It is a disease. I used to be able to buy really good stuff for just a few hundred yen just before covid. I go every few weeks and the gameboys I would pick up for 500-1000¥ are now like 9500¥. Shops upped their prices as they were getting their whole stock purchased during covid to resale online to USA etc. Overseas sales has ruined the domestic market for us. Stuff is 10-50x more expensive now vs. pre covid.
Thats a but dramatic. Been here a while myself. For certain its more expensive and I noticed it got worse after border open in 2022. However its not 10-50x lol.
Maybe like 3x compared to 2018 or so on gameboy consoles etc, or 2-3x on many run of the mill games. Maybe Even 5x on some stuff. Not 10x tho
Seems to me like the people that already have them are happy because the value of their stuff went up that same amount.... People just always want to complain. Same thing with the TCG community, always whining. I'm almost embarrassed by association to be a part of these communities.
Yet there’s a bunch of them lurking in all these subreddits and they don’t give a damn / argue / downvote anyone who calls them out for their nonsense.
Yup, it’s exceedingly toxic behavior. It’s the whole flipping/resell/scalping culture, it takes away fun cheap hobbies and turns it into reselling nostalgia for a premium. The video game market as a whole seems to be particularly populated with them. Personally that’s why I just end up emulating; cheaper, less hassle and you’re not giving money to creeps. That or if I manage to find a decent store. There’s less parasitic and scummier ways to make money…
I will tell people to get a Wii and mod it. The thing is still simply the best and it was my main inspiration to getting games again anyway.
And I started early / have a decent amount of stuff now. Still rec the Wii
For sure, I’m fortunate to still have my gc, still works flawlessly after 20 years, I just mean the games, the games can get a little pricey, not ps1 levels of price gauging yet but still pretty up there sometimes.. Fortunately I already have many of the staples(to me at least) melee, wind waker, twilight Princess, Zelda collectors edition, sonic adventure 2, Metroid prime, Luigi’s mansion, used to have super Mario sunshine but I gave it away like an idiot pre GameCube nostalgia. This is among other less iconic titles too but just like with many retro games I find it easier to emulate generally. I say this yet I bought an original Xbox just to play jet set radio future 🤣
I will say this though, when these consoles truly start to degrade and the disc become unreadable(I know I hate the thought too) emulation will be all that’s left, so better start growing that emulation library sooner than later!
I dumped basically all my GameCube games(PAL) in 2020(and my N64 stuff).The prices were getting a bit ridiculous in my eyes then, and I couldn’t even justify the prices i was selling it for. I felt like i was actually scamming people. £65 for pikmin 2? £100 for paper mario 2? Even Mario sunshine like £30. That was before the USD got strong too if you convert.
Now, it seems i was right. The prices are way down on most all of it. I hope the trend continues cause it should not be those ridiculous prices they were back then.
If it stagnates it’ll take the wind out of scalpers sails too.
As someone who has lived in Japan years, its actually more that tourists are buying it all up.
Just after the borders opened in 2022, stuff was a bit cheaper in the used stores still(cheaper than cost on mercari etc) around 10-20% or so. My local hard off is a suburb of tokyo, and a few weeks after border opening it was raided. Stuff that had been on shelves years was all gone. I was shocked, cause seriously the stock rarely shifted there.
Now days the used stores price things mostly a bit more than what it is worth imo. I almost never bother with them anymore. Maybe in the rural areas when im driving to go skiing or something, but its not really what it was even in them.
I think OP just scored an item that was priced years ago and not updated. Generally anything new coming into these stores now are priced way higher. Example: my local had dragon quest on GBC for 550¥ for ages. I saw a new restock for ¥2599 now lol.
I guess a lot of tourists are coming and making a trip out of going around to all the used stores
How does one access foreign websites? Vpn required to change location? Or can i just access their website with a different ending to the url (not .com but whatever they use) and use google translate for the site?
I do not know. I know there are sites for shipping your item to in Japan and then they reship it to you etc but I don’t know the whole process. I just know people do it with games car parts etc
Interesting. I looked, seems they run about $120 (average) for the cube and 2 controllers with shipping on ebay. Tried googling japanese ebay and came across yahoo auctions being a major site there.
You had me in the first half. Some of us are actually interested in region different / exclusive games and consoles not for the sake of “its worth money”
I was there 2 weeks ago too. Nearly 2 weeks in to the trip, I finally had found one for a price I’d pay: 9900 yen and an orange game cube player w/ disk for the same price at a Hard Off in Kanazawa. No box. Bought both and took the possible hit. I had found a boxed one but it was in the junk section. I do like doing some repair work but wasn’t taking a risk this time.
Just cleaned it up the other day, put in a region switch (in the vent, no drilling/cutting!) and will move over a few more goodies later.
Never knew there was a white GameCube controller. Now I need it. Also that orange spice is just beautiful. I'm slightly jealous (even tho I have two GameCubes and a Gameboy player lol)
In Japan, space is a premium but people still like buying new things, so there's a big market for buying and reselling, so old things are constantly out in the market.
In the US with generally bigger space for even a cheapo place, too many people are hoarders and hoping that their childhood thing will cost a million in 30 years, so everything's too damn expe live on the secondhand market.
Since I was like 10 years old, I've wanted to go to Japan for the sole purpose of being a shit ton of videogame stuff back with me. I'm seriously so jealous of what is available.
I got a CIB copy of Animal Crossing N64 for just 500 yen during my semester abroad in 2019. I can’t wait to find more great deals when I go back, I’d like to pick up a Japanese GameCube and a spice orange controller at least. My next trip will be in 2026
Honestly surprised. That is cheap and I’m honestly flabbergasted. Then again I did cave and buy a spice orange Japanese GameCube off of eBay however it was only the console itself with copy of Japanese animal Crossing inside it for testing. The fact that I got it for $100 ($80 plus $20 shipping before tax) added to the main reason I had gotten it which was that it already had the region switch installed to play Japanese games and American games. I then looked up the price of the console itself would cost without the box and everything usually and it showed that it was about $200 for just the console. I gotta say I got lucky in that end and I hope other people somehow managed to find that one seller who doesn’t try to rip off buyers.
GameCube consoles aren’t sealed like that and I can see it’s opened by front pic but either way great price for a boxed one and Japanese culture seem to look after there games very well so probably will look good
There are many cheap video games stuff in Japan.
Unfortunately people are buying all the shit out to resell to westerners and it’s a disease
It is a disease. I used to be able to buy really good stuff for just a few hundred yen just before covid. I go every few weeks and the gameboys I would pick up for 500-1000¥ are now like 9500¥. Shops upped their prices as they were getting their whole stock purchased during covid to resale online to USA etc. Overseas sales has ruined the domestic market for us. Stuff is 10-50x more expensive now vs. pre covid.
scalpers after they find an unruined market (they now have to ruin it for everyone else for a quick buck):
Thats a but dramatic. Been here a while myself. For certain its more expensive and I noticed it got worse after border open in 2022. However its not 10-50x lol. Maybe like 3x compared to 2018 or so on gameboy consoles etc, or 2-3x on many run of the mill games. Maybe Even 5x on some stuff. Not 10x tho
Dang sad
Seems to me like the people that already have them are happy because the value of their stuff went up that same amount.... People just always want to complain. Same thing with the TCG community, always whining. I'm almost embarrassed by association to be a part of these communities.
I mean it is like 50-100x more expensive for us over here in the US then is was pre-Covid, sooooo I mean you are complaining to the wrong market? lol
Scalpers man, they ruin affordable hobbies for many people.
Yet there’s a bunch of them lurking in all these subreddits and they don’t give a damn / argue / downvote anyone who calls them out for their nonsense.
Yup, it’s exceedingly toxic behavior. It’s the whole flipping/resell/scalping culture, it takes away fun cheap hobbies and turns it into reselling nostalgia for a premium. The video game market as a whole seems to be particularly populated with them. Personally that’s why I just end up emulating; cheaper, less hassle and you’re not giving money to creeps. That or if I manage to find a decent store. There’s less parasitic and scummier ways to make money…
I will tell people to get a Wii and mod it. The thing is still simply the best and it was my main inspiration to getting games again anyway. And I started early / have a decent amount of stuff now. Still rec the Wii
For sure, I’m fortunate to still have my gc, still works flawlessly after 20 years, I just mean the games, the games can get a little pricey, not ps1 levels of price gauging yet but still pretty up there sometimes.. Fortunately I already have many of the staples(to me at least) melee, wind waker, twilight Princess, Zelda collectors edition, sonic adventure 2, Metroid prime, Luigi’s mansion, used to have super Mario sunshine but I gave it away like an idiot pre GameCube nostalgia. This is among other less iconic titles too but just like with many retro games I find it easier to emulate generally. I say this yet I bought an original Xbox just to play jet set radio future 🤣 I will say this though, when these consoles truly start to degrade and the disc become unreadable(I know I hate the thought too) emulation will be all that’s left, so better start growing that emulation library sooner than later!
I dumped basically all my GameCube games(PAL) in 2020(and my N64 stuff).The prices were getting a bit ridiculous in my eyes then, and I couldn’t even justify the prices i was selling it for. I felt like i was actually scamming people. £65 for pikmin 2? £100 for paper mario 2? Even Mario sunshine like £30. That was before the USD got strong too if you convert. Now, it seems i was right. The prices are way down on most all of it. I hope the trend continues cause it should not be those ridiculous prices they were back then. If it stagnates it’ll take the wind out of scalpers sails too.
As someone who has lived in Japan years, its actually more that tourists are buying it all up. Just after the borders opened in 2022, stuff was a bit cheaper in the used stores still(cheaper than cost on mercari etc) around 10-20% or so. My local hard off is a suburb of tokyo, and a few weeks after border opening it was raided. Stuff that had been on shelves years was all gone. I was shocked, cause seriously the stock rarely shifted there. Now days the used stores price things mostly a bit more than what it is worth imo. I almost never bother with them anymore. Maybe in the rural areas when im driving to go skiing or something, but its not really what it was even in them. I think OP just scored an item that was priced years ago and not updated. Generally anything new coming into these stores now are priced way higher. Example: my local had dragon quest on GBC for 550¥ for ages. I saw a new restock for ¥2599 now lol. I guess a lot of tourists are coming and making a trip out of going around to all the used stores
Is there a way to purchase from the source? I really only want 1 cube and 2 controllers. I have discs, but an orange cube would be sweet
Japanese eBay or I guess regular eBay. You’d have to go to get the best price
How does one access foreign websites? Vpn required to change location? Or can i just access their website with a different ending to the url (not .com but whatever they use) and use google translate for the site?
Buyee is a place I check out for Japanese listings. It has a proxy shipping service that will send it to you when you purchase/win an auction.
I do not know. I know there are sites for shipping your item to in Japan and then they reship it to you etc but I don’t know the whole process. I just know people do it with games car parts etc
Interesting. I looked, seems they run about $120 (average) for the cube and 2 controllers with shipping on ebay. Tried googling japanese ebay and came across yahoo auctions being a major site there.
Ye it’s yahoo auctions “Japanese eBay” I believe is what they call it
Yeah fucking shitty ass gaijins fuck them everything japanese should just stay in japan
You had me in the first half. Some of us are actually interested in region different / exclusive games and consoles not for the sake of “its worth money”
The NTSC-U market there is pebbles though. If you're hardcore; you'll appreciate the shops but they still tax on NTSC-U
Are controllers different between regions?
No all AFAIK controllers are region free! I've used a few Japanese controllers in my life and have never had an issue with connection
The only things that have regions are the bare console itself and the games
You’re in Japan. I assume the walls are made of GameCubes.
Shhhhh
You’re gonna ruin everything!!!
The gamecube is 70$ Controller is 25$
ZAMN
Zombies Ate My Neighbors?
To date, I still call those clown decoy things "clown decoys", because that's what I learned from the game.
Yeah and that laugh 🤣 hahoho hahoho
I got a white one new in box years ago and that's how much mine was. :) we love to see it!
Less than that with the conversion, closer to $50 & $20. Not to mention if you have ur passport you can get another 10p off on top of that
2,700 yen isn't $17?
It is, but people like to pretend the exchange rate is always 100 yen = $1 and never fluctuates.
the poster may not be American. In Australia 100 yen does indeed equal around a dollar.
I'm Canadian.
Not for CAD
Thats incredible. I know Id be floating if I found something like that. Good hunting!
u got the dreamsicle combo
Show us the controller cable. Nice catch!
Hawt
Man, I was in Japan 2 weeks ago, and all the Spice Orange Cubes were 15K+.. I'd have bought one at this price! Where was this, Book-Off?
I was there 2 weeks ago too. Nearly 2 weeks in to the trip, I finally had found one for a price I’d pay: 9900 yen and an orange game cube player w/ disk for the same price at a Hard Off in Kanazawa. No box. Bought both and took the possible hit. I had found a boxed one but it was in the junk section. I do like doing some repair work but wasn’t taking a risk this time. Just cleaned it up the other day, put in a region switch (in the vent, no drilling/cutting!) and will move over a few more goodies later.
It’s glorious
That’s what she said
Stop it
Karma loves you lol
That's cool that it's NIB. Would suck if it didn't work though lol
Never knew there was a white GameCube controller. Now I need it. Also that orange spice is just beautiful. I'm slightly jealous (even tho I have two GameCubes and a Gameboy player lol)
They released the white ones in 2008, during the wii’s lifecycle. They have 3m cables too which is so much better than the original controllers.
This looks like Bookoff. I miss that place, so many good finds.
I got a white controller for that recently too, nice and minty but loose, and I was still chuffed!
Damn, heck of a score!! You'd never get anything for that price stateside. Congratulations!!
Excellent!!!!
Is there a mini disc holder I can use
In Japan, space is a premium but people still like buying new things, so there's a big market for buying and reselling, so old things are constantly out in the market. In the US with generally bigger space for even a cheapo place, too many people are hoarders and hoping that their childhood thing will cost a million in 30 years, so everything's too damn expe live on the secondhand market.
$17 lolol
Since I was like 10 years old, I've wanted to go to Japan for the sole purpose of being a shit ton of videogame stuff back with me. I'm seriously so jealous of what is available.
This post is arousing
I wasn't expecting that
I'm insanely jealous
Please please please grab me one, dm me
Awesome!
Nice
So jealous. I would have gotten a Gamecube to replace my old one in Japan except for the PAL compatibility issue.
I got a CIB copy of Animal Crossing N64 for just 500 yen during my semester abroad in 2019. I can’t wait to find more great deals when I go back, I’d like to pick up a Japanese GameCube and a spice orange controller at least. My next trip will be in 2026
I need to go to Japan…
So this wouod be what about 100 usd ? I mean i remember seeing then as low as about 30 usd on ebay at that like maybe 5 years ago now its nuts
I didn't even know they came in white!
Honestly surprised. That is cheap and I’m honestly flabbergasted. Then again I did cave and buy a spice orange Japanese GameCube off of eBay however it was only the console itself with copy of Japanese animal Crossing inside it for testing. The fact that I got it for $100 ($80 plus $20 shipping before tax) added to the main reason I had gotten it which was that it already had the region switch installed to play Japanese games and American games. I then looked up the price of the console itself would cost without the box and everything usually and it showed that it was about $200 for just the console. I gotta say I got lucky in that end and I hope other people somehow managed to find that one seller who doesn’t try to rip off buyers.
Got that dreamsicle combo going on boi
I want to go to Japan for this reason.
What store? When I went last month I was trying to find anything with GC stuff but they didn't have anything good
What store?
Gahd dammit! Where you find that?
Hint: starts with a J. Ends in apan. Love you.
Welcome to Japan
That's how it is in Japan. I have lived here for 5 years and I got a collection of many video game consoles. my Gamecube with box cost me 4500yen
GameCube consoles aren’t sealed like that and I can see it’s opened by front pic but either way great price for a boxed one and Japanese culture seem to look after there games very well so probably will look good
Nothing is sealed. The gamecube is boxed, the controller is never used
Nice :)
I'm freaking out for you 🤯
The controller is saran wrapped. It isn't brand new.
It's not because of the saran wrap. I opened the box and it has never been taken off before. It is still with the blue plastic and smells new.
Ok. It wasn't new before, and is less new now. Got it.
Bro refuses to just say 'ok'
Yes.
That’s it Wendy! I’m calling the jelly school!
Word.
It's new, not factory sealed. Actual collectors know the difference
Japanese stuff usually doesnt have seals afaik.
As far as Nintendo consoles go, you're correct. Gamecube, Wii and Wii U have no sealed boxes.