Segagaga Domain Store is open again!

segagagadomain-front

I’ve been thinking that quite a number of hoarding retro gamers don’t share their sources openly enough (and to be honest, I’ve been a bit like that in the past). So, I thought I’d change that up a bit and start posting about places I like to shop at online for new and retro games. I’ll also add them to the links section for easy reference down the track.

Today I’m going to talk about the work Yakumo over at Segagaga Domain (who is also the creator of the excellent retro gaming series Retro Core, a show I’ve discussed before) is doing now that he’s re-opened the online store. If I remember correctly, he used to run a similar venture a number of years back, selling Japanese Saturn and DC games acquired during his shopping expeditions as an ex-pat living in Japan. The new store he’s opened currently focuses solely on Saturn gear, with stacks of titles at great prices and very reasonable shipping costs for overseas buyers. I’ve made a few orders from there in the past and have had no issues whatsoever with the goods he’s selling – the descriptions are accurate and include all the nerdy details people like myself find important (such as stating condition/presence of everything in the set, including spine cards, and plenty of accurate photos) and everything’s been packed nicely.

As a bonus, I’ll hazard a guess that sales from the store help keep the site alive, which can only be a good thing. The wealth of content and coverage there is mammoth, so it’s definitely recommended if you’re into Sega consoles or Japanese gaming in general. Plus there’s also Retro Core, which I believe is essential viewing for anyone with even a remote interest in Japanese games. Especially the undercover videos of arcades, Japanese game stores and some of the general stuff around Japan too.

So check it out – Segagaga Domain – The Store – because good sources for gaming should be shared, not kept a secret!

7 Comments

  • JiL says:

    I have put down some orders from it since it opened and I only have positive things to say. I was even informed, at one time, that one of the games I had ordered was in bad shape and that I could exchange it for another game or get a refund. I also got a heads up when I listed the same game twice. My last order experience felt more streamlined, the ones before it involved more mailing back and forth but all in all I’ve been very pleased!

  • Hi there,

    Looks like a nice shop. 🙂 Lot’s of quality content available for purchase. I’m almost tempted to start a SEGA collection after check that site.. 😉

  • @Old School Game Blog: Absolutely – it’s certainly made it easier to track down Japanese Saturn games without paying the often-inflated premiums elsewhere 🙂

    @JiL: Yeah, I’ve found Yakumo’s been great with communication in the orders I’ve placed as well. Mind, it probably helps we’re both on similar time zones since I’m in Australia and despite the geographical difference, Japan sits around +9GMT, much like Australia (well, depending on which state you’re in!).

  • Sean says:

    That looks like a good site. I don`t have a Saturn, but just browsing around his prices are quite reasonable. Definitely seems better than Ebay.

    I agree its a good idea to share these types of good sources of video games, they can be hard to find!

  • Thanks Sean! I’m with you that good sources for retro gaming should be shared, not hoarded. I intend for this to be the beginning of putting an end to my bad habit.

  • Frank_fjs says:

    I admit that I am guilty of hoarding my retro sources. I used to openly share but no-one seemed to be returning the favour, so now I only share with people who I am close with in the retro scene (yourself included.)

    I’ve experienced a few incidences where I had shared a great lead then days later noticed that the item had sold and was later listed on eBay at an inflated price. I can’t verify if I directed the re-seller to those items but either way, I dislike people who behave like this, they source retro gear cheaply with the sole intention of re-selling at a much higher price. Business is business I suppose but to me this is an ugly side of the hobby.

    There’s fierce competition in the retro collecting scene, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to obtain items at a fair price, and the leads that I have typically involved a lot of work to discover. Building up trust, a relationship and testing the waters all takes time, money and effort.

    To be honest, I really have mixed feelings about this topic.

  • I think you raise some excellent points there Frank, and I can absolutely respect you having mixed feelings on the topic, especially since you’ve been burned before.

    It’s an excellent point, and it hits home why I’m sharing some of my sources publicly as it’s my way of doing my bit to open up the retro scene. But it hurts when you see someone take your well-intentioned efforts and burn it all away by buying stuff up cheaply purely to re-sell it at a profit on eBay. I would have no problem if I referred someone over to a good source so they can grab games for their collection – in fact, I’d feel really chuffed that by sharing a source I’ve given someone the opportunity to try some new old games at a price that’s reasonable. But it goes against the spirit of things to take that goodwill and use it to profiteer.

    The same behaviour is also responsible, from what I hear, in pushing up prices and reducing availability of games in previously-cheap gaming locales like Akihabara, and eBay as well I guess (though there’s still potential there for buying retro games at reasonable prices, you just have to be patient I guess). I’ve also noticed that “buy » hoard » profit” behaviour hits closer to home as well, with people scouring garage sales and ads in the local paper to buy stuff cheap then re-sell at a marked-up profit. This then trickles down with inflated prices on gear sold off at local markets, pawn brokers or the paper.

    The spirit of the post is definitely inspired by people like yourself at Aussie Arcade. I hope the goodwill in my post gets returned by some universal consciousness at some stage – we’ll see what the internet brings 😉

    Thanks again for your comments Frank, it’s great to hear of other peoples’ experiences out there in the retro scene!