Anyone know of any really good stores in Houston that carry LOTS of classic video games? I'm going there for a wedding and am hoping to squeeze some fun out of the trip.
Classic Game Stores in Houston
Anyone know of any really good stores in Houston that carry LOTS of classic video games? I'm going there for a wedding and am hoping to squeeze some fun out of the trip.
There's been several threads on this over the years and the answer has always been no. It's a total wasteland for classic games (unless something has opened recently).
Seriously, classic gaming there is the scraps you can find at a pawn shop, or maybe Half Price Books. Other than that it's all GameStop/etc, etc.
It depends on how you go to Houston. If you go down I-35 and then cut across, you could go to Waco. There's a place in the town's mall called FX Game Exchange that's a retro store (I picked up my Odyssey2 Killer Bees there!) and there's another location a little farther southeast in the Bryan/College Station area. And there's a couple retro type game stores in Austin. It's a bit out of the way to go to Austin, though. At least you could go to Waco and then cut across through Bryan and College Station to get to Houston. And then there's a few Play N' Trades in Houston and one in Austin, too.
FX Game Exchange has some pretty good classic stuff sometimes. The best stores to find classic stuff though is at the their Waco and College Station stores. Check the link below for all of the their locations.
http://www.fxvideogameexchange.com/F...20LOCATOR.html
If you happen to find any classic game stores in Houston please post it here.
Houston used to have some really good classic game stores, and some really good import game stores too, but they all closed ages ago for some reason... seems to be the same situation in the DFW area also, as far as I can tell... I dunno what it is about Texas, but the whole state is a wasteland for gaming!
Well, as far as the Dallas area goes, we seem to be getting more and more stores that sell older games. The Movie Trading Company was bought out by Vintage Stock and now sells Atari and onward (the one in Ft. Worth seems to have more Intellivision games than all the other locations combined). CGX stores have been spreading slowly, with four locations from Irving on up to Frisco. A couple fairly new GameXchange stores have opened up, one in Irving and one up in Lewisville/Flower Mound, there was another little indie store in Lewisville that seems to be moving away from games and more toward tabletop games. And I just came back from a place in Grapevine Mills Mall called 3D Games where I bought an Arcadia Supercharger and Crypts of Chaos for the Atari 2600. And there's an FX Game Exchange in McKinney, a Game Haven in Mesquite, and a Play N' Trade in Plano and Arlington. And the DFW locations of Entertainmart are starting to sell retro games.
It seems like the situation here is getting better. I don't think it's improving in Houston, though. Which is why Houstonite retro gamers need to pool resources and open their own store! Maybe get affiliated with a company like FX Game Exchange that's already into retro games.
Last edited by Steve W; 07-16-2009 at 10:46 PM. Reason: Added Game Haven
Thanks for the tip on the Irving GameXchange in Irving. I picked up a new-in-the-box Nights into Dreams with pack-in controller for the Saturn.Originally Posted by Steve W
The store is having a Madden tournament on Aug. 15th (972-252-8700 for info).
So, when are you going to Houston, and have you decided on a route? Because I'd like to hear your opinions if you end up going through Waco and Bryan/College Station. I've only been to the FX Game Xchange store in Waco, I'd like to know if the other ones are worth the trip the next time I decide to go through Houston.
My trip to Houston turned out to be a real time crunch, so I only had time to go to Half-Price Books. I didn't find any good games, but I got a set of Woody Allen movies for really cheap and a cool Batman encyclopedia.
Austin is the place to visit if you want to find classic game stores in Texas. 2 local chains there, with about 4 or 5 locations between the 2 of them.
Is there at least a little retro goodness at the couple Play N' Trade stores in Houston?
I'll probably be going through Houston at some point in the fall, driving my mom down to the Lake Charles, LA area to visit some of her high school friends. I'm wondering if it'll be worth the time (and nagging) to try and hit the Play N' Trades going through Houston. The problem is, the locations are a bit too far off my route for me to come away empty-handed. I don't suppose any of you guys have ever been to the one in Beaumont, either?
It seems that Play N' Trade stores come and go a little too much. The one in Lake Charles is gone, leaving the one in nearby Sulphur as the only one in the area. The location in Broussard, LA seems to be closed according to their website (I bought my Tax Avoiders cart there), but there's supposed to be another location nearby in Lafayette. It's a shame that these guys can't hang in there in the long run, while GameStop locations dot the landscape, sometimes only a quarter mile away from each other.
Are there no classic games at Third Planet or Nan's??
There never used to be. I don't know about now.
I keep wanting to swing by there and check out those two places again. I haven't been in a while. I would think Nan's seemed more grab baggish, so they might have some games occasionally.
I did some game hunting in Dallas over the weekend. The indie store in Lewisville is called Game Exchange and you're right, the place is heavy on the RPG/tabletop gaming side. They're a good bunch of guys though as they invited me out to check out the store after closing time since they had a game going that night.
I hit CGX in Irving and they left a lot to be desired. Small store and high prices. The CGX in north Dallas in Valley View Mall was a much better location. More stock, friendly staff and a nice looking store. Some of the prices were a bit high (especially for the Dreamcast titles) but some of the older games were more in line with what you'd expect to pay.
It was good to see a few mores stores carrying classic stuff.
A few miles north of Irving Mall is the Metroplex's only GameXchange location, on Belt Line Road and West Walnut Hill Rd. They have a little retro stuff, but not the stuff I'm looking for. I tend to look for pre-NES stuff lately, and they don't have any.
I stopped by the Play N' Trade in Montgomery, TX (north of Houston and west of Conroe) a couple weeks ago. They really didn't have all that much retro stuff. I was surprised that they had new replacement Atari 2600 power supplies (not branded as Atari, they were generic) but only three or four actual Atari games. Not much to talk about at that location, other than it's really nice location on the edge of a lake. The other location I stopped at was in Beaumont, TX and it was only slightly better, with a small but adequate selection of Genesis games being the main thing that stood out.
Nan's and Third Planet are comic book shops with a heavy focus on table top gaming and toys respectively.
I seriously doubt you'll find any video games there.
There are a couple of shops that opened up in West Houston, near Highway 6. They have a decent selection of new and old; plus dvds and cds. Their classic gaming is priced alright, unless it's a "popular" title. Expect Ebay pricing on those.
According to the crappy website for 3-D Games stores, there's supposed to be a location in Houston. There's a store in my area up in Grapevine, and it's pretty nice. I was wondering if any Houston people have tried it out. It looks to be around Almeda Mall, but not inside since it's not listed on their store directory.
"All-Star Video Games" is a great retrogaming and modern gaming shop that opened up in Alvin, TX, which is south of Houston but not too far.
They got a myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/455249946
I have yet to go there myself, but I talked to the owner on the phone once and he seemed pretty cool. Seems like the only place near Houston that's worth going to for classic games. They sell everything from Atari and up.
I can't seem to find their store on Google Maps. I did find a place called Player 1 Video Games that says it carries all sorts of retro systems and games.
It seems like any video game places in Houston are south of the city, which kinda sucks. When I go through town, I don't usually go that direction. I mostly bypass the town on it's north edge on my way to Louisiana.
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