Well gang, Gamestop is cancelled. Post your favorite goombastomp memories.
Mine had to have been getting a gameboy advanced at age 12 or so (a good number of years after it had been released) and picking up a bunch of gameboy advanced games out of their case.
I was first in line for the Nintendo DS release at the Northgate Mall Gamestop. My dad even waited with me. Thanks, Dad. That was a good day.
GameStop was a way of life for me. Once upon a time, I was on a first-name basis with the three employees at the GameStop by my in-laws' house.
I remember one day, years ago, when I walked in and found a copy of .hack//Quarantine, a PS2 game that goes for more than $80 today, for ten bucks. The one employee that knew what it was truly worth happened to have the day off that day, and I proceeded to rub it in her face for months. I still have that game - it's part of a set that goes for more than $200.
.hack// is one of those franchises that I don't see often, but the people who I see have a .hack// game have at least 7.
Also I didn't realise that employees could probably buy shit from the store, and likely at some discount. That seems dangerous lol.
This. I own exactly seven .hack// games, two animated series, four short animated films, and two cloth posters. I also had a pillowcase when I was a kid, but it was used so much it never survived.
My hometown, weirdly enough, had a trove of independent video game stores. The closest GameStop was in a distant mall, whereas I could ride my bike to the local shops. By the time I was old enough to drive myself around, it was easier to buy games online.
The one thing I did at a GameStop was trade up a PS3 model. I forked over the extra to be a temporary "super member" or whatever so I could score mad points from it, but I don't remember what I spent those points on, if anything. Hmm.
I'm pretty pleased that my early day video game consumerist memories are at local shops, though. One of them is still open to this day and I try to visit every time I go back, they're super nice! They're currently a sponsor for an independent wrestling show coming to town.
