Your fav game store?

[Richter Belmount]

I aint talkin bout the newer mainstream places =P just places around your town local shop run privately =P = ). (but you can say a mainstream place bleh.)

Mine has to be
M and M games
moutain view ca

I manage to get good deals on sega cd games(cause im the only one that buys em there ) and newer used games (15 bucks for 3 pretty new used ps2 titles...)

[Neonsolid]

Gone.

[Nesmaster]

Nexwave..... anyone near or around edmonton that frequents this board must know of this store, no? :)

[Gemini-Phoenix]

It's as good as any game store, so i'm going to say... eBay! Yay!

[Chainsaw_Charlie]

I have a few it depends

EB gameworld
Game station
a local chain called game craze
Horc(have a tendecy to rip off unknowldegable customers)
________
BMW 247 engine history (http://www.bmw-tech.org/wiki/BMW_247_engine)

[jdc]

I used to run a little gaming store. I switched to the bike industry, but still frequent the place as a customer. I'm all for putting the money into independent pockets as much as possible. My purchases might make or break an independant's business day, big chains don't give a shit. Walmart doesn't need any more money.

[GameNinja]

My favorite store is Rhino video games. They keep most of the boxes for older games and thier prices are often better than EB and Gamestop.

[Duncan]

In the Greater Colorado Springs area:

First place is good ol' Video Game Exchange on east Platte Avenue in Colorado Springs. Been there since long before GameStop or EB Games came to town, and they still have the most eclectic selection of stuff (including a whole 16x6-foot wall of loose NES carts, 8x6 feet of loose SNES carts and 4x6 feet of boxed Genesis carts). It's still my go-to source for Master System games, since almost all of theirs are boxed. They also have more Dreamcast games than I've seen at GameStop in a long time. All this plus the more "out-there" choices like 3DO, TG-16, and a sizable stack of boxed 32X games.

Second place goes to Gameland, which is further south in the city of Fountain and actually has even more in stock than VGE, but charges considerably more and maintains a slightly more "corporate" feel.

Third place goes to Game Force on North Academy at Woodmen, which has a lot of stuff but (like GameCrazy) keeps everything good sealed away under glass so you can't really browse without feeling like an intruder of some kind.

[Lady Jaye]

Well, I like to go to L'Enjeu jr. but I'm biaised in its favor since it's owned by a member of CCJVQ (Quebec videogame collectors' club); in fact, it's been our main meeting place ever since François bought the place.

[stuffedmonkey]

Starland is the best. There are only 3 stores, all in the DC area. They sell everything from the latest PS2/xbox/gcn, to atari and intellivision. Plus they have imports! Great great store. Sometimes thier prices are on the high side, but they have stuff that no one else has retail.

[SMB]

My favorite gamestore used to be Video Game and Music Exchange(mostly games) but untill a Video Game Express moved walking distance from my house I go there for my needs.

But I have to agree with "Gemini-Phoenix" on Ebay because without Ebay I would have never gotten many great things such a 2600 Jr., Virtual Boy, and so-on.

[XERO]

in chinatown, n.y.:
J & L GAMES
mail order/internet:
TRONIX
JAPAN VIDEO GAMES

[pixelsnpolygons]

I used to go to a place called Matt's Game Exchange, but it was robbed a bunch of times as closed down. :(

[pookninja]

currently,my favorite gamestore is the gamecrazy behind where i work,they rule.but the best videogame store ever was megagames.it was in mishawaka indiana,about 20 minutes from where i live,and it ruled.they had all of the domestic stuff that was available at the time,plus they had tons of import games as well(mega drive,pc engine,etc).they even had neo-geo stuff as well.they had every system hooked up to a tv,and you could try out any game before you bought it,plus they always gave good trade in credit.and the man who owned it(his name is otto)was a real gamer as well,not just someone looking to make a fast buck.but,otto and his wife were older,and they soon let there son and son-in-law run it.it wasnt to long,there was no imports,no neo geo,they started only carrying certain new game titles,they the prices of the games went up,and the trade in values went down,and it wasnt to long,they closed the store down(i think they moved to texas).but that store was the ultimate game store to me.it closed about 7 years ago.i miss megagames.

[shai hulud]

i guess it would be the one i work at - Slackers CDs and Games. i wish we would cary more variety when it comes to games, but its hard when you also deal in CDs and DVDs.

[Melf]

There are no local stores where I live (aside from the mainstream ones), so my favorite store is online. Video Game Depot always has a good price and ships securely and cheap.

[Lord Contaminous]

Starland, domestic & import games. But I have to drive 2.5 hours to get there, so every trip there is ALWAYS exciting.

[Fuyukaze]

Curently my favorite is a gamecrazy on 1960 in Houston. I know its "mainstream" but its the only gamestore I've found that has decent, friendly, game playing emploiees. By the next time I go there, I expect them all to be fired/quit/transfered as every store I have ever found with such who knew their ass from an ant hill have quickly been releplaced as such.

[FantasiaWHT]

(Is Game Crazy just a part of Hollywood Video?)

EB Games of course ;) Even before I started working there I used to be soooooooo excited when we'd go visit my half brothers and sister in Green Bay (about 2 hour drive from where I lived at the time) because there was an EB Games in Port Plaza Mall :) Wausau didn't have ANY video game stores back then.

I've ordered online from Starland, but there's this great place called Superpawn.com that doesn't know the value of half their stuff :) They have some retail stores I guess. The only problem is sometimes they mislabel stuff, which makes it a bit of a crapshoot when you order. I've gotten 3 complete copies of Lunar: SSSC for PS1 for $25 each tho.

There's 2 Video Game Exchanges on the south side of Milwaukee, but I was never all that impressed with them... dunno why. It has been awhile tho, maybe I'll check them out :)

[Aussie2B]

My favorite local store ever was Gamer's Edge back in Washington state. They had imports, tons of old stuff, anime, a LAN set up, a nerd's dream come true. o_O Some of the employees were really cool too, but the other half were complete jerks... Anyway, much to my dismay, I discovered that they closed shop this past summer. I'm not quite sure when it happened or why it happened (but I can guess *cough*GameStop and EB*cough*). In a way, I could sort of see it coming since every time I went I found the selection to be poorer and poorer. I really hope the other one (which I haven't been to in years) is still there...

[morphx]

I'm gonna have to ride up to DC now and check out Starland.

[GamerTheGreek]

i used to like my funcoland on rt 17 south. but since they changed to gamestop i dont like how they handle things. EBGAMES in washington township is cool. i love the odd and cool items that pop in. and since we workers can buy items that cant be traded in helps alot

[Mitch_Naz]

Die Hard video games at my local flea market, has old to new stuff.

[Sanriostar]

mail order/internet:

JAPAN VIDEO GAMES

I live 2 miles from thier real store. Most of the stuff is in the back, and loaded with oddities....

[stuffedmonkey]

I'm gonna have to ride up to DC now and check out Starland.

Do it. they totally rock. One of the cool things about this area is that there must be 20 game stores within a 30 min drive of my house. Starland is the only one that really stands out though. They have 3 stores in the area.

[MarioAllStar2600]

There used to be an awsome MicroMedia about 40 minutes away from my house. They had everything from 2600 to current. I only went there a few times but It was awsome. They even had some imports for GBA. Then Gamestop bought them out. Around me there is pretty much only Gamestops. It sucks to.... They don't know much about games. I always try to start a convo when im in there.... but they never really respond. I was friends with the guy at one GameStop.... then one moved closer.

I guessmy favorite store Is Ebay.

[sirgeoph]

The GameTrader.

Not just cause I work there, but we carry almost everything, prices are reasonable, and the clerks actually greet you when you walk in, unlike two major chain used game stores...

[Psycho Mantis]

My favorite is microplay. there used to be one by a wal-mart but now it's gone. :(
I even Got Panzer dragoon saga for $25. :D

[Gapporin]

Slackers down by the St. Louis area. Prices may be a little on the high side, but their selection is awesome.

[FantasiaWHT]

The GameTrader.

Not just cause I work there, but we carry almost everything, prices are reasonable, and the clerks actually greet you when you walk in, unlike two major chain used game stores...

Yeah cause I'm sure not greeting you is a company-wide policy ;) Don't judge an entire chain on the action of some employees. Sorry to hear the one's you've experienced were bad!

[slip81]

After visiting my first one today, Gamecrazy. They had a nice selection of classic games all at reasonable prices (except for a few SNES games), the clerks were very friendly, and I especially like how they can order games from other stores if they don't have it. I also like the EB in the mall near my house, the workers there are also friendly and they usually have good prices on used next gen games.

[XxMe2NiKxX]

It's situated in dixie mall's flea market, I'm unaware of the name -- they have pretty much every game in the world, you name it, they've got it. It's ran by a bunch of pretty cool people, they know me by name now, gimme huge discounts. =P

[FlufflePuff]

Toyriffic is a cool shop here. A couple in WI and one in MN. They're a bit overpriced, but if you go to the one in Hudson, you can usually swing deals as they know their prices are over and will negotiate.

[stressboy]

My favorite local store ever was Gamer's Edge back in Washington state. They had imports, tons of old stuff, anime, a LAN set up, a nerd's dream come true. o_O Some of the employees were really cool too, but the other half were complete jerks... Anyway, much to my dismay, I discovered that they closed shop this past summer. I'm not quite sure when it happened or why it happened (but I can guess *cough*GameStop and EB*cough*). In a way, I could sort of see it coming since every time I went I found the selection to be poorer and poorer. I really hope the other one (which I haven't been to in years) is still there...

:(

This breaks my heart. I was planning on stopping by there on my next drive to Seattle.

[Nirvana]

Gamecrazy is such an amazing store. I remember they used to have the 3 used cartridge games for $15 deal, and I got some games that were worth way more.

[CrimsonNugget]

Blah. I wish there were local stores around here but the only ones are EB and GameStop. Online is pretty much my only old game resource unless I take a journey to a distant mall with a store that only has crap games anyway.

[Zap!]

Are there any classic gaming stores in the NY/NJ are? I read here last year that NJ had a great one.

[jdc]

I had posted in here way back when the thread was new, but now the private shop that I swore allegiance to has nothing and it's prices are some of the highest in town.

I've noticed that Blockbuster slashes prices on new (non-previously viewed) software on a regular basis.....to the point where they are often lower priced than Walmart by about $10. I also like the fact that they keep a good selection of out-of-circulation back-catalogue games.

We have an Electronics Boutique store here that recently converted over to an EB Games store and I went to it on Sunday. What a messy disappointment. The store layout and the cheap-looking yellow EB Games boxes everywhere made it a VERY confusing place to shop. No thanks. It reeks of a cheap discounter. The clerk kept stressing the fact that the game that I wanted was also available used (yes, I know that the margins are better on used software)....even though I wanted a sealed new copy, which they also had. She also made it VERY clear that I could trade the game in once I had finished with it. Was this due to the fact that her manager was also at the counter along side her? It sounded to me as if she HAD to try and sell used over new.

The place reeked of "lower class".

[Jumpman Jr.]

You asked for smaller named game-stores, but there aren't that many good ones here. There's a nice little pawn-shop called "Swap N Shop" that has a pretty good variety of games, but it would be hard to say that that is my favorite store.
I really used to like an EB games here in Ottawa. When EB dropped all their prices on used stuff, I was going in there every day and buying stuff. They'd always have boxed N64 games, and loose NES games that I needed. But now, for some reason, they don't even keep the boxes for the N64 games, and they have very little NES selection.
Thats why, now, I go to a Microplay down the road. They have tons of boxed N64 games and it seems every time I go in there, they have some NES games that I need (which is getting harder and harder as my collection builds up).
That Microplay, is my favorite game store. :)

[BrokenFlight]

There's a very small indie shop near me. All his megadrive games are £3-4 depending on whether they've got a manual or not. Sports games are £2.50. So sometimes he's got some well priced games and sometimes they're a little over priced. His snes and N64 cartridges are £3/4 depending on how good they are.

He pays £2 for a megadrive game with a manual and £1.50 without a manual. That's ok considering I only got 50p each for 2 games in Gamestation.

He's got a Gamecube for £30 which I want but he's been closed for the last few days and I've been waiting for him to open again. He's also got a few console boxes I want but he won't sell them unless he's got spares, which he usually doesn't. I once bought a Sonic poster off him for 30p which seemed reasonable.

He's the sort of person you can haggle with but I'd feel guilty doing that because I can't imagine he gets much business. I've only ever seen another person in there once.


There's another shop near by that specialises in used current generation games. They don't have fantastic prices but they're about right. Usually £7-£15 for decent games. Obviously they're more expensive if they're newer.

The oldest games they do are N64, PSX and DC. Most of them are £2. Gamestation don't seem to sell DC games for less than £5 so £2 seems very reasonable.

Gamestation are only good when they've got megadrive games cheaper than my local. But that's very unusual. They had a Time Crisis gun and game set unboxed for £20. I bought one boxed for £3 at a car boot sale. Yay me!

[goatdan]

There's 2 Video Game Exchanges on the south side of Milwaukee, but I was never all that impressed with them... dunno why. It has been awhile tho, maybe I'll check them out :)

They're gone. You were probably never impressed with them either due to the extremely overpriced games in them, or the fact that they didn't have much in the way of selection for anything.

I contacted them about attending the MGC last year, and they were all interested and were going to sponsor and do the whole nine yards. Then, suddenly they stopped talking to me and a couple months later the store was gone. Never figured out what happened.

My favorite place is an EB kinda close to my house right now. Not because they ever have a great selection of games, but because the staff there is actually fun to talk to about stuff. They don't try the usual EB tricks, and they purposely stock the largest selection of Dreamcast stuff in the city because their manager loved the Dreamcast. I've found quite a number of games that I've needed for my collection there :)

[McBacon]

In England we have Charity shops in every town. They are like the Starbucks of England. But there are two stores of Christian Aid who just focus on DVDs, CDs and Games. Luckily, they don't use any price guides... all Saturn games are £2, all complete GG games are £2, loose stuff is a pound, etc. Its brill, got a load of Sonic games from them.

[GameSlaveGaz]

Game Zone in Salem, MA is my favorite place to go. They have tons of old games, from common ones to harder to find and they're all decently priced. They even have a good sized collection of NES games still in their boxes. They have systems there too. Currently they have an Intellivison, and Atari 7800, a 3DO, a Jaguar, 2 Sega CDXs, an NES, a top-loading NES, and your typical PS2s in stock. They also have a Panasonic GameCube on display which is NOT for sale. They've also had the same Virtual Boy in its box for $90 for as long as I've been going there.

All Your Games in Harvard Sqare, Cambridge, MA was also a good little place. It was just a tiny stall, then they moved the stock into the anime store Tokyo Kid, and they got a lot of imports, mostly Saturn and PS1. Their stock of NES, SNES and Genesis has greatly dwindled, but I sometimes find something I like there.

And I still give GameStop and Toys R Us their fair share of business, since I work at Toys R Us and my boyfriend works at GameStop. GameStop is still good for GameBoy, N64 and PS1 finds at OK prices, plus I have the 10% off used card or my boyfriend can buy it for me with his 15% employee discount. I also go there for used current-gen games and if there's a game coming out that I HAVE TO HAVE THE DAY IT COMES OUT (like Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess) I reserve it there because I can pay it off in incriments - unlike at my store - so it's paid off before the game comes out and I don't spend $50 in one go. My store has some pretty good prices once in a while. Last year we clearanced a ton of PS2 games as low as $4.98, so I picked up a lot of games then. We also have frequent 2 for $25 deals on $19.99 games and the Green Tag sale, which the old sale that just ended was up to 90% the price, but the new green tag sale is back to just 30%. I can also get 1-cent strategy guides because they mark them down to a penny so they can destroy them without losing a lot of money. I used to sell them or just give them out at that price but coporate has their heads up their asses and they MUST be destroyed.

I also frequent ebay and half.com for games I can't find even at Game Zone, but my dad makes a big deal about me buying a lot of video games, so I don't do it often so he doesn't notice. I've also been trying to scour yard sales but I'm never free to go to them because they're always on while I'm at work. There's also a flea market in Revere, MA that used to have TONS of video games, I got all my NES games there when I was a kid. I keep meaning to go back, but I always forget it's there or I'm busy with something else.

I also stole a couple of my friend's NES games, cuz I was borrowing them and then we stopped talking to each other for like 6 months so I was like "He's never getting these back cuz I'm not going to go talk to him" but then we started talking again and he forgot about them and I conveniently neglected to mention I still had them. It's Yoshi and Mega Man 2 and 6. You understand me not wanting to part with 2 free Mega Man games, when they're like $20 each at Game Zone. LOL

[rayearthknight]

There's a shop near where I live called "Great Games" and it's the only shop around that actually sells games for the N64 NES and SNES consoles. However, I live in what must be the Bermuda Triangle of classic gaming because hardly anyone buys them. So, if you're looking for old Nintendo games, drop him a line. He's given me an e-mail address to give out if you have any questions or requests on games/accessories:

Great Games
ggamer55@yahoo.com

[<<IronBuddha>>]

All the game stores here only sell Ps1 games and newer :( I have to go to the market and garage sales to find my old school games.

[GamecubeFreek]

I have been to an M and M games in temecula lol also in california.

Strange, there are a couple M and M's near me..in Upland and San Dimas, California..they say they only have three stores, and I am pretty sure the third is in Riverside

[shellac]

the original post about M and M games being in Mountain View irritated me because I searched Mountain View for this great game store and got nothing. Just a bunch of EBgames and Gamestops.

[OdSquad64]

Rhino Games is the best game store around here. I think Blockbuster owns them, but you would never notice. They sell everything back to the NES and their prices are cheaper than anywhere else. And best of all they dont check i.d.

[Alucard]

There are a few around my area, but I go to World Of Game's game store World Of Games. He has pretty good stuff there most of the time and he has pretty good prices also. It also helps that his store is about a minute from where my mom lives. I like to go and hang out up there, but all in all his store is the better one around.

[Lothars]

Well my favorite store is called Microplay which of course is a franchise but the store I like is in a town where I grew up, they always seem to have the games I am looking for, or if they don't they can always put your name down incase they get it.

The staff rocks, I have been going to the store for almost a decade and I have seen the staff coming and going, it's not a high turn over and I actually know the owners quite well, they are an amazing place, easily one of my favorite

I also have started to really like Blockbuster and Rogers Video, the main reason is what games they have for previously viewed and everything is pretty good, plus most of the staff is cute ;)