Retro Game Store Reviews: Hard Off Hachioji

Welcome back to the retro game store reviews! In the first article back after my retro video gaming series, I thought I’d talk about one of the biggest, if not THE biggest Hard off in Japan: Hard Off Hachioji. It’s also known Eco Town Hachioji because it houses one of each of the company’s chains. Hard Off for games and electronics, Hobby Off for figures and trading cards, House off for Furniture and house things, Mode Off for clothes, and Liquor Off for used whiskey and the like. There is also a Book Off around back with movies and books, but it’s nothing too special if you’re looking for games. It’s one of the more well known Hard Offs and a few people have made videos about it, but I don’t think there have been any in-depth written articles yet. I’ve been there a few times actually. The first time with my wife, the 2nd time with a friend, and more recently just this last New Years Day. On my latest trip I made sure to do what I failed to do in the previous visits: take lots of pictures!

The Selection

Hardware/Consoles

The selection is so large here that I decided to break it up between games and consoles. For handheld systems, they are located in glass cases at the end of row where their games are located. The selection isn’t as big as it has been in the past for the handhelds, but they are usually pretty well stocked with both Nintendo and Sony products. Their console selection is located in another row and is pretty impressive though. I would say it probably has one of the largest selection of consoles in Japan. Even places like Super Potato and Surugaya don’t have the stock space to put out the sheer amount the Hachioji store does. Most places will have one shelf of game consoles, but this Hard Off has 3! They also have CRTs from time to time, so this is a one stop shopping places for all your retro needs.

Games

The Hachioji Hard Off has a great selection of games. Almost all of the usual retro game systems like Super Famicom and Playstation 2 are stocked well, but they even have some rarer stuff like boxed PC games. Overall their Nintendo and Sony selections are very strong, but their Xbox and Sega selections were a bit lacking. The store was much better organized than my previous visit, but they still have some games in cases near the cash registers and others in glass topped drawers below some of the game shelves (see the last few pics above). You could quite possibly miss something if you’re not through enough when searching their inventory.

The Price

I haven’t bought too many things at this store but they do have deals from time to time. The key to finding deals is looking for stuff nobody else is looking for. Right now Pokemon stuff is pretty hot in Tokyo, with prices on games and hardware going through the roof. I was able to help a fellow gamer find a Pokemon Gameboy Color the other year for about $300, but now items like that are going for closer to $500+. Outside of the popular titles though you can find some very good prices. I snagged this copy of Sword of Mana in great condition for around $15. It didn’t have a manual but I was able to find one later on at a Surugaya for about $10 to complete it. If you come into the store with a few items in mind you’re bound to find a good deal.

Access

This massive Hard Off store can be reached from either JR Hachioji Station or Keio-Hachioji station. It’s about the same distance from Tokyo as it is from Yokohama, so if you’re coming by bullet train you could either stop at Shinagawa or Shin Yokohama to get there. Once at the station you have 2 choices: walk there (about 25 minutes from the JR station, less from the Keio station) or take a bus. If you’re planning on taking the bus it’s probably easier to do so from JR Hachioji station. It’s about a 15 minute bus ride from the station, and multiple buses go in that direction. A quick search shows that the 2, 11, 50, and 56 go that way. The station to get off at is either Owada or Owadasaka-shita station. The later is closer but you’ll have to walk back and across the street to get to it.

The Verdict

This is one Hard Off that’s worth the trip out there. It’s your one stop for used goods and has a great selection of games and hardware. One of the drawbacks to this store is that it has been featured by a lot of content creators over the last few years or so, meaning that the inventory will probably fluctuate a lot. But because it’s one of Hard Off’s main stores and the rent is cheap, you’ll always see a lot of stock there.

• Selection: 5/5
• Pricing: 4/5
• Ease of Access: 3/5

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