I went to Akiharaba recently. I liked it a lot, as I mentioned in its own section in this blog entry. I'm too tired to elaborate much beyond that, so here are the pictures I've taken from the area thus far. They aren't captioned right now, so if you've got questions, feel free to shoot me them in the comments section. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did actually being in the area.

Gallery

Great pictures. I've never heard of a Vetrex before but I dug up some info on wikipedia and it sounds terrible. Cool that they had them there though. I used to frequent Super Potato a lot back when I lived in Saitama, but back then it was only one floor. cool to see they've expanded so much, but not so cool that the retro/normal game store in akihabara is a dying breed. So now they've got the market cornered which explains their growth.

That statue of Colonel Sanders has something to do with the Hanashin Tigers (baseball team) if I remember correctly. They have a curse or something.

GO JAPANESE COLONEL SANDERS! These are awesome pictures Pepsi!
I too, want the Jack Frost shirt.

What's up with the Higurashi poster/scroll thing in the 11th picture?

Also, filthy gaijin, GLORIOUS NIPPON, etc

That Jack Frost shirt looks sweet, I want one! and maybe Jack Frost plushie if that exist

Was the store you toke pictures in super potato? it looks familiar to me

WHERE ARE THE PICTURES OF YOU.

Augh! Overcome with jealousy right now!

Awesome pictures though, looking forward to seeing more!

Awesome pictures Pepsiman. I'm jealous that I'm not even in Japan right now. Looks like you had a great time. :D

Someday, I'll go to Japan and see it for myself.

Aww, no pics of you? =P

What's that crazy, smiling potato??

Yep. It seems fairly obvious that you are in Japan.

Mmkay, let's reply to EVERYONE EVER in one post, because that's the green thing to do.

@fatwreck: I agree that it's sad to see so few retro shops in Akihabara these days. Super Potato's one of the very few I've managed to find in the area; most every other game store there covers only the newer systems and is a lot flashier. I haven't found any Liberty stores here in Tokyo, although I haven't heard of them until you brought it up anyway, so maybe I just haven't paid attention.

@Disgaeamad: The wall scrolls were just the other type of prize available in that particular UFO catcher for whatever reason. I actually took the picture because of the Evangelion stuff on the left half, since it still amazes me to no end how much of an obsessive following that show has, but yeah. There are way weirder things you can get in those machines, though. I've seen Hello Kitty appliances in a few. No joke. Maybe I should snap a shot of that, too, come to think of it.

@Wraith1: Yep, that was totally Super Potato, so you thought right. I just might get that Jack Frost shirt later, too, even if the price for it is absurd (over $30, I think).

@Fallen189: The Internet can't handle my prettyfulness. That's all I have to say for myself.

@asian_pride: Akihabara is indeed a pretty damn fun place as long as you're okay with being ABSOLUTELY BOMBARDED WITH ITS NERDINESS. It absolutely makes no efforts to try and contain it anymore like the area used to back in the 90s. Although that said, any place that lets me have some good kebobs after a nice round of shopping is bound to get my approval. Definitely a surprise to find those lying around.

@ahoodedfigure: That's the mascot for Super Potato, the used retro game shop I visited in Akihabara. Why the place has that particular name is beyond me, but I suppose it all adds to its charm. Given some of the merchandise they have in there, I think that's among the least of the craziness they have on offer.