If you are like me, you prefer to actually own actual cartridges and CD-ROM discs as opposed to playing retro video games on a computer running emulation software. For myself, I think there is no better feeling that actually playing the classic games on the original hardware. (Sort of like how I always preferred seeing a record spin instead of pressing play on an iPod.) It seems that the first place that people go to when they want to purchase classic games, is a little online website called eBay. However there is a possibility that could change in the near future, with a possible new option that very well could be in the works.
The all-mighty GameStop has recently hinted around the chance of expanding its online store to include the sales of retro video game cartridges and CDs for systems that they no longer support in their physical store locations. GameStop CEO Paul Raines had this statement to say:
?We?ve got them. We think there?s a vintage sales opportunity, so we?re accumulating some inventory. It?s a big idea, and there?s a few problems with it. The first one is sourcing the product, the condition, the refurbishment, all that stuff. But there?s a customer for it. And we?re working on some stuff we haven?t announced yet. If you go to eBay and look at all of the gaming stuff that?s on there, it?s unbelievable. Collector?s stuff. We?ve got to be in that business. We will be. Our website is becoming unbelievably rich. We can?t just be trying to go head-to-head with Amazon, beating each other to death on delivery dates. We do plenty of that. But we?ve got to be a destination for gamers where, for cool stuff for gaming, you?ve got to go to GameStop.?
The above quotations came from Raines at the very first public GameStop Expo, which took place in San Antonio, Texas.
When it comes to buying current video games, whether you want to admit it or not, there are really two chains that everyone thinks of: GameStop and EB Games. I can remember back in the days of Funcoland and Electronic Boutique myself. Most of the time, I will go online to look to see if there is a copy of a game that I want at the local brick and mortar location, and then go pick it up. I rarely actually make any online purchases. I for one have to wonder on if this idea would work out. My issue is, when it comes to the retro games, I want to see actual photographs of the cartridge I am buying, not a stock photo, which I have a feeling would be the way that GameStop handles the store, since that is how they currently operate. I know that not all retro games are in mint condition, but if they say something is going to be in ?good? condition, I would need to know their definition of it first. Not to mention, if this were to happen, I would like to see more complete games than just cartridge only type deals, which I know would be very difficult. (Unless GameStop started making personalized and custom boxes for the cartridge based media, sort of like how they print a sheet and put it in a standard DVD case for current generation games that are incomplete.)
Not that I couldn?t see the concept working out, however. Mr. Raines is absolutely correct when he said that stuff that is out there is incredible. What makes me sad though, is that GameStop could have always been the leader with this type of transaction, but over the years had chosen to ignore the fact that the older games exist at all. It just seems to me that they realized a little late that the market was there, when in reality, they should have been there all along. Not to mention, if you take a look at what GameStop has done with the current generation used market, I for one would not be all that impressed anyway. It makes you have to ponder this thought: If GameStop were to become the leader in the vintage market, what would that do to the current online market as we know it? Would rare titles no longer be as sought out? Would Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt fetch $15 on auction sites and be considered an excellent deal? (Not that I don?t wish it?s success mind you, I?m just curious if you all think that this idea may just be a little too late, and if they should just leave well enough alone.)
If this section of their online storefront is in fact to become a reality, there has been no word on when the sales of classic merchandise would begin.
Source: http://www.retrogamenetwork.com/2012/09/05/gamestop-to-possibly-launch-online-store-for-retro-games/
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