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noromamai

@noromamai.bsky.social
206 followers 141 following 2.1K posts

Fixing things in my console collection, learning as I go. Learn from my mistakes so you don't have to. Finding home for the pieces I no longer have space for. Questions (and advice!) are very welcome.

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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 11h
That's all folks! The end of our Retro Game Pilgrimage. Not sure yet if I will do this again next year. It's a bit too much Hard-Offs for me. I would like to have a bit more culture in-between. Once at The airport, my suitcase was 30kg! So I had to repack and also bring some stuff as carry-on.
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 11h
The last Hard-Off before we return the car and go to KIX airport. We have the Retro Freak (popular Japanese brand for retro gaming hardware) console that plays physical #famicom #superfamicom #megadrive and #pcengine games with HDMI output. #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 11h
On the way to the airport we had a lot of time so of course, more Hard-Offs. Just to browse, suitcases are full already. Seeing this family enter with bags full of new stuff. I think they are pro UFO Catcher players, they win stuff, then bring to thrift stores. Their way making money? #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 12h
Zettai Max. Another museum-like shop. They had Garou Mark of the Wolves for #neogeo AES, which the friend who already left was looking for, but the price is stupid high. Star Soldier for #n64. The usual #pokemon showcase which all these touristicly priced shops have. #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 13h
Retro TV Game Revival in Den Den Town, Osaka. This is a treat to go to... as a museum. Prices are like Super Potato, but they have lots of special stuff. You don't often see #gameboy Light for example. But at 69800Y who will buy it? I feel like they are there for the tourists. #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 13h
Once back at the apartment, I connected the drive to the #ps5 and turned it on. Waited for a looking time to update the firmware, then crypto-pair the drive. Let's test Ghost of Tsushima! Oh... needs to install... long live physical games... Takes a damn long time. So we headed out for dinner first.
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 13h
One more Book-Off on the way home, quick photo of #ps5 in the showcase. Not looking at the prices anymore :). #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 13h
Ojamakan Nishinomiya. Old retro game store, always interesting to browse to see what they have but refrained from buying anything here. #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 13h
Ojamakan Nishinomiya. Old retro game store, always interesting to browse to see what they have but refrained from buying anything here. #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Hard-Off Nishinomiya. Finally we saw some interesting stuff. A #sega ST-V jamma #arcade board. Dottori? And next to it an SD Snatcher #MSX SCC sound cart. Cool! #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Book-Off Super Bazaar Amagasaki Nishikoya. Lots of #n64 and #superfamicom games, a bit skimpy on the #pcengine. #snes #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Hard Off Aeon Mall Itami Koya. Big one inside a mall. Even though it was so big, not a lot of interesting things. But loads of the normal stuff. Much of the space was also talen by the other Offs (hobby, house, book). #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Hard-Off Takarazuka. About same-same here. It seems the Hard-Offs around the heart of Osaka all have less interesting things. Maybe they ship all to the center for easy selling? Weirdly, this one had 3 #3do on the shelves. A friend wants that lilac new 2DS, but is looking for a bargain. #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Hard Off Toyonaka Midorigaoka. Another Hard-Off paired with some type of clothing shop. Not much here too. Trying to not buy anything, except looking out for a nice priced #ps5. I promised my daughter. 45000Y for digital Japan only edition boxed. But I want an unboxed one.
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
New day, new Hard-Offs. We visited Minoo branch first. We are no longer finding/buying at every stop anymore. I think we have Hard-Off burnout. Doctor"s recommendation, no more than 7 days of non-stop Hard-Offs. If we do this again, we will force more culture into the trip. #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Walking around Den Den Town in Osaka, we came across a sign for a small shop called "Collectible Store". Very overpriced and aimed at tourists. #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
One of our friend left so I decided to use this 1st day in Osaka to get some things for family and friends. I only dropped in the Super Potato and Surugaya. Surugaya in Den Den Town has quite a lot, prices are ok, from what I saw (#pcengine), my friends said it was more expensive. #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
There was 1 more stop we could make, Surugaya (Kobe Sannomiya) shops close later than Hard-Offs. So we picked one we could reach in time and also looked for a place to eat nearby. Lots of #superfamicom games and our friend Hitler (yes, sarcastic) in the showcase. #retrogaming #snes
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Actually this is the Hard-Off we made just in time to have 15mins. Kobe Seiryoudai branch. A lot of #n64 carts, so glad I don't have to look for Tetris 64 anymore. Willow for #famicom. #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
We tried to keep visits as short as possible if there wasn't anything interesting. This allowed us to do 1 more Hard-Off, Tokushima Suehiro branch. We only had 15 minutes before it would close when we arrived. It had #pcengine Duo's on the shelf. #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Hard-Off Tokushima Okinohama. Again. not much interesting, but maybe because I feel I already got too much this trip. #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Off to Osaka, there were still a few Hard-Off s we could hit. So that's what we did. But havind spend some time getting everything in order in my suitcase, the urge to buy has become less. There not being much interesting things helped. #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Good thing I bought that orphaned cheap Core Grafx. We tested some of the #shmups I bought at night. In the morning I could finally see the view. We arrived in the dark through pitch black winding and narrow mountain roads during rain and mist. Hard-Off detox, unfortunately only 1 day. #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Friend got his 1st #wonderswan from Hard-Off JUNK showcase. Battery acid and games don't work. We got some vinegar during a supermarket stop and fixed it in the car. Games worked fine, tester probably over-inserted the cart. At the cabin we opened it to clean the inside as well. #retrorevival
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Yesterday's last stop was a treat again, Surugaya Kochi. A big enough #pcengine section to keep me busy. A cute Kirby mug. Showcase with miscellaneous stuff. Didn't know Tetris for #wonderswan was so expensive. #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Next was an Eco Reuse Factory, Which what they call it when Hard-Off, Book-Off, Hobby-Off and Off-House are all in the same building. I managed to not buy anything here. They had some interesting stuff though. #retrogaming #retrohunting
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The 2nd stop was a mom and pop shop I hoped would have some good stuff. But it didn't really. It was cool to see all the small LCD monitors showing content though. #retrogaming #retrohunting #gamehunting
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
New day, new targets. We visited a Hard-Off near the center of Matsuyama. It didn't look like much,but I found a few more cheap pce titles I didn't have yet. Hardware wise it dit not have anything special. #retrohunting
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
And when you visit so many Hard-Offs, it sometimes happens you accidentally go to one you have been to before. Doh! At least it was on the way. Friends still browsed for 30min and wasted valuable time. Made a nice pin-up for Hard Calendar 2027.
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Hard-Off Higashihiroshima. This one had interesting things besides the usual stuff. Weather has been rainy, but that doesn't really affect you when you are "hard-hopping". That said, we tend to find more cool stuff at Surugaya, but maybe that's because we have almost everything we want already.
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The next day we visited a Book-Off Super Bazaar, basically a Hard-Off, all but in name. We didn't get/find as much as our suitcases are starting to get full and/or overweight. #retrogaming #gameboy #gbc #gba #snes
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
One of us got 2 #superfamicom, a broken one with a good shell and an older working one. It was supposed to be an easy transplant, but one of the screws was stuck and we had to macgyver it to get it done. Black Magic success! #snes #retrorevival
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This last stop was a treat. Another Lepton specialised in games. So much cool stuff here just to look at. No Tetris 64 though. #famicom robots, limited edition #fds game. They did have a lot of more worn games.
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Another Hard-Off. A #virtualboy for very cheap because one lens had problems. My friend bought it. Even a #vectrex, Tomy Tutor Jr., #MSX and #pcengine Duo boxed. #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Another Surugaya, bound to have something interesting. First thing to do is to check out the showcases. #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Another Lepton (Kaita), nothing interesting for me. #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
So now we are at Hard-Off (Saka). Very big one with Hobby-Off and Off-House combined. Loads of stuff, but nothing really special. Well, interesting #pcengine games in the showcase, but not for me alas.
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Another Lepton (Dashio) with games. but this one was focused on current en last gen games. So nothing interesting for us. So let's move along, these are not the robots you are looking for.
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Next was Lepton. A local to Hiroshima area thrift store chain? They have different stores with different focus, this was retro video games. Prices for games were good at this store, I bought 3 cheap #pcengine games I didn't have yet.
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Brand new day, brand new shops! Our first stop was Treausure Market, a one-man run local thrift shop. Nothing interesting except the pachinko machine. Won't fit in the suitcase though..
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Brand new day, brand new shops! Our first stop was Treausure Market, a one-man run local thrift shop. Nothing interesting except the pachinko machine. Won't fit in the suitcase though..
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The last Hard-Off we visited yesterday on our way to Hiroshima. Hard-Off Onimichi. A lot of interesting stuff, but I managed to buy only 1 game. I got myself Salamder for #pcengine for about 35eur. You can see it innthebshowcase in the photo. #famicom #n64
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Next a Hard-Off, I didn't really want to go here because it would cost an hour more travel time, but my friend proposed an alternative route and it would only cost 30min extra. So off we went. I didn't feel like I would find anything here, unless I could bring back tools. We saw a lot of the usual.
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
If anyone wants to know the gerenal price of stuff but n9t too specific (since I am mainly taking photos of what I find interesting) comment and let me know. Will try to keep in mind taking photos. Less time for me to buy stuff. Hopefully it will save me some money :) #retrogaming #retrogamehunting
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
2nd Surugaya, friends are having a field day, but nothing interesting for me. Nice stuff in the showcase, all PC-Engine games I don't have yet are above 2000Y, no Tetris 64, which is strange, loose price is around 2800Y so it should not be rare. #n64 #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Game Shop Happiness in Kasaoka, a small town. We call this a "pop and mom" shoo. Sometimes you will find something nice, but prices can be a bit high/old sometimes. Here they will check current prices though. A limited edition Famista #gameboy light with burn-in, price tag reads "market price".
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
First stop today is a recycle shoo. Didn't expect much from looking at it's google photos but it was on the route. But it actually had a lot of interesting stuff. A crisp #gameboy Contra in box, blue Pokémon #n64. #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Our 1st Surugaya! These always have good stuff. But their pricing is very up to date, so will not as easily find treasure. Will post more photos. A very cool #famicom Maniac Mansion in box. Too expensive for me. #pcengine #n64
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Hard-Off with Off-House combo. These usually have less retro stuff. I got myself the #pcengine #shmup Final Blaster for 7700Y and some small sake cups. #retrogaming
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noromamai @noromamai.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
3rd stop (from yesterday, had driving duty so no time to post), a Hard-Off again. Managed to not buy anything. Some #pcengine current game pricing. #retrogaming #gamehunting
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