Man, my local Funcoland was so much fun to go back in the day. The clerks there were like something out of Clerks, just so apathetic and self-depricating but super friendly too. They'd give me and my brother preorder bonuses all the time for free. Those sample OST CDs that Square would have with most games.
Oh my lord, buying RE3make during the pandemic. It was gift card only so I go to their website and buy a gift card. It doesn't even give me anything, I get an email saying that the gift card code will be available when they have digital codes available.
Hell yeah! Didn't those come in white jewel cases? I remember getting those for Chrono Cross, Legend of Mana annnnnd Threads of Fate I think it was called? Man those were the days. Peak Square and Capcom.
Geez.. Electronic Boutiques is a callback...(even Funcoland). When Brick n' Mortar was King..
Yessir, I had the Legend of Mana one for the longest, that one was definitely in a white case. The kind of case that has stickers for the album art, quality stuff though. That one in particular managed to stick with me through all kinds of moves. Might still have it but not sure.
If you do home sharing with a friend or fam member, you can cut the price of digital in half right off the bat. That even goes for sub plans.
I'm pretty sure Funko Pop is the only thing keeping them relevant between ages 11-15...
11-15 year-olds don't have any money. Teens/adults do.
No, but their Millennial parents do....
The mental gymnastics on this one. Years back, traded in a few games to offset a new game purchase. One of the trades was still in the shrink wrap. I was told "sorry, we can't accept games in the plastic since they are not considered used." So I removed the shrink wrap, the clerk took it no problem as it now was considered used.
Loved my job at Funcoland in the late 90s. Was an awesome place for nerd like me to work.
Best Buy is the worst for this imo
The video game section at Best Buy these days is pretty pethetic and unorganized. Reminds me of the sad video game section at K-Mart before they went under.
Ya they do (at least in my city). Not too many. Some even have multiple locations (a handful). Some are a combo video game + board game store, and many focus on retro stuff. Or racks and racks of used games.
It was a different world back in the day and they never adapted. We knew Walmart and other big box retail were going to be a threat in the late '90s but the EBs and FuncoLands of the world traded on the experience. As much as things like gutting new copies of games were a pain point way back when, it was also an opportunity to get your hands on the actual item. You didn't have as many sources as we do now to get all kinds of information prior to making a purchase. Big box retail (and you could throw Amazon et al in here as well) was always going to be the superior if you knew exactly what you wanted. The game stores couldn't compete on a transactional level. Their edge was knowledge, experience and (formerly) depth as they'd carry more than the big boxes did.
Exactly.
