Being a father of three means that most of my time is spent juggling dirty diapers, doctors appointments, and extracurricular activities.  But every once in a while I’ll take a few days off mid-week to just go out and do my own thing.  This past Tuesday, I chose to spend the morning bouncing around retro gaming stores.

First on the list was used bookstore called McKay Used Books.  I found out about them through the directory over at nintendoage.com, and a quick phone call confirmed that they did, in fact, buy and sell used video games (and that they had a few NES titles in stock).

Walking into the store you’re first greeted by a display case with used video game systems.  All of the systems are reasonably priced and come with one controller and all the required power and a/v connectors.  The console selection included everything from an Atari 2600 all the way up to a new Wii U console.

Immediately to the left of the display case was a large collection of comic books for a used book store.  I’m not much into comics myself, so I’ll let someone judge the quality of the selection down in the comments section.

The video game cases were located just past the cash register and boasted a decent selection of everything from Atari games all the way up to some newer Playstation and Xbox titles.  The store keeps all of the game CDs behind the counter as an anti-theft measure, but to purchase a game you just need to bring the empty case to the front.

All of the cartridge based games are stored in a glass display case that the employees have to access from the back.  So picking out your purchases becomes a game of, “no, not that one, the second from the back, third row”.  While it can be a little frustrating to play this human version of the crane game when trying to find the best labels, the employees at McKay Used Books are more than happy to help out and make sure you get the exact game you’re looking for.

They also a pretty good selection of sought after games, such as the Super Smash Bros. series, and a really expansive selection of the Zelda franchise.  There is a good selection of classic games for the NES as well (Double Dragon, Dragon Warrior, Rescue Rangers ect.). They also had a few rarer titles too, like Alfred Chicken (but that one’s in my collection now).

The prices on common games were slightly lower than you’d expect (using PriceCharting as a baseline), but were balanced out by somewhat inflated prices on a few of the more popular games. In the end I would say that the prices were reasonable, taking into consideration the convenience of having the games immediately and not having to pay shipping charges.

With a good selection of games, and a great staff, I will definitely be dropping by the next time I am in the area.