R.U. Game? — Attraction in Temple Terrace

I just left this place in disgust for the last time because I am never coming back here. My wife and I go in to see what’s new and we are greeted with a disgusting conversation between the store clerk and 2 5-guys employees discussing how some old millionaire impregnated a 26 year old tiktok model and its response being “nice.” I heard the tail end of another conversation when we walked in about how a previous customer must have been “rich” based on that customers partner being attractive and from what I am assuming the other parter being a much older individual. I wouldn’t want to take any women or children or even people who are decent human beings in there if that’s how freely the clerk discussed impregnating women and discussing other customers in a public setting when other customers are present. This isn’t the only thing that’s dissuading us from coming into this establishment. For months now the clerk who I would describe as a heavy set man, pale sallow skin, and mid-neck long greasy hair absolutely stinks. His girlfriend who isn’t an employee hangs out with him behind the counter must have total loss of smell to be able to tolerate sitting next to the equivalent of a Burger King kitchen. I can understand if the clerk has a second job working at a kitchen and doesn’t have the ability to shower between jobs but basic hygiene is basic hygiene. Local game stores often have the reputation of having gross, smelly and sexist men as cashiers but it sucks when that reputation is true. I’d hate for a local game store to shut down because there aren’t a ton left but wouldn’t want to sing the praises of a place that doesn’t feel welcoming to women or children or decent people. I can understand wanting to make customers feel welcome by entertaining their conversation topics but you need to be able to draw a line between what’s okay to discuss in public and what’s not, and that includes shutting down talking about weird impregnation stories. I’d recommend just driving a few mins further down to M and M games, another local retro game store, if you want to have a...

Great store. Many games for 2nd generation consoles (1972-1982ish) through current 9th generation consoles. Pretty wide selection of games from 3rd-generation forward, but not for 2nd gen. Unfortunately, only very common to extraordinarily common Gen-2 games were on the shelves, and mostly overpriced, but still a bit lower priced compared to their competitors. As an avid collector since the early 80s, I always walk into these stores all around Florida prepared to drop $200-$300 if necessary. Unfortunately, even these are still priced high enough to disincentivize any purchase from me, though, which is disappointing, but so does almost every other retro game store notwithstanding the fact that all of these stores barely ever make a sale, with some whose customer-facing inventories not budging for an entire year or longer. Who knows ... perhaps one day they'll all realize that relying on eBay B.I.N. and PriceCharting values (which are profoundly and artificially overinflated) to price their games is a misguided strategy and modify their pricing structure to reflect that, and then they might just start selling their products. In the meantime, be prepared to see the same situation here as at most other places ... i.e. shelves full of Combat, Pac-Man, Defender, Outlaw, etc. Some of the Gen 2 stuff also has severe oxidization on their labels from sitting in sunlight (could also be fluorescent lighting), which kills a loose game's value, and yet, a title with a perfect label is priced the exact same as the same title with a wrecked or even missing label. Gen 3 loose games, although more reasonably priced and in better condition than their Gen 2 inventory of games, are still a bit high priced on probably half of what I looked at, but decently priced on the other half. Otherwise, this is a great store in a great location with very friendly, attentive and helpful staff, and a LOT of games for a LOT of systems. Their Nintendo DS game selection is INSANE. They got what you need...

I find it difficult to take the lower-rated reviews on here at face value. I've been in here dozens of times since moving to Tampa and I've never been treated as anything less than a valued guest, even all those times I was just killing a few minutes browsing around instead of actively aiming to purchase an item. The staff isn't pushy, they aren't inattentive and they've always been happy to help.

While it's true that, as has been mentioned before, they frequently watch videos and some of those videos aren't entirely suited for all ages, there's never been a time the content has been especially questionable nor particularly obnoxious. The chatter between employees has never been overly derogatory by any means, either... maybe as a cultural anthropology major I just have a neutralizing effect on people, but I'm more inclined to suspect the remark to that end in a previous review was overblown.

Several times I've had deep and enriching dialogs with the staff, covering myriad issues throughout the gaming spectrum. That's fancy talk for saying we totally nerd out, by the way, and it's glorious.

The bottom line is, this place is golden. Stepping inside is like entering a palace of childhood memories to those of us who preferred the controller over the baseball bat back in the day, you get more for your trade-in buck here than those big honking corporate hubs they call GameStop tend to offer, and if you're looking for a game and anywhere in the metro area is going to have it, it's probably going to be here. Don't be afraid to step outside and soak in the sunshine a little bit -- shove aside that Amazon link and go to R.U. Game for a far better experience with the instant gratification of a vintage title in the palm...