Independent game stores in Seattle?

Aerothorn

Hey - does anyone know of any independent game stores in Seattle? I know of Pink Godzilla, of course, but they're very much a speciality shop - are there any independent alternatives to EB/Gamestop?

Impersonator

Do they even exist?

Well I don't know much about them since I live in Portugal

Aerothorn

They've existed in the past, though they are a dieing breed, since game companies give deals to the chains. Still, there are independent music stores and independent movie stores, why not games?

Sam

in my college town, indie game stores sell exclusively 2nd hand stuff. Kind of sucks because I can only walk to them downtown, but without a car can't drive out to the big box stores, which would be every single chain store ever.

locomotiveman

If you're looking for second hand you can always hit up pawn shops, assuming that pawn is legal in Seattle of course.

Shadowfire

I think a better thread title would be along the lines of "how do I find out about independent game stores in my area?"

Some of us don't live in Seattle, but would like to find them anyway. ;-)

RoyceSraphim

I think there is one in Kent, just east of Kent station, never been there but the art looks nice

Robo Beat

Shadowfire wrote: »

I think a better thread title would be along the lines of "how do I find out about independent game stores in my area?"

Some of us don't live in Seattle, but would like to find them anyway. ;-)

Or just volunteer the information, if you know of one.

Hell, make it a sticky and put it in AFK when it gets large enough.

RoyceSraphim

Everyone is sort of wary of pawn shops in seattle since that whole Oliver Twist's Fagin thing came about.

lazerbeard

Aerothorn wrote: »

Hey - does anyone know of any independent game stores in Seattle? I know of Pink Godzilla, of course, but they're very much a speciality shop - are there any independent alternatives to EB/Gamestop?

Frys is an alternative to EB/Gamestop. I love Frys with a passion, cause they have EVERYTHING I want in a huge warehouse, they are most likely to have obscure/really old/hard to find due to being sold out stuff from what I saw. Also from my experience they usually guarantee new titles in stock, for a price lower than anyone else offers(usually 5-10 bucks).

I went there when everyone else was sold out of project sylpheed and told me "Y00 NEEDZ TEH PREORDERZ!" Frys was like, well we don't have it, but its because the shipment was delayed, they apologised and gave me a rain check which was for the original price (5 bucks cheaper than Gamestop).

They are on the 520 though, by the boeing factory.

UnbreakableVow

I do all my (game) shopping at a local independent store in the Daytona Beach area (actually in the town of DeLand, but it's close enough). The prices are sometimes a bit higher than if I went to, say, Wal-Mart, but the fact is that this store is a haven for...well, gamers, in the area. The clerks know what they're talking about, there's a distinct crowd there on certain nights, I can go in, browse, debate...fun stuff.

Plus I've found some kinda obscure stuff there. New copy of Tron Bonne for $15, used copies of Blasto and Clock Tower (two very guilty pleasures) for $3 each. Klonoa 2 for $15, used but in perfect condition.

Bit OT as far as Seattle goes, but like someone said, independent game stores are a dying breed and there should definitely be some sort of awareness program.

CZroe

I was about to come in and say "Pink Godzilla" because even I know that haveng spent my entire life in other places that are not Washington State... but it looks like you got that covered.

I was surprised to find that there's an indie game store here in GA that does mega-business on eBay. "Gamers" in Carrollton (they had a location in Douglassville for a short time).

UnbreakableVow wrote: »

I do all my (game) shopping at a local independent store in the Daytona Beach area (actually in the town of DeLand, but it's close enough). The prices are sometimes a bit higher than if I went to, say, Wal-Mart, but the fact is that this store is a haven for...well, gamers, in the area. The clerks know what they're talking about, there's a distinct crowd there on certain nights, I can go in, browse, debate...fun stuff.

Plus I've found some kinda obscure stuff there. New copy of Tron Bonne for $15, used copies of Blasto and Clock Tower (two very guilty pleasures) for $3 each. Klonoa 2 for $15, used but in perfect condition.

Bit OT as far as Seattle goes, but like someone said, independent game stores are a dying breed and there should definitely be some sort of awareness program.

I had family in Ormond Beach and they just called that "Daytona" too.

Morskittar

There's some place on Aurora, about 100th or so. I've never been there.

Xieflow

There's Al's up in the u-district, if you don't mind paying nearly random prices. Because they are in the u-district, they overcharge for the popular games from yesteryear (expect to pay $20 for a SNES game that you can get at Pink Godzilla for $10), but anything obscure and the prices are usually good as free (I get my 3DO games there, they charge about $2 - $5 a piece, but then again, that's probably still overcharging for 3DO games).

The Value Villages in the area are often gold mines, last Wednesday I ended up with 6 NES games for like $14 at the Value Village in Redmond.

Also try Half Price books. They will overcharge for the more rare games, the Half Price Books in the Crossroads mall in Bellevue had a copy of Parappa for like $60, and has one of the Lunar games for the PS1 complete for something rediculous. But anything mildly obscure and you'll get a good price. Hell, I just got a random Japanese Gundam game for the PS1 at that Half Price books a couple days ago for like $3.

There's a game store on Aurora that has a sign in front "Atari - NES" et cetera, but when I went in there, it was a really sleezy dive, with nothing of interest for sale, and it looked like the store was probably a front for something we can't talk about on this message board.

UnbreakableVow

Also of note for any Floridians: There is a place called Vintage Video Games in...well, this really small town near Cocoa Beach (I forget the name of it), but I went there and they had pretty much every rare game I could think of, sealed or unsealed. Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, the NES Dragon Warriors, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Magic Knight Rayearth, Shining Force 3...all at somewhat ridiculous prices of course, but still. If you have the means, I highly recommend it.

JCRooks

Hmm, years ago there was one in downtown Redmond. It was on NE 87th St, close to the Bella Bottega movie theater. Not Seattle, but perhaps close enough. At least, I'm pretty sure it was independent, since it was one of those "anime + games + cards + comics + whatever" shops. You know what I'm talking about ... cluttered, dirty, filled with random crap (with the occasional treasured goodie), with most of the employees sitting in the back playing CCGs with teenagers that skipped school that day. Now that I think about it, Tycho or Gabe might have mentioned it a long time ago.

To be honest, I don't know if it's still open. They'd have to have a pretty steady and loyal customer base to survive in these GameStop/EB/Best Buy-conglomerate days. Then again, Redmond certainly has no shortage of video game/anime/CCG geeks.

manaleak34

RoyceSraphim wrote: »

I think there is one in Kent, just east of Kent station, never been there but the art looks nice

Oh that's Gamebreakers. It's kind of an Arcade/Store thing. The don't have a whole bunch on sale but their main draw are consoles and PCS that you 'rent' and play there. They also have some arcade games and Pool tables.

JCRooks wrote:

Hmm, years ago there was one in downtown Redmond. It was on NE 87th St, close to the Bella Bottega movie theater. Not Seattle, but perhaps close enough. At least, I'm pretty sure it was independent, since it was one of those "anime + games + cards + comics + whatever" shops. You know what I'm talking about ... cluttered, dirty, filled with random crap (with the occasional treasured goodie), with most of the employees sitting in the back playing CCGs with teenagers that skipped school that day. Now that I think about it, Tycho or Gabe might have mentioned it a long time ago.

That should be Genesis Games and Gizmo's. They don't really sell Video Games but plenty of RPG, CCG, Board Games, Miniatures and what not. Also it's still open, at least if this is the same one your talking about.

Aerothorn

Yeah, I've found Half-Price to be a treasure-trove of older PC games over the years. Wasn't aware of the U-district one - I'll definitely check there.

And the reason I asked about Seattle is I figured that since PAX is held here, a lot of Seattlites would be on the board. I didn't mean to alienate anyone!

JCRooks

manaleak34 wrote: »

That should be Genesis Games and Gizmo's. They don't really sell Video Games but plenty of RPG, CCG, Board Games, Miniatures and what not. Also it's still open, at least if this is the same one your talking about.

No, not that place. I know that shop, it's in the Bella Bottega shopping center. Yeah, it doesn't do video games, and I know some people that frequent there. I'm pretty sure there was another shop just a block away.

Next time I'm in the area, I guess I can swing by and see if the shop I'm talking about is still even there.

Dioretsa

JCRooks wrote: »

manaleak34 wrote: »

That should be Genesis Games and Gizmo's. They don't really sell Video Games but plenty of RPG, CCG, Board Games, Miniatures and what not. Also it's still open, at least if this is the same one your talking about.

No, not that place. I know that shop, it's in the Bella Bottega shopping center. Yeah, it doesn't do video games, and I know some people that frequent there. I'm pretty sure there was another shop just a block away.

Next time I'm in the area, I guess I can swing by and see if the shop I'm talking about is still even there.

I know the place you're talking about it was called Famcom or something like that, it's not there anymore