Retro Game Store Reviews: Hard Off Tachikawa Nishisuna

About a year ago I was well into my mission to visit every Hard Off and Book Off I could find in the Kanto area in my search for retro games. I’ve talked about the Tachikawa area before, and actually featured the Surugaya store there as one of my favorite stores to visit. On the same day I went there my first time I also went to the Hard Off nearby. It was good, but not nearly as impressive as the Surugaya store in the downtown area. Now that I’ve gone over the best stores in Kanagawa, Shizuoka, and Tokyo, I wanted work my way down the list of stores that were pretty good. Hard Off Tachikawa Nishi-suna is one of those stores.

The Selection

It’s still relatively common to find stores with a lot of Famicom and Super Famicom games, but I thought the set up going up the stairs was pretty cool. Since the focus of this blog is mostly on retro games I didn’t take a photo of all the Nintendo Switch and Playstation 4/5 games, but even with those games added to their selection of other retro games from Playstation, Nintendo, and Sega, the inventory doesn’t amount to much more than what you’d usually see at any other Hard Off.

What made this Hard Off special was the amount of consoles and handhelds it had. I saw more Gameboys, Gameboy Advances, Nintendo DS, 3DS, PSPs, and PS Vitas here than anywhere else outside of a specialized retro game store. The amount of boxed consoles and handhelds they had almost matched the number of unboxed ones which was impressive. Hell, they even had a boxed Virtual Boy at this store! If you’re a collector looking for complete in box retro systems, you don’t want to miss this one. These pictures were taken in March 2024 so the inventory has probably changed since then, it’s hard to believe that it’s changed wildly. The retro collectors and hobbyists in Japan are fewer in number than you might think, so product doesn’t move as quickly. There is also the problem of transportation to these stores, so with less traffic there is a better chance that the inventory is similar.

The Pricing

I’m sure a lot of the prices on their consoles and and handhelds have gone up in price since last year due to inventory and inflation, but I thought the majority of their inventory was priced very fairly. They had some limited edition handhelds like this Pokemon Center Torchic orange GBA SP for a steal when I went there, but I wasn’t in the market for them then. With how popular the PS Vita and Nintendo 3DS have become, I think this location would be worth checking out if you’re looking for a big selection and not looking to pay a lot. You’ll definitely save a few thousand yen buying stuff here than by getting it in a downtown area like Tokyo. Game-wise, you’re looking at around the same price you’d usually pay for them at a Hard Off. The newer games tend to be a little more expensive, but you can find some good deals on the older stuff if you don’t mind taking the time to look.

Access

The store is located rather closely to the Yokota Air Force base, so if you’re visiting it during one of it’s public events, are on the base, or visiting friends and family there, you’ll find it a brisk walk away. For everybody else though, you’ll probably want to take the Seibu Haijima line to Seibu Tachikawa station. It can be reached by taking either the JR train to Haijima station, or transferring at Seibu Ogawa station. The best route to get to either of these is probably coming from Shinjuku station in Tokyo. From there you can transfer to the Seibu line at Takadanobaba and take it all the way there. Once you get to Seibu Tachikawa station, it’s about a 15-17 minute walk there. There’s a bus that goes nearby as well but it takes about the same amount of time to get there it’s almost not worth it. I personally walked the route and thought it was fine.

The Verdict

There are definitely a few other stores in the area making it worth the trip out to this store, but it might not be worth on its own. That being said, a collector would definitely find a few reasons to check this branch out to see if they could track down some complete in box consoles, handhelds, or games. The train takes a while to get there, which might turn some people off. It’s wayyyy out in the countryside of Tokyo, but that usually means you’ll find the best deals and items out there!

• Selection 4/5
• Pricing 3.5/5
• Ease of Access 3.5/5

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:

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