Paid Members BomberPat Posted May 30, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted May 30, 2019 Gamestation's a good one for me. Other than the aforementioned Ritz Video, my only prior video game shop was a really dark and dingy place somewhere in Hull. It all felt sordid and slightly underground, and not in the slightest bit welcoming. The only thing I ever remember buying from there was the Spider-Man Sinister 6 game. Gamestation was a revelation in comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted May 30, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted May 30, 2019 I completely forgot about Gamestation and EB. Did Game take over one, and then eventually the other? Pretty sure they merged with EB at some point. I much preferred EB to Gamestation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daaaaaad! Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 33 minutes ago, Accident Prone said: He had to watch in horror as the manager stuffed SNES games and GameBoys and Megadrives into their giant dumpster round back. Horrific. Proof, were it needed, that some store managers are absolute sadists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members John Matrix Posted May 30, 2019 Author Paid Members Share Posted May 30, 2019 5 hours ago, BomberPat said: my only prior video game shop was a really dark and dingy place somewhere in Hull. It all felt sordid and slightly underground, and not in the slightest bit welcoming. @tiger_rick - Can't believe nearly five hours has passed, and no one has capitalised on this absolute open goal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Accident Prone Posted May 30, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted May 30, 2019 (edited) 5 hours ago, Daaaaaad! said: Horrific. Proof, were it needed, that some store managers are absolute sadists. When I used to work at Staples, there was a similar issue there. When someone would purchase a warranty with tech, and they came back into store when it broke, the formula was to immediately say, "Yeah, it's fucked, you get a new one with the claimed insurance". So if a laptop cost £500, you would get back £500 in-store credit to grab a new one. It was frowned upon to spend time with a single customer trying to fix something. So no matter what the issue, big or small, you were expected to just file the claim and have the customer 'purchase' a new machine, which artificially increases the sales numbers. Then you had the chance to sell the customer another warranty and add-ons, which is what the mangers really wanted it. Sell, sell, fucking sell. The old machinery was then destroyed round back (usually by being thrown into the concrete wall like a fucking javelin) and then dumped in a bin. Job done. The sheer amount of printers, computers and laptops that were FULLY WORKING that were disposed off this way was bewildering. A lot of the issues that customers were having could've been solved with a little know-how or a quick Google search. But the managers were more focused on sales and less focused on keeping customers happy with their original purchase. I saw a laptop, practically brand new and cost a fair bob, taken out this way because the CD drive wouldn't read disks. Everything else worked, and it was probably just an issue with the drivers. After the customer had bought a new one and left the store, I told my manager this, and hinted that we needed something for the break room or he could hold it up as a prize for a staff sales contest, or give it to a charity or anything other than throwing away a perfectly good laptop. That's when he trotted out the policy of, "This laptop is now property of the insurers, and their instruction is to dispose of it". This came back to bite them on the arse numerous times and, to the surprise of no one (and getting the thread back on track), Staples shut it's doors a few years ago. They were bought out by Office Depot, who are now in administration themselves, and I'd wager they just kept the same management in place. You don't earn repeat custom by saying, "Our product is shit, so have another shit product, oh but by the way the warranty you just claimed on that is now null and void, so you have to buy a new one". Absolute sadists.   Edited May 30, 2019 by Accident Prone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Carbomb Posted May 30, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted May 30, 2019 1 hour ago, John Matrix said: @tiger_rick - Can't believe nearly five hours has passed, and no one has capitalised on this absolute open goal. Probably because nobody believes it was a shop, and that he actually had them delivered by the video game man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Danger Posted May 30, 2019 Share Posted May 30, 2019 7 hours ago, Daaaaaad! said: Horrific. Proof, were it needed, that some store managers are absolute sadists. The manager definitely revisited said dumpster after hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Jazzy G Posted May 31, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted May 31, 2019 18 hours ago, Thunderplex said: Forgot all about Toy and Hobby.  We had a massive one in Stockport, 4 levels of toy beauty.  Also had a Zodiac Toys which was smaller but cheaper, so I used to flit between the 2 to get the best bargains.  Saved a full 50p on the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century playset once, that I spent on an egg full of silly putty. There was a Zodiac Toys in Blackburn back in the 80s. I had no idea it was a chain. GameStation and I think EB were both taken over by Game, Granger Games wasn't bad in the brief time they were open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Cod Eye Posted May 31, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted May 31, 2019 I'm going to go slightly off piste with my choice, but it is the death of proper old school markets that I miss. Being from Barnsley, we had a shit hot one back in the day and it was a pure treasure trove of random toys and things as a kid. I always used to go in town with my old Nanan on a Saturday, and if I was good(ie went shopping without moaning) she would take me a a certain stall on the indoor market that sold all the toys that were obviously produced with high hopes, but didn't really take off. I'm talking Visionaries, Bucky O'Hare, Toxic Crusader and Beatlejuice. All cartoons I used to watch on C4 or the like back in the day, but who's toys were not really available in the big toy shops. Best thing is, they were practically giving them away at between £1 and £4 a go, so I cold get more than one. What else does a kid need? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PowerButchi Posted May 31, 2019 Moderators Share Posted May 31, 2019 The video shop in Hebden Bridge. When they went to DVD in 2006 they were Selling off all VHS at £1 and I had (and still have) a collection comparable to the one at the Victorville Film Archive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonworden Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 Speaking of old style markets they used to be great round my way for wcw VHS tapes in about 2002, managed to get loads of ppv ones and if they were out the highlight tapes were usually there. Woolworths stays in my heart too because of probably the last time I went in one they had a bin full of wrestling tapes including some wcw and ECW ones although I'm sure the wcw one was bash at the beach 1999 so maybe it wasn't quite as good a find as I remember... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Coconut Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 On 5/29/2019 at 9:54 PM, Thunderplex said: ...international magazines. Oh aye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Coconut Posted June 1, 2019 Share Posted June 1, 2019 I wanted to say Tandy myself but I wasn't sure I hadn't dreamed it. They had Atari XE games in the Cardiff branch. Who the fuck had Atari XE games? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Jazzy G Posted June 1, 2019 Paid Members Share Posted June 1, 2019 On 5/31/2019 at 10:26 AM, Cod Eye said: I'm going to go slightly off piste with my choice, but it is the death of proper old school markets that I miss. Being from Barnsley, we had a shit hot one back in the day and it was a pure treasure trove of random toys and things as a kid. I always used to go in town with my old Nanan on a Saturday, and if I was good(ie went shopping without moaning) she would take me a a certain stall on the indoor market that sold all the toys that were obviously produced with high hopes, but didn't really take off. I'm talking Visionaries, Bucky O'Hare, Toxic Crusader and Beatlejuice. All cartoons I used to watch on C4 or the like back in the day, but who's toys were not really available in the big toy shops. Best thing is, they were practically giving them away at between £1 and £4 a go, so I cold get more than one. What else does a kid need? Used to be a stall like that on Blackburn Market as well. I'd get all my Masters Of The Universe figures from there. Well, my mum & my gran would get all my Masters Of The Universe figures from there. There's a fascinating games stall on Plymouth Market where the prices range from somewhat inflated to absolute bargains. I picked up the Harry Potter GameBoy Color game there for a couple of quid. They decided to make it a JRPG. Got Crash Bandicoot on GameBoy Advance as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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