Wow, we rarely see anyone posting on this thread anymore! Welcome to the club!

There have always been videogames in Malaysia for as long as gaming existed. Keeping in mind that videogames are expensive hobbies, it's also no secret that most local gamers played on bootlegs. Though they are illegal, it's how most people are able to afford playing them in the first place. Keep that in mind.

Back during the NES/Famicom era, the most common way to  play was via Famicom clones, the most famous one being Micro Genius. It was completely chip compatible with Famicom games, and also NES games once you remove the cover. I would argue this was the most commonly owned cartridge system in Malaysia, mostly due to the ease of access.

The Megadrive and Super Famicom were also popular here, but not as widely as the Famiclones. I myself never owned any of them, as my family couldn't afford them. Nonetheless, we did have game shops carrying these systems and games as well. As games were fully imported, the cost of ownership have always been high. A copy of Street Fighter II Special Championship Edition for Megadrive cost RM250 in 1993. That's like more than RM500 after inflation today.

I've started becoming a bit of a collector of retro games, as I never owned them back in the day. Most of these were procured from Japan, but some of them I bought from Lowyat forumers too. Occasionally I also seek out repro carts, if I feel like playing on real hardware, but don't want to touch my originals. Emulators are fine, but I just like handling real carts in my hands!

So how about yourself? Any retro stories to share?

As Kyo mentioned, Zenderson does carry retro stuff. Megadrive, Super Famicom, Saturn, Playstation. Occasionally he even gets rare stuff like the SEGA Mk III. Check him out on Facebook!

Other local stores don't really carry retro games anymore. And if they do, they're considered as clearance items. No guarantee of the working state or condition. I know the shop IT Toys in Berjaya Times Square do have old Megadrive and Super Famicom carts, but they specifically say there's no guarantee it works, so... buyer beware.

Generally speaking, there are many sites that carry retro gear and games, but I haven't used any of them. A Google search should bring up some results. Oh, putting in 'Famicom' into the search on Aliexpress.com does bring up controllers, parts and games. The games just might be repro carts, and not the originals though.

Another route that you can go with, is the use of flash cartridges. Again, emulators are easily found, but I just prefer playing on real hardware. Although I do buy original cartridges, they are for my collection, and rarely played. This is where I use flash cartridges, such as Mega Everdrive and Super Everdrive. The physical cartridge is designed to fit on any system. For example, the Mega Everdrive can be used on PAL or Japanese Megadrives, as well as Genesis. Similarly, the Super Everdrive can be used on Super Famicom and SNES hardware.