Trader is a retro gamer’s paradise

A reader reports back from a successful shopping trip to Tokyo’s Akihabara district and offers advice on the best shops to visit.

Imagine a whole district devoted to video games, equivalent in size to Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus, Tottenham Court Road, Soho, Covent Garden, and Leicester Square combined.

That district is Akihabara, the Electric Town.

It’s in Tokyo but we can get you there:


Flights

You can find some return fares for under £300; just be patient, flexible, and keep searching websites like www.hotukdeals.com.

Accommodation

We stayed at Hotel MyStays Ochanomizu. Seconds from Akihabara, this comfortable and Westerner-friendly hotel starts from £50/night for a ‘semi-double’ (fine for two). Make sure you ask for a non-smoking room at reservation!

Trader – it does what it says on the tin

The Video Game Shops

Chuo Dori is the main street. Walk from the river up to Suehirocho subway station. Breath in the madness. Now head for:

Medialand is full of second-hand gems

1. Trader (on the Akiba Map Trader #2 is also worth a visit but give #3 a miss)

Start with the flagship Trader store: it’s halfway up Chuo Dori and easy to find. We bought a mint condition Final Fantasy Type-0 (PSP) and a mint Treasure Hunter G on the Super Famicom (Japanese SNES). We’ve since had the latter translated into English. Very exciting.



Trader sell second-hand games, both retro and current gen. The Japanese market for second-hand games is impressive: many gamers buy top titles on release day (loving a prestigious long queue), play them to death over a weekend, then trade them.

2. Medialand (not on the Akiba Map; see photo)

Also on Chuo Dori (halfway up, on the right) but harder to find amid the multitude of street-level shops. The trick is to lift up your eyes a little: the second-floor sign is, mercifully, in English. Medialand has some great second-hand bargains.

Mandarake would make a great bad guy lair

3. Mandarake (on the Akiba Map)

On a smaller road parallel to Chuo Dori lies the black monolith of Mandarake. Head for Mandarake’s upper-echelons for superb second-hand deals, particularly Super Famicom games. We were tempted by the many boxed Super Famicom gems – the box art and manuals are so much more pleasing-on-the-eye than their Western equivalents. In the end we settled for a rare Japan-only Violinist Of Hameln (SNES) and Ace Attorney (DS).

Mandarake’s other floors are also worth a quick peek. Plenty of gaming merchandise to be had, even if we didn’t find any chrome Final Fantasy figures. Gah.

4. Trader 2 (on the Akiba Map)

Lurking just west of Chuo Dori (down towards the river) is Trader 2. You only need the ground floor here, so it’s perfect for catching your breath after an assault on Mount Mandarake. Trader 2 is best for second-hand-but-newish-current-gen releases. Fill yer boots.

So there you have it. The best video game shops in Tokyo, all within five minutes of each other. You could also swing by the legendary Super Potato: incredibly easy-to-miss but mercifully listed on the English Akiba Map. It’s just off Chuo Dori, near Club Sega.

Super Potato is horribly expensive and terribly crowded… but it’s also crammed with some of the finest gaming goods known to humanity. If it’s rare, it’s there. Treat it like a video game museum, not a shop. Just don’t look at the eye-watering prices.

That’s all you need to know about Akihabara. Apart from, say, a spare £400, what are you waiting for?

By reader kincl4

The gamiest place on Earth

This Reader’s Feature is adapted from an article in Issue 0 of HyperPlay RPG: a retro, print-only fanzine dedicated to all things role-playing and Nintendo. HyperPlay RPG goes on sale on eBay in May 2015, on a pay-what-you-like basis. GC readers can join the front of the queue by emailing rpgzine@hotmail.com

The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. As always, email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk and follow us on Twitter.