Want to play? Get out those coins. Here’s a coin-operated Famicom that was hooked up to standard TVs in Japanese hotels and inns. One hundred yen coin got players 10~15 minutes of playtime. There’s a Zapper and everything! Hit the jump for the pricier Super Famicom, which only doled out 5 minutes of playtime for a hundred yen. Well, it was “Super.” Super expensive!
Here’s a funny story. I was at this same Nintendo World Store signing event with Shigeru Miyamoto as “press” and had the man sign my own game device, a Nintendo DS. For some reason, and against the advice of my co-worker who also attended, I continued to play that DS until the signature had completely worn off, rendering it not only devoid of novelty, but collector value as well. Wait, here’s the funny part. Nathan Smart of The Game Rag fame has decided to clear up some space by selling his Super Famicom, along with a few games, with Mr. Miyamoto’s signature. It’s currently going for $US 1475 at time of publish.
Not sure, but here’s a shot in the dark. We always talk about what Japanese people are buying, but what about what they own? Research firm Oricon did the digging and polled Japanese folks last October. A total of one thousand were quiered, split evenly between men and women. Here’s the breakdown: 250 people in their teens, 250 in their twenties, 250 in their thirties and 250 in their forties. And which consoles do they own?
