Great post mate - it's true that in recent months Gamestation has gotten rather dry when it comes to retro games, although there's a branch in Southampton that has a fucking her-uge DC section. I recently picked up Mortal Kombat Gold, Tokyo Highway, Aerowings, NBA 2K2, Sydney 2000, Combat Zone, and Air Force Delta from there. I know it's a loooong way from Manchester, but there is still hope!! I supose it's now down to the very rare independant shops now...Also, sorry I didn't manage to catch up with you - my internet capabilities are limited at best and so I rarely check my emails. Hopefully I'll be able to post about my DC searching exploits in the next week tho...
Too right, there's nothing quite like finding some retro gems in a shop. For starters you don't have to pay postage cots =P
I can honestly say I haven't bought anything from Gamestation in a long time. The ones I visit in Southend, Balisdon and Candem rarely ever get any new retro stock. I recently opened Gamestation I saw in Canterbury when I was up there to see a mate had a huge retro section though, with almost 200 Dreamcast games! I ended up grabbing 6, including one particular gem I had been hunting for for ages: Rush 2049.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Anonymous said...
same thing happened at our Gamecrazy. Now they are finally out of Dreamcast games ( I bought the last three)
Dreamcast games are harder to find by the day here too (Quebec). "regular" game stores (EB & others) aren't a good source anymore, so you have the choice between taking a chance in a pawn shop or pay a lot in a specialty store (25$ for a used copy of Gran Theft Auto 2, yeah right...)
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Anonymous said...
"Great post mate - it's true that in recent months Gamestation has gotten rather dry when it comes to retro games"
Yeah, now it all depends on trade-ins, and since most good games have been snapped up by collectors, your only hope is to search the final frontier- Car Boot Sales.
The Gamestation in Hull took their retro stuff off the shelves recently. When I asked about Dreamcast games they said they had nothing interesting in their stockroom and weren't bothered about letting me know which games they had. A month later though and they'd all returned, plus they were BOGOFF at about £2.99 to £5. I snapped up a load, like Soul Calibur, MSR, Power-Stone, Phantasy Star Online V2. Same for Saturn - got Quake And Dukenukem £1.50 each. I went back in yesterday though and they've all gone again - A few years ago they took the retro off the shelves for the christmas season, so that might be it!
Thanks for the feedback Ashley, here's hoping its just a temporary blip...
Sunday, September 16, 2007
[Image] I've already posted about this over at the Saturn Junkyard, but I'm a little traumatised by recent events over at Gamestation. To cut a long story short, previously Retro friendly Gamestation, has been bought out by Blockbuster and the much blander Game... The high street stores are now owned by Game and the ones nestled in the back of Blockbuster video stores have been bought out by Blockbuster... Now, my local Gamestation was one in the back of a Blockbuster. It holds many happy memories for me, it's where I collected most of my Dreamcast software. Its where I bought Shenmue 2, when I knew nothing about it, only to be entranced by it for the following year. It's where I picked up my Dreamcast steering wheel, keyboards, light guns and mouse... where I bought my replacement Saturn when the last one conked out, where I bought my entire Master System software collection and my Game Gear. Its been the mainstay of my expansive video game collection and a place I knew I could always go to browse and maybe score the odd bargain. Now I know that Caleb recently scored an extensive Dreamcast haul from a major US videogame emporium that had claimed for years it didn't stock Dreamcast stuff. But what I saw on my last visit to 'my' Gamestation, that this place was now dead as a source of Retro Treasures.For there, in a lowly basket was every last piece of Retro kit that the shop had, just dumped and with prices slashed for a quick sale... No dignity, no display, just a random skip full of Dreamcast, Saturn, Megadrive, Gameboy software etc... Had you walked into the store a couple of months before, you would have seen a 'Dreamcast section' and occasionally amongst the mass of WWF games, the plethora of Chu Chu Rockets, the score of Tee Off Golfsand the host of Soul Fighters, you could pick up a pearl... [Image]So what was in the basket then? Well uniformly priced at £1.99 was the following selection... Loads of Virtua Striker 2, Pod Racing, Virtua Athlete 2K, Aerowings,Sega Bass Fishing, Tomb Raider: Last Revelation... But these weren't always in there boxes... Some were bundled in a plastic sleeve with an elastic bands wrapped round them... One of the interesting items was Aerowings at £1.99... In June that would have cost you £9.99... Now they have decided it is worth £8 less... Go figure! [Image]Now I had been told by the shop's staff that Retro section would still be a feature, but when I saw the devestation layed before me, I was forced to ask what the future of Retro gaming at Blockbuster would be... The answer was that there would not be one... and for me that's just sad. Sure there's Ebay... we can always go online and boost our collections... But for me personally that's not the same as going into a shop, checking out and thumbing through the selection and walking away with a much coveted title or a piece of hardware... For me it's the end of an era, and another nail in the coffin for our favourite undead console... [Image]
Even more worrying, is the fact that a similar fate has befallen the Dreamcast (and Saturn) at Chips, a smaller independent franchise, that previously boasted a Dreamcast and Saturn section, has now moved the games to a Retro cabinet, locked behind glass and unavailable for 'hands on' perusal... That means that in my town, there is no longer a shop where I can pick up Dreamcast goodies... And that's bad... I know that both Tomleecee and The Gagaman(n) have enjoyed the bounties of Gamestation, but it seems that our shared experience is coming to a close... Let's kick a 40 oz to the curb in honour of our fallen hero... On a positive note, (I always look for a positive spin to any negative situation) on my last visit to Chips, I got a burnt copy of 'Rival Schools' from the nice guy behind the counter, in exchange for the burnt copy of Ikaruga that I gave him a few months before... So its all good! This is Father Krishna signing out, and saying "Goodnight Children, Wherever You Are..."
"Dreamcast Game Price Drop..."
12 Comments -
Great post mate - it's true that in recent months Gamestation has gotten rather dry when it comes to retro games, although there's a branch in Southampton that has a fucking her-uge DC section. I recently picked up Mortal Kombat Gold, Tokyo Highway, Aerowings, NBA 2K2, Sydney 2000, Combat Zone, and Air Force Delta from there. I know it's a loooong way from Manchester, but there is still hope!! I supose it's now down to the very rare independant shops now...Also, sorry I didn't manage to catch up with you - my internet capabilities are limited at best and so I rarely check my emails. Hopefully I'll be able to post about my DC searching exploits in the next week tho...
Monday, August 27, 2007
Yeah, it's tough.
North American Gamers like myself went through the same thing just a few years ago...
...You just have to take advantage of the final sales and look for other place to buy.
I found a pawn shop and a Thrift store on my ride home from work on Sat that seemed like good sources. Toy commander for $2.
It's hard going...but true gamers will go on regardless. There is always the internet and local people willing to sell.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Too right, there's nothing quite like finding some retro gems in a shop. For starters you don't have to pay postage cots =P
I can honestly say I haven't bought anything from Gamestation in a long time. The ones I visit in Southend, Balisdon and Candem rarely ever get any new retro stock. I recently opened Gamestation I saw in Canterbury when I was up there to see a mate had a huge retro section though, with almost 200 Dreamcast games! I ended up grabbing 6, including one particular gem I had been hunting for for ages: Rush 2049.
Monday, August 27, 2007
same thing happened at our Gamecrazy. Now they are finally out of Dreamcast games ( I bought the last three)
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Yeah Nick Gamecrazy was a huge dissapointment.
I had just recently discovered the place when they decided to stop carrying retro stuff...
Anyways there are a couple of other indy game chains here in NY. One called game craze and the Microgames. They seem to carry some good retro stuff.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Dreamcast games are harder to find by the day here too (Quebec). "regular" game stores (EB & others) aren't a good source anymore, so you have the choice between taking a chance in a pawn shop or pay a lot in a specialty store (25$ for a used copy of Gran Theft Auto 2, yeah right...)
Thursday, August 30, 2007
"Great post mate - it's true that in recent months Gamestation has gotten rather dry when it comes to retro games"
Yeah, now it all depends on trade-ins, and since most good games have been snapped up by collectors, your only hope is to search the final frontier- Car Boot Sales.
Friday, August 31, 2007
The Dreamcast was fun for awhile, but it never had the staying power as the original PlayStation.
Monday, September 03, 2007
There's one local shop here that sells used DC games, but the prices are outrageous.
Monday, September 03, 2007
Funnyman.... yeah yeah, you are funny ->
Thursday, September 06, 2007
The Gamestation in Hull took their retro stuff off the shelves recently. When I asked about Dreamcast games they said they had nothing interesting in their stockroom and weren't bothered about letting me know which games they had. A month later though and they'd all returned, plus they were BOGOFF at about £2.99 to £5. I snapped up a load, like Soul Calibur, MSR, Power-Stone, Phantasy Star Online V2. Same for Saturn - got Quake And Dukenukem £1.50 each. I went back in yesterday though and they've all gone again - A few years ago they took the retro off the shelves for the christmas season, so that might be it!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Thanks for the feedback Ashley, here's hoping its just a temporary blip...
Sunday, September 16, 2007