Games Galore — Local services in Jacksonville

Pros: Very kind, sociable and knowledgeable staff Most retro game prices were outstandingly great. Lots of high end retro games Very accessible location

Cons: THEY DO NOT CLEAN OR TEST THEIR GAMES Prices on midrange games were inconsistent

Visited from out of town, only been once so by sample size my experience might not be accurate to what others might experience. I also only bought retro games, nothing new. So I have no opinion on anything newer. Prices seemed to be based off of Pricecharting, which is a super reasonable price point that most collectors I know usually buy/sell with, so that's huge for a store, and a giant plus for me, that being said, there were some inconsistencies. There were a few games that I noticed were priced $30+ what they are on pricecharting, but it was mostly weird because it was a few midrange games, the $30-$50 games priced at $60-$80. Not all, just a few. My BIGGEST issue, honestly a huge one. It was clear to me that they never cleaned or tested any of their stock. A lot of the games in the cases were dirty and worn out, which is already uncommon for a gamestore of their size, but not something that I was too worried about because I usually go over and re-clean everything anyway. What shocked me is they never cleaned any of the contacts on the cartridges. All were outrageously dirty. After cleaning contacts on all my games, I started testing them. Of the 13 I bought, 3 didn't work. Luckily, one of the cartridges was just a little dirty on the connections to the board, after opening it up and minimal cleaning, it worked. The other 2 had surface corrosion, not even close to working condition. Thankfully, I have experience bringing games back from the dead, and after literally 7 hours of work, I got them functional. These issues were really awkward for me because I was visiting from 3000 miles away, so I didn't get to test until I got home, no option for me to return.

I would still rate this store highly despite these issues only if you take precaution and test every single cartridge...

You typically got 3 types of retro game stores:

Colorful and cool Bright and white Dank and dingy

I looked at the reviews and some pictures and already in my mind, I came to the bright and white conclusion of probably not worth my time. Probably stocked with a whole bunch filler, and won't be around for much longer as places fitting this criteria usually do. At least from my experience.

I was wrong. Under that boring white paint there were rows and walls filled with games worthy of my, or anyone's, attention. Games I've rarely seen in a majority of the retro game stores I've visited over the years. I'm talking glass display counters dedicated to NES, SNES, Game Boy, GBA. Racks of non-filler Xbox and PlayStation games. Wall shelves overflowing with OEM and aftermarket controllers...Let me tone it down before it gets X rated.

I'm glad I stopped by. If I'm ever in Jacksonville, Florida again, I'll make sure to allocate more time. Unfti went in an hour or so before closing time so didn't get much time to comb through it all.

Also special shout out to the short guy with 3 strands of slicked back hair trying to rizz up that female customer who's kid or something only liked chicken tenders. She was not feeling you little bro. Made it super obvious he did not want to acknowledge or look at me for some reason, lol. But that's alright cause I don't know if he actually works there, or just has a permanent stool to sit at by the SNES/NES games. The main guy ringing people up, however, customer service champ--even with all the people that showed up 45 minutes before closing--Had everyone in and out in pleasant tone, making sure you knew you had 30 days for a return if there were any problems with your purchase. I...

I tend to check out nearby retro video game stores when I go to places I'm not around normally, so this was an easy pick in Jacksonville. The selection was a lot better than I expected for it being considered not as good as Video Game Rescue, and I was generally pleased with the store as a whole, say for some negatives for later. When it comes to retro video game stores, they usually have a secondary business, and this one has a large movie collection, even if it's definitely playing 2nd fiddle to the games. Plenty of consoles available, and has a good share of rarer game titles as well, which is always a nice sight. That being said, there are issues. When it comes to the store front, the sun is it's main enemy when it comes to presentation. If any item is located towards the front of the store, expect a lot of sun damage. The posters on the walls show a ton of it and should be replaced. Another negative I'd have to give is towards some of the associates. I like a knowledgeable person working a counter, but not one who is overly obnoxious about what he knows or thinks he knows. I didn't get the name primarily because talking to the guy was a chore. He was helpful when you asked something, but he could not help but act like "Comic Book Guy" before or after doing so. Don't care how long he's worked there, it's not helping...