BRO.
I worked at the EB for a little while back in...god, '02-'03 and later on at the Gamestop outside by the feeder. I loved EB, but there just weren't enough hours to continue working there.
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It's such a shame that GameStop was the US gaming retail giant that subsumed all others
- Thread starter ScOULaris
- Start date
BRO.
I worked at the EB for a little while back in...god, '02-'03 and later on at the Gamestop outside by the feeder. I loved EB, but there just weren't enough hours to continue working there.
There was a store where I grew up called (I think) Major Players. Alongside regular games for sale, It had game rentals with consoles and tvs set up against the wall because you could rent a game for really cheap by the hour. It was also a comic shop and the place where I could buy pogs. That place was awesome.
Am I the only one who remembers GameCrazy?
GameCrazy - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
What a weird time.
To be honest, GameCrazy and Gamestop were similar enough in concept that I thought they were the same thing for years until I realized that the store I'd gone to as a kid wasn't actually a Gamestop. I always thought it'd be cool to work there as a kid, but by the time I got old enough it was already on the way to shutting down.
I worked there in college. The only thing cool about it was you got movie rentals at hollywood video for free. Pretty much everything else was like gamestop, pushing shit onto customers they didn't want/need. You got paid $4 for every membership and $1 for every preorder.
Customers got 12 free movie rentals when you got a console too. I don't remember if you had to preorder or if it was for used consoles. Probably used consoles since we actually made money on those.
Oh, we also would open any new game and let you play it before you buy it. Then if that was our last copy, we would sell that as new. That was always a fun conversation to have with the customers. We never got to take anything home and play it.
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I don't agree with you on that one. There is a pretty big market for retro stuff out there.
A, I still remember the first games me and my brother bought at funcoland. SF2:HF & Super Ninja bros? (SNES). Do you? :p
Plus, hate em all you want but you can't blame em for trying to survive in this age.
It's been discussed above, but it's not really accurate to imply it's one direct history. Funco was bought by Barnes & Noble. Leonard Riggio owned both Barnes & Noble and Babbages Etc (created when Babbages and Software Etc merged) at the time, and shifted all of Babbages Etc under Funco. Then the whole operation was rebranded as GameStop and spun off as a publically traded company. The HQ was shifted to Texas and the branding and inventory changed to this new corporate vision of Riggio and other senior leadership at Babbages Etc. So in the end Funco was absorbed by the corporate consolidation that began long before anyone there was involved.
Am I the only one who remembers GameCrazy?
GameCrazy - Wikipedia
What a weird time.
To be honest, GameCrazy and Gamestop were similar enough in concept that I thought they were the same thing for years until I realized that the store I'd gone to as a kid wasn't actually a Gamestop. I always thought it'd be cool to work there as a kid, but by the time I got old enough it was already on the way to shutting down.
I remember, they let you try out the used games and they also held tournaments from time to time. They also had the more obscure stuff you wouldn't find in a big box store.
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Has there ever been an instance where large-scale corporate consolidation actually improved the customer experience? I struggle to come up with any examples.
Where my Egghead Software friends at?
I have fond memories of staring at the Space Quest Sarien Encounter Remake Box and pondering what an Amiga was and why it looked so much better than my EGA copy in the screenshots.
Also, they used to have computers plugged in to demo the Imagination Network. I miss those days.
I have fond memories of staring at the Space Quest Sarien Encounter Remake Box and pondering what an Amiga was and why it looked so much better than my EGA copy in the screenshots.
Also, they used to have computers plugged in to demo the Imagination Network. I miss those days.
I bought games at Software etc and Babbage's. They always had deals on old PC games. I remember I bought a lot of Sierra titles from them in the bargain bin.
Weird thing is I don't really have any issues with Gamestop. People bitch about cheap trade ins but if you know how to work the trade system it really pays off. They have really dialed it back but a few years ago you could trade pretty common games for lots of trade credit based on the promos. You could buy cheaper games and trade them back and make more trade credit. It paid for most my systems with a little leg work. Trademegeddon happened like 3 or 4 years and they started restructuring things.
Weird thing is I don't really have any issues with Gamestop. People bitch about cheap trade ins but if you know how to work the trade system it really pays off. They have really dialed it back but a few years ago you could trade pretty common games for lots of trade credit based on the promos. You could buy cheaper games and trade them back and make more trade credit. It paid for most my systems with a little leg work. Trademegeddon happened like 3 or 4 years and they started restructuring things.
Yup. But they were indeed funcoland.
Funcoland was dope, but it's the nostalgia. It'd still be what GameStop is today.
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What's next? You gonna try and tell me that COVID is real and Biden is President-Elect?
I reject your reality.
Sure, for the rare and good stuff that sells on eBay. But I have seen enough stores go bankrupt with stock simply not moving.
Still disagree. They weren't Funcoland, they *bought* Funcoland and Funco ceased to exist. Maybe if the leadership of Funco or EB had been the ones doing the buying and calling the shots, things would look more healthy now than what we currently have. I'm being pedantic because the GameStop leadership was so short sighted in their response to the challenges of first the big box stores, then online retailers, and finally digital stores. Riggio's vision for both B&N and GS has crashed and burned.
Am I the only one who remembers GameCrazy?
GameCrazy - Wikipedia
What a weird time.
To be honest, GameCrazy and Gamestop were similar enough in concept that I thought they were the same thing for years until I realized that the store I'd gone to as a kid wasn't actually a Gamestop. I always thought it'd be cool to work there as a kid, but by the time I got old enough it was already on the way to shutting down.
I remember that place they held tournaments all the time place was right on the busiest street in Cleveland's West side went back their 4 or 5 years back place is a ghost town in that area since they closed all their shops.
Late 80s/early 90s Babbages was my jam!
Those were the days. I can almost feel the heft of those giant PC game boxes.
I would spend most of my time just looking at the backs of PC game boxes at Babbages. We didn't get a PC until '94, so for years I missed so much. Those games seemed so exotic compared to the SNES/Genesis games I was playing. 😂
Software etc., EB, Game Crazy were the dedicated game stores around here. Even had a Software etc and an EB games store in the same mall less then a 2 minute walk from each other. Miss having walls of big box PC games :(.
I agree with this. I worked at Software etc. when we got bought out and the work culture that Gamestop brought in was really aggressive. Went from not having any quotas with Software etc. to having to have to push things on people to make my numbers with Gamestop.
I agree with this. I worked at Software etc. when we got bought out and the work culture that Gamestop brought in was really aggressive. Went from not having any quotas with Software etc. to having to have to push things on people to make my numbers with Gamestop.
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Am I the only one who remembers GameCrazy?
GameCrazy - Wikipedia
What a weird time.
To be honest, GameCrazy and Gamestop were similar enough in concept that I thought they were the same thing for years until I realized that the store I'd gone to as a kid wasn't actually a Gamestop. I always thought it'd be cool to work there as a kid, but by the time I got old enough it was already on the way to shutting down.
GameCrazy was great for retro games. The one near where I grew up had an excellent selection of games. Many in excellent condition.
No. Hell no. You can bash GameStop and point to it's health all you want, but they're still open. While at the same time stores like K-Mart, Toys-R-Us and plenty other stores have their logos on tombstones right now because of the way the world changed. You can't say that then look at GameStop and say "that could've been Funcoland". Funcoland could've and would've crashed and burned by now if they weren't as relentless as GameStop is today. And GameStop is still on thin ice as well, so no Funcoland would be nowhere near healthy in this day and age.
Yeah it's where I started to recollect retro games. Used to be able to get NES, Genesis, SNES games for nothing there, buying games for literal pocket change.
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Every time we went to a big mall in a new city, my first stop was the directory and then "B" for Babbage's and if nothing then "E" for Electronics Boutique. If the mall was shitty you were stuck with KB Toys. Good times
They would all be dying or dead in 2020 just like Gamestop though
They would all be dying or dead in 2020 just like Gamestop though
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Hah, same. Sometimes you'd even get lucky and come across a one-off, lesser known game store alongside one or both of those. We were truly spoiled when it came to game stores in 90's malls.
Maybe, but at least they would've died with HONOR.
My big hope is that as Gamestop slowly dies off smaller mom and pops can fill that niche to meet local demand. Every market is a little different, and Gamestop being so generic is part of whats killing it.
I used to do hundreds of dollars every month in business at gamestop, between buying and trading just building up trade credit to use, I have some fond memories of great deals like trading my PS4 (xbox, switch) every year towards the latest model and paying $25-50 each time using promos that only lasted a few days. All that kinda stuff died this year, they killed the elite membership, trade values have sunk to rock bottom, and just honestly zero interest in going into a tiny store during covid.
There are already a couple of new-ish retro video game stores locally that are AMAZING and have owners and employees that are super passionate and focused on just that niche, hopefully that expands over time.
I used to do hundreds of dollars every month in business at gamestop, between buying and trading just building up trade credit to use, I have some fond memories of great deals like trading my PS4 (xbox, switch) every year towards the latest model and paying $25-50 each time using promos that only lasted a few days. All that kinda stuff died this year, they killed the elite membership, trade values have sunk to rock bottom, and just honestly zero interest in going into a tiny store during covid.
There are already a couple of new-ish retro video game stores locally that are AMAZING and have owners and employees that are super passionate and focused on just that niche, hopefully that expands over time.
It wouldn't have mattered which store became the one big chain game store, they all would have ended up as GameStop is now if they were the only ones on the market. That's what a lack of competition does.
Covid forced our local independant video game store to consolidate their 3 locations into 1, but now it's like a museum with every retro console you can think of in themed glass display cases, tons of stuff I've never seen in person before.
They also sell new stuff at MSRP so there's no real reason to go to EB Games. I tend to get most of my games digitally now but when I buy physical I'll be going with them.
They also sell new stuff at MSRP so there's no real reason to go to EB Games. I tend to get most of my games digitally now but when I buy physical I'll be going with them.
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With all of the wistful, nostalgic recollections of game stores in 90's shopping malls going on in here, I think it's best if we have a fitting backing track. It's in times like these that we must turn to mallsoft.
First track in the mix is called c a r e e r ☎ a t t i r e — Meet Me At Babbages
First track in the mix is called c a r e e r ☎ a t t i r e — Meet Me At Babbages
Yep, everything outside of big box and clothing forget it. They had a good run though
Great place. Used to buy MTG Cards and used games there. Was a sad day when it became a GameStop.
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Babbage's, EB, and Software Etc. started out selling a lot of computer software and games alongside the console stuff. Some hardware too. When I was working at Software Etc. in 93-9X, about 50% of the store was computer stuff, and the other 50% various consoles. Not sure about Funcoland.
i honestly never noticed a difference between EB and Gamestop when they were both around, or any other national video game store for that matter. They were all pretty much the same.
FuncoLand was the best. It was like a mom-and-pop used game store, except with a great supply of inventory.
EB Games was pretty good.
I had a local Gamestop that was pretty good. This was right before they bought FuncoLand. That lasted less than a year before they got strongarmed into all the awful corporate bullshit. The constant nagging, the "new" but opened games, the horrendously overpriced used games. They really lost me when they started saying you couldn't buy a game on launch day unless you had pre-ordered it.
I still lament the decline of Gamestop, only because its decline and impending death parallel the decline of game ownership in general.
EB Games was pretty good.
I had a local Gamestop that was pretty good. This was right before they bought FuncoLand. That lasted less than a year before they got strongarmed into all the awful corporate bullshit. The constant nagging, the "new" but opened games, the horrendously overpriced used games. They really lost me when they started saying you couldn't buy a game on launch day unless you had pre-ordered it.
I still lament the decline of Gamestop, only because its decline and impending death parallel the decline of game ownership in general.
If Gamestop could bring back a small funcoland, even as a pop-up shop I would be very grateful.
Like what are they doing with those Millions of trade ins?
Like what are they doing with those Millions of trade ins?
GameStop bought out all the local EB Games and I legit couldn't tell the difference besides the shirts and branding.
Going into a store where the employees knew WTF they were talking about in regards to games was nice. It was a great store with a lot of fun stuff. Not just old games, but accessories and magazines/guides, great prices (FuncoLand died before online selling drove up prices of old games). It was just a great atmosphere.
I'm referring to FuncoLand, btw.
