General Arcade and Retro Chat - Insert Coin -

CiDeRmAn

I remember getting it, King Kong, Dead Rising and PGR3, pretty happy with those at the time.
I picked it up a few days early, still having contacts in Games world at the time.
II also remember having an SD old fashioned TV set at the time and couldn't read a word of the text on Dead Rising which didn't improve my happiness with the title.
It did spur me onto buying a new telly though.

Nerdkiller1991

Ahhh, GamesWorld. That didn't last long until GameStop took over.

CiDeRmAn

The Games world spirit persisted for a time, but was eventually subsumed by the corporate facade of GS.
Some stores maintained an indie character, Santry being one, but they still were absorbed in time.
Now they are largely featureless monoliths, with the latest facelifts making them more like a nightclub with shelving.

Mr.Saturn

Guardian article that might be of some interest here.

Sega Mega Drive: why retro consoles are about more than nostalgia


http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/nov/20/sega-mega-drive-retro-consoles-more-than-nostalgia?CMP=share_btn_fb

Nothing revelatory beyond the fact that those Megadrive 80-in-1 emulator machine thingies (excuse the technical register) have seen a 400% sales increase in Argos. Seemingly something of a hot Christmas item. Granted, they could've just sold 1 in the last year, but thought it was interesting nonetheless.

Retr0gamer

With the hulabaloo about the PS1 anniversary and the 360 people seem to have forgotten that the Super Nintendo is 25 years old today.

CiDeRmAn

Retr0gamer wrote: »

With the hulabaloo about the PS1 anniversary and the 360 people seem to have forgotten that the Super Nintendo is 25 years old today.

For a minute there I thought you were talking of the awesomeness that was the Super Vision!

iamtony

Retr0gamer wrote: »

With the hulabaloo about the PS1 anniversary and the 360 people seem to have forgotten that the Super Nintendo is 25 years old today.

I picked a great day to buy a snes so!

Steve X2

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

For a minute there I thought you were talking of the awesomeness that was the Super Vision!

I still have memories of wanting one of those very badly as a kid. I think Quinnsworth or somewhere like that had some special offer on them at the time.

CiDeRmAn

Steve X2 wrote: »

I still have memories of wanting one of those very badly as a kid. I think Quinnsworth or somewhere like that had some special offer on them at the time.

Yeah, they also backed the Barcode Battler....
Hope they sacked their computer games buyer!

Doge

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

For a minute there I thought you were talking of the awesomeness that was the Super Vision!

Awesome? Not sure about that!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyMlcz6SoS4

Cant get over how Block Buster totally rips off the Super Mario Land music!

CiDeRmAn

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

For a minute there I thought you were talking of the awesomeness that was the Super Vision!

Doge wrote: »

Awesome? Not sure about that!

#sarcasm

Jack burton

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

The Games world spirit persisted for a time, but was eventually subsumed by the corporate facade of GS.
Some stores maintained an indie character, Santry being one, but they still were absorbed in time.
Now they are largely featureless monoliths, with the latest facelifts making them more like a nightclub with shelving.

Only walked past the Gameslop in town yesterday. I havnt been in for a while, half the shop is now the "swag" ****e

I'd really love to have the resources to open up a games store here

CiDeRmAn

Jack burton wrote: »

Only walked past the Gameslop in town yesterday. I havnt been in for a while, half the shop is now the "swag" ****e

I'd really love to have the resources to open up a games store here

Yeah, the store is taking the niche, odd little corners of the games and geek culture scene and trying to make money out of it from people who see a Adventure Time plushie as little more than fashion statement, rather than a statement of their fanhood of the show, to name but one example.

Gamesworld, as it was, was a shop devoted to selling and renting games to people in a shop that didn't really exist, beyond EB and GAME, and Mister Calculator of course, run by Tom Nook in disguise judging by their prices.

Actually, Gamesworld was modelled on CEX in the UK, at the time it was a bricks and mortar store doing a great business in preowed games as well as some innovative adverts, one of the founders told me about it, I think they spoke to CEX's now departed founder for tips and advice.

CiDeRmAn

Nerdkiller1991 wrote: »

We should really make one day a year Retr0 day, and have everyone working at a computer switch the wallpaper to the image above, perhaps take a photo of it, to commemorate to special occasion, of course!

Mr.Saturn

Jack burton wrote: »

Only walked past the Gameslop in town yesterday. I havnt been in for a while, half the shop is now the "swag" ****e

I'd really love to have the resources to open up a games store here

Went upstairs in the Henry Street one to check out what I thought was still the Wii U/Wii/PC/DVD second-hand section.

Wall-to-wall feckin' tat.

Retr0gamer

Those absolutely awful vinyl super deformed figures take up more room than the wiiU games in most gamestops.

airmax87

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Those absolutely awful vinyl super deformed figures take up more room than the wiiU games in most gamestops.

The mistake is going to gamestop at all

Nerdkiller1991

Jack burton wrote: »

Only walked past the Gameslop in town yesterday. I havnt been in for a while, half the shop is now the "swag" ****e

I'd really love to have the resources to open up a games store here

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Yeah, the store is taking the niche, odd little corners of the games and geek culture scene and trying to make money out of it from people who see a Adventure Time plushie as little more than fashion statement, rather than a statement of their fanhood of the show, to name but one example.

Mr.Saturn wrote: »

Went upstairs in the Henry Street one to check out what I thought was still the Wii U/Wii/PC/DVD second-hand section.

Wall-to-wall feckin' tat.

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Those absolutely awful vinyl super deformed figures take up more room than the wiiU games in most gamestops.

That's what happens when the geek inherits the Earth.

CiDeRmAn

Nerdkiller1991 wrote: »

That's what happens when the geek inherits the Earth.

No, I disagree.
This is what happens when an industry develops around a scene that finally, after 50 years, finds itself suddenly mainstream.
The steam will boil off this particular kettle in time, and the market for the trappings of niche fandom will go back to being, well, niche.

As a visitor to various comic book shops throughout 1989 and 90, I recall the cherry goodness of figurines, character busts, Gundam and Robotech models, and an array of wearable items, all declaring ones love of your scene of choice to a world that was more interested in soccer, GAA and drinking beer, at least for an 18 year old at that time.
By wearing a Trek pin or have a Nemesis the Warlock tee on, you announced to a confused world that you were individual and, paradoxically, also announced to the world you were interested in finding others who love that stuff too, so you could talk about it!

But, now, kids are buying John Snow bobbleheads, you can buy distressed retro badges of Sega and Nintendo logos and you have people wearing Atari tees that think it's just the name of a band.
It's an industry, and all it seems to be doing for those true believers is choke up bricks and mortar retailers with detritus and garbage that we will never buy, shrinking the shelves devoted to the consoles we want to find choice for.
WiiU, Vita, DS, 3DS, these consoles have a minimal footprint in many GS' now, with the PS4 and XB1 slowly supplanting premium shelf space othewise devoted to PS3 and 360, themselves having done the same to the PS2 and Xbox.

So, it seems good luck if you are looking up there for a limited edition Bioshock vinyl or an arcade stick for your Wii, you'll almost certainly find a big stupid sign saying "LOOT" in case some mouth breathing, knuckle dragging half wit misses the wall full of plastic deformed figurines of Walking Dead characters.



Sorry, I may have lost my temper for a moment.....

o1s1n

I was in Gamestop Bray yesterday and couldn't believe the amount of floor space dedicated to this garbage. Seemed like there was more in the store than actual games. Very weird.

It's somewhat reminiscent of the way video rental stores had to branch out into selling other items to stay open.

If I remember correctly, 'back in my day', games stores were about the same size floor space wise. But they were wall to wall games and consoles

Tomo.Murphy

The only reason I used to venture into GameStop on Henry Street was the used stuff on the top floor. The only thing I've picked up in there in the months since they've changed is the last season of breaking bad for €4.99.

johnny_ultimate

What baffles me, beyond the question of who is actually buying the tat, is the amount of floor space wasted. The one in Bray has a large space, but even taking into account the tat side of things, it feels like there's so much more space available for actual games without much hassle. Even what they do have feels haphazardly designed, but the dead air in the shop makes it kind of... off-putting, I guess, like somebody totally misinterpreted what's so brutally effective about well designed minimalist floor plans, like a proper Apple Store.

o1s1n

It's weird isn't it? The games all feel smushed over in on the left. Even with all the tat, they could have made the games section far roomier.

the groutch

I would contribute to the discussion, but I fear my colourful language might get me a forum ban.

Tchoin

I must say I was pretty disappointed when I first went to Gamestop here, I though Gamestops in the US were becoming crap, but here it's an all new level.

Last time I was on a GS was at the US in 2013 and you would still find very interesting stuff in the used section.

Nerdkiller1991

Tchoin wrote: »

I must say I was pretty disappointed when I first went to Gamestop here, I though Gamestops in the US were becoming crap, but here it's an all new level.

Last time I was on a GS was at the US in 2013 and you would still find very interesting stuff in the used section.

Hey. At least they're now selling retro games over there in store. What have we got? Nothing.

Pinball league meet in Mine this coming Sunday!
practice 1-3 league play 3-6!
might try have a knockout style tournament too if we get the time/space.
If you want to come PM me

Tchoin

Nerdkiller1991 wrote: »

Hey. At least they're now selling retro games over there in store. What have we got? Nothing.

True!

In any case, the worst Gamestops are back in my home country, Uruguay, they call themselves Gamestop and use the same logo, but are in no way affiliated with the global chain lol. They sell PS4/XBO/WiiU games with an insane markup (ie.: USD 160), and also used to sell 'backups' of PS1, PS2, and Xbox/Xbox 360 a few years ago :eek:

James Howlett

Went to the Zelda Symphony show in the Convention Centre Dublin last night. It was... not great.

Video Games Live in April of this year was incredible. Even without playing every game referenced at that event, it was still enjoyable. Having played a large percentage of the Zelda games I had though expected that this Zelda Symphony show would be an easy win, making it all the more disappointing that it wasn't.

There was no interaction with the audience. A Producer walked out at the start of the show, asked the audience if they had bought Tri-Force Heroes yet and then disappeared. Each performance had clips from different games behind it but eventually they all became the same highlight reels: Link fights random villains, travels around with Epona, fights Ganondorf and then the ending sequence from a particular game. Some of the clips were even repeated during those reels.

I don't really know what I was expecting. Maybe I'm being too harsh comparing it to VGL as they're different shows but I'd sooner tell advise people to head to VGL than another Zelda show. With VGL there's a good variety of music, they play different clips of funny game videos in between performances and speak with the audience. The Zelda show just felt like a checklist event: come out, play music, get paid, go home.

Myrddin

James Howlett wrote: »

Went to the Zelda Symphony show in the Convention Centre Dublin last night. It was... not great.

That's a shame, tickets for this were pricey weren't they?