One of my favorite things to do in Japan on a casual day is getting into those retro game stores in Osaka. These are literally vintage gaming history museums. A place where you can travel back in time and observe the world of gaming as it was many years back.
Usually, when people are searching to buy retro videogames, they search for online shops. This is the way you can buy old and classic videos games and consoles that you won’t find in regular stores. The main reason people shop online is that it’s easier to find retro games which were released to North America. In Japan, most of the games are Japanese releases.
However, if you are in Osaka city, Japan—you are in one of the best places to shop for old/classic video games, retro gaming consoles, and accessories. This is a heaven on Earth for retro game collectors and regular gamers that enjoy playing old games on non-modern consoles.
Just quick important note. Almost all of the games at the store are those who released in Japan, not North America. Something to keep in mind when shopping for second-hand/retro games there.
Best Chain Stores for Old & Used Games in Osaka
Welcome to Osaka, Japan. In Osaka, you have a large selection of retro video game stores. The most popular store chain for retrogaming in Osaka is Super Potato.
I visited Super Potato Nipponbashi (Den Den Town) store and Super Potato Namba store. Other branches include ‘Osaka Taisho’ (‘スーパーポテト 大正店’ on Google Maps), ‘Osaka Showacho’ and ‘Osaka Suminoe’. Both are very popular stores that sell lots of retro-gaming good, including games, consoles, accessories, collector items, special editions games and consoles, etc.
What type of consoles I can find games for at Super Potato in Osaka?
It depends on the store. But generally speaking, across the stores you can find games for the following retrogaming consoles: Family Computer, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, PC Engine, Gamer Gear, Sega Saturn, Game Boy Advance, Wii, Mega Drive, WonderSwan, Game cube, Super Famicom, Atari 2600, Neogeo, and others.
Can I find games for modern consoles as well at Super Potato?
Yes, but not in all stores. Some stores like the one in Namba have games for Nintendo Switch, Nintendo DS/3DS, Xbox One X, Xbox, PS Vita, PlayStation 4 (PS4), etc.
What other Retro Gaming Stores are Recommended in Osaka?
Game Tanteidan Retro TV Game Revival is another fantastic little store at Nipponbashi. It has a great selection of Japanese old retro games. A must-visit place as well for any classic video game lover. It’s smaller than Super Potato but worth a visit. I think that the prices are also lower compared to Super Potato, generally speaking.
The main downside of this store is that many of the games are arranged sideways, so you can see the title text label, not the graphics label of the game. It makes the searching experience less fun but again, not for all games. You can find game for PC Engine CD, Neo-Geo cartridges, PlayStation 1 games, and of course old consoles like the Family Computer, for example.
Surugaya Nipponbashi (駿河屋 大阪日本橋本館), located here. It’s also a very recommended place at Den Den Town to get second-hand games. Many say that it’s also cheaper than Super Potato. I’ve heard that there are plenty of PC Engine games there, so if that’s you are looking for, make sure you visit it. This story also has gaming books and magazines to check out. Surugaya Nipponbashi also has manga books and figures.
Visit Them All
The good news is that all the best old video game stores are very close to each other. You can start your adventure at ‘Game Tanteidan’ and continue north towards Surugaya, then Super Potato in Nipponbashi, then finish at Super Potato Namba. All are recommended used game stores that any retro-game fan must visit.
These are my the second-hand/retro game stores that I recommend visiting in Osaka, Japan. There are probably more that I haven’t visited, but based on what I’ve read and the ones that I did check out, those are the top ones in the area.
If you are visiting Kyoto, there are quite a few retro-gaming stores there as well, including Ojsamakan, Sofmap, and others. I haven’t checked them out.
I recommend searching Google Maps for other retro game shops in the area. You might some rare old games there as well—Good luck.