Retro Vidya Stores

>>3509575
Fort myers here. The store i go to has genesis stuff for a decent price and he sells Jap import game buy one get one free
8 bit hall of fame

I've seen 3 separate Play n' Trades (That is literally the only chain that sells retro games anymore around here) get eaten by Gamestop. And now I just feel sad.

>>3510154

where is "around here" anon?

Also, does anyone know of anywhere with decent inventory and prices in Toronto? I'll be there in a few hours.

>>3509575
Houstonian here. Game Over is the big chain in these parts. Pretty standard affair. Over priced games, pushing retrons on people who don't know any better, etc. Prices on accessories are pretty good though.

Occasionally drive the hour to Alvin to go to the Game and Skate there because the people running it are total bros.

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>>3509575
Last year I took a bunch of the stuff I'd had in boxes in my closet to a local store and got over $500 for the lot of it. Probably ended up getting sold for twice that, but I couldn't be bothered doing it so I was happy.

>TFW you live in Hawaii
>Only way to find retro games is to scrounge Goodwill CDs for PS1 games.

>>3509575
yo i used to live in Buffalo, and oogie games is shady as fuck. there used to be another used video game store run by this really fat dude who is now dead. his shop was on elmwood down a few blocks from the wendys near one of those fast check places. oogie games tried to smear the guy because he cut deep into their business with better prices and actual passion for video games. dude used to not check his prices online and gave epople sick deals if they showed enough interest in a game. oogie accused him of being a pedophile and always spread misinformation to their customers to not go near his store. dude tried to move to a bigger venue down in lockport to offset his gigantic amount of merchandise. oogie had more money and rented the place out before he could, so now there is an oogie games in lockport.

basically, fuck oogie games. don't give them any business, they don't deserve it. i went into the oogie on sheridan trying to look for a castlevania game. dude at the counter told me the game sucked and basically tried to convince me not to search for it. fuck that guy.

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New York City here, Staten Island specifically. In every borough and in Jersey we have this chain store Game Champ. They sell video games from retro to modern, but their prices range from moderate to ebait. The one near me closed down, so the only one left in my borough is very far and small. They opened up another one just for trading card games though. For shame.

Brooklyn is the winner in my book. They have Brooklyn Video Games which is okay, they recently upgraded from a corner booth in a photo store to a full walk-in store which is nice, but it's a little disorganized and usually runs just under ebay prices. Usually has decent stock though. There's also Gotham City Games, which is probably the best "local" game store. Super chill dudes with some really solid prices. Also offers mods, disc resurfacing, and repairs which is really helpful.

I stopped by a retro game store in PA right on the edge of Philly, if anyone really wants the name I can find it. Probably my favorite game store. It has some interesting stock, tons of games (Except for Saturn which is what I went for) and neat accessories - even some imports. Didn't get to look at everything, but prices seemed fair. But what it lacked in stock it made up for in atmosphere. The store windows are filled with PVMs and CRTs running games. You walk in and to your immediate left is an Afterburner stand up cabinet (Which doesn't work). The entire back is an arcade. I saw The Simpsons, Hogan's Alley/DH, Gauntlet, Centipede, and a ton of others I don't recall. Could've spent hours there, but I was on my way home from vacation and didn't wanna take too long.

My dad who works in Manhattan says there are a few game stores he sees there. He said one of them was good, but it looks to me like any and all other stores are overpriced mario zelda ebay scammers.

>Live in NYC, one of the biggest cities ever
>Barely any game stores, let alone good ones
>Goodwills aren't very popular at all here

Fuck you West Coast.

There is an amazing store called World 1-1 Games in Santa Maria, CA. Guy has an insanely huge collection, is really passionate about games/knows his stuff, and isn't as over-priced as most retro game stores that i've been to. Used to be better though, the store was in a really creepy location that looked like it could have been a house wedged between two buildings (the town is also sketchy and mexican as fuck), they recently moved to the town mall but I haven't been there. It was fun because you felt like you were going to some meth house or something but then the walls were FILLED with such a massive collection. Tons of old consoles in original packaging, lots of stuff i'd never seen in person before, and they even have an NES TV.

>>3510801

i hear you pham. i don't really go to oogie unless i've exhausted most other options. too bad to hear about that guy.

the only resellers i've dealt with in the area are reggie (mckinnely mall, what's in your attic at eastern hills mall), eddie (mebs games, antique world), donny (antique world) and krystian (niagara emporium). all ebay priced, all say thing get cheaper as you buy more and then never lower prices. do you know of anyone else in the area who's a little easier to work with?

Frequent the Exchange in indianapolis, and really, theyre the only retro store besides a junk shop that also happens to have nes games in beech grove.
Prices are pretty much ebay-tier, but i used to work down the strip from one of their lications and give the employees free drinks and stuff so i usually get a discount on stuff.
Pretty standard setup, they sell modern and retro, plus other nerd shit.

There's this joint called GameCycle in Springfield OH that usually has some sweet deals going on. You never know what treasure you might turn up. They've got an arcade in their too with a tonne of classics, some pinball machines, and a MVS cabinet.

>>3512006

i've been to the exchange in Erie, PA before. it's pretty much like you said. prices are pretty much ebay, but they do lower prices based on condition and the selection is pretty amazing. if you need something, chances are good it's there, you just need to be willing to pay for it.

I live in Waukesha, Wisconsin. There's two resale shops that deal with retro vidya. One just downtown is decent, I've gotten my Mega Man 1-3 there.
The issue with that one is he checks eBay for pricing, but luckily if you haggle a bit he'll lower the price. (Retro stuff rarely sells, he says)
The other store is a mixed bag, he gets lots of junk carts, but every once in a while he'll churn out something good, I got Castlevania III and Duck Tales from him for $10 each.

Other than those we have Mega Media Xchange, a small chain of preowned Video game shops. I used to go there for good deals but they've soured things after new management came through. Now they'll easily charge $50 for ALTTP or OoT.

They've once turned down my Sega Gen2/CD because it didn't have some clip to anchor the Genesis to the CD. To demonstrate, the guy behind the counter proceeded to lift my Genesis, just the Genesis unit while still attached to the CD, and just fucking drop it. Like, 6 times. I nearly kicked that guy's ass for that. It also bothers me that they openly and actively try to get people to buy their shitty Retron units.
Needless to say, I'm never going back there.

>>3509575
>single mom and pop store in town run by Asian ex-military pilot
>fair prices, always below ebay
>been going there for half a decade, always chat with the guy and we became friends over the years
>he actually plays games, I've yet to mention some obscure title I'm looking for that he hasn't played or heard of
>will hold uncommon games he thinks I might be interested in before putting them out on the floor

He's a great guy. Always makes fun of my favorite planes in Ace Combat games. Has a shut-in weeb daughter who paints amazing anime shit for their signage. I'll have to take a picture sometime. Overall great store.

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World 8 in Los Angeles

It's good, I mostly emu but had a project where I needed to buy some retro consoles for an E3 display.

They use a XBOX as a door stop

>>3512791

That sounds comfy as hell, I wish we had something like that around here. We have this place called Computer Wiz that is absurdly overpriced. Like, I think they search a game on eBay and find the highest price listing and that becomes their price. But it's the only retro game stop within 2 hours of here, so oh well.

My stories actually come from my flea market exploits, all in Tennessee on vacation with family in years past

>find a guy selling N64 stuff, don't have an N64
>"console is $30 and you get a game for free! Take your pick!"
>is he serious
>pokemon stadium is there
>get stadium and N64 for 30 dollars

another
>some skinny hipster looked like he was in his ,mid 20s selling comics and stuff, I was 20 at the time myself
>see donkey kong country, i don't have a physical copy
>he wants 10 bucks for it
>sure

one more
>same trip as N64+stadium
>find a stand with a bunch of kids that literally look to be 16-18
>see banjo kazooie, how nice that would go with my fresh N64
>how much dude
>"ahhhh man is $10 okay?"
>hell yes it's okay

Flea markets are awesome because people rarely know what they have

>>3512828
You know it "triggers" me when people complain about prices above ebay. If you want super cheap prices you have to put up with super high prices too.

People just make prices up. If everyone knew the price there would just be one price and you'd never get a deal.

>>3512929

under no circumstance should a used super metroid be $90

Comin' from Green Bay, we actually have quite a few game stores in my area, surprisingly. But there is this one in particular on the outskirts of De Pere (Next to Green Bay) which is outstanding. Its this small looking hole in the wall shop, but it has the largest inventory of a game store I have ever seen. It's called Game Trade, and its owned by one guy named Gregg. He's really nice, and he doesn't fuck you over on the prices either. All of his prices are a regular $5, $8, $10, $15, etc. He also has some rare stuff as well. Like he has a copy of Wild Guns CIB, Spiderman web of fire CIB, and a fucking JVC X'eye CIB (For those who dont know, those are extremely valuable items in the gaming world). And when you trade in stuff, he doesn't fuck you over on the price. He gives you a decent and fair amount for your games, and you feel like you got the right price for it. Because of this, I do all my trades and selling there now. Fantastic Store.

>>3511951
unfortunately no, (just remembered the guy's name was Dave) after he died oogie pretty much become the only retro store left in the area. i just stopped buying locally and went to ebay since it's the same price anyway and then i don't support those fucks

god damn shame. Dave had a sealed box copy of Chrono Trigger that he was gonna part with for only $250, but while i was waiting for enough funds, he died. No idea what happened to all of his merch. I really hope oogie didn't end up buying it and it now selling all his stuff for higher prices.

>>3513050

really sorry to hear that. i know at least one of the oogie locations used to be Game Craze, but they downsized a ton and only have a couple places in rochester now.

Buffalo also has Gamerz Haven. i've never stopped in, but from what i've been told, the owner assumes anyone buying anything that isn't shovelware is reseller scum and either jacks up prices on the spot or just flat out won't sell to them.

when i get more cash i'm gonna venture out to rochester, erie, cleveland, etc. and try my luck out there.

>>3509575

also to elaborate on oogie being hit or miss... a dude i know found the Turok Rage Wars grey cart varient mixed in with the shovelware out on the shelves for $6 (at the time, average ebay price was $200ish). At the same time, they currently have a black label FFVII behind glass for duble ebay price ($35). so yeah, every once in awhile they'll fuck up, but mostly it's straight ebay prices or more.

Lansing Michigan.

Im not sure if Disc Traders is big anywhere else but they have a huge dvd collection, fair prices for retro games and modern games. What sucks is that all the must haves are usually gone. Been building my genesis collection and I only got Toejam and Earl because they got it literally 20 minutes prior in a shipment. So all the Hyperstone Heists, Castlevania Bloodlines and Contra Hard Cores are still exclusively on Amazon for me.

There is also a store called Game Hits down the street from Disc Traders. The people who work there are complete assholes but they got a decent collection.

I can tell you what though with all these other gaming stores im staying the fuck away from Gamespot. I know a lot of other gamers would feel the same way if they had other options

>gamespot sells Nintendo brand GB controllers for 30 bucks
>got one at Disc Traders for 15

Retro Games Plus in Orange Connecticut there used to be one in westport but i think they moved to Norwalk, everything is reasonably priced and the staff is great usually have a good selection and variety of items for all consoles and some 3rd party stuff too sometimes. never disappointed when i go

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>Read thread
>Legit stories

Fuck. I remember reading a long time ago about some dude checking out this newly opened vidya store that sold tons of old/new shit. When he checked out the place all was quiet until he peeked behind the backroom and found the owners sucking each other off.

I laughed.

>>3509603
is there anything decent for retro games in Florida or is it all shit for the most part?