An ordinary trip turns into a jackpot of retro games.

It started off like any other innocuous shopping trip for our Japanese-language reporter Takuya Inaba. While browsing the wares at the second-hand store Guruguru Daiteikoku, he was getting excited over the jam-packed collection of games, trading cards, toys, and more.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a sign. A sign that nearly gave him whiplash as he swung his head around for another look. A sign that limited the people who can buy the product to only those who won’t get mad no matter what and would treat it as a joke.

▼ “Only people who won’t get angry and can take a joke can purchase. No complaints and no returns.”

This incident occurred in the video game section. So, it could be reasoned that the product was related to video games. There was just one problem. Since these were lucky bags, Takuya was unable to see what was inside. However, upon seeing the hoard of bags available, he was intrigued. He couldn’t help himself and walked closer. By the time he had come to his senses, he was back at home having bought six different bags. Not all too surprising for someone who claims he would rather go without food than games.

Taking a closer look at his first purchase, he found it contained five Nintendo DS games for the price of just 550 yen (US$3.50). The bag was titled with the kanji meaning “to brave”. It also often gets used in the word for “adventure”. So, would the bag be filled with thrilling adventures to embark upon?

Opening it up and, sure enough, RPG classics like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy jumped out at him. Takuya was honestly surprised as he had expected the bag to be filled with terrible games that no one had ever heard of.

Here’s what he found in the first bag:

  1. ASH: Archaic Sealed Heat
  2. Luminous Arc
  3. Final Fantasy IV
  4. Dragon Quest IX
  5. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2

The second bag had eight games for the Wii. This one was priced at 1,100 yen, and came with the kanji for “single” or “alone”. Would they all be single player games?

Shockingly, there were several multiplayer games like Mario Kart Wii and Wii Sports Resort. So, what was the reason behind that kanji? While it certainly does have those meanings, it can also mean “unique” or “distinctive”, and all of the games within the bag either introduced something novel, leveraged the Wii’s unique hardware capabilities, or stood out in its genre.

The games included in the second bag were:

  1. Little King’s Story
  2. Super Mario Galaxy
  3. No More Heroes
  4. Mario Kart Wii
  5. SimAnimals
  6. Karaoke Joysound
  7. Wii Sports Resort
  8. Wii Play

Takuya was so far thrilled with both the games he received and the value for money. Eager for more excitement, he turned his gaze to the next bag of five PS2 games for 550 yen. This one had the character for “face”. Face? That kind of sounds disturbing…

Upon revealing the contents, he was very enthused. If you’re a fan of Japanese games then you are sure to be familiar with such famous works like Onimusha and Dynasty Warriors. The “face” from the bag is sure to allude to iconic historical figures or protagonists and how they are the representation, or “face”, of their respective stories.

This collection of games included:

  1. Onimusha
  2. Code of the Samurai
  3. Yoshitsune Eiyuden: The Story of Hero Yoshitsune
  4. Tsugunai: Atonement
  5. Dynasty Warriors 4: Empires

Fourth out of the six bags was the “fear” bag. Containing three PS3 games and priced at 550 yen, there was little mystery as to what type of game Takuya would find within.

As expected, the legendary Resident Evil made an appearance. Alongside the horror game series giant was the zombie-fighting cheerleader game Lollipop Chainsaw.

The horror haul was:

  1. Lollipop Chainsaw
  2. Resident Evil 5
  3. Resident Evil 6

Next up was the bag titled “11”, with 11 games for the PS2 at 550 yen. If you’re not a Japanese gamer, then the number 11 may not strike you as a noteworthy number. However, there is an incredibly famous series of soccer games in Japan that goes by the name Winning Eleven. In English-speaking countries it goes by Pro Evolution Soccer.

To no surprise, there were a total of five of the series in the bag. Although, what did surprise Takuya was that there were only 10 games instead of the 11 advertised. It was a little disappointing but he decided to let it slide.

The list of soccer games includes:

  1. Pro Evolution Soccer 2010
  2. Winning Eleven 8: Liveware Evolution
  3. J-League Let’s Make a Soccer Team! ‘04
  4. Pro Evolution Soccer 5
  5. Pro Evolution Soccer 4
  6. Captain Tsubasa
  7. Pro Evolution Soccer 3
  8. Fifa Street
  9. Let’s Make a Soccer Team!
  10. J-League Let’s Make a Soccer Team! 5

The final bag is here and the end of the excitement draws near. With six PSP games, again for 550 yen, and the kanji for “hunt”, any gamer worth their salt would know what lies inside this bag.

Yes! They’re all Monster Hunter games for the PSP, including some spin-offs! Upon seeing this collection, Takuya recalled fond memories of his school days, obsessively playing Monster Hunter on the PSP with friends.

Rounding off the purchases, the last games were:

  1. Monster Hunter Freedom
  2. Monster Hunter Freedom 2
  3. Monster Hunter Freedom Unite
  4. Monster Hunter Portable 3rd
  5. Monster Hunter Diary: Poka Poka Felyne Village G
  6. Monster Hunter Diary: Poka Poka Felyne Village

Looking over his vastly increased retro games collection, Takuya couldn’t help but feel that he may have gotten a little carried away, but the mystery bags were truly irresistible for a game enthusiast.

In total, he spent 3,850 yen at Guruguru Daiteikoku. When he checked what the games were selling for online, he found out that they were valued at a whopping 17,127 yen (US$108.72), over four times as much as he paid.

Takuya is also happy to report that the games he bought all came with a manual.

There were also no problems with the disks.

And his 15-year-old data from Monster Hunter Freedom is right where he left it.

If you’re as nostalgic for retro gaming as Takuya, there were still many bags available at the Hachioji store he went to earlier this week, so consider picking up a bag or two…or six.

Store information
Guruguru Daiteikoku Hachioji-ten / ぐるぐる大帝国八王子店
Address: Tokyo-to, Hachioji-shi, Shimoyugi 2-3-12
東京都八王子市下柚木2-3-12
Open 24 hours
Website

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[ Read in Japanese ]