Japan Trip (DEBRIEF)

Testing and logging

I’ve now been back in the UK for a few days and feel fine. I don’t generally get jet leg, as I try and go to sleep and wake up on the plane when I would be in the country I am travelling to. You do get a bit tired, but it’s better than being wide awake at three in the morning or dead on your feet at four in the afternoon.

I have been checking out the things I bought. You have to remember that everything I bought was second hand and usually from an area of the store marked ‘JUNK’

In Japan, ‘junk’ doesn’t mean it’s fit for the bin, broken or beyond repair. Almost the opposite in most cases. Junk can mean anything from dirty, missing parts, for repair or even (genuinely) untested. I didn’t even bother to Google Lens translate the things I bought because most things were under £10 - £20. I have only ever seen a handful of cartridges in my time that have been absolutely broken, beyond repair.

I’ll briefly go through the things I have tested so far.

Consoles

1. Super Famicom - Games seem to be playing blind. You can see a brief flash of graphics, then the picture goes out of sync. Game sounds can be heard and if you use the controller, you can also hear the sounds changing, so presume that it’s controlling the game somewhat. I am going to renew the capacitors near the video section soon to see if that helps. I have already reflowed the solder joints on the video connector to no avail. Even if one of the PPUs (Picture Processing Units) is faulty, I have spares boards I could pinch one from.

2. Super Famicom PCB - Works absolutely fine! So happy about getting SFC innards for 53p! I really wish I could have got the mating case, which was also 53p at the same place. I have put this working board in the case of the non working one.

3. Famicom - I performed a quick composite mod and it seems to work ok.

4. Sega SG1000 - I performed a very simple composite mod on this beauty that involved a single resistor for the video and a single capacitor for the sound. I am very happy with the results. The only problem is, where to mount the audio and video RCA jacks? There’s no convenient existing holes in the machine and there’s no way I am drilling a console that is this nice (and expensive)

   So, I got creative with the old 3D printer and created a back plane that goes over the expansion slot at the back. I’ll never be using that, so it’s fine to cover it with some PLA plastic and sockets. I also don’t have ANY game cartridges for this machine, but luckily, I made an SD-1000 pico powered multicart ages ago and this works well on it. None of the Sega Mark III games will work on this machine, as it is a revision behind it. SG1000 games are backward compatible with the Mark III, though. The controller, although a bit crappy, seems to work quite well. I’ll probably take it apart and give the contacts a clean.

I even managed to squeeze in a DB9 connector that is directly wired to player 1 controls. This enables the use of a decent controller.

5. PC Engine - Works fine by using the composite video output from the back extension bus. This was the first of the PC Engine series and is RF by default.

   I checked out the PC Engine software on this machine and they all work just fine.

6. Famicom Mini Shonen Jump Edition - I actually tried this out in the hotel in Japan. It works just as it should do, but all the games are basically crap. All of them are in Japanese and you can’t really play them without being able to read Japanese. Even then, they are still, well, crappy. I modded the firmware yesterday with ‘Hachki2’ and added some English language NES and Famicom games. I added a PC Engine folder full of games too. The range of ‘minis’ can run quite a few different systems. I think Famicom and PC Engine is enough for me on this one.

7. Blue Wonderswan - I have a sneaking suspicion this has been painted, but painted quite well. At first, you could hear a game boot up, but would then fade out to nothing. You could only see some small icons on the screen. I gave the cartridge slot a good blow out with compressed air and got it to play properly, but the screen is worn out. I think this can be repaired by replacing the polarising film that sits over the LCD. Mr Funk has some spare he’s going to give me. Hopefully that will cure it.

   LCD Games.

1. Epoch Monster Panic - Works. Nice little game, but a bit worn.

2. Epoch Mr Rich Man - Works. Battery door needs some work to hold the batteries in firm enough to operate, though.

Controller Hardware

1. Arkanoid Famicom Spinner Controller - When first tested, it wouldn’t let you move your bat all the way to the right, making the game very hard to play, as the ball would escape past you on the right wall side. I pulled off the plastic knob / dial and rotated it slightly and pushed it back on. This sorted it. There is a physical stopper inside, which only lets the controller move about 270 degrees. It was off bit. Now fully working. The included Arkaoid cartridge works fine too.

2. PC Engine Controller - I tested this on the white PC Engine I bought. Works perfectly and all the buttons and auto fires work.

3. Sega Mk 3 Paddle Controller - I tested this on my Sega Mk 3 with the game Woody Pop (on my multi cart - I haven’t got Woody Pop yet, but I’m after it. Paddle works really nicely. Very smooth. I am going to study this controller and maybe reproduce some of them.

4. Super Famicom Controller - Works fine. A nice un yellowed example.

Game Cartridges / Cards

1. Sega MyCard Bank Panic - Firstly, the one that has disappointed me most - and was the most expensive of the Sega MyCards I bought. Whatever I do, I can’t get this card to work. I just get a black screen. I’ve cleaned the gold contacts with IPA (pure), buffed them with a rubber eraser and also very lightly sanded them with 1000 grit sandpaper. I even tried heating up the area where the tiny chip is. Nothing [sad emoji]

2. Sega MyCard Bomb Jack - Works fine after a good clean. An arcade classic.

3. Sega MyCard Astro Flash - Works fine after a good clean. A nice shooter.

4. Sega MyCard Zippy Race - Works fine after a good clean. An arcade conversion.

5. Sega MyCard Champ Lode Runner - Works fine after a good clean. Classic 8 bit version.

6. Famicom Labyrinth Island - Works. A great little puzzle game. Kinda Pengo crossed with Sokoban.

7. Famicom Family Athletics - Works. Can’t play it without the controller mat.

8. Famicom Penguin Wars - Works. I already have this. Can be made into other good games.

9. Famicom Keisan Quiz - Works. Unplayable Japanese though. Nice label.

10. Famicom Firebord Phoenix - Works. Seems like an interesting game.

11. Famicom Racer Mini Yonku - Works. A lot of Japanese text before you start racing.

12. Famicom Metrocross - Works. A good arcade conversion.

13. Famicom Ultima - Works. Unplayable Japanese game. Nice coloured cartridge.

14. Famicom Side Pocket - Works. Good pool game.

15. Famicom PachiCom - Works. Stupid pachinko game.

16. Famicom Super Mario Bros. 3 - Works. Bought for a future donor.

17. Famicom Super Real Baseball ‘88 - Works. Bought for a future donor.

18. Super Famicom - Super Nazo Puyo 2 - Works. Odd Puyo / RPG game.

19. Super Famicom - Mario & Wario - Works. Needs a mouse to play.

20. Super Famicom Space Invaders - Works. Good versions of classic Spacies.

21. Super Famicom Yoshi no Cookie - Works. Good puzzle game.

22. Super Famicom Super Tetris 3 - Works. Fancy Tetris.

23. Gameboy Colour Mr Driller - Works. I’ve just done a quick 500m when I should have been writing this. Oops.

24. Gameboy Colour Kirby Tilt n Tumble - Works. Really good! Kinda like a 2D Super Monkey ball, but with motion controls!

25. Gameboy Advance Mr Driller A - Works. Too much Japanese text and not enough drilling!

26. Gameboy Advance Mr Driller 2 - Works. A fine game.

27. PC Engine Space Harrier - Works. A fine arcade conversion.

28. PC Engine Dragon Spirit - Works. A fine arcade conversion.

29. PC Engine Stupid Jolf - Works, but I’m not playing it as it’s a toilet game.

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Conclusion.

I was on my own in Japan, but still had a wonderful time. I was apprehensive at first, as I’ve never gone abroad on my own before. Seems like I am an actual big boy and can look after myself, even in a non English speaking country! I got around Tokyo very easily on their train network. It’s cheap and easy to work out, with everything being in Japanese and English. I even used a bus and that was no problem. Using Google translate helped me out a great deal. I used the ‘Lens’ function for reading Japanese and also the English to Japanese text converter to ask for things. Very handy indeed.

I think the whole experience would have been better with a companion, like I had when I visited in 2010. That is the holiday I will always cherish. I’m sure this time would have been more fun hunting down games and consoles with a pal.

Overall, I am very happy with all my purchases. I was quite surprised on how little I actually spent. The Japanese Yen is quite weak at the moment, but very good for visitors. I got very annoyed when I got back to Heathrow Airport and the cost difference between Heathrow and Haneda for simple things like coffee. Harrumph.

The night I got back, I watched a prominent console YouTuber whining on about how high the prices were in Akihabara (he couldn’t even pronounce the place name properly). It’s obvious that Akihabara is going to be expensive, it’s the retro gaming capital of the world! Taking a twenty minute train ride and walking for about the same amount of time gets you 51p Super Famicoms and five quid Playstations. You also get to walk through beautiful Japanese neighbourhoods. Bargains are also to be had in the gaming capital of Tokyo, AKihabara. You just need to put some effort in and search around a bit. If you’re in the market for consumer electronics, most shops I went in also cater for all your needs at ridiculously low prices. For instance, I saw a 17” CRT computer monitor for ¥1000 (£4.65) In all likelihood, it works, but I didn’t pay too much attention to it rather than the madness of the price. There were hundreds of boxes of computer parts, cameras, tablets, etc.

If you are thinking about going to Japan, do so - you won’t regret it. I noticed how much cleaner everything is from my previous visit sixteen years ago. There’s no more smoking (everywhere) anymore and even vaping has to be done in confined areas (even outside). I went in to all the arcades and came out still smelling fresh, what a pleasant evolution to one of my favourite places on the planet.

HINTS -

1. Take a power bank with you everywhere you go, especially if you are on your own. If your phone battery dies, you’ll be without your lifeline and in my case, main way of paying for things and navigation. Make sure your phone provider allows roaming on your phone and you have enough data.

2. An umbrella is also very useful, but they are everywhere and cheap.

3. Don’t fret if you can’t quite work out the train tickets, if you are short on fare on a journey, the electronic barriers will alert you and you can adjust your ticket fare very easily, then you can breeze through the barriers like an absolute boss. All ticket machines have English language at the touch of a button.

4. Use Google translate and pop a few easy to remember phrases on your phone. It’s nice to be able to say “Hello”, “Good morning“, “Excuse me”, “Sorry” and of course “Thank you” in Japanese, even if you’ll probably butcher the accent.

5. Write down things you are on the fence about buying and where they are located. You can then come back if you can’t quite match the prices or condition elsewhere.

6. Take pictures of everything! You may not see some of the rarer things anywhere else (especially in the shop BEEP!)

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O yomi itadaki arigatogozaimasu.