Off to London this weekend, where's the Retro shops?

[tanooki]

I'm going to London this weekend to do a bit of shopping and have a look round. Any recommendations for retro game shops? Also wouldn't mind checking out decent import/gaming merchandise specialists?

[KusoGaki]

There's not really anything much for retro stuff.

Gamefocus in Goodge street has a few bits and bob, mostly unboxed n64/snes carts and a bit overpriced sometimes.

Gamestation in Camden Town sometimes has a few console sets.

Gamestation in Lewisham had a tiny section of retro stuff (mostly crap).

The Japanese 2nd hand book shop in Soho has a little shelf of Japanese unboxed snes and some other stuff.

CEX rathbone the earliest stuff is ps1, and i'm not sure if they still do original gameboy games (unboxed). Last time i checked you had to ask to see the folder because they keep it behind the counter.

Ravengames in Kent, but that place is far and expensive.

I think anywhere you go you will probably be dissapointed.

[tanooki]

I figured i might be out of luck. Not to worry, i'll just wander round and see what i find.

[t-bone-retro]

I'm going to Birmingham on Monday, anything of any gaming interest there?

[chaoticjelly]

Well GameStation Birmingham used to have a load of retro stuff.. I know they've undergone a refurbishment, so I'm not sure if all that's been gotten rid of now.. but maybe worth a look in.

My rents' were in Birmingham quite some time ago and they found a bunch of retro stuff at a discount wholesaler supermarket type place somewhere toward the outskirts. I don't know exactly where it was but they managed to bag about 3 brand new copies of Flux on Megadrive (all new), a couple of Mortal Kombat 2 on the GameGear (all new) and some other GameGear game.. lol

[Duddyroar]

Shame that Rathbone CEX no longer has the retro section downstairs.

It used to be a different shop a few streets away, which was awesome. Hideo Kojima visited it once to sign copies of MGS games. This was probably 10 years ago now though.

[pentarou]

Well GameStation Birmingham used to have a load of retro stuff.. I know they've undergone a refurbishment, so I'm not sure if all that's been gotten rid of now.. but maybe worth a look in.

Gamestation Birmingham did indeed have an awesome retro section, but they got rid of it some time ago unfortunately.

[Nu-Eclipse]

Shame that Rathbone CEX no longer has the retro section downstairs.

It used to be a different shop a few streets away, which was awesome. Hideo Kojima visited it once to sign copies of MGS games. This was probably 10 years ago now though.

The original CEX Retro store was a few blocks away on Whitfield Street, and it's not an exaggeration to say that it was truly amazing. It was a symbol of everything great about CEX in the mid & late 1990s before it decided to go Chav-style.

[losersclub]

The original CEX Retro store was a few blocks away on Whitfield Street, and it's not an exaggeration to say that it was truly amazing. It was a symbol of everything great about CEX in the mid & late 1990s before it decided to go Chav-style.

my god it was glorious wasnt it! haven't been in a CEX in years though now, when the PS2 dropped in japan was probably the last time

[SharkSkin-Man]

The original CEX Retro store was a few blocks away on Whitfield Street, and it's not an exaggeration to say that it was truly amazing. It was a symbol of everything great about CEX in the mid & late 1990s before it decided to go Chav-style.

The olde CeX Retro was great, but like most decent games stores the interweb pretty much killed it.

I would happily go without play-asia, eBay etc. and go back to the days of paying more for games because the actual experience of buying/searching for games was all part of the appeal of import gaming (for me). But I think 99.99% of people would feel differently.

[importaku]

The olde CeX Retro was great, but like most decent games stores the interweb pretty much killed it.

I would happily go without play-asia, eBay etc. and go back to the days of paying more for games because the actual experience of buying/searching for games was all part of the appeal of import gaming (for me). But I think 99.99% of people would feel differently.

LOL err no, what killed cex was cex themselves they have piss poor service, rude staff, dirty shops. Nowdays it's known as chavexchange as the only people going in there are ones selling mobiles they mugged off some poor sod probably an hour earlier.

Im glad that indy import shops are dying/dead, i refuse to pay ?60-?70 for a game that only cost ?30 in japan. They charged those prices because they knew they could get away with it. Nowdays importing is a lot more fun quick, cheap & you get the stuff in mint condition. You dont need to wander round a shop looking at the back of the box for pics, i still search out weird imports but i use the game companies websites as they are the best source of info.

No need for grubby overpriced shops hooray

[losersclub]

What i miss is Gamestation having plenty of retro and not knowing what titles were rare! saturn PD Saga twenty quid dont mind if i do. Only bargains i seem to get nowadays is gamecube games from cash converters

[SharkSkin-Man]

Did you ever go to the Whitfield St. CeX Retro, importaku?

[Wil]

I remember Rathbone St CEX when it was Pilot Software City. Used to sell all the home computer stuff of the day (US imports, even then). I remember the day I saw Marble Madness running on the Amiga for the first time, in the window and the cash I could have made now if I'd picked up the white mask version of Infocom's Suspended and the flying saucer box for Starcross.

Hindsight, eh?

[KusoGaki]

Whilst i agree with import shops being overpriced, i do enjoy going into shops and having a look at what they have.

Importing sometimes is a pain in the ass as well, customs charges...occasional postal delays...and the odd item being over priced as well -_-