GameStop has begun rolling out its new GameStop Retro brand across the USA, providing American gamers with even more choices of places to go to peruse classic retro games and consoles both in-store and online.
Sharing the news in a Tweet on their official X account, GameStop has listed all the consoles they’ll be stocking media for in existing stores that will now have a specific retro area, with every Nintendo console up to the Wii U making the cut. The Xbox and Xbox 360 are included, as is every PlayStation up to PS3 including the PS Vita, and then the Sega Genesis, Saturn, and Dreamcast. Weirdly, there’s no mention of the PSP or any ‘Golden Age of Gaming’ consoles like the Atari back catalogue, so they’re just going for the more ‘mainstream’ retro consoles, which doesn’t really surprise me.
I have mixed feelings about GameStop selling Retro Games, and I know that lots of other publications like Time Extension share the same feelings. My main concern is that prices are going to skyrocket. It’s the same as going to a place like CEX in my city of York instead of heading to a local game shop like Sore Thumb Retro Games – games traded into highstreet brands end up going for extortionate amounts, and you don’t get that same connection with the person behind the counter.
One of the things we love about the Retroroad Show YouTube series is that we get to speak to people who live and breathe Retro Games. It’s that same feeling as speaking to someone who loves vinyl records or any kind of collectible medium; they have an unbridled passion for their work, and I just don’t know whether the staff at GameStop will have the experience or time to put into knowing about the games and consoles they will be selling. As someone who worked in a shoe shop when I was younger, I know how little I knew (or let’s be honest, cared) about the shoes I was selling, hence my worries…
I could be being unfair here, and I’m willing to go forward with an open mind to see what happens. Hopefully, we’ll get a chance to head over to America to check out a store later this year to do a more in-depth review for you as it’s unknown whether European GameStop stores will be getting the same service.
It’s not the first time GameStop has been in the news recently either, what with the closure of Gameinformer which was owned and subsequently canceled by the American gaming giants. It was a huge blow for the gaming publication world, though hope remains for physical magazines with titles like GENERATIONS making big waves on Kickstarter. Hopefully, the team behind GENERATIONS can prove that flicking through a magazine is still something we want and need in 2024, and let’s hope it can help promote local shops along the way just like the good old days!
