Videogame Shops

[J4MES OX4D 10,057]

I do really miss going into shops to buy games - cannot beat unwrapping a new title and that fresh new game smell! Also loved impulse purchasing and getting some good pre-owned deals over the years. Not many gaming shops left these days and the ones that remain like GAME are not cheap and they don't offer anything unique anymore. Here's some of my personal highlights of brands I used to use from the mid-to-late 90's until around 2012. 

 

Electronics Boutique - first exclusive one I remember and picked up Super Mario 64 pre-owned for £35 which was a steal at the time.

 

Toys R Us - this was my local store and it served me well through the Gameboy, N64 and Dreamcast era. Also the game slips were just such a glorious shopping concept - cannot beat taking that ticket to the till and then collecting the sealed game from the desk. So oddly satisfying.

 

HMV - not my typical videogame shop but still a good all-round electronic entertainment store. Sometimes they'd accidentally get in some great stock or sell way under the expected price particularly on PC games around the early 2000's. 

 

Comet - once sold me ISS Pro Evolution Soccer 2 but charged me for the original instead so I saved £20 on a new game just released. They will go down in some weird hall of fame just for that!

 

Dixons - they always did a nice range of electronics but really neglected their gaming space and were very middle of the road. 

 

GAME - pretty much the most established on the high street at the last one standing. This was a fantastic brand from the early 2000's until around 2013 but digital gaming has really put the final nail in the coffin and it is quite surprising the company is still going. Many locations have shut down though and a few have even merged into concessions of other stores to reduce overheads but maintain a presence. There's only one left in my City which operates within a Sports Direct store on a shitty retail park on the outskirts. In its prime there was one in our major Town shopping centre and another sitting within a flagship Debenhams Store. Both were excellent and offered everything gamers wanted. Pre-owned was a big focus back then too. I last visited GAME in Bournemouth this year where it was hidden within a shopping arcade on its last legs along with Sports Direct and HMV and there was not one thing worth buying as it could all be got cheaper or online. Really struggle to see any future viability within the company.

 

 

What stores did you used to shop at back in the day before digital took over completely? Also be interesting to hear from people outside of the UK. 

[Luseth 1,978]

This is a disappointing post James, all the effort and thought gone into it and then missed out gamestation 😄

 

I only ever visited game / gamestation, these day's I enjoy my local retro stores and the nearby HMV has completely changed in that they have gone down the route of more pop culture, they have some arcade machines, vinyl and the such and I was mesmerised when I first went in the other week (sadly not enough spare cash to buy everything though).

[IRaMPaGe 3,258]

Yeah I agree with Luseth, you forgot Gamestation. 

 

You covered all the old classic places, totally agree the likes of Curry's, Dixons and Comet etc were all average and their range and choice was never that good. 

 

Index and Argos were just weird to buy games. 

 

Old EB was the best. Oh and you forgot Blockbusters as well @J4MES OX4D .

 

Edit, It's funny our last Game is within a Sports Direct as well.  🙃

[phil bottle 9,822]

There used to be a small chain of music shops back in the day that I'd buy C64 cassettes from, Hollywood Nites I think they were called 😁

 

Boots the Chemist used to sell N64 games in their bigger stores.

[J4MES OX4D 10,057]

24 minutes ago, Luseth said:

This is a disappointing post James, all the effort and thought gone into it and then missed out gamestation 😄

 

I only ever visited game / gamestation, these day's I enjoy my local retro stores and the nearby HMV has completely changed in that they have gone down the route of more pop culture, they have some arcade machines, vinyl and the such and I was mesmerised when I first went in the other week (sadly not enough spare cash to buy everything though).

I did think about putting Gamestation but it arrived late in my city and when it did, it was 2 doors away from GAME yet they were both owned by the same company😂 Here is the one and only pic of our one. Did buy some things from there around 2005ish and it did have a bumper selection but it was just weird with it being so close to GAME and less vibrant inside. 

 

20 minutes ago, IRaMPaGe said:

Old EB was the best. Oh and you forgot Blockbusters as well @J4MES OX4D .

I loved Blockbusters but didn't buy much in the way of games there because it was a bit risky - a couple of times I got burned with discs that didn't work properly and it was a nightmare to convince the staff that I wasn't pulling a fast one. Most of the 'second' hand games had probably gone through 10+ users before they went on sale for a pre-owned rate you could've got elsewhere at a similar price. They were godly for VHS and DVD's though! 

[Luseth 1,978]

This one was my local one based in merry hill. I loved these stores and was the first place I bought a Final Fantasy game (despite it's recent issues / flaws it's still my favourite series to date)

 

 

It is a shame the way stores have gone, online buying has almost completely taken over but there's a charm to some of these places.

 

My favourite store currently was actually recently reviewed by thegebs youtube woman -

 

Vintage Gamer

[Riff Machine 2,108]

The only game shops we have left here are EB/Game Stop.  I remember there use to be one place in my hometown that had a lot of really awesome stuff.  We use to be able to rent Japanese systems from there, as well as some really exclusive box sets of certain games.  I got a sweet MGS bundle when that first came out. 

[GazzaGarratt 11,066]

Hopefully we'll have a resurgence at some point - probably more like classic niche boutique shops is the way to go bearing in mind the huge spotlight that the environment has on it right now.

 

Game used to be my main growing up until Gamestation hit the street and would sell used old games for all the consoles. Its how I started my huge collection of games for all different consoles. Went up every Monday night, took a few of my mates on payday, and said find a few games for all of us and i'd buy them all so we could come back to mine and play on multiple screens and different consoles. It was brilliant, especially because most old games would be like £1 or £2 to buy. Part of me slightly dies when Game were allowed to buy them out. I think the competition regulator in the market should've vetoed the deal imo 😅

 

Regardless of the shop though, I do miss days to the shops where you could just go in and take your time browsing game cases of all consoles. Sometimes you'd find gems that you probably wouldn't find searching on the internet. Equally the second hand market should be a thriving market now considering how stupidly expensive Digital games are and no resell prices.

[J4MES OX4D 10,057]

22 hours ago, Luseth said:

This is a disappointing post James, all the effort and thought gone into it and then missed out gamestation 😄

I also completely forgot that my Gamestation back in the mid-2000's used to also sell some rare stuff in its cabinets - not sure where it was sourced from and I can't remember if it was all pre-owned or new stuff but there was some games and collectables that you just would not see anywhere at retail even at their main company GAME. Not sure if this was at every branch but it was certainly an eye opener away from the run of the mill usual stock.