Game Zone Salem — Local services in Salem

I visited Game Zone recently and did not have the best of experiences. The one member of staff that was working there when I walked in seemed knowledgeable enough, but lacked any tact or people skills and was very argumentative. Minus one star.

The prices of everything was above market price, some of it exorbitantly much more. Furthermore, many of the items on the walls and the boxed games inside of the glass display cases did not have prices listed on them, a bit of a deceptive business practice. I asked if a boxed R.O.B. on the wall was complete and was told, "yes", but when inquiring how much they were willing to accept for it I was told, "It's part of our personal collection and not for sale". Perhaps putting a sign underneath it that says, "not for sale" might be a good idea. It appears that a lot of the items at Game Zone are display pieces and not for sale. I found this to be a bit confusing as I thought I had walked into a shop that sold games and not a museum. Minus two stars.

When inquiring how much they were willing to pay for trade-ins I was told, "nobody is paying 50% market value for anything anymore". I was so off put by this low-ball comment that I decided to not even bother bringing inside the crates full of new and boxed NES, N64, GAMEBOY, and Genesis games that I brought up there and had intended to sell. Why should I even bother wasting my time when they are going low-ball me, and then turn around and sell those same games for exceptionality more? That does not make any sense. Minus one star.

They do have a pretty decent selection of games, but, at those exorbitant prices, unless they have something really rare that you can not find anywhere else, and even if they do they are probably not even willing to sell it to you. Honestly, you would be much better off spending your money somewhere else that actually treats their customers with dignity and respect.

I wanted to like this place, but the truth is that as far as retro game stores in the Boston area are concerned, this is probably one of the worst. At least the staff at Replay'd in Allston will look you in the eye and be straight with you while they low-ball you, this place just treats you like you are ignorant. I will not be coming back.

Update 10/10/2022 3:15pm: I've been to Gamezone a couple more times since I wrote my original review because I thought that I'd give them another chance, but they managed to leave an even worse impression. A phone call to the owner looking for a specific item resulted in them saying that they had it, but upon visiting they did not. Furthermore, on another occasion I was told that they would pay a specific amount for an item, and when I came in they refused to accept the item outright. Being incompetent is one thing but outright lying is another. Minus one star.

Final verdict: Zero stars, stay away from this place...

I don't do a ton of reviews but I kind of feel the need to here.

Game Zone is a pretty cool store and they're definitely well stocked with a bunch of good retro stuff, but the vibe kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. Feeling is everything. Everywhere.

I've been busting out some of my old game consoles and getting back in the whole retro scene. When I got there the dude offered help if I asked for it. I'm like oh he seems cool, so I'll talk to him about my console issues and some other stuff. I dig talking about games etc. It was kind of odd but he was a bit condescending the entire time. It got to the point where I was so annoyed that I asked him how old he was because he was attempting to make it seem like he was a retro game veteran. He was just trying way, way too hard. He was talking about some old school gaming stuff which was is awesome, regardless of being a decade younger than me, but when I started talking it's like I wasn't even there. Like dude, you're a borderline millennial who grew up on Playstation 2. Mommy and daddy bought you second or third hand retro stuff when you found out that it was cool. He literally had no response to my nostalgic enthusiasm for childhood memories and game talk. I even said out loud, "I'm talking to myself here" and left. I almost bought something.

Maybe I just went at the wrong time. The pimply faced children do get out of school around 3pm so I'll attribute it to a probable shift change.

It does get two stars just because of the good selection of games, variety of systems and the fact that Green Hill Zone music was being played in the background. But damn, when I go to most game stores people are usually welcoming and cool to talk to. If you're looking for some good conversation and friendliness alongside of good game selection, this probably isn't the...

I been going here since I discovered them on a field trip with my high school in 2019. Fast forward to now and I am not a fan of them and there polices I remember trading in about 70 games and yeah sure a lot of it was fodder but they legit gave me $2 and there was some good games in there I would of been ok with 10 or 15 bucks.

The last time that really drew the line for me is I bought a copy of Need For Speed Underground 2 and I did not test it right away cause I assumed it worked. A month later I finally got around to testing it out and it did not work and I brought it back and they would not take it back without a restocking fee.

I don't know if this has always been a thing here but it was the first time I got that and it has complete pushed me away from them which sucks cause one of the guys there was pretty chill and one time remembered I am a big ratchet and clank fan and had deadlocked there and mentioned it but sadly I will be going to other stores or just chancing...