So I posted this in the Retro thread, and thought it could be a topic of its own:
So my girlfriend, who lives in Tokyo, got called in to work on Sunday around noon, leaving me unexpectedly free.
As she's not really in gaming, I decided to indulge myself and go to Akihabara and Super Potato. I've been before but only with a group of friends who were visiting from tj UK and pushed for time.
I didn't buy anything - stuff is actually relatively expensive, which pushes it out of the realm of retro curiosity, and I might be leaving soon so I'd need to cart it all back - but it was still enjoyable just looking around, checking out some of the Japanese boxes and box art.
Has anyone ever been? I do wish that, five and a half years ago when I first came, I had done what I half-planned and bought a Japanese N64 or GC. Actually Super Potato had disappointingly few GC games, though absolutely stacks of N64 stuff. I'll be going back to visit her again in March and in April, so I might end up getting tempted as my time draws short.
Also went in the new Nintendo Store in Shibuya. Actually I'll go make a topic about that...
So yeah, I went to the new Nintendo Store in Shibuya at the weekend. It's the first one in the world apparently, and also has a cool brand new Pokémon Center with Mewtwo floating in a tank at the entrance. In fact, that floor is sort of dedicated to "Otaku" culture, and there's a Monster Hunter/Capcom store as well as some other things.
I don't normally go for gaming merchandise and Otaku culture, and it's telling I walked out with only a pair of understated Zelda socks, but it was still really interesting.
It's all sparkling new and and looks the part, and was really popular, especially with tourists. As an aside, the Nintendo one reminded me of a Disney store, and I think with the new Nintendo Land at Universal, they are finally starting to realize that their properties have the same commerical potential as Disney, and are going to milk it into the strawberry floating ground. Fair play to them, it's popular stuff.
Anyway the store has big plastic statues of Nintendo icons, loads of themed goods/tat and is pretty much a Nintendo fan's dream. There's all the other gaming stuff on that floor too. And Super Potato is basically a retro gamer's heaven (it even has an arcade now, which I'm fairly sure wasn't there back in 2015 when I last went).
So to make this less or a humble brag or blog post, what's the best gaming/merc store you've ever visited?
Parksey wrote:...what's the best gaming/merc store you've ever visited?
I can't think of *any* game shop I've visited since about 2008 that I would class as being good. Round my way (south-east London) there are barely any places that sell games, let alone designated stores. Local supermarkets stock a few titles (about five games!) and we have a couple of GAME stores (one of which has closed and the other is closing soon).
If I think back to previous years, I used to love visiting GAME stores. A wide selection of titles, game guides and peripherals; they were fun to look around in and most of my games came from there. Before that, Electronic Boutique, Future Zone and Beatties were all cool places for checking out games. Go back several centuries and I often visited WH Smith, Boots and newsagents for games, too! Thinking about it... I saw more game demonstrations in both Smiths and Boots during the 80s than I ever have in a modern GAME store.
I do miss buying games from the high street; it always felt more fun to browse in-store than it does to order online or download.
^^^ That sounds really gloomy, I know. Genuinely can't think of any good gaming store around here, though!
I went to the New York Nintendo store a few years back. It was pretty good! Bought a mug and a nice Pikmin t-shirt and they chucked in a keyring as well.
Growing up GAME was the go to but these days I'm primarily online. Not sure if independent stores count but when I was younger back during the late Snes days we had a VideoStar that was stacked full of games wall to wall that I always loved visiting. It was rare but whenever we'd drive by my dad would let my older brother and I browse around. It had a very distinctive atmosphere I remember but was never that busy which was a shame.
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There's a comic shop on the old Crawley High Street (https://www.thecomicshop.co.uk/gaming) that's got a section at the back with some old gaming consoles - that's about as close as I've got in the last 20 years to a cool independent gaming store... although saying that I don't think they actually sell games, it's just comics and D&D stuff.
I remember as a kid going to a games shop in Paris. I have no idea what it was called, but I remember it being amazing and I bought Pilotwings for the SNES with no idea if it would work when I got home. It did work and was an awesome game, so that shop wins.
There was a shop in Yate that sold pre-owned games and used to give amazing value on trade-ins. I would persuade my dad to drive me to Yate and basically swap old Megadrive/SNES/PlayStation games for newer ones. It usually only cost £5 or so on top of the game I was handing over. It was a strawberry floating horrible shop though, if you think modern CEX smells bad then you wouldn’t have coped with this place. But cheap games overrule the fear of stinky shops.
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