemon franchise, with over 200 million games sold, it's one of the most successful gaming franchises of all time. What most people probably don't know is the other games that Game Freak have made not related to Pokemon. Let's have a look at some of those now! I'll also take a look at some of the people who made this all possible! I'll try to provide links to articles about the games!
Founded on April 26th 1989 (I actually begun writing this back in April...) , Game Freak's first game was a game for the Famicom called Quinty. But the story of Game Freak goes back even further than that...
The first idea of "Game Freak" came from a video game magazine created in the early 80's by the founder, Satoshi Tajiri. He was a huge fan of Space Invaders and decided to make his own game magazine, as there wasn't any other publications around at the time. The magazine was made by hand and distributed among friends. Over time it went from being a hand written magazine made with a photocopier, to one with proper printing and graphics, it ended up being quite popular and one issue even sold over 10,000 copies! From this magazine he got into making games through the help of some of his contributors, they decided to create a company simply for the reason that a lot of the games back then weren't very good!
Satoshi Tajiri has said openly that some of his creativity and obsessive nature in designing his games comes from his aspergers syndrome. In an interview with Time magazine back in 1999 he stated that he sleeps for 12 hours then stays awake for 24 because he feels he can be more creative working those hours!
Ken Sugimori, another name you might recognise as the Pokemon Artist, joined the company and worked as an artist on most of the games. Apparently, he joined the magazine after finding it in a Doujin (Fan books) shop!
1989
So, the first game that Satoshi and his friends made in their new "Game Freak" company was a NES game called Quinty, or Mendels Palace in the US. It was an action puzzle game. I have not had the chance to play it but from what I've read online it seems like a fun little game. The main idea is to push the opponents off a board by running across tiles or cards on the floor.
The creation of Pokemon took six years, during this time, Satoshi also worked on some other games, some for Nintendo such as Mario & Wario and the Yoshi game for NES and GameBoy. As well as some for other companies, such as Pulse Man for the Sega Mega Drive. The next game they made though, was a Super Famicom Game called Jerry Boy. Jerry referring to the name of the main character, it was re-titled in the US as Smart Ball. A sequel was planned but unfortunately never released.
A lot of these early games also have manga adaptations created by Ken Sugimori! As well as one project he worked on called Valkyrie no Bōken Gaiden: Futari no Megami, which is actually an early visual novel type game for windows, made not with Gamefreak, but with Namco... He went on to personally design all of the original 150 pokemon! Theres a cool Ken Sugimori art book avaliable for anyone who's intrested in his work.
1991
Now onto some of the Nintendo titles they produced while working on Pokemon. First is a NES and Gameboy game simply titled, Yoshi. The game is a very basic puzzle game where the aim is to move mario around a small screen to match up enemies and objects that fall from the sky. If you like up an egg (match the bottm half with the top half) a Yoshi will hatch from it. It's a very basic puzzle game and to be honest, it gets dull fast. Even so, this was a big step for Game Freak and Nintendo working together.
1992
Magical Tariruuto-Kun was their first forray into developing for a company outside of Nintendo, this was a traditional platformer for the Sega Megadrive. A game I have had the chance to play, I don't think its an amazing game buts its fun for a while!
1993
After Yoshi, another, much better puzzle game starring Mario was also released, Mario & Wario is a Japan only SFC (Super Famicom) game which used the SNES Mouse to control Mario around a stage. For some reason, Mario has a bucket on his head so you have to use the mouse cursor to remove obstacles and guide Mario on his way through many challenging levels in order ot reach the goal. It's a fun game and makes great use of the mouse peripheral. The game was actually referenced in the original Red and Blue (Green in Japan) Pokemon games, when the player interacts with the TV in his house at the start, it says "A game with MARIO wearing a bucket on his head!" The bucket on Mario's head can also be seen as a treasure in Kirby's Fun Pak / Super Star and as a trophy in Smash Bros Melee!
1994
Their next Non-Nintendo outing was in the form of a futuristic 2D Action Platformer called Pulse Man. It was only available in Japan, however, it had a re-release on the Wii virtual console in all regions so now anyone can play it! There's many references to Pulseman within the Pokemon games, including Pokemon that are based on Pulseman's design such as Pawniard and Bisharp, as well as the move Volt Tackle being a reference to Pulsemans signature move in the game.
After their short time with Sega, they went back to Nintendo and worked on a Puzzle game for the SFC called Nontan no Issho: Kuru Kuru Puzzle. The game looks quite similar to Panel De Pon or Tetris Attack. There was also a Gameboy version in production at the same time.
1996-1997
There were two more games that Gamefreak Developed whilst working on the original Pokemon games, they are BUSHI Seiryūden Futari no Yūsya, an RPG for the Super Famicom. And Bazaar de Gosāru no Game de Gosāru , a platformer for the PC Engine. All I can find out about this game is that it has a monkey in it?? Probably the two least well known of all their games.
1998 After these early games, development coninued on Pokemon Red and Blue (Green) until they were completed. It didn't all go smoothly though, at some point, they were about to go bankrupt and an internal company at Nintendo, Creatures inc. partially bought them out. After the success of Pokemon, Nintendo hired Game Freak to help with their Gameboy Camera project. The Gameboy camera is more than just a digital camera for the gameboy, it also inclused some really fun games, a video editor and a music maker! really advanced for its time despite running on very old and basic hardware! Gamefreak did an amazing job with it!
1999
Strangely, their next game was a PS1 only game, Click Medic, with very little about it online and a Japan only release. It was a medical simulation game kind of like trauma center and actually looks pretty fun with colourful graphics and characters!
2005 After this, Gamefreak became too busy with the success of Pokemon, they contiuned to work on the franchise all the way up until Pokemon Emerald, After this and before Diamond & Pearl, they took some time out to create an experimental game for the GBA. This game was Drill Dozer. A very unique game about drilling. The cart came with a built in rumble feature which made it feel like an actual hand held drill as you were playing. The game is fast and fun and definitely has that classic Gamefreak graphic style, even though it was a huge departure from their normal games.
2013 After that, they went back to coninuing the Pokemon series for DS this time, it wasn't until 2013 that they decided to take another chance at releasing something completely different. This time it was a strange music rhythm game for the 3DS eShop called Harmoknight.
2014 Before they jumped back into Pokemon, there was one more game, released only in Japan, called SolitiBa which is a horse racing game. Yet another interesting departure for the company... This year they also released Solibata on IOS and Android, marking their first step into the mobile market.
This brings us up to date, with Game Freak just having released Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, is it time for them to take another break and come up with a new original idea? Or would you prefer them to continue making Pokemon games?
Thanks for reading!
If there's anything I've missed out or got wrong, please let me know and i'll correct it!
Five unique games you probably haven't heard of, but definitely should play!
PLOK
The game involves you playing as Plok on a quest to find his stolen flag, and then ridding the world of fleas. (for some reason?!) At one point PLOK also dreams of his Grandfather also going on a journey for a magical amulet, this part of the game plays out in black and white which is really cool and unique!
PLOK is a typical platformer with some quite unique ideas and some amazing graphics and music! You can throw your arms and legs at the enemies to defeat them as well as getting many optional weapons and power ups from hidden presents within the levels. There power ups can range from weapons such as a shotgun or a firemans hose, to vehicles such as helicopters and motorbikes! The game also has loads of secrets and awesome boss fights!
Prehaps recently it has gained some popularity thanks to the creator beginning to make a new comic series starring the series' hero PLOK. You can read it HERE
Stunt Race FX
Created with the same FX chip that was used in Starwing which I mentioned in my last post, The game looks and plays great if you can get past the shoddy frame rate! The game has a really fun style to it with lots of character, the cars even have eyes and personalities! The levels are all really colourful and inventive and the bonus levels provide a nice change of pace from the normal races.
Super Aleste
Part of the Aleste series, this game is also known as Space Megaforce! Which I think sounds much cooler! It's a great vertical scrolling shoot em up, something the Snes doesn't have many of... It plays just as you would expect, with many different shot types and some interesting environments to fly though. Most importantly though, it has loads of intense boss fights and an incredible soundtrack!
Tetris Attack / Panel De Pon
Not the Tetris everyone will be thinking of. This is a totally different game, it might take a while to get used to if you've only played standard tetris. The blocks are all on the playing field from the start and the player has to rearrange them in order to line them up and make them disappear. The blocks continuously emerge from the bottom of the screen, pushing the exiting blocks further up. The higher the difficulty level, the faster these blocks appear. Its a really addictive puzzle game and well worth playing! The European release included famous Nintendo characters and music from many Mario and Yoshi games, whereas the Japanese version features all new characters and environments. Some poeple might know the panel de pon music and characters from the recent Smash Bros games.
Illusion Of Time
I think I will forever regard this game as the best I have ever played, perhaps not the best gameplay, not the best story, but for me, something just clicked. The characters came to life, the game completely involved me in the deep intricate plot, embarking on the journey with Will and Kara through the world in the age of exploration felt real. All the characters in the game had a real connection to what was happening and felt like they really beloinged in the world and played their part in creating a deep experience.
The gameplay is just as strong as the story, It's right up there with the 16-bit giants such as Secret of Mana and Link To The Past. The levelling system made each area have purpose and gave you a reason to track down each and every enemy. The boss fights provided a good challenge and the music helped create an engrossing atmosphere all the way through. Not a single moment in this game feels wasted or drawn out, the story continues at a good pace all the way through and the ending leaves you shocked and gives you something to think about long after the game is over. An absolutely essential game for the Snes and one I can not recommend enough!
With the recent reveal of Starfox for WiiU I thought it would make a good time to look back on the series and share my thoughts on each entry (I will be using the UK names not the US ones so sorry for any confusion!), starting with...
Starwing
Made using the power of the Super FX chip (which has a really intesting history behind it!), Starwing was one of the first true 3D games of any video game console. Compared to something simmilar at the time such as Space Harrier it was a huge leap forward in game design and technology! It looks quite rough now, but back then it was mindblowing. The gameplay on the other hand, still shines just as strongly as the graphics once did!
Super fluid (In the 60HZ version at least) controls make for a great arcade like experience, with abilities such as upgradable your lasers and wings to doing stunts such as the famous "BARREL ROLL" slow down and speed up your ship for a certain period of time and fly with your Arwing entirely sideways, it's a joy to play and feels like you're always progressing... Until you get "WING DAMAGE!"
The levels were designed with these intuitive controls in mind with the inclusion of tight spaces to navigate and even a tutorial level with obstacles and challenges such as flying through close rings to practise the controls helped make this game more than just a simple flying game. Another usique inclusion is the fact that your team mates can be seen flying through the stage, and at certain times they will requre your help to defeat certain enemies or to save them from being destroyed! The team all have personalities too which helps add to the atmosphere! Who can forget the whining of Slippy Toad or the fighting spirit of Falco Lombardi?!
The game is also unique in the way it tackes level progression and difficulty levels. By using a map with three distinct routes to take to the final destination. Each one has completely unique levels to play through which makes for fantastic replayability! There are also hidden secret areas such as the famous "Out of this dimension" area, which is accessed somewhere in the meteor field.
There was actually a sequel in production, and it was fully completed, but pulled from distrubution so that customers would focus more on the 3D capabilites of the N64. A ROM of the entire game can be found online and played via an emulator!
Starwing was one of the games I would always play after school, I never managed to get very far though it wasn't until much later that I finally defeated Andross and saved the Lylat System! Talking of the Lylat system...
Lylat Wars
This is how a sequel should be done! Taking everything that was good about the original and simply making it better! The graphics, the story, the gameplay, levels, everything about this game was amazing. It was also the first game to take advantage of the rumble pack which actually came with the game in a special big box editoon.
Lylat Wars has a very cinematic feel to it with action packed levels with huge set pieces and varying missions. This game does away with the choice of three separate maps to follow, instead, the player chooses which level comes next by completing a certain mission within the stage. This makes the game even more replayable than the first, having to hunt out all the objectives in a stage to find a way to a new location was a lot of fun and very challening too!
There's a reason why, for many people, this is still considered to be the best in the franchise.
Starfox Adventures
A very big departure from the previous games in the series, Adventures wasn't even a Starfox game until late into development. In fact, the game had been almost finished as an N64 game called Dinosaur Planet, until Nintendo stepped in and suggested that Rare include Star Fox and re-make the game for the new GameCube console (Much like how Starfox 2 was cancelled in favour of the N64). The change in direction was met with mixed results...
I however, loved it! Taking the best parts of Starfox and mixing it with the Zelda formula made for a fantastic game in my oppinion. It retained Rare's quirky game design and ability to create amazing 3D adventure worlds. The graphics were once again mind blowing. (and still are) The characters are fun and memorable, and the newcomer Krystal became a permanent member of the Starfox team! Even prince Tricky made several appearences since!
The game mostly takes place on the planet Sauria (At the time known only as Dinsaur Planet), with you as Fox McCloud exploring the land and trying to piece it back together.
The planet had been blasted out into space and became a threat to the Lylat System after a war broke out between the Dinosaurs and an invading force lead by the evil General Scales.
Through his journey he is also trying to save Krystal who has been inprisoned in a placed called the Krazoa Palace, which is apparently the place all the spirits need to be returned to if the dinaosaurs want a chance of stopping General Scales and piecing the planet back together! Of course, it turns out that Andros was the one to blame for the planet cracking open, and once again the Starfox team destroy him, with the help of Falco who flies in to help out... Although he wasn't even in the game until the final battle!
The arwing is used to fly between parts of the broken up planet, and serve as a reminder that this is infact a starfox game!
It also deserves some attention for being Rare's last console game for Nintendo before beight bought my Microsoft... RIP.
Starfox Assault
Taking the game somewhat back to basics, Assault was developed externally by Namco, as part of their new Triforce colaboration, there were plans for an arcade version as well though sadly, that never happened.
The game seemed to be going through development hell for a long time with several delays and to be honest, absolutely terrible early footage.
When the game finally came out though, all fears could be put to rest. It was another epic game with a style simmilat to Lylat Wars.
As well as the standard flying stages, Assault also had on foot and land master stages too. As well as some levels which combined all three. This made for a very varied experience, I find all three gameplay styles fun, although some complains can be made towards the odd controls on the ground sections. The graphics are once again, amazing. Though not quite up to Adventures levels of amazing.
This game really does feel like playing a movie, with much improved cinematics and a completely orchestral soundtrack with remixes of previous starfox music as well as some amazing original tracks. As well as some of the best boss fights and staged in the series history! One part of the game that always stays in my mind is standing on the wing of an Arwing and shooting down aliens on a snowy planet, then landing and running around the planet on foot!
All this adds up to one of my personal favourite Starfox games and a fantastic addition to the GameCubes library!
Starfox Command
I really don't have much to say about command, it didn't grip me like the previous games did. I couldnt get used to the much slower pace of the game and constant talk from all the characters. The game has more of a strategic feel with you positioning the great fox on a map and occasianally entering battles which all take place in large open arenas, simmilar to the "All range mode" sections in Lylat wars and Assault.
Apparently it does have an interesting story and deep gameplay but I couldn't get into it.
Long story short... I dont like it.
Starfox 64 3D
The latest game in the series is a remake of the fan favourite, Starfox 64. Not much has changed apart from the obvious inclusion of better graphics, and good use of 3D! There are some new gyro controls but I much prefer to stick with the stick.. pun intended. ;)
All in all a great game, but not the next step forward for the starfox series.
...
Looking forward to seeing what direction they choose to take the series next!
A small glipse into the future of the Starfox series!
That's right, my favourite Mario game is not the first, not the amazingly inventive Galaxy, not the sun drenched tropical paradise that is Sunshine, not even the ground breaking 64... Super Mario Land is perhaps the most simple of all the games in the series, and that's partly why I love it so much!
These are the 5 reasons why I LOVE Super Mario Land!
5: Speed
Not just how fast the game is, but also how quickly it can be completed! I am still practising to try and attempt the world record speedrun! according to what I could find on google and youtube, the current best time is 12:45... time to get practising again! Its perfect for handheld play, a great way to pass the time! I've been playing the game on and off since the gameboy was the only hand held worth playing (Sorry GameGear!) and I never get bored of it! Theres plenty of replay value too because when you finish it, the game begins again in "Hard Mode" with many more enemies and harder levels!
4: Simplicity
No map, no level select, no story, nothing to get in the way. pure gameplay and fun. The way these kinds of games should be! Too often with the newer Mario games do I get annoyed at finishing a level, only to be greeted with a transition to the map screen, then making me walk slowly to the next point on the map, then look at another transitional screen, then a title of the level then finally I get to play, that is, unless I need to do a mini game to get many many unessecary extra lives...! For these kinds of games, where there are no branching paths or secrets to find on the map, please let there be an option to just go from level to level! This is what annoys me most about the new Sonic games as well!
3: Variety
This is nothing like any other Mario games out there, instead of bowser, you're fighting an evil space alien called Tatanga. The fireballs bounce all around, the Koopa's shells explode when you jump on them.. Mario pilots an aeroplane (the Sky Pop) and submarine (Marine Pop) , Mario travels around the globe from the Pyramids to Ancient China, Easter Island and beyond... As this was only the second proper mario game, there wasn't really anything for them to go by, much like how Zelda II is a strange depatrure from the first, so too is Mario Land.
2: Music...
1: Gameplay!
Pixel perfect controls with no lag and super precise jumping mechanics! maybe the second game is smoother but the smaller sprite size in this one definitely makes it more enjoyable to play, for me at least. B to run, A to jump. No double jumps, no wall jump, no backflips just classic run and jump gameplay! Thats all you need to know!
Thanks for reading,
Go play Mario Laaaaand! :D
Its also avaliable on VC for those of you that don't own a Gameboy!
A lot of people already do some amazing Figure Photography, I love browsing the Figure Photography community on Google+ for example, there's some great tips and plenty of awesome photos to keep you entertained! Sadly, Video Game Photography seems a lot harder to find, There aren't any groups for it and Google only seems to find "in game" photography, (people taking in game photos and screenshots)...I was thinking perhaps it would be a good idea to start my own Game Photography Community??
It's a fun way of displaying your collection, while also focusing on the detail of one particular piece, including the game, box and manual and any other promotional items that went along with it! But above all, its just a bit of fun and a good way to introduce people to new games! You could even combine Figure and Game photography, like I did in the Zelda pic above for example!
Obviously, journalists have been doing this for a long time for magazines or articles about particular games, I kind of got the idea from those big retro game compendium books, which have shots of games for certain systems, but this style of photography has never seemed to become any more than a way of adding a picture to an article, or a sale picture on ebay! I hope people enjoy this new way of looking at games, from their own collection, and the collections of other like minded people! And begin to appreciate these games for the complete package, not just the actual game! :D
I've been taking photos of my games and figures for years, but recently I decided to set up an Instagram account to display some of my better games and figures from my collection. Most of these pics were taking on my phone (iPhone 4) so the quality wasn't great. (Some of the figure photos were taken on my dads Cannon IXUS but it sadly broke) This weekend however, I'll be getting myself a proper camera! The Sony RX100 II.
I can't wait to have a play with it and try out all the different settings, and it has wifi so I can send the pics straight to Instagram and the new Google+ group as well!
During my trip to Japan I visited two main places for some retro game shopping, Akihabara, famous for being the Otaku centre of the world, the home of all things geeky! Including Anime, Manga, Figures, Games, Technology, (so much cheaper than over here!!) and everything else you could possible want! I also visited Den Den Town in Osaka (basically a smaller version of Akihabara!) As well as a few other shops in Tokyo. This post will show you all the best game shops I found along the way!
Anyone looking to buy some retro games from Japan, I hope this post helps you out!
First of all, a word of warning! Although Akihabara may be known as the place to find pretty much any game you could ever want, don't go too crazy as the prices are inflated massively to catch out tourists with more money than sense... unfortunately, I fell for their trap on the first day and regretted it later when I visited some of the lesser known (but equally amazing) shops outside of Tokyo. Imagine my surprise when I found out I could have literally bought about 10 games for the price of one!
Also, while you're in Akihabara, don't forget to check out the many amazing arcades! Full to the brim with every arcade game imaginable and plenty of claw machine and other prize games too (With prizes actually woth winning!) They are an amazing experience and really fun too! Be sure to check out one of the Taito Station arcades as well as Sega's huge arcade! All about 7 floors high! There are also some smaller ones with a great selection of Shoot'em'ups, Fighting and Puzzle games for the more hardcore audience!
A quick hint before I start going through the list of shops. Don't just go in shops along the main street, most of the good shops, (for games and figures) are hidden in the smaller streets or up several flights of stairs! There was one really cool one which happened to be in a small room on the 6th floor of a building, no idea how I managed to find it but im glad I did! (SFC and Gameboy games for 50 Yen each!! Sadly no photos or name of the place so good luck finiding it...) Look for signs outside or on the walls with pictures of games on!
And don't forget to relax in a Maid Cafe after a long day of Retro Shopping! :D
Tokyo
Akihabara
Super Potato!
Japan has several Super Potato stores, the biggest of which is right in the centre of Akihabara and has three floors including an arcade room in the top floor. They sell everything you could hope to find for a range of retro systems, although their prices can be a little crazy, its definitely worth a visit just to marvel at its selection of hard to find games and collectables! I also love the homely feel these shops have, with gaming merchasndise all over the place and very friendly staff that will do their best to help even if they cant understand what you're trying to ask them!
The arcade room is decorated in cammo and guarded by a full size Solid Snake statue!
Uhhh.. I think one of those signs means "Action game"
A giant Mario statue greets you as you enter!
????.
Sadly I don't know the name of this place, just look for a long thin shop at the end of the main street before a curry house (we walked past it a few times! Listen out for NES music playing from a CRT in the window!) Once you do manage to find it, you wont be disappointed! The shop really crammed a lot into such a small space, the walls were bursting with great condition boxed Super Famicom games and a huge selection of loose GameBoy games lining the wall on the other side of the shop, and many other systems towards the back. At the back of the shop you can find a great selection of loose PC Engine games! (wish I had known I was going to buy one later in my trip else I would have spent some more time looking!!) They were also selling portable snes consoles which I went back to get later on!
So overwhelming when you first walk in! take some time to take it all in first!
Wish i'd bought some of these now! REGRETS!!
Trader.
This shop was not so much focused on Retro as the others, but it still had a great selection, especially worth noting was its good selection of boxed GBA and Gamecube games. I picked up two of the GBA Starfy games and Kururin Squash for the Gamecube. I was also temped to buy a Famicom Gameboy micro, I decided to leave it and come back later, a decision I later regretted... several times.. I did however, go back here on the last day and decided to go all out and buy the Miku edition PS Vita and both Project Diva games! (Sorry wallet!) I also watched someone infront of me in the queue but BOTH the famicom gameboy micros!
Mandarake.
Not entirely dedicated to games. This one was a bit harder to find, thankfully I had looked it up before going, and good job I did because this was easily the best place I'd been so far! Row upon row of boxed SFC games, all graded for condition of box, manual and cart, and quite reasonable prices. The store also had a huge selection of Saturn and PS1 games and some really amazingly rare games in the cabinet at the back.. including one of the very few gold Rockman 4 Famicom carts! And a Famicom Gameboy Micro, which, i once again decided not to get, and proceded to watch a person buy it right infront of me for the second time...
All graded by condition and alphabetised. Pretty much all the games were in mint condition!
The extremely rare (Only 8 in the world!) Rockman 4 cart!
After this amazing tour of the shops of Akihabara, I was lucky enough to meet up with a friend from a retro gaming community on Google+ (Thanks, +Charlie Maib! :D ) to visit some shops further out of Tokyo, including one shop I had been dying to visit for years... It's definitely worth considering taking a train a bit further out of tokyo to find some cheaper games!
Hard Off.
Full of retro games and hundreds of consoles all stashed away in plastic boxes filling the shelves, this place was a dream come true. A fantastic selection once again of SFC games, all at much cheaper prices than in the touristy areas. Consoles for the equivalent price of a meal here in the UK. (Managed to get a loose PC Engine Duo for roughly £30!) as well as a handful of games to play on it!
Hard Off 2.
We went to a second hard off store a little further away, this one had just as amazing selection as the first, with some extremely cheap SFC games and even more consoles for incredibly cheap prices! Such a shame I was running out of suitcase spece by now else I could have easily bought a few more systems! Oh well, theres always next time! We also found a new shop that had recently opened which had a good selection of SFC games! Sadly no photos though.
Osaka
The view from the hotel window! I think I see a game shop in the distance..
For the second week of our trip, we travelled via the bullet train to a little place called Osaka (not little at all!! :O). Here I was surprised to find it had its own version of Akihabara, called Den Den Town, not quite the spectacle that Akihabara was but still full of great places to visit (once we managed to find them!) including THREE Super potato stores, although I think one of them might have closed down... And a few independent retro stores as well. I was on a mission to find some wires for my PC Engine and luckly, Den Den Town, after much trying to get the shopkeepers to understand what I was asking for, did not disappoint!
Super Potato 1.
This store was a smaller super potato, with only two floors. What I enjoyed most about this one was the good selection of Megadrive games on the top floor! (An uncommon system in Japan it seems) Here I picked up Monster World IV, a game that I have been after for a long time after really enjoying the translated release on the Wii Virtual Console a few years ago! This store also had a great selection of Wonderswan games along the wall upstairs (ad what awesome stairs they were!), I managed to pick up Klonoa Moonlight Museum! Downstairs was mostly new games which was a bit surprising for a Super Potato.
Super Potato 2.
This one was where I finally managed to find the wires I so desperately needed for the PC Engine, as well as selling all sorts of wires and controllers, this store also had a great selection of GBA games and even had one of several Famicom Gameboy Micro's I was looking out for! (Silly me for not buying one in the end, I regret it now!) This store also had another gold Rockman 4 cart... Just look at the price! :O
Book Off.
I was surprised that even a non assuming book store had a huge selection of retro games,(a surprising number of PC engine games) and several Taiko drum master games hidden away in a corner! Sadly I didn't have enough space to pick up the Taiko drum games. (Except the DS one!) Unfortunately the shop was closing soon after we arrived so I didn't get too long to look around although I did end up purchasing a few HU card games, including NEC's quite polished answer to Zelda, Neutopia.
The final game shop I visited before the long journey home was a small independent shop, hidden away down a street in Osaka...
???? RetroShockedManWithScarfShop!
Sadly I have no idea what this place is called either! It was a small shop but with a good selection, especially for Wonderswan and Saturn, It also stocked many hard to find soundtracks and strategy guides, I didn't buy any games here but I did get the "We are Rockmen" album which I had been after for a long while! They also had a Famicom Gameboy micro but here it was way more expensive than the others, due to the fact that it was the extremely rare "Player 2" design of the console.
I hope this post was useful if you are planning a trip to Japan! Or if you were just curious as to what to expect when you go! The best thing to do is just go on Google Maps or Foursquare and search for nearby game shops and get some directions! It's also worth picking up a map of the area or printing one off before you leave the hotel in case there is no wifi! (Or get a cheap phone and Sim card for 3 or 4G Internet! This will help with looking up the games too and if you download a translation app you can just point the phone camera at the Japanese writing to see what it says... It doesn't always make much sense though...)
Hopefully next time I can find some even more amazing shops and surprises!
And if you cant afford to visit Japan to buy the games, +Charlie Maib has just launched his own website, Superfamimart! so check it out if you want to buy some cool japanese exclusives!
.png)
-2.jpg)
