Play 'N Trade stores? [Archive] - Retrogaming Roundtable

Raster

09-29-2007, 12:48 PM

Anyone been to a Play 'N Trade (http://www.playntrade.com/index.htm) store?

There's one going in close to me, and I'm curious about their classic game stock. Their website says anything from the NES to the present.

Hopefully they're better than GameStop/EBGames. But, that's not too hard. GS/EB has become such a generic crappy store.The only thing worse than GS/EB is Game Crazy, their prices are ridiculous and their stock sucks. Some stores used to have a decent classic game selection.

Steve W

09-29-2007, 01:18 PM

I went to one in Lake Charles, LA earlier in the year. It was a pretty nice (but dimly lit) store, but their classic game selection was just a little glass counter with mostly Genesis sports games and N64 carts. I did however buy a 3DO game and a Neo-Geo Pocket Color cartridge. Too bad the only store in the Dallas/Fort Worth area is on the far opposite side of the city from me.

bust3dstr8

09-29-2007, 01:26 PM

The one by me is great, for games I see 2600 5200 7800 Coleco Intelli NES GEN at $2 a lot of them boxed. Consoles for sale range from VIC-20 to Jaguar to 32X to Coleco-Atari converter. Tons of controllers for most systems.(picked up a Vaus for $3 there) Also some cassette, 3.5 disk games, PS1 imports and HuCard imports.

The people are great and you can hang out there and try out games you might like to buy on one of the many systems hooked up.

A

Raster

09-29-2007, 01:32 PM

I did however buy a 3DO game and a Neo-Geo Pocket Color cartridge.

How were the prices?

I just found out the store here opens Monday.

The one by me is great, for games I see 2600 5200 7800 Coleco Intelli NES GEN at $2 a lot of them boxed. Consoles for sale range from VIC-20 to Jaguar to 32X to Coleco-Atari converter. Tons of controllers for most systems.(picked up a Vaus for $3 there) Also some cassette, 3.5 disk games, PS1 imports and HuCard imports.

It doesn't get much better than that. Hopefully the one here eventually reaches that level.

neogamer

09-29-2007, 02:01 PM

I'm thinking of buying one! Check out my thread in the MODERN GAMING forum. It may be on the second page by now! Also, check out my design your own video game store thread as well!

PLAY N TRADE is a franchise that you, as a franchisee, can buy into. It is one of the first of its kind and resembles Microplay's business model-although Microplay no longer sells individual franchise stores.

I "bumped" the original thread for you in the MODERN GAMING SECTION, so you can read all the comments posted.

Barbarianoutkast85

09-29-2007, 05:34 PM

I've never even heard of Play-n-Trade. I was just at the website and there is one in Lexington, Kentucky which is two or three hours away. But since I just moved down here, I have no friends yet and nothing to do ever so I think I might take a drive up that way, I'll get to stop at Taco John's anyway.

namzep

09-29-2007, 05:47 PM

Looks like there's one opening about 45 minutes away from me. I will definitely have to get there and check it out after it opens.

Raster

09-30-2007, 01:49 AM

They appear to be getting some decent exposure. I talked with the guy starting up the local one, they are waiting on their inventory to come in, and will be opening Monday. They are planning to have some classic inventory in addition to the Yobo.

Blitzwing256

09-30-2007, 02:02 AM

one just opened near me, and compared to gamestop it is AWESOME very decent prices (a little high on the psx rares mostly ebayish prices) but its a very refreshing place to shop, I picked up a ton of great stuff there the other day for a good price.

i'm sure every store is a little differnt, but the people at mine are really nice willing to haggle within reason and let you test out hardware before you buy. I got a great package deal on this my first day:

http://www.green-ranger.com/nes/finds/5200.jpg

and yes its all working :-)

neogamer

09-30-2007, 08:51 AM

Yup, that's what I like. That's why I am strongly leaning towards opening up one of their stores, rather than going it alone...

We'll see what happens over the next year...

Although my sales rep.(meaning the person who sells the franchise stores) at Play N Trade contacts me every week to see what's up...guess that's his job...LOL

misfits859

09-30-2007, 09:12 AM

There are two near me. I keep regular checks on their stuff and they have a standing buy two get one free on their used games. There old stock changes on a daily basis so ya gotta watch stuff close. Oh, and I find their prices to be fair as well.

jferio

09-30-2007, 09:25 AM

Me and my friend will stop by several locations they have in Colorado Springs when we go down for game hunts. We really go down there for Game Exchange, but since there's at least two on the route we take, it's easy enough to stop in, and we tend to find interesting things.

Last time, I got Castlevania III from one of them, and I think that was when my friend got an Asciiware stick for his SNES that *wasn't* the Super Advantage.

Steve W

09-30-2007, 10:44 PM

How were the prices?
Pretty decent from what I remember. I stopped in the mall's local GameStop and left disappointed, but the Play N Trade had better prices. I do remember that I bought the Neo-Geo P.C. cart and the 3DO game because I thought it was a good price. My only problem with the place was that they had the walls, ceiling, floor and shelves all black, and just a few lights in the place to light the shelves. It was a little odd in comparison to a lot of game stores that brighten the place up so you can see the damage to the game cases before you buy them. :)

GrandAmChandler

09-30-2007, 11:27 PM

I went to a Play & Trade today and I was VERY disappointed. Prices were only a dollar or two under GameStop prices, some were even closer to eBay prices. Had less than 20 NES games, less than 15 SNES games, less than 20 N64 games. All overpriced, some in shoddy condition.

Store looked like a reject rental video store with fancy TVs. I probably won't visit again.

MarioMania

10-01-2007, 12:07 AM

what is the prices for 2600, 5200 & 7800 Games there

Blitzwing256

10-01-2007, 12:34 AM

The average price for atari age stuff was decent, common and some uncommon games weren't more then 75 cents, anything else that they had cartwise was no more then 1.99 (only one for that price was 5200 galaxian and 7800 galaga that I saw)

nate1749

10-01-2007, 12:43 AM

I'm guessing that each play n trade store will be a little different due to their franchise nature. Of course some franchises (e.g. McDonald's) are pretty much all the same, however, Play N Trade from what I read (in Inc) seems to offer the owner a little direction of their choice (and I'm sure how much sq. footage they have is a big factor too for classic gaming). I'm guessing that one owner may not really care too much about classic games while another may love them and have a huge section. I have yet to go to one, but I can't wait to check it out.

As for the people who have had bad experiences I'd recommend giving it another shot in a little bit. All the stores are new so everything is not going to run smoothly. I'd also put in a comment, seriously, the owner put up a lot of money to get the store open (I want to say for play n trade you have to be liquid in the 6 figures) so if I was one I'd sure want to know any potential problems/downfalls. If they're unresponsive over time, well then okay they suck, but I'd be a little more lenient initially.

Nate

neogamer

10-01-2007, 08:52 AM

MarioMania

10-01-2007, 10:19 AM

Thanks for the info

When did Play N Trade Open Shop...

neogamer

10-01-2007, 10:41 AM

Thanks for the info

When did Play N Trade Open Shop...

I don't know the exact date, but not too long ago. A few years at most. It is not yet an "established" franchise. That is part of the risk involved...

The franchise fee is relatively low, about $25,000.

That fee is just for the right to use the name, etc. They also take a percentage of gross sales and offer full support and training...

however, you are responsible for finding the location! They just approve it.

Pantechnicon

03-26-2008, 05:06 PM

Bump-n-Jump the Play-n-Trade thread.

Got three of these opening in Albuquerque now and of the two I've visited they seem very promising.

The one I visited today was literally only a couple of hours from their official grand opening, but the owner was still nice enough to let me in to browse but couldn't sell me anything yet since he was waiting on one last permit to clear. I told him I was mostly interested in pre-NES stuff, 2600 in particular, and he pulled out a couple boxes of Atari carts that hadn't been put out yet. Found a weird old controller and a few carts I needed, including a Xonox double-ender O_O. Although he couldn't officially sell anything yet, he said he'd be happy to put them on hold for me until tomorrow. He then tipped me off that he was expecting someone to bring him another big pile of 2600 carts this weekend and that I should come back to rifle through that stack as well. Dang...

Very nice to see a franchise store going above and beyond like this, especially for the pre-NES stuff. If they keep this level of service up I'll be happy to make a habit of giving them monies.

Steve W

03-26-2008, 06:28 PM

I hit the one in Plano a few months ago, and wasn't all that impressed. At least it was well lit, unlike my previous experience. But they had very little in the way of 'classic' gaming. Unless you consider the N64 'classic'. The owner said it was because he hadn't been open all that long, and he was hoping someone would bring in some good stuff. Since there's Movie Trading Company stores all over the Dallas/Fort Worth area buying classic games too, plus those who just eBay everything, I don't think they'll get much any time soon.

Blitzwing256

03-26-2008, 06:41 PM

the one in vegas is really good too, the owner had several boxes of random parts wires and consoles in the backroom, he let me dig through them and put a few systems together, I picked up a complete working 5200 with 5 working controllers 2 working colecos with most of the hookups plus a ton of common/uncommon games for both for about 50$, I was pretty pleased with the experience.

jedimind7

03-26-2008, 07:05 PM

Never heard of this store but I see theres one in my city. I'll have to check it out sometime this week.

Mobius

03-26-2008, 08:03 PM

I went to the one in Madison, WI. Their focus seems to be a little more on modern stuff, but they did have some older games. I picked up Virtua Cop 2 for $5. It's not a bad shop, but I don't have much reason to go there when I have two other shops with better selections 1 and 2 blocks from my place.

norkusa

03-26-2008, 08:49 PM

They just opened another one of these stores near me. Found out about it because the owner was talking it up at the other location. "Oh yeah, it's like 4 times bigger than this place. Tons of retro stuff too. We've even got all 4 Dragon Warrior games for the NES there, complete. And those go for $600 on Ebay as a set!". Riiiiiight.

I checked it out yesterday. It was a lot better than the other location but the selection still wasn't that great. Had a bunch of boxed NES games there ($7-$15) but nothing I needed and no Dragon Warriors (go figure). Saw a loose R.O.B. for $80 and even some SegaCD stuff but that's about as retro as it got. The guy working the register sees me looking at all the classic stuff and pulls out a bunch of Saturn games for me to look at. They're all loose with manuals (mostly common titles) but says he can't sell or reserve any to me because they just got them in. Thanks, got any more stuff I can look at that's not for sale?

Not a bad store overall though. I'd definitely shop there over EB/GS but some of the prices on their used current gen stuff were ridiculous ($51 for All-Pro Football 360, WTF?). Also, it seemed like over half of the games on display had photocopied covers on their cases.

DigitalSpace

03-26-2008, 08:50 PM

I've been to one of the local stores about three times. Prices on the older stuff are about similar to what GameCrazy charged before they started doing "classic plastic" sales - you might find something you want for a few bucks, but everything is mostly overpriced.

However, the prices on newer stuff aren't too bad, and the store I went to did have a 3 for $10 on all their $4.99 and under games.

VileRedFalcon

03-27-2008, 10:44 AM

Two Play-N-Trades stores just opened here in Tampa, FL and both don't have a whole lot to offer at the moment, but I did find a loose Little Samson, Gemfire, and black King Nepturne's Adventure for the NES all for $5 each. Seemed like most of their classic game prices were very reasonable.

Bandicat

03-27-2008, 11:06 PM

I attempted to visit one here in MN, but was met with a rude suprise. I drove about 30 miles out of my way only to find a message on their door saying "Game Over". It looked like they had benn closed since sometime in September of 07.

I think there is one in another town around here, which I will actually be in tomorrow. Maybe I'll stop in and check it out.

Viraneth

03-27-2008, 11:14 PM

Play N Trade is pretty nifty. Both psone types and a Genesis. A pretty nice selection and fun tournaments. Plus it seems like they have a goth interior designer. I like it.

ShinobiMan

03-28-2008, 10:32 AM

I work at a Play N Trade store here in Texas. The stores differ based on the owner. My store has the worst "floor" ever to grace a store. This floor will tear and the paint will chip away at the slightest impact... it looks terrible.

On the good side, yes, the store takes everything from Atari to Nintendo Wii. Unfortunately, my store is located in the heart a a rich kid community where these teeny boppers never heard of, yet alone own a Turbo Grafx 16 or an Atari Jaguar.

Return policy is crap though, as once you buy it, you're pretty much stuck with it. NO refunds on new merchandise whatsoever.

I would seek one out if you are looking for old games. The oldest my store has in NES... but we have some SNES, Game Gear, and N64.

Damaramu

03-28-2008, 10:42 AM

consolecrusader

03-28-2008, 10:45 AM

I might visit one next week, my GF lives in Eaton Town which is close to Forked River and Jackson...

ShinobiMan

03-28-2008, 03:20 PM

ShinobiMan, where's your store located? I live in west Houston (Westheimer/Galleria area) and would love to check your store out!

On as side note, a local used dvd store near me is now buying/selling retro stuff. 'Bout damn time!

My store is located in Katy, TX off of Fry Road and The Grand Parkway (HW 99). It's in front of the giant HEB near a neighborhood called Seven Lakes.

Yeah man, if you get the time and it's not to far away, definitely stop by. My hours there are pretty random, but there's a chance I might be working.

If you got some crappy doubles of old game you wouldn't mind parting with, it would be nice to spruce up the classic collection too.

Press_Start

03-28-2008, 04:34 PM

Just got back from one in Middletown DE and they have a pretty good setup. Games ranging from 8-bit Nintendo to Wii, expect for any Sega console. On top of that, they have podiums for each system so that you can test the games on site. Their prices are a bit overwhelming for some games, but they do have a buy 2 get 1 free sale for used games.

Pantechnicon

03-28-2008, 06:31 PM

Well the new store in Abq I mentioned on the bump gave me three R4 2600 carts - including a Xonox double-ender - for $20. And the owner said he'd make a point of dropping me an email or phone call whenever a good sized chunk of pre-NES goodness comes in to his shop. That's not a bad start at all.

...my store is located in the heart a a rich kid community where these teeny boppers never heard of, yet alone own a Turbo Grafx 16 or an Atari Jaguar.

QFT. I've asserted for a long time that median neighborhood income is a huge determinant on what's going to be available in local-level shops, thrifts and pawns. And for the pre-NES collectors like myself this is critical. The first Play-N-Trade I visited, for instance, was located on the far west edge of Rio Rancho, a completely "Californicated" subdivision of Albuquerque where the oldest houses were probably built five years ago, which means everybody already had the big garage sales, etc before moving into that neighborhood. Consequently, there's nothing at the Play-n-Trade to be had for the likes of old-schoolers. There's also a large Goodwill nearby which is equally worthless for the same reasons.

This new store, though, is in a neighborhood that's about 30 years old and, Lord willing, rife with empty-nesters who still live in the same house where they raised their teenagers in the 1980's and still have the old Intellivisions and whatnot knocking around in the garage and hope that maybe that new videogame shop next to the Red Lobster might want to take it off their hands. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

kaedesdisciple

07-15-2008, 11:44 PM

For all the NYC dwellers: I just stumbled upon a new Play n Trade in the Union Square area. You'll find it on E 13th street between 3rd and 4th, very accessible via the Q,N,R,W,4,5,6 trains. Very easy, clean layout but they're still pretty sparse in their classic stock. They seem pretty aggressive about getting older stock into the store, offering additional % for any older Nintendo game trade-ins. Looks like they're going to be hosting a fair amount of tournaments as well.

I wish them well, and happy hunting to my fellow city dwellers.

Mianrtcv

07-15-2008, 11:56 PM

I wish them well, and happy hunting to my fellow city dwellers.

NY's metro area is so lacking... I doubt I'll hit this location just yet but may be of interest in the fall. Sometimes stores get the "I'm going back to school so I'll trade my stuff in" trade ins...

scooterb23

07-16-2008, 12:14 AM

I was at the one in Cary, NC a couple weeks back. Not too impressive of classic stuff. Prices seemed ok, but a few headscratchers. Best part was the Moe's Southwest Grill next door

Coldguy

07-16-2008, 12:18 AM

Nope, however one is appearing to open near me so I might go on opening day.

nate1749

07-16-2008, 03:03 AM

I can't believe there are no chicago locations, actually not even an IL location, how disappointing - even more odd is there are 2 in Indianapolis (The amount of disposable income between those two cities is night and day).

There are even quite a few bar arounds that have retro game nights (they have NES's and you bring your games) and or ones w/new stuff (Wii's). Chicago is a huge city that's affordable and there are gamestops every few blocks, I hope someone comes in and takes some of the huge market share here. The only place to buy NES games is on Craigslists where people want about 20% less than what they paid for the game in 1989. If anyone knows of any small independent game stores, please msg me... On a slightly different topic - for movies I just found a store called Odd Obsession that's great (lots of weird stuff here) if you're in Chicago.

Nate

Sabz5150

07-16-2008, 06:52 AM

I barely go to the Stop anymore in lieu of PlayNTrade. They're not trying to force the umpteenth military FPS down your throat or bothering you constantly to reserve something... usually another military FPS.

The PnT guys out my way are quite knowledgable and I'll often just hang out in the store chatting with them. I've seen everything from Intellivision all the way up to the latest and greatest. They're also cool with letting go of "broken" consoles for a steep discount... got a Nomad on the cheap because the power connector needed a hit with the soldering iron.

IMHO a relief from the "we care about the bottom line" gamestores out there.

JustRob

07-16-2008, 07:30 PM

Well, as far as I 've seen, there are three here in South Florida. One in the Main Street shops in Miami Lakes, one in Weston, and a new one opening in uber-west Pines. The Main Street store pissed me off. Too many kids clogging up the area and the guys behind the counter had no time for the dude asking about the old stuff.

The weston store is sparse on the older stuff. Good bit of Nintendo over Sega, and nothing outside of that really. The west pines store hasn't opened yet but damn, it's minutes from home and in the same center as a theater I hit almost every weekend.

jedimind7

07-16-2008, 08:42 PM

I went to the one in Austin, Tx a while back and they had a pretty good selection. Real good prices on Genesis games. Guy there was real nice and helpful.

The one in San Antonio though I wasent really feeling at all. Didnt particularly care for the workers and the selection was pretty weak and it was very, very dark in there. Dont know why there was barely any lighting at all. That was a few months ago, I havent been back since.

Steve W

07-17-2008, 12:18 PM

I've stopped in a few Trade N' Plays and I've never found much in the way of classic games there. Classic, in the way of pre-NES games. Although the one in Broussard, LA did have some 2600 games along with a console. (Bought a Tax Avoiders there).

I'd love to find a Trade N' Play that's luxuriously filled with 'golden era' games for all systems rather than just a handful of Atari 2600 games. I'd like some Colecovision and Intellivision games there.

TheRealist50

07-17-2008, 12:50 PM

There was one very close to where I live. Like a 5 minute walk. But sadly it closed way too fast, I didn't even have a chance to go in and look around...only lasted maybe 2 months.

Oobgarm

07-17-2008, 01:10 PM

Sabz5150

07-17-2008, 01:15 PM

Your PnT's must suck. O_O

otaku

07-17-2008, 01:18 PM

I haven't visited the local place yet cause I assume their retro selection is limited. The local mom/pop shop here carries some retro stuff (small inventory of most mainstream stuff) stores like digi press are far to rare. I don't think there is a market for a place like digi press here though

guitargary75

07-17-2008, 02:56 PM

The one around here just went out of business. Sucks.

Coldguy

08-04-2008, 04:24 PM

It appears Play N Trade is heading on over to PA now, with 2 locations to my knowledge (Lancaster and Plymouth Meeting) any other info in PA?

whoisKeel

08-11-2008, 08:42 PM

I went to the one in Charlotte, NC (Pineville actually) this weekend. Overall, I wasn't incredibly impressed, although I do have a few good things to say. The staff was incredibly nice and helpful. I don't think the two (college) guys owned it, but they behaved as they did. Prices/selection was better than GameStop, it is definitely the better of the two.

The "retro" selection was pretty weak. $20 for any game the general public has heard of (Zelda, Mario, FF, etc.). The SNES FF games were asking $32 I believe. I'd say about 40 NES and 40 SNES games in stock, but lots of doubles (5 or 6 NES Zeldas). There were some .99 NES games, but junk. Most SNES were sports. Very few Genesis. Maybe 30 2600 games. 10 Dreamcast. They had 2 or 3 import PS1 games. They were selling NES/SNES combo (pirate) units for something pretty reasonable ($30 or $40, can't remember).

That said, it is the ONLY *game* store I know if in the area that sells anything older than PS2.

They had a wall of controllers, etc. for older systems. My GF picked up a Genesis controller for 3.99. I picked up Donkey Konga 2 (12.99) and 2 Bongos for 2.99 a piece.

They professionally (not Game Doctor) discs for $3 I think, which is nice. When I went to go buy my game, the guy behind the counter went through a few discs, and gave me the one in the best condition.

Overall, hands down better than GameStop, but not quite as spectacular as I was hoping it would be (selection wise). Still looking for a good retro game shop in the area.

Rev. Link

08-11-2008, 09:52 PM

Had one open up near my parent's house, near the newer multiplex. Been in there twice, and probably never again. I quote GAC since I share his viewpoint.

You must be talking about the Milford store, right? I've been in there once. It was kind of small, and the retro section was just a little dump bin in the middle of the floor, packed full of mostly common NES, SNES, N64, Genesis, and 2600 games. They did have a few more things in the glass case under the counter, but it was just overpriced stuff they thought was rare.

Aside from the stuff in the case, though, the prices were okay. Buy 2 get 1 is always nice. I haven't been back there since, though. I live on the other side of town, don't get over to the east side that often. I'd stop by again if I ever was over there, though, just to see. You never know when you're gonna find that one game you've been looking for. Maybe I'll stop by the next time I check the Milford Game City, or Game Swap in Eastgate Mall.

Tupin

08-11-2008, 10:05 PM

I have one near me, it's the only one in Missouri.

The staff is helpful, the selection could be better, but they usually sell games for cheaper than what they are worth. I bought Ms. Pac-Man for the NES for $4 and it sells for around $20-$24 everywhere else.

However, their Playstation/Saturn selection is terrible.

leicamaster

08-11-2008, 10:07 PM

I was just a play n trade today. They have a great selection of 2600 games as well as ps1 games. They also have NES games but i have most of em

Icarus Moonsight

08-16-2009, 06:25 AM

TheDomesticInstitution

08-16-2009, 09:31 AM

There are two around here about 15 minutes apart and I think they have the same owners. I visit the one WhoisKeel describes above, about once a month. The store is alright, and the prices are about Gamestops. The biggest travesty in the store is a 2600 Jr. thats over $60. The SNES and NES sections are a little weak, but there's decent stuff to be had in their classic Non Nintendo stuff.

I don't know how well they're doing, but they seem to have good stock and there are always customers in the store. Luckily for me though, if they do close down, I have alternate outlets in town for classic stuff.

Nionel

08-16-2009, 10:07 AM

So, is this happening elsewhere? Good stores or not.

The store here closed as well. We still have three other stores locally that carry retro games so it's not too big a deal, and the PnT here was kinda crappy anyway. There selection and pricing were pretty bad and their help was terrible, on a typical trip into the store, the employees would be either screwing around with their friends or just sitting there playing video games, they also didn't seem to know much about half the products they were selling. I will give them credit for having decent trade-in prices, but there limited selection made it difficult to ever find anything worthwhile. The store here was also open for about three years, which was surprising, since when I would go into the store, I would never see any other customers in there.

FxMercenary

08-16-2009, 12:07 PM

There is one near where I live that is still open, but I havent been in there for a few months. The problem with family owned stores like this, is that they tend to ignore people that they dont know personally after they have been opened for a while.

When I was in there a few months ago, they were setting up some kind of guitar hero tournament with a line of like 7 kids registering to be in it. I brought my friend with me for the 1st time to show him how great the store was, but when I wanted to buy a few things out of the glass case they acted inconvenienced and werent in the mood for any kinds of questions.

I bought my items and havent been back since.

Steve W

08-16-2009, 01:44 PM

Fuyukaze and I made a horrible discovery about the PnT near us this last Thursday. It closed up. We went out there since we haven't been in a few months and found the store tore out and empty. Asked around the other shops and found that they closed about a month ago. It was utterly sad because they were our last source, that we know of locally, for classics. This store was very good to us. We both got to fill some major gaps in our collections through this store and the staff was great. I know the store quality varied wildly and we felt lucky to be patrons to a good one.

So, is this happening elsewhere? Good stores or not.

There used to be a Play N' Trade in Lake Charles, LA inside Prien Lake Mall. It seems to be closed, although there's a new location in a local town that opened before their closing. And there was another location in Broussard, LA (south of Lafayette) that was a pretty nice little store. From Play N' Trade's web site, that location has closed now. And now a couple of Houston locations are gone. I guess that's the nature of these stores, since they're independently owned. And GameStop stores tend to be everywhere, so it's hard to carve out their own little niche.

darkslime

08-16-2009, 02:33 PM

The one closest to me closed a few months ago, they had an alright selection of classic games, but generally tend to price everything above ebay.

There are still two left in town, one is fairly close and has average prices and a pretty good selection, the other leaves all of the default prices, so stuff is really cheap. I got a nomad there for $4.99 and if panzer dragoon saga ever gets traded in it will be $7.99. Unfortunately its far away, on the other side of town.

T2KFreeker

08-16-2009, 05:17 PM

I like the store in Canyon Country California. Nice clean store and the staff is rerally nice3. They seem to keep running out of classic stuff maybe because I keep buying it out. :D Not a bad store, but remember, quite a bit of the stock is determined by people bringing in stuff as it is. With Game Dude being about 30 minutes away, most people go there to sell their stuff.

jeffg

08-16-2009, 05:24 PM

i love the one in Arlington Texas.

I was there a week ago and got the following games, All Complete and great shape:

SNES
Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel
Sonic Blastman II
Aero the Acrobat 2
Saturday Night Slam Masters
Run Saber
Operation Logic Bomb
Wildsnake

N64
Banjo Kazooie
Star Wars Rogue Squadron

I traded a genesis/sega cd combo and Dark Spire DS and it didn't cost me but $1 and some change.

Bloodreign

08-16-2009, 06:27 PM

There used to be a Play N' Trade in Lake Charles, LA inside Prien Lake Mall. It seems to be closed, although there's a new location in a local town that opened before their closing. And there was another location in Broussard, LA (south of Lafayette) that was a pretty nice little store. From Play N' Trade's web site, that location has closed now. And now a couple of Houston locations are gone. I guess that's the nature of these stores, since they're independently owned. And GameStop stores tend to be everywhere, so it's hard to carve out their own little niche.

That Play N Trade in Broussard didn't close down permanently, they moved further south to New Iberia. The prices at that particular PnT though is a bit higher than the one in Lafayette, I payed $9.99 for Bayou Billy there and a month later a copy popped up at the Lafayette store for about $4.99. The N.I. store from my visits is really slow, but the store in Lafayette is really bustling with business (perhaps the price differences made a difference). Needless to say the Lafayette store is closer to me, but I help to keep their selection of NES games pretty low. ;)

I've also found a couple pawn shops, and a used computer shop that also sells classic games, I try to hit them up when I can.

tubeway

08-16-2009, 07:08 PM

I payed $9.99 for Bayou Billy

Bayou Billy

Icarus Moonsight

08-17-2009, 12:09 AM

The anniversary bump was unintentional, but cool. Yes, I'm just that good. 8-)

We (Fuyukaze, me) only got to shop at that store about a dozen times, but what we got on those trips absolutely slaughters the finds I've made at once-a-week ritual stops close to home (Fuyukaze seems to have more consistent luck than I do in finds). The only shop I've ever been to that beats it is Raven Games that was in the Twin City Metro area in Minnesota in the mid-late 90's. This PnT had imports, some JPN Saturn but most JPN DC. They gave us a one-year 10-10-10 club membership free to share. They haggled if they did not have a sale or a b_g_ sale currently running. If you bought a lot, they cut you a bigger discount. It was awesome, I just wish it wasn't so short lived... That's all. Damn lousy depression. :bad-words:

Thanks to the rest for sharing. I've located another store on the website that we will be checking out. They have some huge shoes to fill. :)

The 1 2 P

08-17-2009, 12:42 AM

The only Play N Trade they ever had here closed before I ever got to go check them out:(

Steve W

08-17-2009, 12:43 AM

That Play N Trade in Broussard didn't close down permanently, they moved further south to New Iberia. The prices at that particular PnT though is a bit higher than the one in Lafayette, I payed $9.99 for Bayou Billy there and a month later a copy popped up at the Lafayette store for about $4.99. The N.I. store from my visits is really slow, but the store in Lafayette is really bustling with business (perhaps the price differences made a difference). Needless to say the Lafayette store is closer to me, but I help to keep their selection of NES games pretty low. ;)
I only went to that Broussard location once, on my way down to Morgan City to visit my sister's family. Then, her family packed up and moved up to Monroe, so there's not much chance of visiting those stores again. West Monroe has a Play N' Trade, but for some reason the guy who owns it has a bunch of rare games in a case, but won't sell them. My nephew gets pretty irate about that. The guy wants to show them off, I guess. My nephew wants to buy them. Does he really need five copies of Final Fantasy VII just to show off?

I hope the next time I visit my uncle down in Sulphur, LA I can pop over to the Lafayette store and maybe the New Iberia location. I want to go to Lafayette anyway, just to go to T-Coon's for lunch and maybe a plate of beignets for dessert. :)

Press_Start

08-17-2009, 12:49 AM

Only know two PnTs. The one in Delaware has a modest selection (both retro and current) and their pricing are a bit steep. A 20-30 minute drive from where I live but their around-the-year B2G1 sale and no sales tax makes the trip well worth it. On top of that, they offer free disc cleaning and buffing when you purchase your games. Though their collection hasn't radically changed from the time I started checking shopping about a year back, on account I bought all the best stuff first. :p

The game selection in West Caldwell is about the same as Delaware, more or less. On occasion, I did find both World Series Baseball for 32x and loose Snowboard Kids 2 roughly 3 buck each. Their retro section does radically change from time-to-time, makes it a good place to return to.

Baloo

08-17-2009, 01:07 AM

It appears Play N Trade is heading on over to PA now, with 2 locations to my knowledge (Lancaster and Plymouth Meeting) any other info in PA?

I hear the one in Plymouth Meeting is shitty in terms of selection and not worth going to.

There is a new Game Trader in the Deptford Mall that has a small but has a good selection of classic games. Very few junky games.

ScourDX

08-17-2009, 01:13 AM

I didn't realize the city I live in has Play N Trade. When I walk in there, I picked up some nice game for decent price. I'll say some of their games are cheaper than EB. I hope the store attract more customer. It seems like no one know it exist.

Gameboy415

08-17-2009, 11:28 AM

One popped up in the Chicago Suburbs when I was home back in January so naturally I checked it out.

Their retro selection was mostly a tiny bin full of sports games for various systems but I grabbed a copy of Bible Adventures for NES for $6 just so I didn't have to go home empty-handed. I think the store had only been open for a week at that point, so when I go home for X-mas this year I'll give it another try.

cheesystick

08-17-2009, 10:49 PM

One popped up here in Anchorage, Alaska, which is pretty unbelievable. All the employees are very friendly and they are very open-minded to letting you play whatever game you want before you buy it. However, as usual, their prices are to be expected on most items. I didn't notice anything in the store that seemed like a screamin' deal.

All the modern games have pretty typical prices. They do have a small collection of classic games, and they will take any system, as far as I can tell, which is refreshing. I picked up a few select games, which I was pleased with: N64 Shadows of the Empire ($2.99), GEN Sonic 3 ($2.99), Cruisin' USA ($4.99), and SNES Plok ($4.99). They also offer a buy 3, get the cheapest fourth game free deal, which is nice. I have also seen plenty of coupons around from them, trying to promote their business.

Overall, I would recommend the store. They are the only one of a few places around that sells older games. Also, we have a limited number of "chain" stores up here, so I am always surprised when a new one pops up. Apparently, an Olive Garden will be opening soon....

LightL

08-18-2009, 05:40 PM

Recently went to a play n trade up by me the other day, and enjoyed the experience. The staff here was very friendly, albeit a bit ignorant, and while their stuff was a bit more expensive than digital press, they did have many more things I actually wanted, and I did get turtles in time for a good price. Think amazon has it for 22 bucks while I got it for 5, so, overally, it was a good experience.

LightL

08-18-2009, 05:52 PM