Remembering the great ‘ol days

For years now, GameStop has been on the ropes. We’ve needed to watch idly by whereas the shops began peddling kitschy online game merch, all of the whereas pulling again the deal with the video games themselves. It’s the circle of life — as expertise modifications, sure providers and even whole industries will change into out of date whereas others spring up of their place. After one other spherical of layoffs from the corporate hit the information, it feels just like the retail establishment may fold whilst quickly as the following few months. The meme inventory saga saved it afloat for some time, but it surely doesn’t appear to be that momentum has been capable of translate to long run sustainability.

For Millennials and older Gen Z, going to GameStop for a hype-filled midnight launch of your favourite sport, or perhaps a lazy afternoon of shopping the used titles, was one thing particular. It was a kind of locations that was charged with a form of electrical power — you’d be surrounded by youngsters excitedly bouncing in line as their mother and father purchased a sport as a particular deal with, or die-hard gamers who had lastly scraped up sufficient money to buy the console of their desires. It’s troublesome to elucidate in the event you weren’t there, but it surely was only a blissful place, for essentially the most half.

It had its downsides, too

After all, it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Gamers who tried to promote again used video games will instantly recount GameStop’s lowball payouts with disdain. Whereas the bodily used sport market has dwindled loads lately, the precise GameStop stinginess was a commonplace annoyance that we may all bond over. I’ve additionally heard loads of tales of individuals being harassed whereas attempting to buy their video games (particularly ladies/ladies), which I fortunately averted in my journeys there.

A few of my favourite GameStop reminiscences together with going to a location at a shopping mall in suburban Charlotte, North Carolina the place I grew up. I might go and peruse the shop with my brother whereas we waited for our Sunday lunch reservations, and he would clarify what the entire video games had been to me. That’s additionally the shop the place my Dad took us to purchase our Wii, which was a giant deal again within the day. And who may overlook the little kiosks the place you could possibly check out the video games.

There was additionally one thing actually enjoyable about strolling into the shop and seeing enormous cardboard shows arrange for regardless of the current scorching launch was. Now we simply have artwork the devs can throw up within the on-line retailer, but it surely doesn’t evaluate to seeing a life-size cardboard cutout of Grasp Chief by the entrance door to welcome you into your native GameStop location.

My Lich King cardboard cut-out show that I grabbed from Gamestop nearly 10 years in the past remains to be standing tall from wow

A brand new mannequin?

When GameStop began struggling and shutting shops, I heard information that they may shift towards a mannequin the place their areas could be modified to nonetheless embrace bodily sport and console gross sales, however they might additionally embrace areas the place gamers may congregate, hang around, and play some video games on retro consoles or state-of-the-art PCs. Personally, I might have died for a gaming café model of GameStop. We don’t have a variety of public areas to simply hand around in lately, and returning to GameStop’s outdated legacy of being a spot the place avid gamers can congregate would have been actually cool, for my part. That concept clearly didn’t pan out, and the corporate as a substitute tried to embrace the crypto and inventory hype helped them out. That additionally doesn’t appear to be understanding. I want I may say I’m shocked, however I’m not.

With the ever-looming menace of GameStop shuttering its doorways for good, I can’t assist however really feel nostalgic for its glory days each time I see the corporate within the headlines. Right here’s hoping that if it lastly does go below, somebody can be standing by with one thing nice that might substitute it (nonetheless holding out for the gaming café scenario).

We need to hear a few of your favourite GameStop reminiscences, too, so pontificate within the feedback with any tales you’d wish to share.