Retro Game Store Reviews: Meikoya

A few weeks back I visited my old stomping grounds, Nagoya, and while I knew that the city had a lot retro gaming stores, when I lived there I wasn’t into the scene so much. Now that I am again, I can really appreciate what it has to offer. There are quite a few stores that are worth going to, but today I wanted to start off with a local one: Meikoya. I had always walked past it, but never gone inside to really look at what it had until last month.

The Selection

Nintendo Products

This is another one of those stores that just has an insane amount of inventory and just throwing it all out there can be a little confusing so I decided to break up their selection into Nintendo and Non-Nintendo products. As you can see, their Famicom, Super Famicom, Nintendo 64, Nintendo DS, Gameboy, and Gameboy Advance sections are pretty impressive. Meikoya’s 3DS, Gamecube, and Wii/Wii U selections are a little bit smaller but still much better than what you’ll find at most Hard Offs or Book Off Super Bazaars. Most of the inventory was boxed too, and the titles themselves were quality. Not a lot of shovelware in this store.

Non-Nintendo Products

For a smaller sized store, Meikoya does a remarkable job of organizing and categorizing their inventory. It was was easy to see what they had, I could readily reach for things, and walking through the isles was easy too. They had a decent amount of consoles and accessories for each system, but it did feel like they put most of their focus on selling games. They also have a good amount of rarer games for sale here, but it’s probably not as comprehensive as a Super Potato or a Surugaya. For a local shop found only in Nagoya though, it was great.

The Price

This is where Meikoya loses some points. Their prices can only be described as “competitive”. Not affordable or cheap, but when you look at other places like Super Potato and Surugaya, you’re going to find many similar price tags. I would probably put the prices of most games here under Super Potato stores but slightly above the Surugaya chain. I picked up a copy of F-zero GX here that was about 1000-1500 yen cheaper than what you’d usually find it for at Hard Offs and other stores. I wasn’t really happy about it, but since it was one of the last grail games I wanted for the Gamecube, I paid it. If you’re willing to wait and look long enough you’ll probably be able to find stuff for cheaper than here, but at least they don’t rip you off like Super Potato blatantly does.

Access

The Osu Kannon shopping area in Nagoya is a wonderful place in a great location. It can be reached by going to either Kamimaezu station on the Meijo subway line or Osu Kannon on the Tsurumai line, both of which are less than 20 minutes away from Nagoya station. Nagoya station is a major bullet train station that all types of trains stop at, so even if you take a Nozomi from Tokyo or Osaka you would arrive quickly. Osu Kannon is actually a shopping arcade, which means it’s a covered, outdoor shopping area located in the neighborhood of a city. It’s made up of 3 streets, 2 of which are covered but one that isn’t, Akamon-dori. That’s where you will find Meikoya. The easiest way to reach it is to head out of either exit 8 or 9 from Kamimaezu station and then it’s about a 7 minute walk straight there. It’s also located very close to the Super Potato and a few other shops you can find retro games at, but due to the size of it’s selection I thought it would be best to give it its own article.

The Verdict

Great accessibility, a huge selection of games, and a lot of variety make this a great store to check out if you visit Nagoya. It’s not only located near other retro game stores to save you time on your shopping and maximizing your chances to find the game you’re looking for, but there is also great shopping and food nearby for afterwards as well.

• Selection: 5/5
• Pricing: 3.5/5
• Ease of Access: 5/5

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