Any Mom and Pop Game Stores in Minneapolis and St. Paul

Man, I can't think of any. Sad.

What about hiscore http://www.hiscoregames.com/

You could try Cedar Cliff Collectibles in Eagan. They carry comics and toys and books but they have a pretty large inventory of old systems, games and imports. Cool place to browse around in.

http://www.cedarcliffcollectibles.com/

[quote name='jrt1138']You could try Cedar Cliff Collectibles in Eagan. They carry comics and toys and books but they have a pretty large inventory of old systems, games and imports. Cool place to browse around in.

http://www.cedarcliffcollectibles.com/[/quote]

I know the owner there is trying to run a business, but he's kind of a jerk and some of his prices are ridiculous. I used to buy heroclix there but the prices got too high. He does have some cool stuff though.

There is a place that has a TON of old stuff (atari, nes, snes, genesis) on the top floor of the Southdale mall. Can't think of the name, but some of the prices were decent. THey had a cool NES/SNES player for $80 new.

Discland has a pretty decent selection of games, it is right by the 98th exit if you are coming off 35w. Some of the pricing is high but if you dig around enough you'll find a couple deals.

On the very edge of the cities (in Lakeville to be exact) is World of Games, owner there is a very cool guy who's bought some games from me on digitpress.com Here is their website http://www.worldofgamesonline.com/

Has anyone been to the video game store in Bloomington, it's off of France and Old Shakopee Rd. It seems pretty new, but I just didn't have the time to go in.

[quote name='LuisRM']Has anyone been to the video game store in Bloomington, it's off of France and Old Shakopee Rd. It seems pretty new, but I just didn't have the time to go in.[/quote]

That's the new franchise, Play N Trade. I'm going to check it out (finally) this Friday. Though it's a national franchise, each chain is independently owned and operated. I've heard that many owners of PnT stores are gamers themselves so they don't take in trade-ins that are not complete and in good condition. They even have a website that shows the names of people who recently bought games there: http://www.playntrade.com/bloomington

I'll let you guys know how it goes later this week.

There was a place called Raven Games (or something like that) in St. Paul. Are they still open?

Echo DVD's and Games in apple valley. this is a pretty nice shop for older games, as well as newer... they also have movies and music as well. prices are a little steep on some things but all in all a nice store.

[quote name='nintendokid']That's the new franchise, Play N Trade. I'm going to check it out (finally) this Friday. Though it's a national franchise, each chain is independently owned and operated. I've heard that many owners of PnT stores are gamers themselves so they don't take in trade-ins that are not complete and in good condition. They even have a website that shows the names of people who recently bought games there: http://www.playntrade.com/bloomington

I'll let you guys know how it goes later this week.[/quote]

They have that Leap Year Sale today only (Friday 29th). 29% off used games. I may stop by after work as well.

Reporting back from Play N Trade...

Go check it out - I loved it! You can try out games. It's like GameCrazy on steroids.

Trade-ins - they give good credit. Hell, I took my Final Fantasy Chronicles just to get a figure and apparently, they take into account that it is black label (how cool!). And my Zelda OoT N64 collector's, cashier even called owner to see if I can get more since it is complete but he didn't answer.

Pricing - majority is spot-on but unfortunately, classics and rare games seem to be eBay priced or even a little more expensive. Not ridiculously priced though. For example, Final Fantasy 8 was priced at $35 but it easily goes for $25-30 on eBay. Not too shabby. General non-rare stuff, however, gives me a . I got Megaman Zero 1-3 for $18.

Selection - acceptable. You can't expect it to have crazy stuff yet but eventually, it should. They do have stacks of NES and SNES with good labels, and Dreamcast stuff.

Atmosphere - EBstop is like an inner-city McDonald's and Play N Trade is like a suburban Olive Garden. Clean, nice blue lighting, and super-duper friendly cashier.

Yes, as luisrm mentioned, today is the Leap year special, hence, 29% off all used. And also for this Leap year special, all current-gen games (360, ps3, wii, ds, psp) get 20% extra trade-in credit and older systems are 10% extra credit. Oh, and this is not a special but is a year-long promo: trade in 3 or buy 3 used, get a $5 gift card (not sure if can trade 3 AND buy 3 stack).

Edit: It is a mom n pops shop. Owned by a married couple living in Minneapolis. If you wanted to discuss anything with manager, he's a phone ring away.

Thanks for the report. I'm off to go check it out.

I'm heading up to the St. Paul area this weekend (Savage, actually) so I'd like to go to one of these places. If they had SSBB or MLB 08, that'd be awesome. Sure would rather give my money to them rather than someone like GS.

[quote name='nintendokid']Reporting back from Play N Trade...

Go check it out - I loved it! You can try out games. It's like GameCrazy on steroids.

Trade-ins - they give good credit. Hell, I took my Final Fantasy Chronicles just to get a figure and apparently, they take into account that it is black label (how cool!). And my Zelda OoT N64 collector's, cashier even called owner to see if I can get more since it is complete but he didn't answer.

Pricing - majority is spot-on but unfortunately, classics and rare games seem to be eBay priced or even a little more expensive. Not ridiculously priced though. For example, Final Fantasy 8 was priced at $35 but it easily goes for $25-30 on eBay. Not too shabby. General non-rare stuff, however, gives me a . I got Megaman Zero 1-3 for $18.

Selection - acceptable. You can't expect it to have crazy stuff yet but eventually, it should. They do have stacks of NES and SNES with good labels, and Dreamcast stuff.

Atmosphere - EBstop is like an inner-city McDonald's and Play N Trade is like a suburban Olive Garden. Clean, nice blue lighting, and super-duper friendly cashier.

Yes, as luisrm mentioned, today is the Leap year special, hence, 29% off all used. And also for this Leap year special, all current-gen games (360, ps3, wii, ds, psp) get 20% extra trade-in credit and older systems are 10% extra credit. Oh, and this is not a special but is a year-long promo: trade in 3 or buy 3 used, get a $5 gift card (not sure if can trade 3 AND buy 3 stack).

Edit: It is a mom n pops shop. Owned by a married couple living in Minneapolis. If you wanted to discuss anything with manager, he's a phone ring away.[/quote]

Thought I'd give my two cents on the place. Manager/Owner was working when I was there. Neil, friendly guy, shook my hand, explained the place and features. Try any game before you buy. Nice LCD screens and atmosphere. Prices were pretty average as stated by nintendokid. The prices aren't going to knock your socks off, but they're not high either for the most part. Lots of cool old stuff, jaguar, atari, decent priced for some. I ended up getting Test Drive Unlimited for the 360. $11.38 after the discount. Good deal I thought. They also said they could take care of my scratched Gears of War disc (Game Crazy couldn't fix it). "We're not afraid of sand paper." Good stuff. Recommend a look if you're in town and want an alternative to GS.

On a side note, just down the road is GameZone, connected to Movie Gallery. Horrible service. Lots of overpriced stuff. They did have a buy two for $20 sale. Nothing fantastic at all. I ended up walking out after not getting helped for 10 minutes.

I wanted to say thanks for the posts above on the Play N Trade Store in Bloomington. I was just going to post some stuff on our SideWalk Sale tomorrow (5.17.08) and ran across this thread.

This is the owner, Neil. I just hope all your experiences are as good or even better than they were just a while back.

Thanks again and if there are any negative posts on my place, feel free to PM me or post a link. We're always trying to make sure we're doing our best. I like a good critique every-now-and-then.

www.playntrade.com/bloomington

I discovered this thread via Google and had to register to respond to jbroush99.

Raven Games kicked ass back in the day, I didn't remember the name until you posted. If I'm remembering correctly, they had this big Sonic the Hedgehog painted on their window and were next door to a Mexican restaurant. Inside they had shelves and shelves of Sega and Nintendo games, so much that in 1997 stepping into the store felt like a 1990 era store. I haven't lived in Minnesota since 2003, but I think I remember Raven Games closing (my dad mentioned it to me). A search on Google maps brings up nada so it may be RIP for Raven.

There's now a Play N Trade in Rosemount. I live very close to it but have only been once (right when it opened). At that point the selection was poor but they had like 5-6 TVs and game systems hooked up and you could try games before buying.

[quote name='GuruOnsen']I discovered this thread via Google and had to register to respond to jbroush99.

Raven Games kicked ass back in the day, I didn't remember the name until you posted. If I'm remembering correctly, they had this big Sonic the Hedgehog painted on their window and were next door to a Mexican restaurant. Inside they had shelves and shelves of Sega and Nintendo games, so much that in 1997 stepping into the store felt like a 1990 era store. I haven't lived in Minnesota since 2003, but I think I remember Raven Games closing (my dad mentioned it to me). A search on Google maps brings up nada so it may be RIP for Raven.[/QUOTE]

Unfortuantely Raven Games closed a few years ago.
There's still Hi-Score videogames in Hugo and Maplewood. The prices are OK to High and the staff is knowledgeable but not overly friendly.
There is a Game Store in Plaza 3000 across the street from Maplewood Mall and next to "Beyond Shinders". I haven't had a chance to check it out, the one time recently I was in the area they weren't open.

If you ever find yourself going east into WI there is a Toy*riffic in Hudson and a Game Quest in River Falls. One of them usually breaks street date on games, I got RE5 and Killzone the Wed. before they where released. There is a Toy*riffic outside of Maplewood Mall as well. The prices are not special but they carry all sorts of games.

Anyone been to Flip A Game on University in St. Paul? I go past it on the bus all the time, but have never stopped.

[quote name='kojack']Anyone been to Flip A Game on University in St. Paul? I go past it on the bus all the time, but have never stopped.[/QUOTE]

There is another Flip A Game on Arcade in St Paul that I see often. I have yet check it out as well

Anyways, about Raven games. It is true that they closed their St Paul location. However a few years back they merged with my friends uncles' business called Hi-Score video. I know Hi-Score used to be a little more prominent around the Twin Cities but they have been disappearing into obscurity over the years. They do rent a small kiosk near the food court in the Maplewood mall and I know they have some stores scattered across the metro area still. The Hi-Score flagship store (if you wanna call it that) in Stillwater where the Raven games guys moved all their stuff in no longer opened.

edit: im dumb, i didnt see the link to Hi-Score's website right on the first page of this thread.

here it is again http://www.hiscoregames.com/

I have hundreds of different games for sale at the PacRatz Indoor Flea Market in Ham Lake (about 20 minutes north of Minneapolis). There are also many very well priced Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360, PS2 and PS3 games for sale in the store. The address is 16405 Aberdeen St. NE, Ham Lake, MN (Intersection of Highway 65 and Constance Blvd). It is open every week Wednesday through Saturday 9-6 and Sunday 10-5 Every game is $5...

Buy 10+ games you get 10% off ($4.50 each)
Buy 20+ games you get 20% off ($4 each)

There are rare and classic games available such as:

Batman
Blaster Master
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Classics
Double Dragon
Dragon Warrior
Gauntlet
Gauntlet 2
Ice Climber
Punchout!!
Rad Racer
RC Pro Am
Rygar
Star Tropics
Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros. 3
Tecmo Bowl
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Yoshi Cookie

and many, many more...

The games are located in the glass case at the back left of the store. I add new games to the inventory every week. If you have any questions free to send me a message, or an email at [email protected]. Thanks.

I thought the guy who owned Raven Games had a kiosk at the Mall of America now.

Is Games Cauldron still open off of Larpenteur and Lexington in Roseville/Falcon Heights? That place had a Vector system last time I was there (years ago).

[quote name='willynateDgreat']Is Games Cauldron still open off of Larpenteur and Lexington in Roseville/Falcon Heights? That place had a Vector system last time I was there (years ago).[/QUOTE]

No, it's been closed for a number of years. There's now a record shop there called Mr. Zero's, which also sales games and action figures. It's kinda overpriced.

Though across the street is the awesome roast beef sandwich shop, Maverick's, which makes going over to that side of town worth it.

[quote name='adamthered']No, it's been closed for a number of years. There's now a record shop there called Mr. Zero's, which also sales games and action figures. It's kinda overpriced.

Though across the street is the awesome roast beef sandwich shop, Maverick's, which makes going over to that side of town worth it.[/QUOTE]

Yea - Maverick's is rad. I used to live right over there. Too bad about Games Cauldron though.

[quote name='nintendokid']Reporting back from Play N Trade...

Go check it out - I loved it! You can try out games. It's like GameCrazy on steroids.

Trade-ins - they give good credit. Hell, I took my Final Fantasy Chronicles just to get a figure and apparently, they take into account that it is black label (how cool!). And my Zelda OoT N64 collector's, cashier even called owner to see if I can get more since it is complete but he didn't answer.

Pricing - majority is spot-on but unfortunately, classics and rare games seem to be eBay priced or even a little more expensive. Not ridiculously priced though. For example, Final Fantasy 8 was priced at $35 but it easily goes for $25-30 on eBay. Not too shabby. General non-rare stuff, however, gives me a . I got Megaman Zero 1-3 for $18.

Selection - acceptable. You can't expect it to have crazy stuff yet but eventually, it should. They do have stacks of NES and SNES with good labels, and Dreamcast stuff.

Atmosphere - EBstop is like an inner-city McDonald's and Play N Trade is like a suburban Olive Garden. Clean, nice blue lighting, and super-duper friendly cashier.

Yes, as luisrm mentioned, today is the Leap year special, hence, 29% off all used. And also for this Leap year special, all current-gen games (360, ps3, wii, ds, psp) get 20% extra trade-in credit and older systems are 10% extra credit. Oh, and this is not a special but is a year-long promo: trade in 3 or buy 3 used, get a $5 gift card (not sure if can trade 3 AND buy 3 stack).

Edit: It is a mom n pops shop. Owned by a married couple living in Minneapolis. If you wanted to discuss anything with manager, he's a phone ring away.[/QUOTE]

Im not sure if I would call it a mom and pop store, ive been to several play N Trades.

They are basically gamestop but better and worse in some areas