Best Places To Buy Vintage Video Games & Accessories In Los Angeles
Vintage video games are anything but antique, and game hunting is quite the hobby for game geeks. Just think of Sheldon, Leonard, Raj and Howard from hit show "The Big Bang Theory," who will definitely be celebrating National Video Game Day on Sept. 12. Los Angeles has a healthy selection of video game stores, but for the die-hards, the stores that carry old school classic game titles are the winners. Most of these shops are independently-owned and curate the titles specific to customers' preferences. For old time video game titles for Atari, Gameboy, Sega and Nintendo (and a whole lot more), check these L.A. stores first.
A&J Games
11132 Palms Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 390 5440
www.ajgamesretail.com
You name it, they have it. A&J Games is a local mom-and-pop shop for your gaming needs. Selling authentic retro video games at a fair price, and repairing consoles for a variety of new and old systems (Atari to Wii to XBOX and Sony PS2/3), A&J Games has been in business over 20 years. Customers rave about the store's friendly and expert service and large selection of nostalgic game cartridges for Atari, Genesis, Nintendo and Gameboy. Enthusiasts also like shopping for cover art, books and magazines, comics and posters, Pokeman and Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.
Game Dude
12104 Sherman Way
North Hollywood, CA 91605
(818) 764-2442
www.gamedude.com
Visiting Game Dude is like walking through a library. Literally, the store houses thousands of retro video game titles from the 80s and 90s. Fans will find games for Nintendo and Super Nintendo, Gameboy, Turbo Grafx16, 3DO, Lynx Jaguar, NEO GEO, Dreamcast and the Sega collection. Popular titles include Super Nintendo's Final Fantasy ('87), Nintendo's Street Fighter (90s), Sega Genesis' Earthworm Jim ('94), The Hedgehog ('91) and Golden Axe ('89). In addition to buying and selling video games, Game Dude also procures video game systems, accessories and strategy guides, along with DVDs and Bluray movies. Visit Game Dude for new releases too including Lego Dimensions (Sept. 2015), Halo 5 (Oct. 2015) and Star Wars: Battlefront (Nov. 2015).
Next-Gen Video Games
5360 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 938-3400
www.nextgenvideogames.com
Next-Gen Video Games is a specialty shop offering vintage and new video games and game accessories. Carrying a wide selection of game titles for all consoles, Next-Gen Games also buys used video games and cards (Magic The Gathering, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh! and CardFight!). The retro video game collections spans generations — NES, Super NES, Nintendo 64, Playstation 1, Game Boy/Color/Advance, Game Gear, Sega Genesis/Master/CD/ Saturn/Dreamcast and TurboGraphx. Gamers also enjoy leafing through the rare import titles the store has in stock. It's fun to check out the store's event calendarm, as it hosts game nights and tournaments for prizes (cash, too) throughout the week.
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Game Play
5911 E. Spring St.
Long Beach, California
(562) 421-6880
Game geeks prefer Game Play for its older video game titles, which many of the chain stores don't carry anymore. The business is locally owned with a knack for personal customer attention. Find a selection of new and used vintage games, consoles and accessories, which Game Play offers at lower prices. Movie buffs can find fun stuff like old movies and posters.
World 8
1057 S. Vermont Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90006
(213) 389-5212
www.world-8.com
World 8 honors the tried and true gamers. Nostalgia seeps through the walls with the cool video game art and memorabillia. Serious gamers like coming here for the store's old school TV sets to play favorites like Mario, Kirby and Hello Kitty from the store's kick back seating ($2 for 30 minutes). Hunt for old time classics for PS1 and other titles within their used game library. With hard drive upgrades for PS3 or XBOX and fix-its to any Gameboy, World8 says to bring any malfunctioning console in. In fact, they will retrograde any game machine to be equipped with arcade sticks.