My local newsagent in Glasgow used to rent out Amstrad tapes. Weird

First experience with a 2600 was in an indie electrical goods shop in Belfast called Erskine Maine - now long gone. They had a 2600 set up with Combat in the TV section. Me, my brother and cousins played on it until we were chucked out.

The Belfast Boots is a 3 floor affair - pretty big. The 1st floor had a game section in the 80s. It's where I got my 2600 and they had a really good stock of cartridges.  They also had an 8bit micro section with all computers of the day set up and running with games loaded. Was quite a thing.

I picked up my 7800 in a furniture shop that had a small TV section. I remember going past the shop on the bus and seeing a 7800 in the window. I got off at the next stop and went back and bought it!! Still have it.  I was trying to get back into 2600 games and this was a great way to do that because it's BC.

I remember supermarkets stocking cheap 8bit micro games on rotatable stands. Picked up quite a few CPC 464 games that way. Thrust and JSW2 to name but two notables. But I got a pile of the Codemasters games that way too.  And later on they released some 2 in 1 tapes - one game on each side. 

Woolworths in Belfast had a large game section. Consoles up and running including the mighty Colecovision and Vectrex - and a pile of the table top dedicated games like the Nintendo range etc. I'd spend an hour in there many a time.

We used to have a very large toy shop called Leisure world - multi-floor affair and they had a great videogames section too. Bought a pile of 2600 carts in there when they ran a buy 1 get 1 free offer. I picked up Decathlon and Megamania that way. That shop lasted long enough for SNES and MD games to be on sale there but it closed down in the mid 90s.

There was a model shop on the same street and they got into consoles in the SNES/MD era - even selling import games along side remote control planes and Airfix kits.  Next door to that was a small indie Chess set shop! They moved into selling dedicated chess computers etc.  Sigh. Such were the times when a thing like that could exist.

On up the same street on the other side was Edco - an educational stationers - you could buy text books, exercise books, art equipment etc. They had an 8bit micro section for a while too. All set up for demo play. It's where I got my Oric-1.  That was quite a street in the day.

I joined a mail order computer game club that worked like the old Book of the Month clubs. You got a very good offer to join up - select X games for £1 each or something and then you were committed to buy 4 games a year.

They had a decent selection and if you were smart you got good deals. My highlight was a US Gold compilation in a big box with Leaderboard, Gauntlet, Infiltrator and Ace of Aces.

Last game I got from the club was a Dungeons and Dragons game in a rather nice box that seems to be worth a few bob nowadays. I have no idea what I did with those games. I remember a nice boxed version of Pipemania as well.

Had to know what you were doing in the Argos.

Our two-floor Woolies had a gardening section up top. Dunno what they were playin' at. Toys and games at the back, always, with yer pic 'n' mix up front.

regmcfly wrote:

My local newsagent in Glasgow used to rent out Amstrad tapes. Weird

What is the subscription model?

Essentially you pay for upgrade reward card and they give you better loyalty so it’s like 10% back ass opposed to the current miserly .5%

Bob wrote:

Essentially you pay for upgrade reward card and they give you better loyalty so it’s like 10% back ass opposed to the current miserly .5%

Why anyone still shops at Game is a mystery to me.

They had a fantastic deal on trade in for a Series S. Knocked £120 off the price in exchange for my worthless OG Bone. Didn't even bundle the console either. Fuck knows what they were thinking with that one. Probably make enough money from the Bobs of the world

Diluted Dante wrote:

It will have been funded by Microsoft.

That makes sense. I was amazed by the trade in I got for my 2 year old bone s against the series s.

So called into GAME to pick up a wired pad for Windows 10. (See the Super Meat Boy thread) and witnessed a fundamental issue shops like that have now.

Some middle aged woman, pleading ignorance, with a physical XBOX game in hand, saying her son says the game doesn't work and it just says "searching or something on the screen".  That could of course be the case but it's highly unlikely it's a faulty game.  Crap wifi more likely.

No doubt the brat didn't like the game,  uninstalled it and sent mother back to  play the innocent act and asking for "just a refund" (with a receipt). 

Fuck that filter feeder behaviour, not that it costs the shop a huge amount??? I doubt there is much markup in it - given the amount of tat they sell there now.

There’s no standalone Game shops left in Birmingham. They’ve all disappeared into concessions inside Mike Ashley’s other retailers. It’s been a long slow death.

I went in the House of Fraser one recently. I was looking for Animal Crossing merch for the kid. It was actually completely fine. Reminded me of the old days when Debenhams and the big department stores would have their own game sections. I wouldn’t get anything there myself mind.

I have £17.15 in my Game wallet so they better not go anywhere soon.

I still enjoy the joy of browsing physical stock.

Bob wrote:

I have £17.15 in my Game wallet so they better not go anywhere soon. I still enjoy the joy of browsing physical stock.

Better buy some fucking Funko Pop while you have the chance.

"Look its the guy from The Office but looks nothing like him"

Half their shelf space is now boardgames (which is nice to see actually) , those vinyl big head figures, videogame (ie Nintendo) Lego, cheap (and not so cheap) retro handhelds and mini arcades, and assorted branded tat.

Sign of the times. I'm not sure there is any value in buying a physical XBOX or PS game due to the install/patch time.  Unless of course you want to chance your arm and bring the game back.

They have a healthy Switch section but overall re videogaming it's a rather depressing sight.

I'm not against the concept of returning a game - in fact I'd love to see more crap efforts getting rebuffed. I don't know if there is a cancel function on XBL or PS? There is on Steam.

I remember returning some PS1 games same or next day because it was either loadtime ridden shit (Bust A Move 4) or was a high score related game that didn't save high scores (was a pinball game!!!!). This was back when they (EB/GAME) did things like that. Of course that trust would be abused so no way that was going to last.

If online could create an enjoyable browse feature then it would improve matters a great deal - but there isn't anything quite like finding a hidden gem in the wild (as long your phone can be used to check review scores.....)