Do you prefer to buy games locally?

Shipping can be a bitch sometimes: I have yet to receive a box full of bricks or a macbook made with a trapper keeper like some people have, but I did get some damaged stuff that wasn't correctly packed, or that the mailman was too stupid to know what fragile means...

Last week I bought some used X360 games from a guy that lives 10 miles from my house. No biggie, just a small detour from my way to work.

The games were in good shape and worked, except for one. Don't know why, it didnt have scratches or anything, it just wouldn't boot. I call the guy: no problem, I went back to his house, we tried the game, didn't work on his X360 either so he gave me my money back.

Had that happened over a package it would've been a pain in the ass to solve.

Then again sometimes I can't find the games I want want near me, specially old/classic stuff, so it's ebay or nothing:shrug:

What about you guys?

 

Well, living in Japan isn't a problem at all with buying things through the post. Great packing, postmen that don't kick your stuff around, returning stuff is easy and so on. So for me it doesn't really matter. Saying that, I do like to look around game stores.

Yakumo

 

Florida has an absurd demographic distribution. Believe it or not, the combination of the elderly, the military and the bored teenagers means that there's tons of game stores everywhere. So buying locally is generally not a problem, especially for older stuff.

I used to worry about buying locally when I could, and there are a couple of stores that I like to support just on principle. But lately, I order from Amazon most, and then from NCS for imports. Shipping isn't a problem cost-wise, and I'm not enough of a collector weenie to worry about the condition of the package for used items.

Something I used to do a lot more in the past is to engineer visits to regional game stores when I traveled for work. California and Texas had some pretty nice used game stores that had a lot of Turbo and Neo Geo stuff. One of the best game chains out west is a place called Gamers (original, eh) who also sell arcade equipment and all kinds of collectible extras. I always end up buying a pile of Atari 2600 and Sega games when I'm in Nebraska or Iowa.

 

Ha, I think everyone would say that buying in person is 100x better than online due to the fact you can observe the quality of the cartridge/box/disc/ what have you, as opposed to pictures that all depend on the photographer's skill and what they want us to see.

If you mean current gen games, than I only care about price, so mostly online.

 

I think I voted for the wrong thing...

 

I get all my stuff online, so 99% I receive through the mail. 1% is that stuff I can pick up in person, but that's really rare.

 

Cheese up my ass ,hell yah. Nah not really ,but lol . If I can find it then I will. With imports and a dev equipment you're not likely to find it at your local game store

 

All the mom and pop shops in my area are SEVERELY overpriced. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to pay $25 for a Super Mario Bros. 3 cart.

And even though I've known people to get pretty good deals on CraigsList and such, I kinda tend to stay clear of those types of deals. Web forums have been the most reliable places to buy games both newer and classic.

 

It's deeply disturbing that someone here actually puts cheese up his arse.

I would ask what kind of cheese but I'm afraid of the answer.

 

Most of my stuff comes from my local swapmeet, which I do not get to go to often, sadly, due to work. I could live at that place.

 

Where I live, there's absolutely zero reason to buy from Amazon or mail order for new stuff. You can find tons of stores carrying the latest games and accessories.
It's only for the rare item or something for an older system that I'll reach out and use mail order or the forums.

 

I said not really roflcopter . :lol: :lol::lol::lol:

 

I buy local whenever I can, but it's difficult or impossible a lot of the time. I hate Gamestop for obvious reasons. Smaller, independent game shops can be great some of the time, but sometimes their stuff is really overpriced.

I went to a game shop the other day and saw Sin and Punishment for N64. I asked how much it was, and the guy said "$99." Insane. It wasn't new or anything, just a boxed copy in decent condition. Why would I shell out $99 when I can get it for half that price on eBay?

After telling me that, he said "it's an import," like that explains the ridiculous price. Maybe to someone who knows nothing about games, it might seem rational to pay that much for a game just because it's an import.

 

Locally many stores around me are just shit. Over priced, missed leading items on the shelves, incorrect prices labelled, staff that have no idea about stuff they sell and the list goes on. Not saying stuff like this never happens online, but I've been snobbed off more in stores than in online stores.

There is only one store that I go to that's close, and has retro games. At least the staff there are good, and their stuff is okish. Any game with 'Mario' in the title is inflated above normal for the game.

 

It's surprising how many collectors don't do their basic research and are willing to pay those prices. The Playstation Diablo goes for $50 at one store in my town, but you can find it for half that if you look hard enough. A lot of Sega stuff is climbing in price now just because it seems like it's rare, not because it has any sort of intrinsic value.

I bought Suikoden 2 for $200 a few years ago. I probably could have gotten a better price, it but was the only time I ever saw that game in the wild. They're counting on that urge to make that sort of sale, but if they're any good they're not also counting on fools like me to pay their lease regularly.

 

It's always cheaper and easier to buy from Amazon or eBay for me. Locally- pants selection, every case and disc is scuffed like crazy, and I hate the general public.

Amazon is basically my bum buddy.

 

The other day I saw a fucking hipster wearing an old Sega tshirt

He assumed I had never heard about it:lol:

 

I used to do the majority of my shopping in town but the one decent independant store in the area closed down and both GAME and gamestation (even they are the same company located a few doors apart) are both shit in terms of pricing and offers - especially the piss poor offers on trade ins.

In the days of Future Zone and Electronics Boutique shopping for games was an enjoyable experience as you had the wonder of the displays and the anticipation of playing the game whilst reading the case and manual on the bus home. The independant shop usually had their games a few pounds cheaper. better displayed and offered a few pounds more on trade in.

These days most of my shopping is online either via DLC or direct mail shopping of physical media as it is a lot more convenient for me in terms of price and availablity and it is also rare on occasion for me to leave the house. If I do go out and about I may have a browse in GAME or gamestation and buy something preowned on impulse but that is usually only on a very cheap and/or rare find.

 

So what does Ass cheese feel like?