This last weekend I took a trip around my local used video game stores. I had recently come into possession of a $5 spare GameCube from a garage sale. I keep spare consoles around in case my originals fail, but I also like to have extras (when I can) in case 4-players aren’t enough. There’s a strong underground local scene of fighting game players in my city, so I like to have a spare copy of Smash Bros. Melee in case we get a tournament/casual play session going, or I’m bringing hardware to one of our monthlies. Seeing as I had a spare GameCube station ready to go, I needed an extra copy of Melee to go along with it. Rather than hop onto eBay, I decided to check out the local used game stores and support my local businesses.
The whole affair turned out to be a rather sad experience at the end of the day. Independent used game stores aren’t what they used to be. For many years I leaned on used game stores to help bolster my library. When you’re a poor kid from Arkansas, used games were a godsend. Back in the cartridge days, used was just as good as new. You couldn’t destroy an N64 cartridge if you tried. Even an old school PlayStation CD-Rom could be repaired with a quick resurfacing (not so easy a fix with Blu-Ray). When a game I couldn’t bear to live one second without hit (F-Zero GX comes to mind), I’d be there on release night with my $49.95 in hand. Heck, skipping meals to bag F-Zero GX and Soul Calibur II (which shared a release date) wasn’t a stretch in my mind, but not everyone had the same (admittedly redonkulus) priorities I had in those times.
Sometimes a player might want to skip a meal for a game, but they can’t afford to be simply thinking of themselves. They’re thinking about their families. Some players have kids to feed, medical bills to pay, and mortgages to worry about. When I walked into used game stores, I saw all sorts of dedicated players. They weren’t the type to be in line on release night. They often wanted to be, but couldn’t afford it. Used game stores kept these players going. While we were enjoying Gears of War, they were probably just getting into the first Halo on the original Xbox. Were they behind? Sure, but they were happy. Or maybe these were just players looking for some cheap fun, not caring one bit about being up with the current gen, or sitting on the bleeding edge of consumer teach. They weren’t any less gamers than you or I. They just cared about the game itself, not the culture surrounding it or being up on the newest tech. Popping into a used game store in 2002, it wasn’t unrealistic to see a happy dude waltz out the door with a like new Dreamcast and 10 classics-to-be for under $200. Publishers like to talk about how the used market is stealing dollars from them, but that generally isn’t the case. The mass majority of these players aren’t interested in, or just outright can’t afford to be shelling out $60 to get a new title every month or swallowing $400 for a new console. Without the used market, these players just wouldn’t play. They aren’t causing quarterly profits to fall. They’re just living within their means.
Yet the independent used video game store is well on its way to joining the arcade as a fallen victim of a bygone era; however it’s not the video game industry that is killing it. Blame eBay. Local stores aren’t even close to competitive with online retailers/auction sites when it comes to prices or trade value. You’re usually going to wind up paying way more for that copy of Chrono Trigger for SNES on eBay than you would if you found it at your local used game store. The trick is that you’re never going to find it at your used game store because the original owners of these little pieces of retro goodness know that they can get much more by hawking it on eBay and waiting for those panicky last minute bidders to jack the price up to $150.00+. Nobody’s going to pay that for an old Super Nintendo game out in the wild (even if it’s totally worth it). It’s gotten to the point that most local used game stores are following GameStop’s lead and cutting off support for legacy systems (sometimes as recent as GameCube), because there is no stock to be found. There’s some 11 million copies of Super Smash Bros. Melee out in the world, but none to be found locally because people either aren’t selling it or want $30 for it on eBay, and rest assured, they’ll get it. The college graduate who wants to buy back all the games he sold before downsizing to dorm life will do anything to get his Melee on.
Who wants to waltz into a used game store to browse their amazing selection of Madden 2002, NFL Quarterback Club, NBA Courtside 2002, and a mountain of orphaned NFL GameDay discs? To compensate for their failing retro libraries, many independent game stores have started selling new releases to offset their shrinking market, but let’s face it. Local and regional game stores can’t compete with the sweetheart deals that mega chains like Best Buy or Wal-Mart nail down, or with the distribution might of GameStop. It’s a rotten scenario, but local used game stores are pretty much screwed. It’s a sad thing too, because many of these locations serve as local gamer community gathering grounds for tourneys, friendly meet-ups, or Saturday morning collectible card game tournaments. Good luck doing that at Wal-Mart.
Local used game stores have always been a part of the fabric of gaming culture. They keep low income players playing in an age of greed where publishers complain that they can’t charge more than $60 per title, and they keep casual retro hounds basking in the glory of the last generation’s greatest successes. Yet like arcades and Blockbuster Video, these community focal points may be on their way out. Let’s hope not, because local players need more excuses to meet up and play out in the wild… and besides, you never know when you’re going to need to run downtown and pick up a replacement GameCube AV cable.
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