Support Your Local Game Stores...Now More Than Ever.

[Pantechnicon]

Today I went to visit one of my local-owned game shops here in Albuquerque. This particular store is probably my least favorite of the local ones, but they were having a 50-cent blowout sale on Genesis carts so I thought I'd check it out.

Pulling in to the strip mall I was surprised to see that construction had recently begun on yet another EB Games (last year we had six Gamestops in town all open up literally overnight. EB has been playing catch-up ever since). This store was actually a stand-alone, which suggests a pretty heavy corporate investment. Right away I thought this could not be good for the locally-owned store I was about to visit.

So I bought about a dozen or so Genny games and as I was getting rung up I remarked to the owner that he couldn't be terribly happy about the EB being built pretty much in his own parking lot. Suffice to say he was not pleased, and seemed pretty resigned to the idea that he was probably going to be out of business in a matter of months. To make matters worse, he explained how, upon hearing rumors that this was going to happen, the strip mall owners utterly denied there were any plans for an EB...and then quietly nullified the non-competitor clause in his lease shortly before breaking ground for the EB. This, after ten years at the same location.

Well I drove away from the store more pissed: in general, at the ruthlessness of the free market system and in particular at EB Games. Even though, this store, as I said, is my least favorite of the local ones, it will still suck to lose them. And I can't help but wonder how long it will be until EB or Gamestop buy a “strategic location” near my other two local shops and start squeezing them out as well.

My point, as in the title of my thread, is that we retrogamers have got to support local stores whenever we can.

I think perhaps the biggest reason to shop local is variety – Local stores may specialize in one thing over another, but that's what makes them all worth visiting. This store I mentioned that's about to tank, for example, has the biggest selection of Dreamcast stuff in town, including a ton of imports. Can you even buy imports at EB? Even if you could, I can't imagine they come at a reasonable rate. Also, local stores may branch out into other specialty collectibles such as sports cards, anime or comics or whatever. They give you the chance to fill all your geek needs in one stop.If you're a primarily a cartridge game collector (like me) you know that local shops and thrifts are your only local opportunities for games. Yes I know EB and Gamestop carry some cartridge games still, but good luck finding something rare, let alone pre-NES.

Perhaps this rant has already been done in another thread, by someone more articulate than I, but I really felt I had to implore you all again to please support your local shops. Shop local first, Web 2nd. . Then and only then go line the coffers of these homogenous game dealers.

[josekortez]

I've only seen one import at EB ever and that was Shenume II for the Dreamcast. That was before the Xbox version came out.

[Captain Wrong]

Welcome to the "beauty" of the WalMart-ization of the country.

[Kejoriv]

Yea, I always try to do business with the small guys whether its renting a movie, eating out, etc etc

The world doesnt need anymore Walmarts, IMO

[slip81]

That sucks, and I would be glad to support local game stores if I knew of any. If anyone in the R.I area knows of local stores fill me in please.

[Promophile]

Today I went to visit one of my local-owned game shops here in Albuquerque. This particular store is probably my least favorite of the local ones, but they were having a 50-cent blowout sale on Genesis carts so I thought I'd check it out.

Pulling in to the strip mall I was surprised to see that construction had recently begun on yet another EB Games (last year we had six Gamestops in town all open up literally overnight. EB has been playing catch-up ever since). This store was actually a stand-alone, which suggests a pretty heavy corporate investment. Right away I thought this could not be good for the locally-owned store I was about to visit.

So I bought about a dozen or so Genny games and as I was getting rung up I remarked to the owner that he couldn't be terribly happy about the EB being built pretty much in his own parking lot. Suffice to say he was not pleased, and seemed pretty resigned to the idea that he was probably going to be out of business in a matter of months. To make matters worse, he explained how, upon hearing rumors that this was going to happen, the strip mall owners utterly denied there were any plans for an EB...and then quietly nullified the non-competitor clause in his lease shortly before breaking ground for the EB. This, after ten years at the same location.

Well I drove away from the store more pissed: in general, at the ruthlessness of the free market system and in particular at EB Games. Even though, this store, as I said, is my least favorite of the local ones, it will still suck to lose them. And I can't help but wonder how long it will be until EB or Gamestop buy a “strategic location” near my other two local shops and start squeezing them out as well.

My point, as in the title of my thread, is that we retrogamers have got to support local stores whenever we can.

I think perhaps the biggest reason to shop local is variety – Local stores may specialize in one thing over another, but that's what makes them all worth visiting. This store I mentioned that's about to tank, for example, has the biggest selection of Dreamcast stuff in town, including a ton of imports. Can you even buy imports at EB? Even if you could, I can't imagine they come at a reasonable rate. Also, local stores may branch out into other specialty collectibles such as sports cards, anime or comics or whatever. They give you the chance to fill all your geek needs in one stop.If you're a primarily a cartridge game collector (like me) you know that local shops and thrifts are your only local opportunities for games. Yes I know EB and Gamestop carry some cartridge games still, but good luck finding something rare, let alone pre-NES.

Perhaps this rant has already been done in another thread, by someone more articulate than I, but I really felt I had to implore you all again to please support your local shops. Shop local first, Web 2nd. . Then and only then go line the coffers of these homogenous game dealers.

I agree but our local game store is just AWFUL! Overpriced as hell, and crappy to boot. For example, They had a copy of Earthbound with the box and Strategy Guide for 35 dollars. I go up to the counter and ask for it. I hand them the money and they hand me the cart. I ask for the guide or the box, and they say "not many people bring boxes, so we don't give them out, and you have to buy the guide seperate". What a crock. BTW the stores called Slackers, and they actually have a few stores in IL. and Mis. and have TV commericals, so they're doing pretty well.

On the other hand When I visited my friend up in Chicago, we went to one of his local game stores, called Replay. Man was it awesome, they even had pre-atari systems/games, and NES/Gene/SNES demo units set up for play.

[christianscott27]

i hardly have any local shops left to support, boston rents are too high for that sorta thing. they've come and gone and i cant help but feel poor business sense was more of a factor than EB or gamestops. i do love them and support them with my $$ simply because they stock carts the big chains are all done with. i also like to stop in and just talk retrogaming with somebody as into it as i am. i always go back and forth over inviting these shop guys to become a presence at our trademeets, they always price things way over what we trade for so i'm not sure it would be a good match. there was one guy who was going pretty strong for 4 years out in malden MA selling games and magic cards, i made a point to never tell other local collectors about his place because i wanted all his deals for myself :embarrassed: well eventually he got net savvy and his prices rose to match ebay so i was prepared to let everybody know about his place and invited to a trademeet...sure enough i get an email from the guy saying he had to close up due to slow business, i felt sorta bad.


If anyone in the R.I area knows of local stores fill me in please.


hmm diddy dim, there is a little rats hole on the main drag in pawtucket, mostly modern crap. your best bet would be just over the MA line in fall river at bob's video games, both bob and his prices blow but its a great selection and wholly indy.

[Great Hierophant]

I agree but our local game store is just AWFUL! Overpriced as hell, and crappy to boot.

That could describe my "local game store." The guy sits on his ass all day instead of cleaning his carts and organizing his store as he should. He also needs to get with the 21st century, the used VHS tapes adorning part of his wall need to go. (except for the stuff thats not out on DVD.) He has a bunch of these demo systems towards the back that he keeps turned off. Is he waiting for someone to make him an offer?

EB Games is getting pricey for their loose carts these days too. Gamestop doesn't even carry much, if anything, before the Playstation. Do they still carry Dreamcast?

[Keir]

EB Games is getting pricey for their loose carts these days too. Gamestop doesn't even carry much, if anything, before the Playstation. Do they still carry Dreamcast?
Some Gamestops still carry DC, but as far as I know none of the ones in our area do.

[The Manimal]

There's a local game store that has tons of sealed new games like FINAL FANTASY ANTHOLOGY (original), CASTLEVANIA DRACULA X, and even new PANASONIC 3DO systems...


Too bad I rarely ever shop there. The guy wants like $80 for the Dracula X, $60 for the FFA, and like $300 for the 3DO...

[Cmosfm]

This story reminds me of what happened to me. I own a silver jewelry kiosk in my local mall, and the mall manager's told me for 2 years that they would NOT put another silver jewelry kiosk in here as long as I am here. I guess they meant they wouldn't put one in here unless someone asked to be here, becasue they did, and I was pissed and worried as hell.

Luckily though, the other cart is focused 100% on urban "black" styles of silver, which WAS about 70% of my cart at one time because that type of stuff sells. Unfortunately he's selling his stuff so cheap that I couldn't compete. Sounds bad doesn't it? Well, I switched my stock over to about 75% "white" styles of jewelry and 50% of it is women's stuff now. All the "black" styles I've drastically reduced in price.

After checking over my sales compared to last year, I'm up by about 20% overall.

Shocked the hell outta me! :)

Either way, it's bullshit the way money can talk, and greed is what runs these establishments. Just gotta learn to adapt! That local store needs to do something EB isn't...I suggest cheap game rentals.

[kainemaxwell]

EB Games is getting pricey for their loose carts these days too. Gamestop doesn't even carry much, if anything, before the Playstation. Do they still carry Dreamcast?
Some Gamestops still carry DC, but as far as I know none of the ones in our area do.

The Gamestop I work at doesn't carry CD anymore, the othe rone close to me does. *shrug

[Aussie2B]

I'd support the local stores here in NYC, but they're all so scuzzy and overpriced. Not to mention that they're just crappier clones of EB and GameStop and barely sell anything that the big chains don't.

Back in Washington, I LOVED my little local stores (only place I could find Valkyrie Profile a couple months after the game was released, and where I did most of my retro shopping). However, the closer one shut down already. :( I have no idea if the other one is still open, though. I need to check the next time I'm there.

[Dahne]

I would if I could find one!

San Francisco area? Anybody?

[Beefy Hits]

Here is MN, where funco started almost 20 years ago, we have very few local game stores. The big one that used to be in town moved to a smaller town, so our only option is the chain places. Sad.

[shai hulud]

Today I went to visit one of my local-owned game shops here in Albuquerque. This particular store is probably my least favorite of the local ones, but they were having a 50-cent blowout sale on Genesis carts so I thought I'd check it out.

Pulling in to the strip mall I was surprised to see that construction had recently begun on yet another EB Games (last year we had six Gamestops in town all open up literally overnight. EB has been playing catch-up ever since). This store was actually a stand-alone, which suggests a pretty heavy corporate investment. Right away I thought this could not be good for the locally-owned store I was about to visit.

So I bought about a dozen or so Genny games and as I was getting rung up I remarked to the owner that he couldn't be terribly happy about the EB being built pretty much in his own parking lot. Suffice to say he was not pleased, and seemed pretty resigned to the idea that he was probably going to be out of business in a matter of months. To make matters worse, he explained how, upon hearing rumors that this was going to happen, the strip mall owners utterly denied there were any plans for an EB...and then quietly nullified the non-competitor clause in his lease shortly before breaking ground for the EB. This, after ten years at the same location.

Well I drove away from the store more pissed: in general, at the ruthlessness of the free market system and in particular at EB Games. Even though, this store, as I said, is my least favorite of the local ones, it will still suck to lose them. And I can't help but wonder how long it will be until EB or Gamestop buy a “strategic location” near my other two local shops and start squeezing them out as well.

My point, as in the title of my thread, is that we retrogamers have got to support local stores whenever we can.

I think perhaps the biggest reason to shop local is variety – Local stores may specialize in one thing over another, but that's what makes them all worth visiting. This store I mentioned that's about to tank, for example, has the biggest selection of Dreamcast stuff in town, including a ton of imports. Can you even buy imports at EB? Even if you could, I can't imagine they come at a reasonable rate. Also, local stores may branch out into other specialty collectibles such as sports cards, anime or comics or whatever. They give you the chance to fill all your geek needs in one stop.If you're a primarily a cartridge game collector (like me) you know that local shops and thrifts are your only local opportunities for games. Yes I know EB and Gamestop carry some cartridge games still, but good luck finding something rare, let alone pre-NES.

Perhaps this rant has already been done in another thread, by someone more articulate than I, but I really felt I had to implore you all again to please support your local shops. Shop local first, Web 2nd. . Then and only then go line the coffers of these homogenous game dealers.

I agree but our local game store is just AWFUL! Overpriced as hell, and crappy to boot. For example, They had a copy of Earthbound with the box and Strategy Guide for 35 dollars. I go up to the counter and ask for it. I hand them the money and they hand me the cart. I ask for the guide or the box, and they say "not many people bring boxes, so we don't give them out, and you have to buy the guide seperate". What a crock. BTW the stores called Slackers, and they actually have a few stores in IL. and Mis. and have TV commericals, so they're doing pretty well.

On the other hand When I visited my friend up in Chicago, we went to one of his local game stores, called Replay. Man was it awesome, they even had pre-atari systems/games, and NES/Gene/SNES demo units set up for play.


i actually work at one of these stores. we have boxes for all our available SNES games on the floor, but very rarely do we have the box for sale (if the game is traded with box we sell it with box). $35 is pretty high i agree, but its in line with most other stores (gamestop is $39.99). iF you could show me a store that sells games for alot less than us i would be suprised. And having a commercial on local TV doesnt really mean that much.

[Mattiekrome]

I just about quit going into these big chains (EB, Gamestop, Game Crazy, etc.) Always seems like there are no deals to be had in there... who the hell wants to pay $22.50 for a loose non-mint SNES Mario Kart? Just annoying, thats all :angry:

[RCM]

I live in the NYC area and ive seen a lot of import/specialty shops vanish. It's too bad. I wonder if import/specialty shops are even needed anymore. 10 years ago I needed them for sure. The growing popularity of the internet and sites like ebay has changed everything.

I want to support these stores no doubt. I'm not going to pay $50 for a used Christmas NiGHTS when I can get it on ebay for $5 or $10 though. It's too bad really, I love the atmosphere of good import/specialty shops.

Are these shops even needed anymore? I don't need em but I want em.

THE ONE, THE ONLY- RCM

[Castelak]

Show me a good local gamestore and I'll shop there. Heck, we don't even have ANY local game stores here!

[SkiDragon]

I would shop at them, but I dont know of any in my area. Anybody know any good shops in Michigan that sell older stuff?

For now I try to give my business to Game Crazy and Game Rush, because they still sell older games. Found a lot of good deals there too.

[kevincure]

The reason the locals go out of business is primarily because they are run by people who don't understand how to run a business. I've seen tremendously successful local stores run by people who know how to hire an accountant, and failing local stores run by dudes who like to play videogames.

As far as ebay pricing is concerned: I *wish* the local stores would charge ebay pricing. 90% of games (even for modern systems) are cheaper on ebay than locally; it's only the 10% that make up the rare titles which can be expensive to buy.

[Jasoco]

All my local game stores ARE GameStop's and EB's.

[Promophile]

Today I went to visit one of my local-owned game shops here in Albuquerque. This particular store is probably my least favorite of the local ones, but they were having a 50-cent blowout sale on Genesis carts so I thought I'd check it out.

Pulling in to the strip mall I was surprised to see that construction had recently begun on yet another EB Games (last year we had six Gamestops in town all open up literally overnight. EB has been playing catch-up ever since). This store was actually a stand-alone, which suggests a pretty heavy corporate investment. Right away I thought this could not be good for the locally-owned store I was about to visit.

So I bought about a dozen or so Genny games and as I was getting rung up I remarked to the owner that he couldn't be terribly happy about the EB being built pretty much in his own parking lot. Suffice to say he was not pleased, and seemed pretty resigned to the idea that he was probably going to be out of business in a matter of months. To make matters worse, he explained how, upon hearing rumors that this was going to happen, the strip mall owners utterly denied there were any plans for an EB...and then quietly nullified the non-competitor clause in his lease shortly before breaking ground for the EB. This, after ten years at the same location.

Well I drove away from the store more pissed: in general, at the ruthlessness of the free market system and in particular at EB Games. Even though, this store, as I said, is my least favorite of the local ones, it will still suck to lose them. And I can't help but wonder how long it will be until EB or Gamestop buy a “strategic location” near my other two local shops and start squeezing them out as well.

My point, as in the title of my thread, is that we retrogamers have got to support local stores whenever we can.

I think perhaps the biggest reason to shop local is variety – Local stores may specialize in one thing over another, but that's what makes them all worth visiting. This store I mentioned that's about to tank, for example, has the biggest selection of Dreamcast stuff in town, including a ton of imports. Can you even buy imports at EB? Even if you could, I can't imagine they come at a reasonable rate. Also, local stores may branch out into other specialty collectibles such as sports cards, anime or comics or whatever. They give you the chance to fill all your geek needs in one stop.If you're a primarily a cartridge game collector (like me) you know that local shops and thrifts are your only local opportunities for games. Yes I know EB and Gamestop carry some cartridge games still, but good luck finding something rare, let alone pre-NES.

Perhaps this rant has already been done in another thread, by someone more articulate than I, but I really felt I had to implore you all again to please support your local shops. Shop local first, Web 2nd. . Then and only then go line the coffers of these homogenous game dealers.

I agree but our local game store is just AWFUL! Overpriced as hell, and crappy to boot. For example, They had a copy of Earthbound with the box and Strategy Guide for 35 dollars. I go up to the counter and ask for it. I hand them the money and they hand me the cart. I ask for the guide or the box, and they say "not many people bring boxes, so we don't give them out, and you have to buy the guide seperate". What a crock. BTW the stores called Slackers, and they actually have a few stores in IL. and Mis. and have TV commericals, so they're doing pretty well.

On the other hand When I visited my friend up in Chicago, we went to one of his local game stores, called Replay. Man was it awesome, they even had pre-atari systems/games, and NES/Gene/SNES demo units set up for play.


i actually work at one of these stores. we have boxes for all our available SNES games on the floor, but very rarely do we have the box for sale (if the game is traded with box we sell it with box). $35 is pretty high i agree, but its in line with most other stores (gamestop is $39.99). iF you could show me a store that sells games for alot less than us i would be suprised. And having a commercial on local TV doesnt really mean that much.

Which location? O-fallon? thats the one I visit. They could do color copies of the boxes and put those in plastic rental cases... or something. It just makes me cry seeing ALL those great boxes sitting there. Last time I went there was a PRISTINE Fire Dogs box there, it was just amazing.

[youruglyclone]

yeah definitely a sad thing, especially since multimedia one in nyc is closing down but a hidden stash-ish place that I go to is expanding so hopefully it'll balance out...

must go to mm1 before the end of the year

Promophile what's the image for your avatar? european box to EB?

[Promophile]

Weee I love talking about this thing since I payed out the ass for it! Payed 150 dollars for the MATERIALS and archivally (acid free matte and such) framed it, including UV resistant glass that filers 99 percent of UV rays. It's the store poster for EB. These things are hella rare.

http://img112.exs.cx/img112/5751/j4hp1000495.jpg

[RCM]

yeah definitely a sad thing, especially since multimedia one in nyc is closing down but a hidden stash-ish place that I go to is expanding so hopefully it'll balance out...

must go to mm1 before the end of the year

I'm not sad at all that MM1 is on its way out. I would have been 5 years ago but not now. Me like um chinatown better

THE ONE, THE ONLY- RCM

[kainemaxwell]

Was it so rare you couldn't resize the pic?

[Promophile]

Was it so rare you couldn't resize the pic?

Yep! Which reminds me, time to take a pic of my latest rare Earthbound find.

[vincewy]

Here is MN, where funco started almost 20 years ago, we have very few local game stores. The big one that used to be in town moved to a smaller town, so our only option is the chain places. Sad.

Near MPLS/St. Paul areas, please check out

http://www.hiscoregames.com/

Everything from old Atari up to current systems/games, they can even ship games nationwide, Stillwater store has most stock, my old buddy Paul now manages Maple Wood store, but it's very small.

In the past, there used to be a specialty store called Games To Go in Richfield, but the problem is the owner is real dickhead, who doesn't know what to buy and what to sell, if the manager(s) buys too many classic stuff, he got yelled at, you can tell that the store couldn't last foever like this.

[sirgeoph]

The reason the locals go out of business is primarily because they are run by people who don't understand how to run a business. I've seen tremendously successful local stores run by people who know how to hire an accountant, and failing local stores run by dudes who like to play videogames.

As far as ebay pricing is concerned: I *wish* the local stores would charge ebay pricing. 90% of games (even for modern systems) are cheaper on ebay than locally; it's only the 10% that make up the rare titles which can be expensive to buy.

agreed. the company i work for (gametrader) bought a guy who had a business in mississippi (gametraders) simply because he was unorganized, priced everything for like 7 bucks, and, well, his name was too close to ours. :)

we actually factor ebay prices into our retail prices, but we also throw in eb and gamestops prices, as well as the number of copies in each store, as well as the average shelf life of the game. the guy who does our pricing has this convoluted formula that factors all of that in.

[dracula]

the only "local mom and pop" retailer that i ever go to is gamedude in hollywood, and that is only if i ever need to check on his aes or saturn or turbografx collection.

I can trade for all the old school junk, or just snipe the lots on ebay.

thrift shops, yard sales, and craigslist.com are all decent sources for old school games as well. a lot of times people just want to get rid of it all(cheap) bc they are moving, or whatever.

My take is: support the local mom and pop stores when they are actually good stores(knowledgable staff, clean items, good selection and yes, competetive prices) if the local store cant do this, they deserve to go out of business, good riddance.

As for not being able to find deals, BULLOCKS i say.

Go to cheapassgamer.com for deals on next gen games, and then after you beat said game, sell it on ebay and buy the old school game you really want.

Or check ebgames.com: they periodically get good old school games, even the rares like pirates gold(genny) and have kickass prices on NES games(megaman 1 is $6, so is contra, when they are in stock) and use the coupon code clscbogo to get buy one get one on old school games.

You guys talking about how bad ebgames and gamestop are can cry me a river. I admit i almost never go to gamestop(unless they are running buy 2 get one free) and ebgames can be a good store. My current fave store is gamerush, they are a new store and essentially giving away the games free(they sold me prince of persia the warrior within, all 3 systems for $20 new apiece, kotor 2 was $20 after coupon, and any used game is $10 if you trade in 3 crusty old psone games...)

You guys who say the big stores dont have what you want for old school just dont know how to shop.

[shai hulud]

Today I went to visit one of my local-owned game shops here in Albuquerque. This particular store is probably my least favorite of the local ones, but they were having a 50-cent blowout sale on Genesis carts so I thought I'd check it out.

Pulling in to the strip mall I was surprised to see that construction had recently begun on yet another EB Games (last year we had six Gamestops in town all open up literally overnight. EB has been playing catch-up ever since). This store was actually a stand-alone, which suggests a pretty heavy corporate investment. Right away I thought this could not be good for the locally-owned store I was about to visit.

So I bought about a dozen or so Genny games and as I was getting rung up I remarked to the owner that he couldn't be terribly happy about the EB being built pretty much in his own parking lot. Suffice to say he was not pleased, and seemed pretty resigned to the idea that he was probably going to be out of business in a matter of months. To make matters worse, he explained how, upon hearing rumors that this was going to happen, the strip mall owners utterly denied there were any plans for an EB...and then quietly nullified the non-competitor clause in his lease shortly before breaking ground for the EB. This, after ten years at the same location.

Well I drove away from the store more pissed: in general, at the ruthlessness of the free market system and in particular at EB Games. Even though, this store, as I said, is my least favorite of the local ones, it will still suck to lose them. And I can't help but wonder how long it will be until EB or Gamestop buy a “strategic location” near my other two local shops and start squeezing them out as well.

My point, as in the title of my thread, is that we retrogamers have got to support local stores whenever we can.

I think perhaps the biggest reason to shop local is variety – Local stores may specialize in one thing over another, but that's what makes them all worth visiting. This store I mentioned that's about to tank, for example, has the biggest selection of Dreamcast stuff in town, including a ton of imports. Can you even buy imports at EB? Even if you could, I can't imagine they come at a reasonable rate. Also, local stores may branch out into other specialty collectibles such as sports cards, anime or comics or whatever. They give you the chance to fill all your geek needs in one stop.If you're a primarily a cartridge game collector (like me) you know that local shops and thrifts are your only local opportunities for games. Yes I know EB and Gamestop carry some cartridge games still, but good luck finding something rare, let alone pre-NES.

Perhaps this rant has already been done in another thread, by someone more articulate than I, but I really felt I had to implore you all again to please support your local shops. Shop local first, Web 2nd. . Then and only then go line the coffers of these homogenous game dealers.

I agree but our local game store is just AWFUL! Overpriced as hell, and crappy to boot. For example, They had a copy of Earthbound with the box and Strategy Guide for 35 dollars. I go up to the counter and ask for it. I hand them the money and they hand me the cart. I ask for the guide or the box, and they say "not many people bring boxes, so we don't give them out, and you have to buy the guide seperate". What a crock. BTW the stores called Slackers, and they actually have a few stores in IL. and Mis. and have TV commericals, so they're doing pretty well.

On the other hand When I visited my friend up in Chicago, we went to one of his local game stores, called Replay. Man was it awesome, they even had pre-atari systems/games, and NES/Gene/SNES demo units set up for play.


i actually work at one of these stores. we have boxes for all our available SNES games on the floor, but very rarely do we have the box for sale (if the game is traded with box we sell it with box). $35 is pretty high i agree, but its in line with most other stores (gamestop is $39.99). iF you could show me a store that sells games for alot less than us i would be suprised. And having a commercial on local TV doesnt really mean that much.

Which location? O-fallon? thats the one I visit. They could do color copies of the boxes and put those in plastic rental cases... or something. It just makes me cry seeing ALL those great boxes sitting there. Last time I went there was a PRISTINE Fire Dogs box there, it was just amazing.


we do that for the games we dont have boxes for usually. if we did this for all games only the first person to buy the game would get the case. I wish everyone kept the box and manuals but this just doesnt happen so we are forced to sell alot of stuff "loose.

I work at the Edwardsville/Glen Carbon store actually. If you come into my store when i am working and buy some Snes/NES/GEN thats more expensive i usually cut you a break and give you a $5 coupon to use on the spot or we always have the buy 3 get 1 free on all used items CDs, DVDS, and Games. ok this concludes my sales pitch for the day.

[MarkM2112]

Here is MN, where funco started almost 20 years ago, we have very few local game stores. The big one that used to be in town moved to a smaller town, so our only option is the chain places. Sad.

Near MPLS/St. Paul areas, please check out

http://www.hiscoregames.com/

Everything from old Atari up to current systems/games, they can even ship games nationwide, Stillwater store has most stock, my old buddy Paul now manages Maple Wood store, but it's very small.

In the past, there used to be a specialty store called Games To Go in Richfield, but the problem is the owner is real dickhead, who doesn't know what to buy and what to sell, if the manager(s) buys too many classic stuff, he got yelled at, you can tell that the store couldn't last foever like this.

I was in the M/SP area about 2 years ago, and there was a game store just south of the Maplewood Mall on White Bear Rd. I don't remember what it was called, (Possibly "The Toy Store"?) but It looked like it was converted from a muffler shop or something... I think there was a Burger King right there too... I was wondering if that store is still there?