Legacy Games — Local services in Rosemount

Hate to have to leave a bad review on a small business, but unfortunately I feel like I should share my experience.

First the good, the store seems unique, the 2 associates working there were pretty chill, and apparently the owner is pretty crafty and sells stuff he and his friends make, which is cool and it makes this place stand out.

Okay now the bad. I wanted to take a look at some PlayStation 1 games, specifically Final Fantasy 8, which all were concealed inside of the glass case near the register. They had 5ish copies, and I asked the associate if I could see them all, he asked why I wanted to see them, and I clarified I wanted to pick the one with a good case, discs and manuals.

This seemed to set the owner off, and he made a comment about breaking the game case after I purchased it . Even if this was in jest it was very rude and confrontational. I had found a copy that had a nice manual and asked if I could swap the manual out with another one, and the store owner, in a VERY condescending way explained to me that they check every game they get in and they are priced exactly as they arrive and that's what you buy, no swapping.

After he explained it I understood where he was coming from, I wish he was nicer about it but whatever, the employee got another copy out for me to look at and when I opened it to check the discs, another game, Final Fantasy Tactics was also inside the game case, a long with the discs for Final Fantasy 8. At this point I wanted it because, as the manager explained, you buy it the way they sell it, and if there is an extra game inside obviously I'd take it.

This didn't sit well with the guy either and he told me they check all game cases before they sell them and if they find extra games like that inside, that he'd change the price to reflect that. Didn't you say you check games when they come in? How'd you miss an entire extra disc inside the case. He was really rude about it and told me that he expects to sell out of all copies of Final Fantasy 8 that he has at Christmas (he won't, I'm probably the only person ever to try and buy that game from the store since its unpopular and he has 5 copies there) and that I can come back and swap the manuals and discs around, but it would cost me extra.

At this point I had no more interest in buying the game from them, knowing he might crack the case after I bought the one I wanted. This actually made me pretty mad. I buy these old games not just to collect and play but to "preserve" them, breaking old cases and games as a joke is just really childish. These games aren't still being made dude, if you break them they only get replaced with pre-existing pieces.

Every used game store I have gone to ever in my life has never had a problem with me checking out the games first and trying to find the nicest one, they are used discs in jewel cases which are known to be fragile. If they don't want to deal with someone checking them for the best option maybe put them on the shelf so I could check them myself without having to bother anyone.

All in all I read some other reviews and it seems like the manager is a bit of a crab apple. Based on my experience in expecting either no response to this, or if there is a response it will be combative and argumentative.

Check out Level Up though they have better prices and actually let you look at the product before you buy and have 0 qualms if you say no.

Also just to add a lot of 5 star reviews for this store are "bought", meaning if you give the store a 5 Star review, you get a discount at check out. So I'd wager most 5 star reviews on here are entirely for that purpose. If they gave a discount for a social media following or ANY review, not just positive, I'd feel a lot better about how they seem to operate their business

I really like retro game stores and I wish there were more. This dude is sitting on something special but he's letting his bad attitude dictate how he runs his business, which is...

TL/DR strong inventory but a lot of the quality stuff is marked up a decent bit (20%+ over pricecharting) so just be aware of that tradeoff

I would like to preface this by saying I have bought stuff from here before and I likely still will again, buuuuuut

The pricing strategy this store employs can be frustrating a good amount of the time for the average game collector. For popular 6th - 8th generation video games (Wii, DS, PSP, Vita, PS3, Wii U, 3DS, etc.), any well known title will often come with it a markup over the going rate for it online as found via PriceCharting.

This is fair, as both you are able to take a look and verify condition, along with the fact that of course if a place was selling exactly at or below market value, they'd be hard-pressed to keep inventory and would be very liable to any spikes in price that these games may suddenly see.

However, from a consumer side, it's a little ridiculous to see 9 copies of Mario Kart Wii sitting at $69.99 when it is a) one of the best selling video games of all time and b) routinely goes for about $34.99 online.

Obviously I am just picking one of the extreme cases and this is not the case for every game here, as of course I've found and purchased stuff here that is within 10% of what it goes for bc, 1 - convenient 2 - I can see it and hold it before buying and 3 - I do enjoy having access to a store like this just to browse around from time to time.

But more often than not, I find myself seeing a game that I really want, just to look up and see what it typically goes for and see that I can find it online or even at GameStop for 20-30% cheaper. I think as far as it goes, this store caters more towards the casual parent who wants to go pick their kid up a Mario game and be sure that it's in stock, not bothering to look up what it actually goes for, moreso than the game collector who is going to be a little more picky and be looking to either pay market rate or snag a deal if you're lucky.

Flip side is though maybe they pay really well on trade-ins I've never tried but if they're looking for $50 for Xenoblade X maybe they're giving like $25 trade in which is almost what the game is worth these days so that would be huge.

I do appreciate the transparency and convenience of the live inventory spreadsheet though has saved me a trip and motivated me to make a trip before and it's impressive to see such a large inventory accurately reflected.

(Updated to 4 stars up from 3 as we’re now down to 59.99 on Mario Kart 8 and the selection is excellent post Christmas - once we break under $50 we’ll...

Not family friendly. We went there earlier in the day and bought some cards and stuffed animals. My children got their Christmas gifts later in evening from extended family.

We went back because the children wanted to spend their money on more pokemon items. My little toddler brought into the store the stuffed animal she purchased previously. Wife and I didn't catch it until it was in the store. Wife tired to explain it to the employee but the employee wanted to see the receipt.

At this time, I used the bathroom and when I came out, I showed him the receipt. At this point the owner jumps away from the table finally and then says, "How are we supposed to know you didn't take it?" I am guessing he meant another one from the shelf. She was trying to be honest and say our child brought it in before we noticed, and feels like the owner blew up on us. The employee asked for the receipt; I show it on the phone that we got 2 a few hrs ago; then it gets turned around to the toddler shouldn't have brought it in and you are terrible parents for not catching it.

And further berates us by saying if you went to Best Buy, you wouldn't be dragging your old tv through the store. And also, he said that we needed "to keep a better eye on our children."

If it wasn't for our children, I would not have given the place the time of day.

I wish I thought to say that they weren't Best Buy and that Best Buy would have had us tracked before we entered knowing what was brought in and in what condition and whom with multiple surveillance cameras.

Unfortunately, it didn't dawn on me to inquire about their security cameras to see/ prove my daughter did bring it in the store. I mean, they have one pointing right at the doorway... and another pointing towards where everyone walks past the tables.

To say we'll never darken their store again would be too soon. I guess I'll just stick to Best Buy & Amazon... like the other millions of people.

BUT if you do decide to still go, pat your children down to make sure they don't have anything the store might sell, don't go at night when you can't see what your children are possibly carrying, and...