What has a game store done for YOU?

[PapaStu]

I see the bitch about the game store threads all the time, and how the employees are this, and they acted like that.

My question is, what has a game store, ANY game store done that was cool in your opinion?
It can be personal experiences, or something you've seen take place. Get hooked up, product holds, calls about product (like ask them to look for an item and they find it later)?
Anything. I know that there's got to be some love for the game store, and I think that some of that love should be shared here.

I'll go first, since its only fitting cause I started the topic.

My local Indy game store is extremely cool. Been a customer there for quite a long time, and they sure take care of me. They all know about my collection (hell they supplied a fair share of it), especially my PSOne collection, so if something rare or weird comes in they'll put it to the side for me. They also let me have a personal hold box, where I can hold a fiar share of product for as long as I need/want to. I've been given discounts on used items for quite a long time (basically tax free, if not better), and even gotten presents from the store (the occasional free game). The Store Manager has even given me stuff from his personal collection (as well as sold) because he knows that its not going to be profited upon, and will be appreciated greatly.

Hell I'll even be nice to the big guys. The major Gamestop near my apt (biggest in area) knows to not push the Discount card on me, and dont give me guff for it. They have given me some freebies most recently, the Soul Calibur 2 Art book, and a copy of Ridge Racer for the PSOne[it was a free with preorder item].

So come on, I know that not all the stores are full of evil, appreciate their customers, and are pretty good places to shop. So let's hear about them!

Stu

[hydr0x]

yeah sure, most of the stores i've been to were very friendly and did me favours if i asked them

some searched through all of their stuff to find out if they have a few old games left and even CALLED me to tell me what they found

almost every small store dropped the prices of their old games a bit for me

a used games store in my city stores every 32X, Dreamcast, Saturn and Mega CD game for me as long as i want (they don't get more than 10 32x/mcd games per year though)

i can get posters and such stuff for free from some stores if i want

and the store i work at gets me a few promos and demo-discs in a while :)

[Eternal Tune]

My local Gamestop gave me a job, thats gotta count for something right??

The only thing that comes to mind is back when Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete came out, I had put twenty bucks down towards it and got the Ghaleon puppet. Now we all know Working Designs are delay whores. I waiting about a year and a half for that game (after I put down my monies), and low and behold when the game FINALLY shipped, there were shipping delays. I believe WD blamed it on a snow storm. So I called EB a few times over the course of a week, asking "is it there yet?" So I got a little tired of calling everyday, and gave up. I figured, hey, EB has to call me....I did put money down on it. So Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete comes in, I'm playing Suikoden....NO CALL. On a whim one evening, I had my mom call them, since I was annoying the employees with call after call. Anyways, they respond to my mom's inquiry with "oh that, we have had that for three days." I went nuts. I went into the store and asked them why didn't they call me? The employee looked at his call sheet and did NOT have an answer. He just rang me up. So, me, being normally shy and quiet......lost it. Lucky for me, my dad was there to contain me from leaping over the counter and killing that boy.

So in conclusion, the nicest thing a game store has done for me, is GIVE ME AN EXTRA GHALEON PUPPET SINCE THE IDIOTS DIDN'T CALL A PRE-ORDER CUSTOMER.

[VACRMH]

Here and there a local EB gave me some free stuff, and let me have some hint guides they were going to throw out.

Nothing too amazing really.

[Achika]

I'm with Eternal Tune...they have given me a job for 4+ years and the most flexible work schedule ever

[Atari7800]

<edited one time for atrocious grammar>

One particular EBgames I go to once in a while is very nice to me, though they always ask when I'm going to bring some trade-ins. Never I say! Never!

The nicest thing that ever happened to me (Game store wise) was when I was in New York and bought a bunch of new 3DO games for $5 a piece. I also brought an import Saturn game called "Death Crimson" to the counter to check on the price. The store owner said it had been released under another name in the USA (incorrect) and let me have it for free. Sure, he made a simple mistake, but it was still a very nice gesture. Turns out "Death Crimson" is one of the Saturn's rarest (and worst) games. A lot of people say the Dreamcast sequel is bad (I kind of enjoyed it) but it's 1000 times better than the original.

[Mr. Smashy]

I've helped out one of the employees at my local EB Games store with computer stuff a few times. He usually hooks me up with promo items and lets me know when some good trade-ins come in. Apparantly, not many EB Games stores around here still deal in NES, SNES, and Genesis stuff.

[pookninja]

my local gamecrazy is pretty good to me.i go in there about 3 times a week,so they know me by name.there always holding games for me until payday,and giving ne free promos and cardboard standups for my collection.plus,there all cool guys and are actually gamers,not just some person that works there and dont know anything about games.

[Qixmaster]

The guy at the local gamestore here saves the boxes and instructions for NES and SNES games for me and sells them for 5 cents a piece :D. Other then that I tend to stay away from that gamestore.

Also the guy at the cd/game exchange in my town always tells me what they have coming out on the shelves in a few days or what they have just taken in so I know what cool stuff might be coming out in the next week.

guess that's about it..

[tholly]

My local EB where one of my best friends works gives me promo stuff when they are done with it and lets me know about weird stuff that comes in and watches out for anything that I tell them to.

[ehall]

My local Gamestop let me do an even swap (True Crime for Manhunt) when I told them how badly it sucked. Of course, one of their guys reccomended it to me in the first plce. And they like my StrongBad shirt. :D

[gamergary]

Made me become more of a retro gamer after I found 4 1988-89 issues of nintendo power in mint condition.

[djbeatmongrel]

the gamestop that i frequent has done some awesome stuff for example:

Instore Christmas party with mutliple consoles hooked up including modded xbox's playing halo and a mame version of simpsons arcade, a ps2, a 2600, a dreamcast and nes. also free left over promos( deus ex:iw t-shirts, ninja gaiden t-shirts, and a doom 3 figourine)

Gave me a viewtiful joe bobblehead on release day even though i didn't pre order.

Gave me a Manhunt t-shirt on release day when i didn't preorder.

Gave a me a manhunt preorder sign.

gave me a nintendo t-shirt with a matching hat and nintendo rubber band, also got a rockstar games hat as well.

i just love my gamestop although they dont carry nes genny or snes anymore :)

[coleco_chris]

That's a great topic-I just had this happen for me a few days ago.

I went into "Gamers", basically a smaller version (thank god) of Funco/Gamestop/StoreToBeNamedAgainLater. The store manager is hip to what I collect, as is his wife, who also works there part-time. Knowing what I collect, they surprised me with a freebie-around 30 different 2600 manuals, all in very nice condition.

They're both avid gamers, and have purchased a Colecovision/20 games which was brought into the store. I'm always complaining that they've got an unfair advantage, & threaten to put in an app for part-time work. They know me too well, saying I'd spend more than the part-time hours would pay. I can't say that I disagree with the assessment!

[captain nintendo]

A local gamers will normally give me the extra nes manuals for free. I also visit an EB Games that has a couple of pretty cool employees. They will print out current inventory list for me so I can just look and see if they have what I want. Also a Gamestop near me save stand-ups for me :D They also let me know when they have penny strat guides !

[hydr0x]

My local Gamestop let me do an even swap (True Crime for Manhunt) when I told them how badly it sucked. Of course, one of their guys reccomended it to me in the first plce. And they like my StrongBad shirt. :D

well, i work at Media Markt and we HAVE to swap everything in the first two weeks after purchase if the customer wants to, and if i'm not totally wrong we have to do so by law....

[Ed Oscuro]

Back in 1998 I was at my local Babbage's, and while I was looking at the old FPSes (Heretic/Hexen was in a somewhat neat looking rerelease package and Duke Nukem 3D's classic packaging was still on shelves, along with the oversize Ultimate DOOM box) this guy came up to me and said "hey, Half-Life is an amazing game...the guys use tactics and try to flush you out with grenades."

Promptly went home and tried playing on my old 200MHz, 16MB RAM (1MB EDO video memory) PackBell PC. LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL

Well, more recently I was able to find out that my local Babbage's hadn't sold any N-Gages (well, that was back around the time I started writing my not-yet-completed N-Gage Expose of Sorts, which really isn't very accurate and certainly isn't finished).

Then there was also the clerk who told me Link's Awakening (non-DX) was Link to the Past on the GameBoy. Yep. Not sure if they said it was in color or not. Ripoff price, but I still bought it. Had a dead battery. damn them. Press all the buttons at once?! I don't know what that means...I'm just a Babbage's employee.

(rotflwmaommpgs0xlorl)

[Funkenstein]

I have one of the major chains right by my house, and they don't officially sell any Sega Master System stuff. One day though I went in and "found" a Power Base Converter in box "sitting on the sidewalk" but when I bent over to pick it up a ten dollar bill "fell out of my pocket."

[punkoffgirl]

I've shared this story before, I think.
I went to the EB in the mall, looking for a guide for Conker's for N64; this was actually quite a while after the game had come out, around the holiday season, so I wasn't expecting too much. But I did find one. However, upon taking it up to the counter, I was told by the salesclerk that he couldn't sell it to me. "It's not even supposed to be on the floor anymore," he explained. I said, "Oh," and prepared to walk away disappointed, when the guy hands me the guide and says, "Merry Christmas, take the guide and go." I was floored :)

[Sion]

I would have to say the most kick ass place i have every bought games from would have to be Video Game Depot (check out their site). They have so many kickass imports it is crazy. They always get their shipments of all the newest games on time and spend time searching for classics. All the guys who work/own the place are in their twenties and know exactly everything about everything videogames. You don't get any of that Funcoland shit at VGD. Also if there is a game you want, they can find just about ANY game ever made for you. :D

[Crush Crawfish]

Well, I made a buncha friends there and I got a really cool sonic heroes wall hanger thing there.

My friend also promised to hold any Megaman display stands that come in for me! :D

[dreamcaster]

Back in August 1997 I went to buy my N64 for the then current price of $289 AU from my local gamestore (Southside Video Games) which I have now been visiting for over 6 years.

It was Saturday, August 30th and he told me on Monday, September 1st that the Nintendo Australia would be offering a $100 cashback offer on N64 consoles (effectively dropping the price to $189 AU).

To redeem the cashback, you just needed to send Nintendo Australia your receipt dated Sep 1st 1997 onwards and the form. He already had the forms there so he gave me one and dated the receipt Sept 1st 1997.

So yeah, he basically saved me $100 AU. :D

Which, when the cheque arrived later, I used to buy Lylat Wars on release. ;)

[PhoeniX]

I personally have had very little good experiences at local game stores... However, my experiance at indy shops is gennerally very good. I have a store in Alemeda that puts rare or interesting stuff on hold for me automatically, they even call me to come over to check it out; the prices aren't super good but i can't complain. My best hookups are from my favorite store, in Concord (Ca), will buy things for me, ordering from japan or just look to buy back stuff i like. This store also hooks me up with some great prices: House of Dead (saturn), Eternal Blue (sega cd), Phantasy Star (sms), every cartridge megaman title, Infernal Machine (n64), spiritual warfare (gen), exodus (gen), Kamikaze Squirel (snes); none of these titles I had to pay more than $10 for, many for much less. I love this store and indy stores for this reason. Most casual gamers wouldn't know the value of these games anyway, and the owner knows I buy tons of stuff there so I think they think that it's a win win scenario all around. Attitudes at stores like this make me want to go there and make me yearn for intelligence that is in short supply at many of the chain stores. I was once looking at Dreamcast stuff and a clerk says, "into the retro/classic stuff huh? We have the really old stuff too..." wait for it "N64."

Stores that make me want to hang out there and give them business are in short supply. At the store in concord I can hang out and play games and talk about video games in general. When I wanted a PS1 with LCD the owner told me to hang out and wait sure enough a person came in and wanted to sell one, the owner didn't buy because it cost too much, at first i was kinda of pissed but the ten minutes later someone else came in and tried to sell one, he bought it. I got the set for $40 with car adapter on $3 more than the owner paid for it. I was very happy.


BTW PapaStu, your from the bay area right? where is your gem of an indy store? If us uber gamers would patronize (more) the businesses that know what they're doing and foster an apnosphere where (real) gamers feel welcome we'd be forced to go though the corporate dregs and support people who are in it for the hobby.

[Push Upstairs]

Well the other game store in town gives me a discount on games and sometimes gives me more per trade when i bring stuff in.

As for the store i used to work at..welll, they allowed me to purchase a CDX, X'Eye, & Guardian Heroes for under $20 a pop.

:D

[PapaStu]

PhoeniX: I do the same thing in the Indy I frequent. I go in and kill hours in there, babbling about nothing in particular. I sell stuff to the customers from the same side they are standing on. And have been known to jump behind the counter and help out on occasion.

My store is Knights Video Games in Newark. Unfortunately it is going to be closing in the next few weeks. Isnt the Alameda indy store closing down too? Or is that the one in San Leandro/San Lorenzo area??? Network Games in Burlingame used to be super cool, but since the owners changed a few years back, ive not enjoyed the store as much. Things might have gotten better, but i havnt personally been to say.

What be the names of your stores, though Alameda is a slight drive for me (Fremont is parents home, SJ is my apt), but Concord isnt all that bad.

[PhoeniX]

PapaStu: The alameda store I speak of is Alameda Game Exchange, its a mom and pop sort of joint (literally) in alameda (the island), i got to know the owners when they innquired about my Digital Press Guide and i showed them, happilly telling them that some of the stuff they had was vastly underpriced and some (a lot) was too high priced. They loved the guide, i think they ordered one--though theyr'e prices are still on the high end, good selection though. My favorite store in Concord, Matt's Game Exchange (aka Game Exchange) is unfortounatly closing, this week. This is the problem of corporate stores, I really have no problem with them in principle but the staff are largely high school age teenagers are (rightfully) more concerned with a pay check than a business--which would entail developing a repore with the clientel. Though its nothing new the freindly all (or atleast much) knowing videogame store owner (the simpsons comic book store guy comes to mind) is gone, instead we have poorly trained, but very honest and well meaning corporate clerks who anoyingly solicit you from a list of questions they are required to ask--would you like to reserve a copy project gotham 2? would you like to join our rewards card and (shitty) magazine and save an irrelevent fraction off your used videogames that have been festooned with stickers that will forever remind you of where you purchased you game?

Anyway, I wish there was room for the little guy, I have had many good experiances while fueling my hobby (compulsion), but the vast majority of those really great videogame buying times have been at the little indy shops.

[ubersaurus]

Achika's gotten me some Gamestop preorder promo shirts for like Sonic Heroes and MegaMan Collection...do those count? LOL

I know the girl that works at a gamestop around here, and she's always told me that if there's something I'm looking for, let her know, and she'll get it for me with her discount. Never actually took her up on the offer, but it stands.

As of late I've been using the Game Crazy ordering thing, where you can order a game and if any of their stores has it, they'll mail it to that one and hold it for you. I've decided to test the limit of this system and ordered Panzer Dragoon Saga :P plus as my membership there ran out, I really can't get discounts anymore...except the girl that works there hooked me up with the employee discount, which is even better.

[Castelak]

I went into a Gamestop I often go to... actually since it was Funcoland, so that would be around 12 years. Anyways as I'm browsing around eventually I notice a boxed SegaCD with a bunch of games + Lunar SS.

"DANG When do they ever buy SegaCD stuff?!" I said.
I asked the girl upfront (these people always recognize me) and asked what was up with it?
She said "Oh some guy came in here wanting to sell it, I said we couldn't but I told him to come outside and I'll buy it from him personally 10 bucks for all".
"DANG wanna sell it? *laugh* I asked.
"Nah sorry" she replied.

Oh well... I thought, but then another guy there working said "Hey I got a boxed SegaCD model 2 in my car with a couple games if you want it."
"How much?" I asked.
"Free" he said.

:O Freaking nice! It was the Sega Sports System Bundle w/Madden NFL football. It also had Ground Zero Texas, Lethal Enforcers II, and Tomcat Alley.

I offered him money but he wouldn't take it. He said he had tons of stuff but is moving and would have to get rid of it anyways. I told him to give me a call if he wants to sell some stuff to me.

The manager at that Gamestop is kind of a prick (He destroys promo stuff and wont allow employees to take it) so I can't go dumpster diving. :/ But besides that... here's my Bud Lite commercial version.

-----Digital Press Presents, Real Gamers of Kindness----- (Reaaaal gamers of kindness)
Today we salute you Mr. Give away your games man (Mr. Give away your games man!)
When the store won't sell a certain product, you take it out of your collection and show the customer TRUE SERVICE (Ohhh take out the hidden gems)
When someone comes to ask "Got any free stuff?" you say "Let me go in back and get the .01 cent items" (Ohh I love free stuff)
So open a nice minty fresh NES game, you put the GAME in GAME ON.


...
(Ok that was lame sorry...)