The State of Retro Gaming in Japan: 2024 in Review – Sony

I’ve been wanting to write an article about this topic for a while now. Ever since retro gaming got big in western countries and prices got out of control, I’ve liked to compare the prices and inventory to those in Japan. For a while it didn’t seem like the retro boom was going to have any if much impact at all here in Japan, however slowly but surely foreigners visiting Japan have had an impact. People that grew tired of paying exorbitant prices for retro games and gaming things came to Japan and picked up many things for pennies on the dollar thanks to the Yen exchange rate. This is why inventory in Akihabara in Tokyo in 2024 was a shadow of what once was. The majority of tourists go there and due to the lower inventories, prices have either doubled or tripled and the quality of other things has become much worse as the stores will buy anything traded in just to have stock in their stores. But is this true of all Japan or is it just a Tokyo thing?

In this article I hope to give my readers some insight on retro gaming as a whole in Japan. Having been part of the retro gaming scene in Japan since 2021 and having visited close to 100 stores in more than 5 prefectures, I’d like to comment on my experiences. People coming to buy retro games in Japan, or those living in Japan that want to get into the hobby would be better served if there was some information out there to help them with their choices. I’ll be covering a number of topics that I hope will be helpful:

• Quantity = How much is available as a whole for each game system
• Quality = What level of quality buyers can expect of goods
• Price = How much buyers can expect to pay for goods

I will then be going into more depth on each of these topics by covering the quantity, quality, and price (QQP) of hardware (consoles), software (games), and accessories. After that I’ll comment on the health for each category with high, moderate, or low. For example, Something could be in High Quantity (large number) but Low Quality (many loose games, not many with boxes) and moderate price (affordable but not a deal). For a full description of each meaning please check below.

• High Quantity = Large number of products, very easy to find
• Moderate Quantity = Medium number of products, popular products harder to find
• Low Quantity = small number of products, popular products very hard to find

• High Quality = Most products will have boxes and be complete, not damaged
• Moderate Quality = Half of the products might be without box/manuals, some scratches or damage on things
• Low Quality = very few products have manuals/boxes, bad batteries, many products with damage

• High Price = You can expect to pay close to the western price for these products
• Moderate Price = Some good deals if you look around, very affordable compared to outside of Japan
• Low Price = Very cheap, easy to buy, amazing deals

I can’t honestly say I’ve been following all of the inventory, the prices, and the quality of products for EVERY platform but I will do my best to comment on how I’ve seen these products change from the start of 2024 to the end.

Sony Products

Playstation 1

• Hardware (Console): moderate quantity, low/moderate quality, low/moderate price
• Software (Games): high quantity, moderate/high quality, low/moderate price
• Accessories: high quantity, low/moderate quality, moderate price

There are still quite a few old systems for sale at retro shops in Japan, but it’s getting harder to find them in boxes. Some places sell only the system sometimes and make you buy all the parts for it. But the prices for old PS1 systems aren’t so bad. I’ve seen them for around 4000-5000 yen unboxed and about 2000 yen more for boxed depending on the condition. Games, on the other hand, are everywhere. You can always expect retro game sections to have medium to large amounts of Playstation 1 games in their inventory. Most of them will have the manual and cases, but be sure to check the quality of the discs. All in all I would say you’ll find games in much better condition in Japan than overseas. The prices of games are also still really cheap. There are a few rarer games that are getting up there in price, but for the most part you can find games for a steal (I’ve seen Brave Fencer Musashi, a $100 game in the USA for $1.50 here complete). In my opinion it’s because most games have no English settings and that streaming of retro games hasn’t really taken off in Japan.

Accessories, while still in high quantity, have been going up in price over the last year or so. I’m not talking about AV cables and power adapters, but controllers, memory cards, and things like the Pocketstation have been going in price. These are items that can be used universally so they are rather popular with foreign tourists. I’ve seen a few places in Akihabara almost run out of stock of PS1 accessories during peak times in the summer.

Playstation 2

• Hardware (Console): moderate quantity, moderate quality, moderate/high price
• Software (Games): high quantity, high quality, low/moderate price
• Accessories: moderate/high quantity, moderate quality, low/moderate price

The Playstation 2 was like the highest selling game console of all time, so it makes sense that there would be a large amount of games and consoles available. Just as with PS1 games, a large portion of retro game sections will be made up of PS2 games. Quality speaking, most consoles will be without a box, but there are a surprising number of PS2 consoles with boxes too. Most of the PS2s I’ve seen lately have been the slim models though, and over the last year or so it seems like the price has gone up on them as well. You can still find the fat models, but I think many of those are getting to the point where the reader/laser is failing so they won’t be around much longer. Around 8000-10000 yen seems to be the average for the hardware in most places I’ve gone to. Games are still pretty cheap though, and almost all of the games you come across will be complete with manuals and boxes. Retro game shops simply don’t take loose games in that often. Prices of games have gone up slightly over the last year but are still very affordable. I’m always jealous of how many RPGs you can buy on a JP PS2 for less than $10 when everything in the USA is closer to $100. The only problem is that they are all in Japanese with no English settings if you plan on buying them.

You’ll still find a lot of accessories for the PS2 as well. Multi-taps, memory cards, adapters, AV cables, and even dance pads are pretty easy to fine, but I have noticed some places in heavy tourist areas running low on Dual Shock controllers because it is one of those universal items that any country’s PS2 can use. Because of this, controllers are a little pricier now than a year ago, and memory cards also seem to be a little more expensive in some places too. Not by much, but something you would have paid maybe 500 yen for a year or two ago is now around 800 yen.

Playstation Portable

• Hardware (Console): moderate/high quantity, low/moderate quality, moderate price
• Software (Games): high quantity, moderate quality, low price
• Accessories: moderate quantity, moderate quality, low/moderate price

The problem with the PSP is that if you leave the battery in it swells and that it can damage the system. That’s probably why many of these handhelds are sold without batteries in Japan. There a definitely a lot of them out there though, with an even mix of the 1000, 2000, and 3000 models. Boxed PSPs are a little bit rarer but show up pretty often. The price in Akihabara on these items might be high, but recycle and retro shop outside of the city are still very affordable. I’ve seen them as low as 6000 yen or so but as high as 11000 yen for non limited edition consoles. Another thing you have to be aware of when buying these systems though is that the motor/disc reader can have problems too, so be sure to check the notes on any item you buy. Stores will usually have those in Japanese but you can use auto translate apps on them.

PSP game prices haven’t changed too much over the last year or so, with many still at rock bottom prices. I ended up buying a handful of them for about $3-5 each a half year back and playing them on my USA handheld because it’s region free. They aren’t as plentiful as PS1 and PS2 games but they do make up a nice chunk of the Sony section in stores. About 70% of them will be boxed, but a few stores will sell lose discs too. As for accessories, Memory Gate cards are all over the place, but most of them are of the 1GB and 2 GB size. You’ll have to do some searching for the bigger ones. It’s also a challenge to find cases for the handheld system in good condition, but they do have a lot in Junk sections in questionable condition. You can also find USB enabled power cables in game stores these days too. The prices of these types of products hasn’t changed much since last year.

Playstation 3

• Hardware (Console): high quantity, moderate quality, moderate price
• Software (Games): moderate/high quantity, moderate/high quality, low/moderate price
• Accessories: moderate quantity, low/moderate quality, moderate price

The Playstation 3 is finally starting to feel retro. A few years back every game was at rock bottom prices and old systems were everywhere as people upgraded to the PS4. There are still a lot of systems for sale at retro shops, with quite a few limited editions out there as well. The prices aren’t that bad, but the limited edition ones can get a little expensive. Not much has changed in the last year on that front. The number of games at retro shops seems to have shrunk a little bit though. Luckily it hasn’t affected prices that much. I think most retro shops are still in the “liquidation of PS3 games mode” and don’t see it as a way to make a lot of profit. You should also keep in mind that with PS3 you had a lot more games with language settings to switch to English so I wouldn’t be surprised if more tourists pick up those games if the PS3 becomes a popular retro system.

The typical accessories for the PS3 are readily available too: AV cables, controllers, the Playstation Move stuff, but something that shows up a lot at retro stores here is TORNE for the PS3. It’s a digital tuner to let you watch TV on your PS3 (or so the internet says). While the amount of these accessories are fine now, I don’t think stores will be taking them in as much in the future so it will get hard to find them if you want them. You also have to consider PS3 controllers becoming damaged so I expect those to be harder to find in Japan in the future as well.

Playstation Vita

• Hardware (Console): Moderate quantity, moderate quality, moderate/high price
• Software (Games): moderate quantity, moderate quality, low/moderate prices
• Accessories: low/moderate quantity, low/moderate quality, low/moderate prices

The Playstation Vita seems to be a popular item amongst tourists and that has recently pushed the prices of the system up about 20-30% in a few areas. The stock seems to be there but a lot of shops have learned that they can charge more and have raised prices. The amount of games is almost on par with PSP games now, if not more. I expect that trend to continue in the future since PSP games are being liquidated at very low prices. Price-wise they are more expensive than PSP games, but still affordable. You’ll find a lot of these complete in boxes but there tends to be some in the loose game section as well. In the past I would have said that the Vita game inventories were smaller than that of PSP games, but over the last year that trend has reversed. I expect Vita inventories to take over PSP in 2025. As for the accessories, I haven’t seen too much for the system outside of cases and memory cards, but what I have seen is pretty affordable.

To Be Continued

I was going to put the rest of game companies and their handhelds/consoles all in this article originally, but I feel like it’s cleaner to just leave this as the Sony only article. All that’s left is the Microsoft, Sega, and random retro systems in my next article, but there is much less stock and probably less information to share about them so I don’t expect it to take as long as this one to get out. As I said in my last article, I hope that some of my readers find this useful if they end up jumping into retro game collecting, or if they are just looking to replace their old hardware/software that might be on its last legs. The last article will hopefully be out in the next week or two and then I can finally get back into my retro game store reviews (which I have a lot of after New Years!). Thanks for reading and be sure to check back for updates from time to time!

But wait, there’s more!

Do you like this type of content and want to see more? Be sure to let me know by joining me on various social media and dropping me a line. I hope to bring hundreds of articles to this website about not only about my gaming experiences, but also about gaming in Japan, game collecting, and even game stores over here! If you plan on visit and are big into gaming (be it on modern systems or retro ones), be sure to bookmark this website and stop back from time to time for updates!

How to contact me:

• Twitter: @YoJapanHobbyist
• Bluesky: @thejapanhobbyist.bsky.social
• Twitch: TheJapanHobbyist
• Instagram: thejapanhobbyist