What's your best retro game store experience?
Im 28 years old but I remember when I was around 12 years old I believe me and my family use to go to New Orleans on a Sunday to visit my sister who was in college. There was this mall we use to go to that had a retro game store unfortunately I can't remember the name of it. Every time I went there It use to always have a good size crowd all day. Im not completely sure about this but I think this was also around ps2 and Xbox Era, just felt like I had to point that out. The store had nes, super Nintendo, sega genesis, master system, game boy, n64 anything you can think of they had it. They also had a huge selection of games that you can buy for each system.
The one thing I use to like the most is the store would let you play games for any console, sometimes it use to be hard to even play cause they always had someone else playing. It use to feel like almost a little party, how me and a random group of people use to play a little fighting, racing game or whatever taking turns and talking noise like we all knew each other, having a good time. The store also had all the Nintendo power magazines that you can look at and buy, they had the very first issue that I wanted to buy but didn't get the chance to. Top of that you could've also call it a trading card store. This was when we first gotten pokemon cards in America so they had displayed all the rare cards including Magic, they even had Digimon cards.
I think I use to spend the whole time in that store while my family was doing their thing in the mall. Like I said I'm 28 right now and I went back to New Orleans and that mall about a year or two to see if that store was still there which it wasn't. I should've known that it probably wouldn't be there after all these years, maybe hurricane Katrina had affected it I don't know. Ultimately it was really disappointing that it's no longer there, I use to love that store. That same mall actually does have a retro game store now but it's nothing compared to what I was talking about. I don't think I will ever find another retro game store like it and will always have the memories and never forget them.
The one thing I use to like the most is the store would let you play games for any console, sometimes it use to be hard to even play cause they always had someone else playing. It use to feel like almost a little party, how me and a random group of people use to play a little fighting, racing game or whatever taking turns and talking noise like we all knew each other, having a good time. The store also had all the Nintendo power magazines that you can look at and buy, they had the very first issue that I wanted to buy but didn't get the chance to. Top of that you could've also call it a trading card store. This was when we first gotten pokemon cards in America so they had displayed all the rare cards including Magic, they even had Digimon cards.
I think I use to spend the whole time in that store while my family was doing their thing in the mall. Like I said I'm 28 right now and I went back to New Orleans and that mall about a year or two to see if that store was still there which it wasn't. I should've known that it probably wouldn't be there after all these years, maybe hurricane Katrina had affected it I don't know. Ultimately it was really disappointing that it's no longer there, I use to love that store. That same mall actually does have a retro game store now but it's nothing compared to what I was talking about. I don't think I will ever find another retro game store like it and will always have the memories and never forget them.
Comments
I got a good chunk of the retro games I owned as a kid from them. They always had good prices and it was fun trying to see what new stuff they got in every couple of days. I never got anything exceedingly rare from them, but I got most of the "must haves" for the NES and SNES from 'em. They used to have two locations, but they closed the one by the university years ago. As far as I know, though, they're still open and going strong at their other location.
My favorite memories are of a place called Ralph's Records in Lubbock, TX. They are a combination of a record/CD/DVD/game store, and they sold anything in that realm they could get their hands on. All of the associates were very nice, and even when I go back most of them are still working there. They all still recognize me when I walk in, too.
I got a good chunk of the retro games I owned as a kid from them. They always had good prices and it was fun trying to see what new stuff they got in every couple of days. I never got anything exceedingly rare from them, but I got most of the "must haves" for the NES and SNES from 'em. They used to have two locations, but they closed the one by the university years ago. As far as I know, though, they're still open and going strong at their other location.
Sounds cool I hate how a lot of retro game stores close down
I used to go to a Funcoland by my house years ago before it was consumed by Gamestop. Even in the early to mid 90s I felt like they had everything and they had systems out that you could play and they'd let you try any game in the store whenever you want. But there was one time I went in to Funcoland to buy some N64 games after I got the system (with no games) a few months ago, and 2 employees there were about to ring me up and basically tried to bully me into selling it and get a Playstation. I was 14 and still naive so I almost took them at their word, but their excuse was that Nintendo "already stopped" making N64 games and was going out of business. This was summer of 1997, not even a year after N64 launched. Final Fantasy VII had just come out and it was the most critically acclaimed game at that moment, but I had no idea what it even was. They tried to push FF7 and PS1 on me but eventually I said no and bought Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64. I got more enjoyment out of those 2 games than I got out of PS1's entire library. So glad I made that right choice for me.
I heard of funcoland but never been to one, I think you did made the right choice of going with the n64. Super Mario 64 and Mario kart are still one of my top games today
I used to go to a Funcoland by my house years ago before it was consumed by Gamestop. Even in the early to mid 90s I felt like they had everything and they had systems out that you could play and they'd let you try any game in the store whenever you want. But there was one time I went in to Funcoland to buy some N64 games after I got the system (with no games) a few months ago, and 2 employees there were about to ring me up and basically tried to bully me into selling it and get a Playstation. I was 14 and still naive so I almost took them at their word, but their excuse was that Nintendo "already stopped" making N64 games and was going out of business. This was summer of 1997, not even a year after N64 launched. Final Fantasy VII had just come out and it was the most critically acclaimed game at that moment, but I had no idea what it even was. They tried to push FF7 and PS1 on me but eventually I said no and bought Super Mario 64 and Mario Kart 64. I got more enjoyment out of those 2 games than I got out of PS1's entire library. So glad I made that right choice for me.
I heard of funcoland but never been to one, I think you did made the right choice of going with the n64. Super Mario 64 and Mario kart are still one of my top games today
Yeah I agree. I'm really glad I stuck with the N64. The face of my gaming preferences could've been completely reshaped had I gone with the PS1. I just look back at that moment and laugh because of how wrong those guys were. Last year I went to a Play N Trade and the guy there told me Majora's Mask HD was coming to Wii U, which I didn't believe but seeing as it's definitely not coming that guy was full of dog poo.