No more game stores?

[VideoGameCritic]

The other day I was visiting a brand new shopping center, and as usual I instinctively look for a video game store.  They don't seem to exist any more, and it's sad.  In the 90's there was EB Games, Babbages, Video Game Exchange, and Funcoland just to name a few.  

Then in the 2000's GameStop gobbled them all up, practically cornering the market on used games.  Now your brick-and-mortar options seem to be limited to GameStop (usually a mess) and Best Buy (good but limited selection).  I don't like Target or Walmart because the games are in the cabinet and you need to get the guy with the key.  I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather shop elsewhere.

I find myself turning more and more to Amazon, but it's not the same.  And despite the fact that video games seem popular as ever, fewer stores seem to be carrying them.

Comments?

[darkrage61]

I too miss the days of Electronics Boutique and GameCrazy, but I enjoy Gamestop nonetheless, it's good to have a place where you can trade in games for store credit towards new games(or you can get back cash instead) The stores near me usually have everything organized pretty well and the employees are always friendly and willing to help out. Though i'll admit I do tend to buy games from Amazon a lot more often then I have in the past, mostly for the convenience. 

[Edward1]

Gamestop is a terrible store, that I haven't shopped at regularly in years.  They may have a monopoly on national game stores chains, but they have no monopoly online.   Gamestop will sell you a used game as new.  Or if you're lucky they will admit it is actually a used game, and give you a 10 percent or less discount.  That, and the employees there will get fired if they don't sell enough preorders or discount card memberships.  That means anytime you buy something there, the employees harass you, and seem angry if you don't preorder a game that I'm sure they don't actually care about.  I honestly don't know how Gamestop became popular.  I preferred the good old days when we had all the game stores you mentions.


Do you have any local game store chains in your area?   We have a used game store chain here in central Illinois called Disc Replay.  Its pretty awesome.   The games are all reasonably priced.   Their game selection goes all the way back to NES.  (I dont think they have Atari or intellivision unfortunately)  However best of all, when you buy a game, the guys at the register dont try to sell you crap you don't want, and are far more pleasant.  With this game store, I honestly don't know how Gamestop's survive in my area, but they do.  So my best advice, is look for local chains.  They tend to be far better.

[Pacman0001]

Hastings carries games.  Some are in a case; others aren't.  I do wish more stores carried games though.

[ZetaX1]

I agree, there are fewer brick-and-morter options out there.  The Gamestop/Electronics Boutique/Funcoland/Babbages consolidation of the last 10 or 12 years got rid of a lot of competition.  Another local (or maybe regional) chain - Play-N-Trade - seems to have shut-down every store around the Charlotte area, which sucks, because they were the only place to get stuff older than Xbox/PS2/Gamecube.  If I want to pick-up a SNES or Dreamcast game now, I've got to get freakishly lucky at Goodwill, or try my luck on eBay. 

Hell, I even miss Circuit City...never thought I'd say that.

- Mark

[Den1]

I dunno, I live in Columbus and every mall and shopping center I can think of has a game store in it.  We also have many local used stores.  The one I go to has everything from 2600 games to brand-new stuff.

Now, I'm old enough to remember when every mall had an arcade... THAT'S what I miss...

[Burk1]

We have several local stores in the Lansing MI area,but several gamestops also. The local stores beat their prices every time,and carry vintage games too. I have not bought a game from gamestop in many years.They give squat for trade in value,and overprice the good games. I still get my best deals from thrift stores and garage sales. Just got Mario kart double dash:Special edition for gamecube for $3 at a garage sale. Half the fun of collecting for me is finding a 20-30 dollar game for under 5 bucks. That rarely happens in a retail store. And I HATE having to get some guy with a key so I can see the screenshots on the back of a case. Support small businesses and save a few bucks in the process. If you have any collages near you, I guarnty that there is a local used game store near by.