Buying stuff in Japan?!?

[hydr0x]

i need help

a female friend of mine is going to Japan for 6 month next year, she doesn't know anything about games but she says she would look for games for me, she just needs to know what she has to search for

so what i need is this:

- some good lists of japanese games worth buying, i don't speak it, although i plan to learn it in 1-2 years. so, i only need games playable without knowing too much japanese and games worth collecting (nice LE and all that stuff)

- perhaps some info on which games are a lot cheaper in japan than on ebay

-a good guide to game shopping in japan. good shops, whatever

btw i'm interested in all games 8bit+ besides Neo Geo, handheld stuff and PC-Engine (well, there are exceptions, like the castlevania game)

any help is appreciated

[gamergary]

X68000 stuff is good if you can find any. I'm looking to get one of the computers myself but shipping is at least 20% of what you pay for the machine. Famicom and Super Famicom games are generally good if you know/don't know the language as long as they aren't rpgs so you aren't drowned by text. Older japanese video game magazines or guidebooks=good so ask her to get a lot since a couple of people here might want them including me.

[MegaDrive20XX]

I always wanted a copy of SMB2 Famicom Disk...

[Ed Oscuro]

I know lots of good games...but you should do the legwork yourself ;) Besides, if you choose the games yourself, you'll know what you like and don't like in advance of slappin' down some $$.

I will say that it doesn't matter if somebody's in Japan getting stuff for you or not - you'll still have to ship it back.

Plus, if this is her first time over there, she really shouldn't have time to look for stuff like that. If she does, what's to say she won't buy stuff for way too much? Hell, I used to do that all the time. Buying stuff online really isn't too bad, all things considered.

[kevincure]

Consoles. Everything else can be bought from the Japanese -> America buyers on Yahoo Japan for market value. If she has room, though, consoles can be bought cheaply and you'll save a ton on shipping.

[Ed Oscuro]

That could be true, but how much room is a woman gonna have in her suitcase? Not to be sexist, you know ;)

[hydr0x]

uh i'm not interested in X68000, damn forgot to list that after PC-Engine, i thought i had

@ed

sure, i already know a couple of games to look for, but as japanese games wheren't a big deal for me until now i'm pretty sure i do not even know a lot of the must-haves

I will say that it doesn't matter if somebody's in Japan getting stuff for you or not - you'll still have to ship it back.

well, she doesn't have to ship ALL the stuff, and remember, she's going there for six month and her boyfriend will come visit her a few times and can take some stuff with him every time

she is over there the 2nd time and she will be there for 6 month !! she should have time and the pricing issue is exactly the reason i posted this topic, i'll do it this way: give her a list of stuff i'm interested in plus info on how much i'd pay for the single items. along with that i'd tell her, well, you can get any jap dc game under X yen or whatever, as long as you don't go over X yen in total
plus, she has internet over there, she could always ask me whenever she's unsure about an item.

@kevincure

- those yahoo japan shopping services often only work for the us, not europe
- for market value?? well, i don't think so, they have quite heavy fees and shipping costs

[petewhitley]

Where in Japan will she be? I can offer some suggestions for the Kansai area.

[hydr0x]

Where in Japan will she be? I can offer some suggestions for the Kansai area.

she doesn't know yet..