independent videogame stores

[hell10n]

Yeah u dont get that kind of friendlyness in places like GAME or GS.

Just twats who either know nothing or are too bigheaded/too far up their own arse to speak to u in a friendly way.
I'd much prefer to avoid the big chain stores if I could, but all the Indies have died out around here.

[Flompy]

The Poole market place was awesome!

Of course the only decent games shop that exists now is Gamestation in Salisbury

[NekoFever]

The guy still has the same old mags, and all those old strategy guides for CD-ROM adventure games circa 1995, in his new shop

Where's the new shop? I haven't been into Poole in years but I remember him briefly moving a couple of shops down from Dixons and then disappearing, and that was pretty much the last time I looked. I think the last time I bought anything from him was Escape From Monkey Island on the PC, circa 2001.

[Decider-VT]

I used to go to Shekhana in North London when I was a child and I remember it being nice but a bit overpriced. The last time I went in there was years ago so I don't know if it's any different these days- I'm just amazed that it's survived for so long with so much local competition from Game, Gamestation, HMV and Awesome Games.

[wicky]

I wonder if Granger Games counts as an Indie? because they aractually pretty big in the North-East, with at least 4 or 5 shops in the area.

If i am not buying on the internet, I generally always use grainger games.

Charlies games in newcastle (westgate road then they moved to the green market) used to be my favourite, but they closed when the owners went off to live in spain.

[MattyD]

Used to be a great Indie store near me in Farnborough, but like all Indie shops they closed down

Kart Club in Aldershot isn't far from Farnborough and it was always OK in there, I used to buy my DC and PS2 games there when I was based in Alder-****. I remember when the Xbox first came out, they had a bunch of them LAN-ed up around a circular table and held Halo tournement a couple of nights a week

Where's the new shop?

Map here

[eastyy]

used to a nice little shop in my old home town of north walsham in norfolk

Did notice he gradually started to move to warhammer stuff though

[Hardbattle]

I?ve had nothing but good experience with Consoles Inc. based in Halesowen. It?s a small shop, but packed with interesting stuff that you don?t normally see in GAME? Import DS, PSP and 360 region free titles (at decent prices) - and good part exchange/trade in prices too? they also order anything that you want that they don?t have in stock.

They also have a small games room with a few 360s system linked up, each with HD-LCD screens and headphones.

The guy behind the counter certainly knows his stuff, and had even warned me off buying certain titles (for example MotoGP on the 360) because of the game appearing unfinished - he let me have a play so I could see what I was buying? great service.

Here's a link to their address details:

http://www.consolesinc.com/

[Kongster]

Game focus gets another vote from me. Their prices may be a bit high but they have an excellent range of stock (both current and retro), the staff are friendly and their customer service is great.

For example, they always show you the condition of the discs (always scratch free in my experience, they handle them with extreme care!) before you hand over your cash.

[Oh! My Car!]

The only place I can think of now is a nice little shop I know of in South London, but I'm keeping that one to myself (And No it's not Raven Games!)

come on mate tell! I'm tired of even having to consider going to a GAME these days, I need alternatives!

although there is New Age in Tooting which is a nice little shop, but not very import orientated.

[muse hunter]

T That said, I would totally recommend stores like Raven Games in Beckenham, Skill 2000 Games in Ealing and of course, Game Focus in the West End. These are the stores that I frequent for all things game-related, be it importing, retro, buying/selling or even repairs.

Are ravengames any good? i mean in person. Their website totally sucks, they also seem a bit of a rip off merchants also. I have bought a few items of their site in the past and wasn't too impressed, one item was an RBG cable for a sfc i bought last year and i found the picture was dark and washed out, ended up buying another from VGI which was perfect. I remember i was looking for a negeo AES before, i inquired about the one on their website with two games, i said would they sell it to me without the two games and for how much? the gits said they would only knock ?9 off the price without the games, WTF!!!

[bingowings]

CA Games in Glasgows West End - been about so long it's a ****in institution and I'm sure there'll be many people on here who'll hold their hand up and be counted as having been turned to the dark side (importing) by it.

Top, top shop - I've some great memories stuck in my head from that place - Seeing RidgeRacer running on PS1 for the first time and wishing I had the insane ?'s necessary to take it home - or seeing Shenmue running and feeling the hairs on the back of my neck all stand on end at the though of getting it home for a blast.

Also, see G-Force - They're not bad either.

agreed, G-Force is ok - but sometimes i think they pull the prices for imports out of their arse - second hand PSP games are decent though. ?15 for JPN 'Me and My Katamari' is ok for an impulse buy.

another vote for CA Games, the guy is super-friendly, can be expensive but you do get the occasional bargain.

now there is a CHIPS, just opened on Dumbarton Rd. only had a wee look-see, but it's well stocked with cheap(ish) PAL games. got me a copy of PS2 Rez for ?12, which isn't great but i don't mind as an on-the-spot buy.

[Strider]

Total Entertainment in Pokesdown is pretty good as well. I bought a Streets of Rage 3 in there recently for ?3.50 and sold it for ?40

The staff at Videogame Centre are lovely and while it is expensive, you can pretty much get anything you want from there.

I also remember the old town market place. (it used to have a really cool arcade just outside) but I heard it was closed down under dodgy circumstances. If it's still going around then I'll have to take a looksey.

You also have Game City and another new indie shop that have opened up in Parkstone. Seany has checked it out a few times, so I'm sure he can let you know about it.

All in all there's a surprising amount of stuff available in the Dorset area

[MattyD]

I also remember the old town market place. (it used to have a really cool arcade just outside) but I heard it was closed down under dodgy circumstances. If it's still going around then I'll have to take a looksey.

You also have... another new indie shop that have opened up in Parkstone. Seany has checked it out a few times, so I'm sure he can let you know about it.

They're one and the same

[Mr_Pie]

When I was in the UK my local independent was 'Solid Gold Games' in Aberdeen. Pretty small, had some decent pre-owned titles although the imports were somewhat limited. I bought my NGPC there and have quite a few happy memories. I dont know if it is still operational. Since I currently live in Brunei, my local independent is called EGM (Electronic Gaming Master) and has some imports but mostly stocks pirate games (as is the norm here...which of course I dont endorse..ahem... ). They have a decent selection of 360,PSP and DS titles. I bought New Super Mario Bros there a couple of days ago. Still, I miss the independents back home! When I was last in the UK (March), I popped into Game. It never changes... \