Any non-Gamestop stores around Redmond/Bellevue, WA?

T

Trepie

CAG Veteran
I live in Issaquah, so if there's anything even closer than Redmond/Bellevue that'd be great but those two are pretty close and are bigger so they work.

I'm just wondering if there's anything that's not a chain store like Gamestop or Gamecrazy whatever. Like a local owned small shop somewhere. I'd much rather buy stuff from there and support locally owned places. However I haven't heard of anything around this area, it's just Gamestop on every corner.

Doesn't even have to have good deals really.
 
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I haven't seen an independent game store on the East side, but we've got Pink Godzilla (International District) and Game Town (up on Aurora/99) in Seattle.
 
there used to be an import privately owned store near the crossroads mall but im pretty sure its long gone. I believe it was called game n' play or something.. I bought an imported nintendo64 and mario64 launch week from them for around 450 bucks(what a steal lol). their prices were pretty jacked up but they had every jp import game within days of launch.

there also was a mom and pop gamestore in federal way. but i cant remember the name of that one for the life of me

and yeah like the post above said there is always pinkgodzilla which is right next to where the pit used to be. they can get just about anything but again prices are pretty skewed. nice guys though.

oh and there is kicks hobby that is near the northgate mall (or was). I havent been there in 2 or 3 years but they did sell new and used imports and some domestic titles too.

I miss the days before eb/gs and even more so i miss seattle arcades

iverys was awesome

ok. sorry no more reminiscing.
 
I haven't gone there yet but I heard about a store called GameTown...I heard about it in the news after it was held up at shotgun point by some thieves : X

http://www.kicks-hobby.com/ is the site for Kicks Hobby. I haven't bought any games there but the people who work there are pretty cool and know a lot about the stuff they carry (like Gundam models etc)
 
I live in Greenlake, which isn't very far from Game Town off 99, but I've never been.

As for Kicks, they haven't sold games for a couple years now.
 
Alright, thanks. I might try one of the two in Seattle. Problem is I don't find myself in Seattle all that often, but I'll look into it.

As for the Microsoft Company Store, I don't think just anyone can go in there? I've been in the Nintendo Company Store, but it was only because I was going to DigiPen in Redmond at the time (they share the same building) and we only got to go there very few times. I got a refurbished DS for pretty cheap though a few years ago.

I was hoping Redmond/Bellevue would have a few places to go to, since a lot of big named video game companies are right there, but I guess there really is just Gamestop.
 
MSFT company store is employees only. Well at least for software and hardware. Everyone can buy shirts... and I'm a PC stickers.
 
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[quote name='distantmantra']I hate bumping a year old thread, but I stumbled upon another locally owned game store in Seattle yesterday. It's called Game Gurus and is located in Lake City. They've been open since 2008, but I've never noticed the place before.

http://www.seattlegamegurus.com/index.html[/QUOTE]


Awesome, thanks for the info as I hadn't heard of this place. I'll be sure to check it out!

There's also "Play N Trade" on the eastside in Kirkland:
http://www.playntrade.com/storefinder/1048853

Now, as for Game Town in North Seattle, I've had some pretty poor experiences the handful of times I've visited. None of the games are sticker priced so you have to bring them up to the cash register to find out what anything costs, everything is pretty overpriced, they sell MOST of their games with cheap replacement dvd cases and printed off covers from the net, and last but not least the owner is rude and very suspicious of customers. The last time I visited, with a friend (his first, my third time at the place), and we were the only customers in the store mind you, I saw the owner leave an employee at the register and go to the back room to watch us on the CCTV! I know the area is a bit rundown so maybe he's been robbed a few times but that really made it not worth a place to shop at. No one likes being treated like a potential criminal. :whistle2:x

I'd recommend Pink Gorilla the highest and Game Town the lowest amongst the non Game Stop game stores in the Seattle Metro area.
 
[quote name='Destro']Awesome, thanks for the info as I hadn't heard of this place. I'll be sure to check it out!

There's also "Play N Trade" on the eastside in Kirkland:
http://www.playntrade.com/storefinder/1048853

Now, as for Game Town in North Seattle, I've had some pretty poor experiences the handful of times I've visited. None of the games are sticker priced so you have to bring them up to the cash register to find out what anything costs, everything is pretty overpriced, they sell MOST of their games with cheap replacement dvd cases and printed off covers from the net, and last but not least the owner is rude and very suspicious of customers. The last time I visited, with a friend (his first, my third time at the place), and we were the only customers in the store mind you, I saw the owner leave an employee at the register and go to the back room to watch us on the CCTV! I know the area is a bit rundown so maybe he's been robbed a few times but that really made it not worth a place to shop at. No one likes being treated like a potential criminal. :whistle2:x

I'd recommend Pink Gorilla the highest and Game Town the lowest amongst the non Game Stop game stores in the Seattle Metro area.[/QUOTE]

Game Town was recently robbed at gunpoint. It made the news on all the local channels. I've gone by it about a million times but never stopped in, though.
 
[quote name='distantmantra']Game Town was recently robbed at gunpoint. It made the news on all the local channels. I've gone by it about a million times but never stopped in, though.[/QUOTE]

Ah, it all makes sense then as the area is run down and kinda shady.

http://www.kirotv.com/news/18861166/detail.html

Even if the owner was nice all the other issues I listed still wouldn't make it worth to revisit. Plus, I sure don't want to be like that customer in the video being held at gunpoint! :whistle2:(
 
If you ever take a trip out to the Washington coast, there is an independently owned game shop in Aberdeen called Game Freaks. It's right off 105 as you come into town across from the shopping complex with Top Foods and Wal-mart. I didn't stop in, but it didn't look bad.
 
GameTown is nothing special..there is another mom and pop shop if you head north towards Mountlake Terrace area on Aurora/99 called Game Castle(I think). That place is pretty cool, saw a functioning virtual boy in there once. There is another shop in Mill Creek, on a little strip mall on 128th. Oh yeah, I just found out about a store in Marysville on the reservation called Reset Games. Haven't been there yet, but I've heard from friends that it's a pretty cool store.

'Hmm. I just realized those stores are pretty far away from you lol, but they're there
 
There is also a new game store called next level games in downtown everett. They are a rip off as most video games are. Their deals they post on the blogs are of games/items mostly being pushed out for newer things you can get elsewhere. Not worth the stop, especially since you have to park to go in.
 
There's one that opened up in South Everett/Mill Creek on 132nd. It's called Game Time or Gamer Time. Haven't been in yet, but they've had a BOGO 25%~50% board out for a while.
 
Thanks for all of the updates. Still nothing that is close enough to visit regularly, though. I've mostly been getting all of my games from Amazon or Gamefly anyhow.

A friend and I were toying around with the idea of opening some sort of shop ourselves at some point. Likely more of a hobby shop, but video games included. Probably not anytime soon in this economic climate though.
 
Also bumping an old thread. Near crossroads mall there is a video game store, only used games I think, Video Game Era.
 
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