The State of Retro Gaming in Japan: Halfway through 2025 – Sony

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 2025 to now.

Sony Products

Playstation

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

There hasn’t been a huge change in Playstation One since the beginning of the year, but there has been a change nonetheless. I almost always take a look at PS1 sections these days for games that I can play on my Japanese PS3 so maybe I’m just more attuned to what is happening here than with other consoles. To start, I can say that the price of accessories, namely memory cards, has gone up. You used to be able to get them for 200-300 yen each a few years back, and now you’ll seem them for closer to 500-600 yen, especially at bigger chains like Surugaya.

On the game front, the number of games also seems to be decreasing, or at least fluctuating more than normal. It could just be that a lot of places like Book Off and Surugaya are selling a lot of the bulk at outlet prices to make shelf space, or it could be because of people actually buying the games (but I honestly think it’s probably the former instead of the later). Whatever the case is, the PS One sections do seem a little smaller in the Kanto area, and rarer games are harder to find.

The other change I’ve seen with Playstation One things is that the hardware doesn’t seem as commonplace as it did before. You’ll still find a few for sale here and there, but the stock is closer to Dreamcasts now than the PS2 in terms of how many you’ll find for sale in one place. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is because of failing lasers or some other reason due to the hardware’s age.

Playstation 2

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

The Playstation 2 hasn’t seen much change since the beginning of the year either. Some things are gradually increasing in price like the rarer games and memory cards, but other than the the number of games in stock at places, the price of most things hasn’t noticeably moved. There is still a huge glut of games on the market in Japan and you’ll find them next to PS One games in outlet sections or filling junk bins at Book Offs and Hard Offs. The number of boxed systems also seem less than before, but I could be wrong since I’ve only done a sampling of about 30-40 stores so far this year.

Playstation Portable

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

There really doesn’t seem to be many accessories in the market these days for the PSP. Just the odd case or cover, and that’s about it. Not even a year back you’d be able to find the occasional PSP, DS, or 3DS case or something similar, but nowadays probably 80% of accessory sections are console controllers followed by Switch goods/cases making up the rest. You’re going to have to dig if you want something for your PSP. Luckily you can still get brand new PSP batteries still at many stores. Most systems come without them these days to stop them from bulging and damaging the handheld.

I’ve seen an increase in the price of PSP systems these days at second hand shops in Japan, but it seems to be mostly centered around high traffic stores in big cities. You should still be able to find a boxless PSP 1000-3000 for under 9000 yen in places outside of cities, but don’t be surprised to see the system pushing upwards of 13000 yen in high traffic areas just because the store can.

Playstation 3

• Hardware (Console): moderate/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

It feels like more and more people have been trading in their PS4s lately which has pushed PS3s consoles off the shelves. They are still higher in number than PS1 and PS2 hardware, but I expect the used inventory to gradually decrease from its peak a few years ago as people in Japan finally upgrade to either a PS5 or get a Switch 2. You can still find quite a few in boxes, and the prices aren’t that bad either (except for limited edition ones, those can be pricey). They aren’t really retro yet in many people’s eyes, but if the prices go down more in the future I wouldn’t be surprised to see them start disappearing off shelves.

I continue to look through PS3 games for good deals (I snapped up Batman Arkham City and Bayonetta for 270 yen a few months back) and they are still pretty easy to find. If you’re getting into retro gaming it’s a great console to start with in Japan. The games are still cheap and the hardware is affordable. It might be a little hard to find actual controllers that work, but you can use a lot of wireless ones with it already (for example, a PS4 one if you have it).

Playstation Vita

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

The price of PS Vitas handhelds continue to inch upwards as more and more tourists/hobbyists pick them up. It’s a pretty popular item and the bottom on unboxed ones is in the 13,0000 to 14,000 yen range now with the bigger shops trying to get around 16-18k yen for them. While not as plentiful as the PSP, they are by no means that hard to find in the wild in Japan. You can still find a lot of games in their boxes in very healthy selections at stores, and quite a few games can be picked up without a box too. Switch, 3DS, and Vita games without boxes all usually end up in the same showcase in retro game sections.

Until Next time

To summarize, Sony products have been slowly increasing in price but nearly as fast as Nintendo products which are being spurred forward by higher Pokemon game pricing. Hardware and accessories are on the rise, but now so much the software. There are still deals to be had out there. Usually I would follow up this article with the remaining handhelds and systems on sale in Japan, but to be honest I haven’t really been paying attention to Sega and Microsoft stuff so it wouldn’t be that accurate.

Also I meant to post this article back in July but my schedule didn’t really allow for it. I’ve been pick up deals on games here and there for a number of systems and have put them both on my Bluesky and Instagram, but I haven’t been to any new stores yet so it will probably be a while before my next Retro Game Store review. In the mean time, be sure to give me a follow on other platforms if you want to see what I’m up to. Thanks for reading and I hope you’ll be here for the next update!

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