I actually am a huge fan of RPGs and I have lots of stories and I'm not trying to be negative at all.
I always have a routine when I shop for RPGs. As a kid, at Toys R Us I go straight through the store to the video game aisle and I stay there for about an hour just getting lost in all the tickets.
At Blockbuster, I go straight to the video games to see what's available and I sit on the floor and read all the gaming magazines and choose one to buy.
At Mom & Pop rental stores I always talk to the owner to see if they have any more RPGs coming in soon.
Once I found out Funcoland wasn't a bed mattress place and actually sold video games I found out they were the nicest guys ever and once I picked out a RPG they totally told me everything about it and if it was a good game or not.
At Kay-Bee Toy Store I would just stand in front of the counter looking behind the cashier at the games behind the plastic cabinet no problem. Sometimes for an hour.
At Electronics Boutique, I sort of fell into this routine of going straight to the PlayStation aisle and going through each case one by one to see if there's any RPGs. And I go to the Used Bin also and do this. No one ever bothered me and it was never a problem. I kept on doing this until I was a teenager.
At Game Crazy, the employees were hardcore gamers and helped me find a Sega Saturn around.
Then around the time GameStop came I noticed that they felt I was weird that I didn't go straight up to the counter right when I walked in and ask them anything, and I would look for it myself. I think they want you to tell them what you're looking for and they go to the floor and get it for you.
Then when I was like 24, I just kept doing my usual thing and I noticed the employees were super aggressive in selling you a video game. I would just say, 'I'm just looking.' Hoping they would get the hint and I'll ask them when I find something. But they always go straight behind the counter and the employees start talking about me and kinda looking over at me.
It happens every single time at all the GameStops in San Francisco.
Like to be honest it just made me feel a little weird cause I can see the store is sort of marketed to kids, and kids come through all the time... like they made me feel I was a creepy old guy or something in the store.
The vibe got so weird after each interaction I stopped going to GameStop and the malls altogether. The only reason I would even trek to the mall was to go to GameStop anyway. And I sorta just kept all my video game shopping to online?
Do you guys ever shop for video games anymore in person or do you guys just buy online now?