Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Fripp the Entertainment Shop: Another Decent Place for Famicom Games

During my recent efforts to broaden my Famicom hunting grounds since the closure of Omocha Souko I stumbled across another decent game store, Flipp (actually spelled `Fillippu` in Japanese) the Entertainment store.

This shop is out in Ohashi (there is a map here for anyone interested). I actually found it by accident while riding my bike in the area. From the outside it looked more like the kind of place that would stock only newer games but I decided to have a look inside in the off chance that they might have a Famicom game or two lying around.

I`m glad that I did as it turned out that they had a pretty decent selection of Famicom and Super Famicom games on a shelf at the back of the store:
They have about 200 to 300 Famicom carts nicely arranged on the shelf.
Each cart has a label with the game name and price on it. Most shops don`t give that much attention to the price tags like that, so I give them points for going the extra mile.

I also like it when games are lined up in rows like this, it makes them quite easy to flip through quickly.

Their selection and prices are pretty good too:
580 yen for Super Mario USA is pretty reasonable, and 100 yen for Super Xevious (the gold cart on the right in the above photo) is a very good deal.

I ended up bringing a basket to the cashier full of Famicom goodies:
The highlights for me were CIB copies of Exed Exes (300 yen) and Sweet Home (980 yen), which were both very good deals for those complete like that even though the boxes were a bit rough. A little trick of the Famicom-collecting-trade that I have learned is that some shops (like this one) charge the same price for a game regardless of whether it is boxed or loose and those places can turn up some CIB treasures from time to time.  Those prices are about average for loose copies of those games, but for CIB copies they were absolute bargains. I particularly like the Exed Exes box with its bold colors - a true Famicom classic.

So if you are in town and looking for another decent place for Famicom games, I give this place a thumbs up. The only downside is that they don`t have much retro hardware and the only non-Famicom/ SFC/ Game Boy games from those generations I found were a couple of loose Mega Drive carts - so if you are looking for PC Engine stuff or any of the rarer early systems (Sega Mark III, etc) they unfortunately don`t have any. Still though, if you are looking for some decent priced Famicom carts its not at all a bad place to visit.

Related Posts:
- Why Japanese Retro Game Shops are so Much Better Than North American Ones
- Fukuoka Famicom Shops 1: 007
- Fukuoka Famicom Shops 2: The Decline and Fall of the Famicom Empire
- Fukuoka Famicom Shops 3: Mandarake
- Fukuoka Famicom Shops 4: Flea Markets Brought to you by the God of War
- Fukuoka Famicom Shops 5: Don Quixote and Village Vanguard
- Fukuoka Famicom Shops 6: The New 007 and Hakozaki Flea Market
- Fukuoka Famicom Shops 7: The Other Omocha Souko
- Fukuoka Famicom Shops 8: The Cheapest Famicom Carts in Town
- Fukuoka Famicom Shops 9: Wanpaku TV Game

5 comments:

  1. Ohhh, a CIB copy of Sweet Home?! I've always wanted to play that but I'm not a fan of emulators so I'm holding out for the real thing.

    Always love reading your posts and seeing all the lovely pictures. :) Makes me miss Japan!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks:) I am not a fan of emulators either, but I am ashamed to admit that even though I have an actual copy of Sweet Home I still havent gotten around to playing it yet! One problem with having all these shops around is that I spend so much time looking for the games I have no time left over to actually play them:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Easily distracted, huh? Tsk tsk. ;P
      Of course, I'd probably be the exact same way, so what do I know?

      And you know, I wasn't too fond of emulators for a long while (even now I still prefer an actual system), but it can be useful. If I find out about some old NES/Famicom game (or a game for any old system), I can find a ROM, try it out, and if I like it I buy a physical copy. If I don't, well, I save money.

      Also, you'll have to find some time to play Sweet Home and maybe write an article about it. It's a fun little gem, and I'd love to hear your impression of it.

      Delete
  3. I love it when the shops sell boxed for the same price as loose. Have a pricing bench mark based on the game (no matter what) and then stick to it is a great way to get return business in my opinion. A shop near me in Ishikawa does the same thing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. SKyrunner - thanks! I am pretty stubborn about emulators, though I do acknowledge that, as you say, they have their benefits! I will find time to play Sweet Home someday!

    Hollo - yes, isn`t that great? I know of two shops (including this one) around here who do that and whenever they get new CIB stuff I buy it pretty quickly. I only wish they would get more in!

    ReplyDelete