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View topic - Afforable sms solution when living in Japan?

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  • Joined: 31 Dec 2016
  • Posts: 24
  • Location: Japan
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Afforable sms solution when living in Japan?
Post Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2018 12:37 am
Recently I have been mostly reading the post and didn't work on any sms projects but I expect to do so in a near future (right now I'm working on a different console and hope to continue on sms once I finish the other project).

Most can be tested in emulator but it is always good to test on hardware. For now I do not have an sms anymore and I'm looking at was are the most affordable solution when living in Japan.

I always like to check in advance, thus this thread. The goal is for development and later collecting back games (I sold them before moving here 12 years ago so I only have a few sms jp games that are not tested yet). Which solution is the most affordable? Mark 3, megadrive power base or the later version?

When I first came to Japan, there was, I think, a mark 3 for 10$ in a bin... I should have bought it at that time, I regret it a lot ^^;;;

Thank you in advance for any information on the subject. Like I said, I'm not in rush, just starting to investigate on the subject.
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  • Joined: 08 Jul 2001
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  • Location: Paris, France
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Post Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2018 12:07 pm
You should look on https://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/
You'll find cheap stuff there, maybe not $10 cheap, but still fairly cheap.

They are under this category:
オークション > おもちゃ、ゲーム > ゲーム > テレビゲーム > セガ
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  • Joined: 31 Dec 2016
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  • Location: Japan
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Post Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2018 12:50 am
I see. So auction is the way. I know that at common store like super potato or beep, when I checked, the last time they could ask easily 12000 yen for then so I was expecting auction to be the same.

I do not remember which site I checked before but this was the kind of price I remember for auction too. Now the one today with 1 day left are around ~3000 yen but still, I guess they spike from that point. Never bought anything from auction site since I don't feel comfortable with the concept but it may be the only way ^^;;

Thank you for the information. I guess I will start to check how price fluctuate and when I start to work on my sms project I will investigate more about it. Dev carts shouldn't be an issue with a proper eeprom writer. Can't wait to start to work with some mix of z80 and C code ;)
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  • Joined: 15 Jan 2018
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  • Location: Tokyo
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Post Posted: Thu Jun 27, 2019 7:24 am
How are you faring with the auctions, Banshaku?
Just saw this thread.

I've been buying for 15 years here, so any questions just ask.
If you prefer buying from shops don't force yourself, Yahoo Auctions and Mercari in Japan work nicely in general but you have to be prepared to accept some surprises (not always bad, sometimes good).

Buying from shops lately can be worth it, because the retro craze finally came to Japan, which means for some games Yahoo Auctions and Mercari prices are higher than in shops. However Sega's 8-bit consoles weren't exactly best-sellers here so many titles are hard to come by, that's why it's easier to shop on-line. Keep an eye for suruga-ya.jp which sometimes has good deals.

For nostalgic reasons I prefer the Master System versions, but if you don't mind the Mark III versions, take advantage of prices in Japan.
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  • Joined: 31 Dec 2016
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Post Posted: Fri Jun 28, 2019 12:31 am
Hi!

well, I always investigate in advance before starting a project and I'm still working on some homebrew for "the other platform" (not yet finished) so for now I just had fun looking everyday at the listing on yahoo auction (laugh).

The first time I came to Japan (around 16 years ago?) I swear I saw either a mark III or sg-1000 for 1000 yen in a bin in Fukuoka and I should have bought it but didn't (my bad). Then I moved around 2005, the prices was still good. Then around 2008~2010 the retro boom went in full force so the game in Akihabara started to increase to unreasonable prices.

I prefer to buy at shops but since I live in Fukuoka... Mark III/Master system are extremely rare around here. There was an sg-1000 at hard off but they were selling it 30000 yen without the box ^^;;; Still, I could try auction some day (I don't like the idea to bid on things but should try) but I'm not sure what is considered a good price. I'm not looking for a mint in a box with everything but more a unit in working condition that can be used for testing dev build and the 3 games I bought the first time I came here and never tested them yet (hope they work!).

These days I'm just lurking and checking other people post since I don't have any to show yet. Hope to start coding someday.
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