Nearly two years have passed since I last went to Akihabara in Tokyo to dig up Japan’s most expensive retro games. This time, I made the observation that the general price level has gone down in the past months. Some of the pricey carts and CDs I listed up were simply nowhere to be found, some were considerably cheaper for some reason, and other games became more expensive over time.
Needless to say, it’s impossible to conduct a “representative study” in this case, but I did my best to identify the most sought after games in about seven or eight retro game stores in Akihabara as of a couple of days ago. Consider this a good cross-section.
Top 10: Radiant Silvergun $190/boxed
(Shooting, Sega Saturn 1998)
Top 9: Mortal Kombat Trilogy $196/boxed
(Fighting, Sony Playstation 1996)
Top 8: Sylphia $211/boxed
(Shooting, PC-Engine Super CD 1993)
Top 7: Death Crimson $213/boxed (new)
(Gun shooting, Sega Saturn 1996)
Top 6: Final Fight Revenge $222/boxed (new)
(Fighting, Sega Saturn 2000)
Top 5: Dead of the Brain 1&2 $222/boxed
(Adventure, PC-Engine Super-CD 1999)
Top 4: Derisoba Deluxe $640/boxed
(based on Courier Crisis, Sega Saturn 1997)
Top 3 and 2: WWF Raw $1,010/boxed and Maximum Carnage $1,050/boxed
(WWF Raw: Sega Genesis 1994, Maximum Carnage: Fighting, Sega Genesis 1994)
Top 1: Dodgeball $1,360/cart only
(Super NES 1993)
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