Feel Like Pure Shit Just Want Gamestation Back x

It’s been over a decade since GAME acquired Gamestation, and almost seven years since GAME rebranded all the Gamestation stores to be their own. Alas, Gamestation died in 2012. What a shop that was by the way.



This random expression of sexual feeling for Gamestation might seem weird if you didn’t shop on the high street. But it all boils down to this: while GAME and Gamestation were both in the same gaming retail and exchange business, they felt nothing alike. That was especially the case when they were in competition with each other, from around 2003 until 2007. Back then, GAME and Gamestation seemed to be run different, they carried different stock, their prices weren’t the same, even the layout of the shops was very dissimilar. Having two prominent game shops in your hometown was grand, but there was only one winner there. 



The main difference was the staff. One thing that GAME seems to get slaughtered for is how pushy their staff can be, to the point of being aggressive. I understand that sales targets have to be met in these kinds of places, but I recall instances when GAME’s sales assistants have been unhelpful, dismissive, and blatantly doing a very shitey job. You probably do too. That’s been everywhere, from Aberdeen to Edinburgh, Inverness to Dundee. I could have sworn that the manager in the Ayr shop hated my guts - she was always so unfriendly and hostile to me. I didn’t even do anything wrong! She made buying Game Boy Advance games feel like a sin punishable by death. Cow. 



Anyway, Gamestation’s staff weren’t like that. You felt like you could trust their opinion, and that they valued your custom too. You really got the impression that they were into their games, and genuinely enjoyed their job and the environment they worked in. It’s like they were doing a job they wanted to do, rather than just having a job for the sake of having a job. Right enough, I wasn’t one of these people who would just shore up and start chatting to them when there was a big queue of folk behind me, I wasn’t one of those arseholes. But I felt like they would listen to my opinions, and likewise they would listen to mine. That’s maybe the main reason why Gamestation became my retailer of choice, well before the days of ShopTo and The Game Collection.



I miss Gamestation’s emphasis on pre-owned deals and retro gaming. You don’t get that anymore. I bought many-a-game in Gamestations ‘4 for £20’ and ‘BOGOF’ promotions that seemed to run all year round, and it usually included a lot of good stuff too. Likewise, Gamestation wasn’t just focused on the seventh generation of gaming; unlike in GAME, you’d have no hassle finding old SEGA, Sony, Nintendo, Spectrum, Commodore and Atari stuff. Oftentimes, I’d go to buy a new game, but come away with something older and more interesting instead. They’re a big part of the reason why I got back into old-school gaming, and why I’ve found up with a massive collection too.



What I loved the absolute most about Gamestation was the utterly insane cost of their retro gear. Stupidly cheap! I made off like a bandit a lot of the times I went into one of their shops.



That’s just what I could find about my house. On separate trips, I remember getting Twin Snakes for £7.99, Rapid Reload for £4.99, Super Fantasy Zone for 99p, Sonic Shuffle for £9.99 and a SEGA Saturn for £14.99. And the N64 deals! Shag my arse, the N64 deals! All unboxed cartridges were £1.99, but for a while on Union Street in Glasgow, they were 10 for £10. Come to me, Rocket Robot on Wheels, Mario Party, Perfect Dark, Mickey’s Speedway USA, Mystical Ninja, Pokemon Stadium, Silicon Valley...WOOFT! I’m certain loads of folk have their own stories about bargains they picked up in Gamestation, and I’d love to hear yours...



It felt like Gamestation wasn’t completely the same after they merged with GAME in 2007. True, you still had all those differences that I mentioned in the second paragraph, but over time, the trade-in prices began to match, and I think the rewards schemes came together towards the end. They phased out retro gaming too. I remember going into Gamestation in Killie and seeing that their entire retro section was on a tiny plastic rack on the till. I got Extreme G for 50p, but that’s not the story. 


The story is that I loved Gamestation back in it’s heyday, and we’ll never see it’s like again. In recent years, I’ve shopped in places like G-Force and Games Centre, but they’re now gone too. CEX smells like sweaty belly buttons, and GAME just lacks heart. I just want Gamestation back. 

ps share you gamestation memories thanks

Gamestation was cool, it just sort of popped up in town and the whole 4 for £20 and loyalty card stuff was great, why I played so much PS2, Cube, Xbox, Dreamcast gen.

I do remember them having retro but mainly when it was priced more in line with eBay and they'd have Symphony of the Night behind a cabinet.

Only time it was cheap was when it basically became GAME, and I bought said SOTN for a fiver and £10 for a Virtual Boy.

They did have a right dick working there who would judge anything you'd buy and be all PC Master Race.

Ohh and you're monster Cappa leaving the stickers on.

Ah boy. I genuinely can't remember the last time I bought a videogame from an actual shop. Possibly on the Wii. But I have to agree with your opinion on the GameStation staff - a chap was able to explain the Championship Manager / Football Manager furore when one spiritually became the other.

Yup, I was a big fan of using Gamestation as well and as some have already said the retro sections they had was a massive draw to using them.

I remember when I moved from the north east of England back to Scotland being really happy that I had a much much closer local Gamestation, sadly a few months later it was turned into a GAME & then a few months more after that it was shut down completely. On another note I wish the UK had retro only shops on the scale that you see in the US or Japan.

I wonder with games going more digital and systems that stream, plus I likes of Jim still buys physical but from a online outlet.

Wonder if we will see beyond CEX, GAME start doing retro as in the States GameStop are/have opening retro themed stores due how the market has changed with new games.

Gamestation was so much better than GAME ever has been. My GAME loyalty card in my wallet is still actually a Gamestation card.

It was so much better for retro and just a better place to spend time browsing. I miss it

What a lovely thread.

The 2003-2007 era was when I gamed my arse off.

Gamestation was the place I found Twilight Princess on Gamecube, when nobody else had it. Where I got my first 360. Where we dragged a friend on crutches, after a drunken accident the night before, to pick up GTA 4 on launch day. Where I would spend my lunchtimes at college eating a bag of chips, whilst sifting through racks of 4 for £20 titles with my greasy fingers. They popped up around the same time as local game stores started shutting, and they absorbed much of their custom. It was the only place I could find Dreamcast titles in 2004 in Canterbury.

CEX is great, it serves a purpose, but you’re right about them smelling. They are also staffed by aging metal fans and people with bad hygiene. I’d like to buy this Disney DVD without hearing you swearing your sweaty balls off each time I go to the till. They lack a soul, and it’s evident much of their stock is a dumping ground for burgled houses. Gamestation staff were gamers, often the same type of young men, but at least showed up to work presentable.

I worked in GAME for a few weeks in Xmas 2012, and I was surprised at how badly run the place was. The till system was archaic – you literally had to remember command line interface to work your way through a purchase. The managers were fine as far as their knowledge of videogames, but they never felt like actual managers. There was just no order or organisation and as such, staff regularly didn’t turn up. It’s a shame, because there were still opportunities to chat with customers about games – pretty much all the staff gamed, but with that many 20-year olds being mismanaged, it was clear why many found the staff unhelpful. Didn’t help that some were literal fanboys, so would know nothing about the difference between the 3DS and the regular DS, as they just played Call of Duty all day. I distinctly remember the interview stage where the candidates (this was Christmas temps, bear in mind) were all asked certain questions, including your greatest achievement. Nevertheless, the guy who stated “Completing Dark Souls” didn’t get the job.

Gamestation always had a bargain, but it always felt friendlier too. It was the perfect mix of GAME’s professional, if corporate brand and CEX’s trampish warehouse. Them stickers bring back good memories 

My hometown wasn't fortunate enough to have a Gamestation, only an Electronics Boutique which of course became GAME.

The next town over did have a Gamestation but I don't think I was old enough to appreciate the retro deals and whatnot on offer as I was still at the age where I just wanted the latest games. Still, I do recall raking through the shelves and marvelling at all the games on show that GAME didn't seem to stock. And like you've all said, the staff there did seem to care about gaming and their customers as a result. I recall on one of my few trips to Gamestation that one of the staff took the time to listen to me try to describe what turned out to be Dark Cloud on PS2 as I'd forgotten what it was called and could only remember what I'd played from a demo disc given away with the PS2. How he managed to work out what I was on about, I'll never know.

I do think retail games shops are in a sorry state, these days. I actively dislike going into my local CEX but it's the only place in town that I'm likely to find anything from before the PS4/ONE generation. My local GAME dedicates more floor space to gaming t-shirts and amiibo than anything else, but at least the staff there seem to give a toss. CEX's bunch... "aging metal fans and people with bad hygiene" is an apt description indeed.

Ewwww. I haven't been to CEX, or indeed GAME, for a while, but I'm not inclined to given the glowing reviews ('glowing' like radioactivity) y'all are giving it! I do still like GAME, but more for the fact that it's a gaming shop and we don't have many of those any more.

I just went to the shops around me and what I knew, and I'm afraid Gamestation wasn't one such. Sounds like a good place though! Although did they go bankrupt because of all their sales?

Anyone remember Electronics Boutique? I remember Electronics Boutique, vaguely. I liked them. They got swallowed by GAME I think.

EB were swallowed by GAME
Gamestation were swallowed by GAME

It's no coincidence that GAME sells videogame versions of Monopoly

EB and GAME were basically the same from what I remember though, wasn't a great loss.

Balladeer wrote:

Anyone remember Electronics Boutique?  I remember Electronics Boutique, vaguely.  I liked them.  They got swallowed by GAME I think.

I think they became GAME, didn't they? Did GAME even exist before EB?

Blimey, I'm getting muddled now. I don't think it was 'one became the other', but I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't much difference. All I know is, it was my local shop and I had a fondness for it. I blame the nostalgia.

I think EB and Game were originally separate.

I can still shut my eyes and see the Gamestation we had in Bath. Everything you say is so true, particularly about the soullessness of GAME. As for CEX, my memories are divided between selling up lots of stuff I wish I'd kept because I was skint, and being a strange mixture of intimidated by and attracted to the staff.

Gamestation, on the other hand, was exactly what a game shop should be. Bargains, mysteries, surprises, passion.

Of course, all my memories of Gamestation, GAME, CEX, come from the bigger towns and cities. I grew up in Wells, the smallest city in England, filming location of Hot Fuzz and exactly like that film. We didn't have much, but we did have Insanes.

Somehow still running to this day, Insanes is great. They get the recent stuff, they stock plenty of retro, they have merch, and the staff are knowledgeable and friendly. I visited at least weekly from the age of around 10 until I moved from Somerset in 2017. The staff knew me well enough that whenever their Nintendo deliveries included some T-shirts or other promotional gubbins, they'd throw it in with my copy of the game. They'd always let me buy stuff as soon as it arrived, ignoring release dates as long as I didn't make a fuss. I felt wracked with guilt when they gave me MGSV almsot a week early and then a lad from work went in giving it the "Luke said you gave him the Phantom Pain, I want one!"

My fondest memories are from the early 00s, when I had just my meagre pocket change, but I would always snap up cheap pre-owned Pokemon games just to delve into folks old save files, see what monsters they had, see what they'd named them. Sometimes you got an event legendary, sometimes someone had used lots of dirty words. Good times.

Of course, y'all don't even wanna hear about the shops I frequent these days . . .

Still not got me a PC Engine Duo R from Book Off though.

Insane is decent, I only really go the Bridgwater one and only really retro / last gen as current gen is just cheaper to buy from a simply games etc

Ah I fondly remember jumping into Gamestation on Union Street if I got out of uni early. The staff where always on point and even if you weren't buying anything and just browsing, you could still have a decent chat with them.
I'm sure I've still got an old Christmas booklet from Gamestation somewhere, along with one from Electronics Boutique.

Not hating on GAME, but I never got the same feeling from them. The last time I bought a game on store was from Asda back in 2015 (Bit Trip Runner for 3 quid, new and sealed). The allure of Amazon Prime next day delivery along with decent prices has pushed away the need to jump into Glasgow to get a few games.
It's a shame really because I do miss the days of going to pick up a game. I just can't be arsed heading out to get it on my days off when I could be spending that time actually playing it.

As an aside, remember when there was actually time to spend an entire day playing games? Those were the days...

Those price stickers take me back.

I also miss going there to browse the pre-owned/retro games. Along with it and a pawn stop and another local shop, I found some great deals - at least, at the time. This was before I could shop online. Definitely didn't get the same vibe from the local Game. Felt sterile and they had a very limited supply of retro stuff. I think at most it was just a basket with some shovelware thrown in.

I never really had access to a Gamestation until GAME took them over so sadly for me they've always been the same but in a darker store. I'd like to put in a good word for GAME at least though, my experience of them despite the silly pricing and excessive shelf space for crap like FIFA or nowadays Fortnite merch had always been good, the staff at some of my local ones usually know their stuff and will make recommendations, I won't usually listen to them but it's good to know they're not just pedalling crap on to everyone.

I'm not a big retro fan, maybe that's why I don't miss GS as much as some of y'all. Smurf's not wrong, GAME's not bad - just a real shame it's basically the only show in town these days, and goodness knows how long that'll last.

Had a similar desire today to browse a shop for bargains. Remember Blockbuster? They used to have them bargain bin areas with some incredible deals. The last time I saw these was in a Smyth's, but they weren't the same. I guess browsing your Shopto, Argos, TheGameCollection websites is the modern equivalent, but you're unlikely to find a used copy of Viewtiful Joe for £1.99.

The Blockbuster down my street was excellent, their bargain bins got me so many of my favourite games for practically nothing. I still remember their clearances really well. Randomly walking in one Friday night in mid 1998 and seeing they were selling off all their ex-rental Mega Drive games for £2.49 each was one of the best trips ever - I've still got those copies of Ristar, Splaterhouse 2, Wiz n' Liz, Micro Machines '96 and loads of others. I must have spent about fifty quid that night. They did the same with the PS1, GameCube and PS2 years later 

That's been a good eight years since the nearest one shut down. I've had the odd stroke of luck in Cash Converters and that, but you're right, they're just not the same for incredible deals.

I spoke to a fella who made a documentary about the last Blockbuster the other day. It was nostalgic.

We never had one in my hometown though. I rented some movies at my grandparents' house but never had any chance to raid the bargain bins. I probably wouldn't have found any Cappa-like bargains though.

More game shop nostalgia - my local GAME suddenly closed down yesterday. I didn’t know anything about it. I was heading there from work yesterday to punt some old PS4 games, and I was surprised to see the shelves totally bare and all the stock getting packed into boxes. I don’t even think they had a closing down sale or anything, it’s just shut.

Almost all GAME stores are identikit and boring places, but this one was different. It was the one that had just the most strange mish-mash of stock, where you could reliably find games you hadn’t seen or thought about in years. It still sold Wii and DS games as recently as the end of 2020. Plenty of 360 and PS3 games were still there when I was last in during December. They were still flying the flag for Starlink toys and those Totaku figurines. Just really odd stuff to see, totally unalike any other GAME shop.

Maybe more than anywhere else, it was the site of most of my best bargains. Of anything I can think of, it's this that best sums up the magic of my local GAME:



Why this was so cheap is one thing. Why it was still on sale in late 2016 - nearly six years after the 3DS came out! - is a whole other thing. Just a bizarre shop. So, a 21-gun salute to the best and weirdest GAME in the country!

I'll give you double