Retro Game Trader — Local services in Hillsboro

Awesome place with huge selection of retro gaming products. They have two locations, so if one location doesn't want l have what you're looking for check the other location. Very friendly staff. I often bring my son to the locations, he loves talking to the staff about games, looking at all the selection there and then picking out some retro gaming products.

The only complaint I would have is about the hours at the Hillsboro location. I wish they were open until 9 p.m. like the Beaverton location. I'm coming from the other side of the Portland metropolitan area, and it's extremely hard to get there before they close at 7 p.m. As a result, we often find ourselves going to the Beaverton location during the week since they close at 9 p.m. By the time I'm done working and can head out to Hillsboro there's not enough time to get there before the store closes due to rush-hour traffic. We can only visit the Hillsboro location on the weekends when none of that isn't. I do wish they were open the same hours as the Beaverton location so we could visit both locations during the week. That said, I love the store and the staff is great, so it's still 5 stars. I just wish both locations closed at 9.

EDIT: I want to thank the owner of Retro Game Trader for their response. I've done some research since their response and they are not wrong. The store is awesome but this strip mall and parking lot have a bad, well-earned reputation at night. I've only been there during the day and I'm not from this side of town so I was not aware. Their reasoning is sound. Unfortunately it is what it is. I completely understand what they are saying and agree with it, and I think them for taking the time to respond and...

Excellent, but expensive. If you have trouble finding your favorite title or accessory in other retro videogame stores, you're most likely to find it here. This is arguably the best collection of video games in Oregon, complete with a whole section of Switch titles in the center. There's also sections for accessories, older consoles, imports, deals, collectibles, and plenty of collector's editions for games that don't get enough attention (e.g. Mercenary Kings). The service is great, and I thank the cashiers for being patient as I wandered throughout the store soaking in the massive collection of titles on display. There's even a form you can fill out to get notified when your favorite title does arrive in the store. It's a perfect store in just about every way, except for pricing.

The only flaw is how the price of most games here tend to be $5-10 more expensive than every other store in the area, regardless of condition. There's a price-matching policy in the store, but that doesn't sit well with me. Price-matching between big-box stores make sense since they sit on plenty of inventory and usually price each other the same to begin with. Price-matching between smaller independent stores... not so much. It's a nice benefit and I would consider it, if not for the fact that if I REALLY wanted a game from one store I recently visited... why wouldn't I just get the game right then and there? Why would I go take that price information and then hand it over to another store so I can buy the same game (in the same condition) at a different store? Anyways, it's a terrific store, but definitely do your research beforehand if you want to get the most bang...

Every time I go in here, the employees are completely incompetent at best or insanely rude at worst. It takes at least 10-15 minutes to get anything out of the case when there’s zero other customers and 3-4 employees working. And, their prices are pretty much double or more of market rate on anything more than a generation old, but when you complain that something’s marked up double or triple what even a competing game store, not eBay, would ask, the “manager” is more than happy to excitedly talk over you about “we’re willing to not sell it bro it’s worth more than that bro” and then act like you’re an idiot for not wanting to pay 100-300% markup when you can get it on eBay, in better condition for cheaper. Their selection isn’t even that good, they have what looks like a decent amount of Xbox and PlayStation games, but it’s all the same selection you’d find at a pawn shop or something, it’s just there’s 500 copies of Madden mixed in with 50 copies of the same game. Literally the only reason I ever go here is because the location is right next to WinCo and it’s convenient when I need a controller or an AV cable or something. If you want anything else, skip it and go someplace else.

Oh, and they have a nice little display of bootleg games like they’re shaming you for buying them, but they’re perfectly willing to sell GBA Pokemon games without a Nintendo watermark on the board, as long as the cart looks close enough. Cmon guys, it takes two...