Post by VectorX on Apr 27, 2012 18:48:39 GMT -5
First off, probably everyone reading this will not have access to one of these stores (especially if you’re overseas), but I figured this will probably be an interesting read for gamers nonetheless.
As a background, Game Over Video Games has five stores located across Texas with a lot to offer altogether. “We buy and sell everything from Atari to Xbox” is their slogan and it’s definitely true. As I posted about this months ago, I met a couple individuals from the newly-opened store at an annual gaming expo held here in November and I was only just able to get out to their store today.
As far as the overall store goes, it wasn’t quite as big as I thought it would be but it still had a lot of stuff (note: this is just in regards to the one here in town, not any of the other four in the state). There’s all kinds of game merchandise, and not just games (I’ll get to all that later), all of which is nicely stacked, in separate areas for the most part (there’s some stuff across platforms in a few display cabinets), separated by loose carts, boxed, and even in alphabetical order (which I’d think the latter’s a pain in the ass to do!). Three of these five stores (including this one) includes a museum of stuff in the back, where machines are set up, labeled with cards (year of release, name, price, such as the Vectrex for $199, etc.) but they’re not for sale or can be played. There was even the Vectrex (I was told by an employee at the expo they had one for that), Microvision and a Battlestar Galactica handheld game (! I had totally forgotten about that, along with seeing and possibly playing that decades ago when it came out). The stores even have tournaments and this one (as I assume the others) have several tvs and systems and games set up, along with even two coin-ops in the museum, which was either Ghosts ‘n Goblins or Ghouls and Ghosts (I didn’t catch which one) and some beat ‘em up I think. I didn’t notice if they were set for free play though; I don’t think so, but oh well, they have overhead.
Now, as far as the store transaction went -- as they buy gaming stuff -- I had several items of that to turn in, which, as I had posted on here several months ago, I got a ridiculous deal from a local resale place from an idiot who didn’t know what the stuff was worth, but months later I still had most of the stuff (I don’t have a credit card and can’t sell the stuff on e-bay, although I contacted tons of people and all and barely sold any of it, even though I wasn’t asking for much, as about half of it I couldn’t test anyway since I didn’t have some of the stuff [like a PSP]), along with a few odds and ends to get rid of here, which were some 2600 games and Solar Quest. The stuff from the insane deal included three Genesis controllers, two games, and an adapter for a PSP (I also got three Genesis’ too though, two of which I sold and one I kept).
Well, wow, I got $23 store credit for that. I was surprised (most gaming stuff, in general, you’re just going to get pennies, maybe a few dollars for unless you have something for a current system and/or something rare), but one, I had the manual for 2600 Frogger. Even MANUALS they sell separately (more on that later). Also – and sometimes I forget how rare our poor Vectrex is – out of five stores, they only have ONE Vectrex item in between them (Scramble) that you can order from online (folks from here in the States, you might want to still check them out for prices and such: www.gameovervideogames.com/). Having that and the box probably helped, along with the PSP adapter, since that’s still a current system. The Genesis tennis game I dumped might’ve also been fairly rare too (I’m not sure), and having those Genny boxes probably helped too; anything Genesis and older doesn’t have a lot of boxes in general anyway in the wild. You can choose between cash and store credit, which at first I accepted the latter, but upon spending time looking around and thinking about it, I opted for cash, since the store’s pretty out of my way (about 40 minutes round trip). So, with getting this great shirt and a little over $7 cash back, I’d say that was a pretty decent deal indeed
Hey, I don't recall the invaders being that many colors originally!
As far as gaming merchandise goes, they had quite a bit, even a little Pac-Man section, having belt buckles (!), a Pac-Man energy drink (say what?!), throw rug, other stuff. They also had Atari and the like magnets, some game-related movies/dvds, all kinds of Sega Light Guns, switchboxes and controllers in generic bags if they don’t have boxes for them and other stuff I’m probably forgetting, along with game manuals, having a box of 2600 and Genesis ones, among others.
Ok, FINALLY, the games! A pretty large 2600 section, being mostly loose on shelves with a few boxed games on the outskirts of the display rack. Some Intellivision, same went with Genesis as far as being loose/boxed, all kinds of Nintendo stuff, battery packs for the N64, not a lot of Wii, but Sega Master System games though, which are a bit rare here in the States since it didn’t do real well here (it did better overseas though). They even had a few TI-994a games, which I had NEVER seen before in a store here. I mean, WOW. I hadn’t seen any SMS games before either, as the closest I had seen to those was an adapter for the Genesis at a Funcoland once but that was it. There was even a TAPE of a couple of games on a shelf, which made me think to look for 2600 Supercharger games, but alas, I didn’t see any (I’ve only got a third of them so far). This store isn’t real huge but it was still stacked pretty well with stuff and tons of other systems I’m not mentioning (3D0 even, GameBoy and GBA, XBox, and more and more; one system had me go “what the (*#! is THAT?” It’s cartridge slots weren’t *quite* Genesis-sized, but then I saw the note next to it saying it was one of those knock-off NES/SNES compatibles). There’s even free tournaments and concerts and all from time to time, along with tons of other stuff.
There’s only a few minor downfalls though. Parking is annoying, but it’s in a busy strip center and I didn’t go at a good time (lunchtime, Friday [ick!], 12:30). Some of the prices I’m not too sure about: separate manuals run a couple to several dollars each, which I think is kind of high, but I’m not sure. A Genesis was up for $39, which I’m pretty sure IS too much, but they go over and carefully clean systems and such and plus they’re warranted for a couple of weeks, maybe more (as part of their display at the gaming expo they were cleaning games right there). Checkout time took a bit, but due to something the manager said, I think the employee was fairly new, and plus it was my first time there; the next time with bringing up my I. D. everything might run a bit faster, I’m not sure, so this observation (/guess) doesn’t really count since I don’t know one way or the other. I asked if there was a flat rate for fixing games (usually they’re like $10-25 for a game in general, maybe not even that much) but they said they didn’t offer that yet, as I’ve got currently two fried games (although one is from EA and maybe EA still fixes them, I just had trouble accessing their web site a couple of times in the past just trying to get an inquiry in). Also, even some of the shirts looked quite worn/were fading/designs were coming off, but if you don’t like it, don’t buy it. If you go “omg I HAVE to have that Sonic the Hedgehog shirt, I’ve never seen that before!” and don’t notice how worn it looks until you get home then you’re a dumbass. There also wasn’t a big variety in sizes for those as well, as mine is a 2x XL, which I just need a large (I asked the employee if those were as is or if they had more in the back or something closer to my size but nope, what you find is what you get). Ok, I live in one of THE “fattest cities” in the country, but there were three other guys in the store and none of them were an extra large, much less 2x XL. Maybe more of the average male shoppers are but I didn’t see it at the time.
So, the place seems fairly decent overall (aside from some possible prices) with a lot to offer, so I give it an A-. Depending on what you want and need (rare SMS or even TI games) is going to vary per person, but for getting bulk deals on old Atari or Nintendo stuff with a bunch of games you’re still probably better off with garage sales and individuals (I. E. like those offering systems and a bunch of carts for only $50, although they probably won’t be clean though). I hope this one store in particular is doing ok since I was surprised at how few people were there on a weekend, but then maybe people come later in the day (/maybe too many have been late going back to lunch from being in there for too long, so those in the area refrain going there until after work?). After all, I saw a feature on it months ago in the local paper, so it’s not like it hasn’t been advertised or anything.
And finally, in conclusion, I’m not sure what is best about this in all, if it’s just the store in general, or one...other...thing. For those going “what? With all that stuff the store has, what could you possibly be talking about?” Well, I *guess* just having the store there with all that stuff and tournaments and all for free is the best, but being a guy, I guess it’s a tie with either that or the tall, exotic, young, unmarried, good-looking, top-heavy female employee there ;D Close call!
(No, lets not have any replies of “bullsh*t! Pics or she doesn’t exist!” I didn’t even think of bringing the camera [which I should have just for the museum alone, since that was cool, even though not huge], but even if I had, there was no way I could get a picture with an over 10 year old digital camera without having the flash go off in there, making it obvious what I was doing! So you’re just going to have to take the Invaders shirt as it is! Shut up already!)
As a background, Game Over Video Games has five stores located across Texas with a lot to offer altogether. “We buy and sell everything from Atari to Xbox” is their slogan and it’s definitely true. As I posted about this months ago, I met a couple individuals from the newly-opened store at an annual gaming expo held here in November and I was only just able to get out to their store today.
As far as the overall store goes, it wasn’t quite as big as I thought it would be but it still had a lot of stuff (note: this is just in regards to the one here in town, not any of the other four in the state). There’s all kinds of game merchandise, and not just games (I’ll get to all that later), all of which is nicely stacked, in separate areas for the most part (there’s some stuff across platforms in a few display cabinets), separated by loose carts, boxed, and even in alphabetical order (which I’d think the latter’s a pain in the ass to do!). Three of these five stores (including this one) includes a museum of stuff in the back, where machines are set up, labeled with cards (year of release, name, price, such as the Vectrex for $199, etc.) but they’re not for sale or can be played. There was even the Vectrex (I was told by an employee at the expo they had one for that), Microvision and a Battlestar Galactica handheld game (! I had totally forgotten about that, along with seeing and possibly playing that decades ago when it came out). The stores even have tournaments and this one (as I assume the others) have several tvs and systems and games set up, along with even two coin-ops in the museum, which was either Ghosts ‘n Goblins or Ghouls and Ghosts (I didn’t catch which one) and some beat ‘em up I think. I didn’t notice if they were set for free play though; I don’t think so, but oh well, they have overhead.
Now, as far as the store transaction went -- as they buy gaming stuff -- I had several items of that to turn in, which, as I had posted on here several months ago, I got a ridiculous deal from a local resale place from an idiot who didn’t know what the stuff was worth, but months later I still had most of the stuff (I don’t have a credit card and can’t sell the stuff on e-bay, although I contacted tons of people and all and barely sold any of it, even though I wasn’t asking for much, as about half of it I couldn’t test anyway since I didn’t have some of the stuff [like a PSP]), along with a few odds and ends to get rid of here, which were some 2600 games and Solar Quest. The stuff from the insane deal included three Genesis controllers, two games, and an adapter for a PSP (I also got three Genesis’ too though, two of which I sold and one I kept).
Well, wow, I got $23 store credit for that. I was surprised (most gaming stuff, in general, you’re just going to get pennies, maybe a few dollars for unless you have something for a current system and/or something rare), but one, I had the manual for 2600 Frogger. Even MANUALS they sell separately (more on that later). Also – and sometimes I forget how rare our poor Vectrex is – out of five stores, they only have ONE Vectrex item in between them (Scramble) that you can order from online (folks from here in the States, you might want to still check them out for prices and such: www.gameovervideogames.com/). Having that and the box probably helped, along with the PSP adapter, since that’s still a current system. The Genesis tennis game I dumped might’ve also been fairly rare too (I’m not sure), and having those Genny boxes probably helped too; anything Genesis and older doesn’t have a lot of boxes in general anyway in the wild. You can choose between cash and store credit, which at first I accepted the latter, but upon spending time looking around and thinking about it, I opted for cash, since the store’s pretty out of my way (about 40 minutes round trip). So, with getting this great shirt and a little over $7 cash back, I’d say that was a pretty decent deal indeed
Hey, I don't recall the invaders being that many colors originally!
As far as gaming merchandise goes, they had quite a bit, even a little Pac-Man section, having belt buckles (!), a Pac-Man energy drink (say what?!), throw rug, other stuff. They also had Atari and the like magnets, some game-related movies/dvds, all kinds of Sega Light Guns, switchboxes and controllers in generic bags if they don’t have boxes for them and other stuff I’m probably forgetting, along with game manuals, having a box of 2600 and Genesis ones, among others.
Ok, FINALLY, the games! A pretty large 2600 section, being mostly loose on shelves with a few boxed games on the outskirts of the display rack. Some Intellivision, same went with Genesis as far as being loose/boxed, all kinds of Nintendo stuff, battery packs for the N64, not a lot of Wii, but Sega Master System games though, which are a bit rare here in the States since it didn’t do real well here (it did better overseas though). They even had a few TI-994a games, which I had NEVER seen before in a store here. I mean, WOW. I hadn’t seen any SMS games before either, as the closest I had seen to those was an adapter for the Genesis at a Funcoland once but that was it. There was even a TAPE of a couple of games on a shelf, which made me think to look for 2600 Supercharger games, but alas, I didn’t see any (I’ve only got a third of them so far). This store isn’t real huge but it was still stacked pretty well with stuff and tons of other systems I’m not mentioning (3D0 even, GameBoy and GBA, XBox, and more and more; one system had me go “what the (*#! is THAT?” It’s cartridge slots weren’t *quite* Genesis-sized, but then I saw the note next to it saying it was one of those knock-off NES/SNES compatibles). There’s even free tournaments and concerts and all from time to time, along with tons of other stuff.
There’s only a few minor downfalls though. Parking is annoying, but it’s in a busy strip center and I didn’t go at a good time (lunchtime, Friday [ick!], 12:30). Some of the prices I’m not too sure about: separate manuals run a couple to several dollars each, which I think is kind of high, but I’m not sure. A Genesis was up for $39, which I’m pretty sure IS too much, but they go over and carefully clean systems and such and plus they’re warranted for a couple of weeks, maybe more (as part of their display at the gaming expo they were cleaning games right there). Checkout time took a bit, but due to something the manager said, I think the employee was fairly new, and plus it was my first time there; the next time with bringing up my I. D. everything might run a bit faster, I’m not sure, so this observation (/guess) doesn’t really count since I don’t know one way or the other. I asked if there was a flat rate for fixing games (usually they’re like $10-25 for a game in general, maybe not even that much) but they said they didn’t offer that yet, as I’ve got currently two fried games (although one is from EA and maybe EA still fixes them, I just had trouble accessing their web site a couple of times in the past just trying to get an inquiry in). Also, even some of the shirts looked quite worn/were fading/designs were coming off, but if you don’t like it, don’t buy it. If you go “omg I HAVE to have that Sonic the Hedgehog shirt, I’ve never seen that before!” and don’t notice how worn it looks until you get home then you’re a dumbass. There also wasn’t a big variety in sizes for those as well, as mine is a 2x XL, which I just need a large (I asked the employee if those were as is or if they had more in the back or something closer to my size but nope, what you find is what you get). Ok, I live in one of THE “fattest cities” in the country, but there were three other guys in the store and none of them were an extra large, much less 2x XL. Maybe more of the average male shoppers are but I didn’t see it at the time.
So, the place seems fairly decent overall (aside from some possible prices) with a lot to offer, so I give it an A-. Depending on what you want and need (rare SMS or even TI games) is going to vary per person, but for getting bulk deals on old Atari or Nintendo stuff with a bunch of games you’re still probably better off with garage sales and individuals (I. E. like those offering systems and a bunch of carts for only $50, although they probably won’t be clean though). I hope this one store in particular is doing ok since I was surprised at how few people were there on a weekend, but then maybe people come later in the day (/maybe too many have been late going back to lunch from being in there for too long, so those in the area refrain going there until after work?). After all, I saw a feature on it months ago in the local paper, so it’s not like it hasn’t been advertised or anything.
And finally, in conclusion, I’m not sure what is best about this in all, if it’s just the store in general, or one...other...thing. For those going “what? With all that stuff the store has, what could you possibly be talking about?” Well, I *guess* just having the store there with all that stuff and tournaments and all for free is the best, but being a guy, I guess it’s a tie with either that or the tall, exotic, young, unmarried, good-looking, top-heavy female employee there ;D Close call!
(No, lets not have any replies of “bullsh*t! Pics or she doesn’t exist!” I didn’t even think of bringing the camera [which I should have just for the museum alone, since that was cool, even though not huge], but even if I had, there was no way I could get a picture with an over 10 year old digital camera without having the flash go off in there, making it obvious what I was doing! So you’re just going to have to take the Invaders shirt as it is! Shut up already!)
