Atari games spotted in a Tokyo gamestore

[Bratwurst]

Friend of mine's currently visiting Japan, he doesn't know the name of the place but it's not super unusual to see American NES or later system games for sale in used game shops there. Atari's much less common:

 

 

Astrosmash Intellivision 3680 yen
Tempest Jaguar 13800 yen
Club Drive Jaguar 4180 yen
Crystal Castles 2780 yen
Vanguard 4780 yen

Bottom shelf loose stuff:

Star Raiders 1480 yen
star Voyager 1500 yen
Air Sea Battle 1480 yen
3D Tic Tac Toe 1480 yen
Combat 1480 yen
???
Chopper Command ???? Yen

[+sramirez2008]

Pretty cool, but pretty pricey. 1 yen equals .0091 US dollar or $43.50 for Vanguard.  
I wonder what a 2600 would go for?

[CPUWIZ]

Yup

 

https://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=4%2C780&From=JPY&To=USD

[Feralstorm]

I guess this speaks to relative rarity between the US and Japan (or elsewhere and elsewhere else). Just like when I see YouTube vids shot in some Japan retro game store, thinking how reasonably-priced some Dreamcast game I'd like is over there, I could imagine some Japanese Atari collector (presumably they exist) freaking over the bins of dollar carts that might be found here.

 

(Seriously, 1480 yen for a loose Combat cart? )

[ubersaurus]

Oh yeah I think I was in that store last October. Most Japanese stores require you to be a Tokyo resident to sell game stuff, so I imagine they don’t get much In way of foreign carts.

[Magmavision2000]

Those prices don't seem that bad considering you would be paying for the luxury of not having to pay for shipping. 

[glazball]

Very cool to see nonetheless.  I wonder how many Jaguar consoles there even are in Japan.  Surely there can't be many?

[Atariboy2600]

here’s a old  photo boxed Atari 2800 on the floor at Super Potato in Tokyo.

 

If only I was there paying itXD

 

[+Al_Nafuur]

Yeah i'm rich ? , but only in Japan 

 

Just bought these on ebay a few days ago for 20 €

[spacecadet]

1 hour ago, Atariboy2600 said:

here’s a old  photo boxed Atari 2800 on the floor at Super Potato in Tokyo.

 

If only I was there paying itXD

 

That's actually my photo

 

I still regret not buying that. I just didn't know how I'd get it home.

 

That said, I've learned that these are not actually all *that* rare there, although ones in that condition are obviously less common than incomplete or loose ones. But I've seen at least a couple of other boxed 2800's since then, they've just been more expensive than I thought they were worth given the hassle or expense of getting it home. (Like, standard Ebay prices really.) Japanese stores have sort of wised up to westerners coming in and buying stuff we consider rare but they might not really care about. They mostly price it accordingly now.

 

As for the actual American games pictured at the top, there are stores that specialize in imports, so you can find stuff like that. There must be a particular crowd there that's into classic American games, because I don't know why else this stuff would even be there. There is one store on Chuo Dori that has multiple stories and has a full wall of import games like that on the top floor.

[Steven Pendleton]

Yeah, I see 2600 games at Trader every time I go there. 本店2F, aisle closest to the door near the Dreamcasts/PS2s. I think Trader 3 has some retro stuff, but I haven't been there in like 10 years or so since I can always find what I am looking for before I remember it exists. I've only seen one actual 2600 (at Super Potato a few weeks ago) and it was broken. Never seen a 2800. NES games show up there (at Trader 本店) from time to time.

Edited March 3, 2020 by Steven Pendleton

[bluejay]

Atari stuff is quite rare in Japan and Korea, as all the Atari was too expensive there, BITD. You should be able to understand better if you realize an E.T. cart is considered legendarily rare, and a loose cart might sell for $70 or more. Yeah, buy a suitcase full of E.T. carts, buy a cheap ticket to Tokyo or Seoul, and sell 'em all for $50.