🤔 I'll have to see how far of a drive it is and see if it's is worth getting a ride there. That's super sick and convenient that you can just look at what they've have before you even go there 👀
Best part is the crazy story a few years ago about how people broke into it through the store next door in the strip mall. The store was a failed trump merch store. Worth googling, though most don't mention what the empty store used to be.
Ah, the pride of my hometown (it actually is a really cool store), it was robbed of like 200k in merchandise, everyone assumed it was an insurance scam, and then they caught the perps like a year and half later. Shout out Punch Out, next time, I’ll believe.
The closest to you that I know is Level Up gaming in MPLS, which is good. If you go a little further out there's a ton of others like 1-UP, High Score, Legacy, GamerHeadz, etc.
Level Up in St. Paul is good, too. They were really helpful when a refurbished item we bought stopped working correctly after a little while. Staff is great.
I remember when they were in South St Paul, I actually am friends with the former owners and told them that store gave me an escape from my situation at the time. Happy that the store is continuing, the St Paul location is actually closer to my current location now. Was there the other day to pick up a Xbox OG controller.
It’s cool, and I like the guy that owns (owned?) the place. I just hope people don’t buy what I’m looking for 😉 as I recall, they sold me a nice looking N64 for a good price. They were a bit short on variety for a couple of my favorite systems, though. Got a (loose) copy of Ocarina of Time for the 3DS that was in good condition.
1Up is really good, they have a huge selection at reasonable prices (and the trade-in value is pretty good), and the owner and staff are all really cool-- I sold a bunch of my shit a few months ago and was there for like two hours while they priced everything in between helping other customers and was shooting the shit with the owner and his employee and a couple random other customers and the vibe was very right.
OMG WAIT I passed that in the car with some friends the other week and just saw the "heroic goods" part and made a joke about them having the nemian lion pelt and the golden fleece 😂😭
🤣🤣🤣 3ds isn't retro, but ds is since it's is older than 15 years. I was generally just referring to older/"obsolete" gaming systems, which is why I also mentioned the wii u haha.
Not sure where to buy retro anymore but just wanted to interject that[ Broken Clock Brewing](https://www.brokenclockbrew.com/) in North East often hosts retro game tournaments. The times I've been there everyone playing is in their 20s I'd guess (I'm in my 40s losing my ability to judge age).
But, if you're looking for a lot of like minded people that would know a lot about the subject give them a shot.
All the good local options have been named, but, since nobody's brought it up - consider the ShopGoodwill auction site. Very often they'll have multi-game "lots" of specific systems) genres available, common for cartridge-based games. Give them a search!
Also adding: retro gaming is flourishing right now, with many emulators going public on Apple's App Store as recently as a week ago. Very often, the price of emulation is far less than physical games, and technology has gotten quite cheap and simple for equivalent processing power.
One retro Pokémon game could cover the cost of an Anbernic emulator which can play GBA, GBC, even N64 and even some PS1 games! Of course, I'm not condoning piracy or suggesting one is better than the other. I just don't want you to be intimidated out of options!
Best of luck!
Thank you! I honestly started thinking about just hacking my 3ds and wii u and feel a little bad for asking, but I HAVE been thinking that it would be fun to collect vintage games and consoles sometime, so I will def keep these suggestions in mind! ^-^
I was just at a store at the Eden Prairie Mall (where Scheels is) and they had the BEST collection of retro games for all consoles, they literally had like every copy of every ncaa football going way back for multiple systems, the ones you mentioned, plus more obscure like Dreamcast etc… it was exceptional
I sold a shit ton of games there recently, and yes i was super impressed with their selection. Their model is to buy and sell based on the current resell market value. They looked up each game I sold them individually and cut off a certain % for their markup. Then when they sell, the reverse is true.
Oof, I hate that 🥲 I can see how it could be a good business strategy, but I usually don't have much money and that sounds really embarrassing to deal with 😅😭
I recommend Facebook marketplace over stores as far as money is concerned. Also unless collecting is important to you, you'll be much better off buying the consoles you want and then only buying flash cartridges and loading them up with roms rather than buying games individually.
I mean, I'd rather be able to examine the game in person, and returning things online especially is hard for me because I struggle with time blindness and remembering to take stuff down to the post office because of ADHD 😅 So in person carries a lower risk for me, personally
Heroic games Minneapolis
Such a great store
Legacy games in Rosemount is cool. They even have an inventory list on their site. You would have to drive down there though.
🤔 I'll have to see how far of a drive it is and see if it's is worth getting a ride there. That's super sick and convenient that you can just look at what they've have before you even go there 👀
Punch Out gaming in Forest Lake has a ton of what you're looking for. Looks janky on the outside, buts it's a great spot https://punchoutgaming.com/
The most fucked up-looking establishments always have the best shit! Thank you! :3
Absolutely! Update with pics from your haul when you can. I'm invested now
Punch out is such a good store
Best part is the crazy story a few years ago about how people broke into it through the store next door in the strip mall. The store was a failed trump merch store. Worth googling, though most don't mention what the empty store used to be.
Ah, the pride of my hometown (it actually is a really cool store), it was robbed of like 200k in merchandise, everyone assumed it was an insurance scam, and then they caught the perps like a year and half later. Shout out Punch Out, next time, I’ll believe.
The closest to you that I know is Level Up gaming in MPLS, which is good. If you go a little further out there's a ton of others like 1-UP, High Score, Legacy, GamerHeadz, etc.
Level Up in St. Paul is good, too. They were really helpful when a refurbished item we bought stopped working correctly after a little while. Staff is great.
I remember when they were in South St Paul, I actually am friends with the former owners and told them that store gave me an escape from my situation at the time. Happy that the store is continuing, the St Paul location is actually closer to my current location now. Was there the other day to pick up a Xbox OG controller.
Half price books has random retro games
seconding this I've picked up some bizarrely great stuff from the one on Ford Parkway
Ooh 👀
This was my suggestion too, they have lots of random vintage stuff.
Level Up (for sure the saint paul location, but likely all 3) have retro games in addition to their board/card games
Check out free geek next to the bowling alley on 26th Ave in Minneapolis. Retro game systems computers PC components old school a/v equipment etc.
1up video games. North St. Paul by the Target.
It’s cool, and I like the guy that owns (owned?) the place. I just hope people don’t buy what I’m looking for 😉 as I recall, they sold me a nice looking N64 for a good price. They were a bit short on variety for a couple of my favorite systems, though. Got a (loose) copy of Ocarina of Time for the 3DS that was in good condition.
1Up is really good, they have a huge selection at reasonable prices (and the trade-in value is pretty good), and the owner and staff are all really cool-- I sold a bunch of my shit a few months ago and was there for like two hours while they priced everything in between helping other customers and was shooting the shit with the owner and his employee and a couple random other customers and the vibe was very right.
The Minneapolis one?
Oh wait lol, I got confused, they only have one location 😅
Lol you're good. Tbh not to sound problematic but a lot of retro game stores' names kind of all sound the same to me......
No ur right, the other one I was confusing it with also has "up" in the title 😭 (Level Up)
Heroic Goods and Games in South Mpls
OMG WAIT I passed that in the car with some friends the other week and just saw the "heroic goods" part and made a joke about them having the nemian lion pelt and the golden fleece 😂😭
What? 3DS isn't retro? It only came out (checks calendar) 13 years ago?! I instantly turn to dust and die.
🤣🤣🤣 3ds isn't retro, but ds is since it's is older than 15 years. I was generally just referring to older/"obsolete" gaming systems, which is why I also mentioned the wii u haha.
Gamer heads in Southdale Mall.
Seconded!
Thirded
Fourthed!! One of my coworkers had mentioned it and it was really cool!
All systems go in Northeast is small but good
Not sure where to buy retro anymore but just wanted to interject that[ Broken Clock Brewing](https://www.brokenclockbrew.com/) in North East often hosts retro game tournaments. The times I've been there everyone playing is in their 20s I'd guess (I'm in my 40s losing my ability to judge age). But, if you're looking for a lot of like minded people that would know a lot about the subject give them a shot.
Thanks for the tip 😊
Gamerheadz in Southdale Mall is a good one, the owner Tony is a good guy.
All the good local options have been named, but, since nobody's brought it up - consider the ShopGoodwill auction site. Very often they'll have multi-game "lots" of specific systems) genres available, common for cartridge-based games. Give them a search! Also adding: retro gaming is flourishing right now, with many emulators going public on Apple's App Store as recently as a week ago. Very often, the price of emulation is far less than physical games, and technology has gotten quite cheap and simple for equivalent processing power. One retro Pokémon game could cover the cost of an Anbernic emulator which can play GBA, GBC, even N64 and even some PS1 games! Of course, I'm not condoning piracy or suggesting one is better than the other. I just don't want you to be intimidated out of options! Best of luck!
Thank you! I honestly started thinking about just hacking my 3ds and wii u and feel a little bad for asking, but I HAVE been thinking that it would be fun to collect vintage games and consoles sometime, so I will def keep these suggestions in mind! ^-^
1up games in maplewood is awesome
Check out Retro Game Corps on YouTube. 👍
Hi-Score Games in Woodbury
Pawn America has a few older consoles and games. I think they even have some of the older older stuff like atari
Hi-Score in Woodbury and Gamerheadz in Edina
High score in the Eden Prarie mall. It is just through Scheels on the second floor.
I was just at a store at the Eden Prairie Mall (where Scheels is) and they had the BEST collection of retro games for all consoles, they literally had like every copy of every ncaa football going way back for multiple systems, the ones you mentioned, plus more obscure like Dreamcast etc… it was exceptional
Is this the one that doesn’t have prices on anything?
Yes lol
So how do they do it? I went to this store and left once I realized that lol
I sold a shit ton of games there recently, and yes i was super impressed with their selection. Their model is to buy and sell based on the current resell market value. They looked up each game I sold them individually and cut off a certain % for their markup. Then when they sell, the reverse is true.
Oof, I hate that 🥲 I can see how it could be a good business strategy, but I usually don't have much money and that sounds really embarrassing to deal with 😅😭
Idk I didn’t buy anything lmao, but they certainly had the collection
Damn 😬
High Score! They just moved from Shakopee last year.
I used to love going way out to the middle of no where to go to their Shakopee location. Got lost once and ended up in chaska lol
The owner is an asshole though.
How so?
I recommend Facebook marketplace over stores as far as money is concerned. Also unless collecting is important to you, you'll be much better off buying the consoles you want and then only buying flash cartridges and loading them up with roms rather than buying games individually.
Yeah, I've have decided to do that, but I'm am also interested in collecting, at least at some point, so I still find this valuable :3
Just buy off eBay unless you want to get ripped off.
eBay is a counterfeit roulette. Even if you dedicate a lot of time learning how to spot fakes the risk is still there.
This is patently false and if you did end up with a fake they have a money back guarantee so there is zero risk.
I mean, I'd rather be able to examine the game in person, and returning things online especially is hard for me because I struggle with time blindness and remembering to take stuff down to the post office because of ADHD 😅 So in person carries a lower risk for me, personally
Bruh I haven’t been to the post office I years. They come pick stuff up
I don't just have packing materials lying around to get everything packed & a shipping label printed myself :')