What are you Playing?

[kndy]

Beyblade.

My son has about 100 and won 4 tournaments so far. He also got 3 Stadiums, fade is dying down now as the anime sucked. Lost interest now as they got too complicated and some even now come with a remote.

His most expensive/rare one set me back a cool 95$.

Nice!!! My son has about 90 now and he wants to start competing. We have several stadiums but he wants the nice ones that are so darn expensive. He wants the Bey Ta stadium but it's $89. Not sure if I want to spend that much for a stadium with a magnetized beyblade.

But It's interesting because people in Japan are now selling them internationally and actually making a profit because Hasbro USA is a year or two behind and they keep releasing recolored versions.

[kndy]

kndy.

Forgot to add if I sold my sons "Zexal/Yu-Gi-Oh" collection it would bring in over 2000$ on the 2nd-hand market. He got some very rare cards in mint condition.

Which brings me to the games question.

New game prices in Japan are pricey(controlled) but many games will soon drop at the 2nd-hand shops like Geo, Book-Off, Dorama, etc.

Some games will drop quickly in prices, while others will retain a high price(buying and selling) for Years.
So if you want the latest game pay they new price, if not wait 2-3 month for the price to come down and you can also sell your old games that you no-longer play. Dito for Manga, etc.

Same way you can pick up most game-stations and consoles 2nd-hand for a good price.

HTH.

Greetings Bikelover,

Does he value his cards? My son still has his Pokemon cards but I've sold his Pokemon plushies, which I bought in Japan right before the series became popular and also sold his Transformers collection. But he goes through these phases of things he likes (which last less than a month), for the first time...with beyblades, he has kept with it. He's loving it right now and I try to make it educational for him, learning about velocity, recoil but also, since he has so many, how to use MS Excel and chart their wins, losses and ties. But I will say that it does get expensive since we import a lot of them.

As for games, yeah...I used to buy used a lot in Japan. I still purchase them used, now that I am in the US and ordering them via eBay but "Densha de Go!" PSP games which I believe came out in 2004 or 2005...you figured that the games would have gone down but instead they have gone up. I purchased nearly all of them for the PSP, except "Densha de Go! Pocket Toukaidousen Hen" but that one continues to be expensive.

[greg]

I remember Densha De Go for the Sega Saturn and Playstation back in the day, and it came with a "realistic" train controller with a speed throttle and such to play it with to make it feel like a real train simulator. I can't imagine a portable game system could provide the same experience. I think Taito took a huge bellyflop a few years ago and might not be publishing games anymore. Perhaps that game was a limited release and thus is rare and expensive?

[kndy]

I remember Densha De Go for the Sega Saturn and Playstation back in the day, and it came with a "realistic" train controller with a speed throttle and such to play it with to make it feel like a real train simulator. I can't imagine a portable game system could provide the same experience. I think Taito took a huge bellyflop a few years ago and might not be publishing games anymore. Perhaps that game was a limited release and thus is rare and expensive?

Probably... It's funny because I would never imagine myself playing a train simulator. But I started to miss being in Japan so much and riding the trains around Tokyo, the game actually made me feel happy. Weird I know... But yeah, that last game for the PSP is expensive. I know they released a 25th anniversary for the DS.. but never picked that one up.

Greg, I was watching your YouTube videos with my son and enjoyed watching them! Also read about your mother, my condolences to you and your family.

[greg]

Greg, I was watching your YouTube videos with my son and enjoyed watching them! Also read about your mother, my condolences to you and your family.

Thanks. I am returning to America in March to spend a week with my dad because he's all alone now. Once we're settled into our new apartment, I will have him come and stay with us for up to three months in Japan, however long he'd like to stay with us. I'm sorry my mom is gone, but I really feel badly for my dad because he's all alone.

I'm glad you and your son enjoy the YouTube videos! It's funny though; I'd been taking pictures of my anime collection and such for Web forums and such, and then I worked up enough courage to film a video of my so-called "nerd cave" at my old house I sold last year. I was going through some drama with my imbecile neighbors and their moronic dogs barking constantly, so I uploaded a couple of videos of that to show my friends and coworkers because, hey, I have a YT account, so why not? Then I started taking videos of cool anime, hobby, and video game shops in Japan, and it went on from there. Lots of plastic models, retro video games, Japanese shops, and Japan travel videos.

[kndy]

I'm glad you and your son enjoy the YouTube videos! It's funny though; I'd been taking pictures of my anime collection and such for Web forums and such, and then I worked up enough courage to film a video of my so-called "nerd cave" at my old house I sold last year. I was going through some drama with my imbecile neighbors and their moronic dogs barking constantly, so I uploaded a couple of videos of that to show my friends and coworkers because, hey, I have a YT account, so why not? Then I started taking videos of cool anime, hobby, and video game shops in Japan, and it went on from there. Lots of plastic models, retro video games, Japanese shops, and Japan travel videos.

Please continue to do more. My son also asks if you ever go back to TRU, if you can show the Beyblades as he would like to see the difference from American stores.

But it was really enjoyble, especially even the traveling via car. There is something serene about it but then again, I miss Japan so much...and it's nostalgia kicking in.

[kndy]

The latest game I purchased from Japan was for my son but realize he prefers the DS better. So, I'm playing it. Got lucky that it there were hardly any bids...so got it for $19.99, new with free shipping and the extra Beyblade included.

[Armblessed]

I just recently finished playing through Shogun 2: Total War single player. Shogun 2 has an online co-op mode that my friend and I were totally excited about. We both bought it and were playing it and having a good time until about 30 hours in when our game began desynching to where we were seeing different things happening, even though we were both in the same game. We were able to fix it by shutting the game down and sending each other our save files, but it happens every few turns now. It just seems unforgivable in this day and age to have a game that doesn't play right over multiplayer. I've been a huge fan of the Total War series of games ever since the first one came out years ago, but the past couple I've played have had completely game killing bugs that prevented me from finishing campaigns that I had already put dozens of hours into. I'm not sure if I will get another Total War game.

Right now though, I am playing the controversial Dwarf Fortress. Every few years I re-download Dwarf Fortress to build an awesomely massive Citadel of Dwarf Power. The game has ASCII graphics, atrocious user interface, annoying micromanagement, and a learning curve that is akin to a perilously jagged cliff face, and yet despite all that, its a ton of fun.

[greg]

P.S.: Still struggling through "Skyrim" unless I go to Akiba and pay triple price(Import) I am stuck with the Japanese language version.

Amazon USA should be able to ship to Japan. Do they not send games? I'm not familiar with Skyrim, but you could try buying it from play-asia.com. They ship to Japan and anywhere internationally. Their North American game prices aren't too extreme. They're based in Hong Kong, so shipping shouldn't cost much. (And yes, although they are based in a Chinese-speaking country, rest assured that their products are 100% legitimate and NOT bootlegs.)

[greg]

I wish I was playing Grand Knights History on the PSP, but the localization has been delayed. I love Vanillaware games, and I sure hope they will make this game available with the original Japanese voice acting.