GameZone: Strictly Games, and a lot of them.
Mid conversation I need to stop and think. Here is this Video game Store in Salem Mass, only one location that is successful while huge franchises have pushed their competitors out of the market. There must be a Niche he caters to. I verbalize my thoughts and ask Neil, video game collector and owner of GameZone in Salem Massachusetts. “You’re not a GameStop, or a franchise. Do you think of yourself as in the Niche market of video games?” I don’t understand how he has not been swallowed up by the industry behemoths, with locations all over the map, until he tells me.“I think so, I've always been a game store; a video game store carrying every video game available.”; every video game, and every system available.
The store is a marvel to the passive video game enthusiast, and a true Mecca for longtime video gamers or collectors. The shop’s prime location,( 270 Essex St, Salem, MA) downtown Salem attracts attention with its gamer gear filled store window. Most notably a life-size model of Halo’s Master Chief, who looks real enough to shatter the ten foot glass display window and pistol whip a passerby. The much sought after limited edition Zelda: Majora’s Mask Nintendo 3DS is a noticeably proud display piece. Visible in the streets display window, the golden box sits taunting onlookers as if to say; “Sure you might have a Nintendo 3DS, but here is the limited edition release that garnished enough attention for a Forbes article: Majora’s Mask 3DS Sells Out in 15 Minutes. We have that.” Limited edition products like this 3DS on display, Consoles ranging from Atari to xbox 360, a myriad of nostalgia educing game cartridges displayed, all affirm the authenticity of Neil’s claim. Any system, any game; GameZone sells it all.
He shares a story, and we talk about gaming culture; how he feeds a customer base hungry both new and retro content. His voice is an enthusiastically deep pitch that accentuates affirmative words like “yeah” and “nice”. If written phonetically they might look more like YEEEAAHHH, or NIIIICEE. Capitalization might read to some as aggressive yelling, but Neil was more conversationally similar to a reunion with an eccentric longtime friend; loud, friendly, and talkative. I spare the intrusiveness of reading an entire interview in capital letters, but mentally capitalize his dialogue. This is a necessary effect. I interview Neil regarding his passion for games turned business.
Patrick (P): I want you to tell me a story of your business’ inception; where you started.
Neil (N): Just 25 years ago only 45 years ago… And my game plan was always been to carry all video games and video game items that are directly true [to gaming]; not the dolls and all the key-chains and that nonsense. Back then it was you know, Atari and Colecovision. Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis were the current systems so I didn't have to go back too far, and my concept was to do trade ins all the time. Before GameStop’s there were just a few Funcolands around. I was forced into a retail store. Back before the World Wide Web I had a mail order business and I had advertisements in magazines. Yes isn't that amazing magazines? Called Game Pro and Electronic Gaming Monthly, I had huge ads in the back of them. People would call in or mail me a money order and I would ship out their orders. It was a good business. What happened is when video games became, I guess, “mainstream” or with… the NES. The NES really got the market going; people would come into my warehouse. It was a warehouse and I had workers with 7 – 10 employees taking orders on phones and processing orders. People would stop in on my warehouse floor, you know local people. They’d say “I saw your add in Game Pro Magazine, I don’t want the stuff shipped can I come in?” So I said sure why not you know. It got to the point where they [customers] were taking us away from the phones. I was concerned about insurance and people walking around the warehouses. So I said I’m going to bring the Mountain to Mohamed. That’s how my retail store started, just like out of all great businesses because of a demand you find through whatever reason. I wanted to have the customers stop knocking on my warehouse mail-order business taking my employees away from answering the phones so I talked to all the people coming in, I still continue to do that, and I just had set hours for them. You’d have to be in from 5 to 7 and it was just good business. I spoke to the people and found out where most of them were coming from, and Salem Mass was kind of the center. People were coming from all areas but if I opened a store in Salem Mass I felt as though it may be convenient for all the people that were traveling to my warehouse up in Gloucester Mass. So pretty cool Huh?
P: You mentioned something about when video games became more mainstream?
N: Yeah the NES; The NES really put videogames on the map. The NES was in one of every four households of America. That really grabbed hold [of consumers].
P: Before the NES you were involved with video games I’m assuming?
N: I was the distributor; I was one of the first video game distributors in the country; that was just Nintendo. I was doing a really good job with that; bringing it in [video games] to the smaller regional stores. You probably don’t even remember Lechmere, but before the BestBuy’s and the Walmart’s there were some really nice regional electronic stores that had 50 or 70 so stores in an area. Nintendo would want them to go through distributors like me, and I also hit the video rental stores. Hell I don’t know if you remember what a VH Tape is?
P: Oh yes I do…
N: So I also really hit the market on video stores in supplying Nintendo to the video rental stores as well as the regional smaller chains like Ann and Hope, and Ames. They were pretty big stores, but Nintendo just chose to have distributors deal with them like me. The video rental stores were really a good business, and I focused more on video rental stores because there was more of them.
P: When did you transition from video rentals to games?
N: Well I supplied the rental stores so you could go in and rent Nintendo games at your local video rental store. I wholesaled a lot of things to the video rental store, but my main claim to fame with the video rental stores was supplying them with the Nintendo product all over the United States.
P: Would you consider yourself a gamer?
N: Yes I am, but as you get older with family and trying to be a father as well as a husband, and running a business; if you don’t have the time something has got to give. I read, its more reading than playing now. When I do play it is more old-school stuff.
P: Like what?
N: Sega Genesis. Toe Jam and Earl is my favorite game; the first Toe Jame and Earl. That’s the other thing, not to go back but, Sega was trying to get a foothold. They had failed with the master system, and they were trying to get the new Genesis in the market. They had approached me; I was Sega’s first distributor in the united states trying to get the Genesis off the ground. I worked real closely with Sega. I really grew my business; my business grew and Sega grew.
P: So Sega launched your business?
N: No Nintendo was before Sega, but Nintendo was anti-video store rental. They felt as though every rental lost a sale, especially if it wasn’t a good game. Rentals were more trying it before you buy it. Sega took the opposite stance on every issue just to try and get a market. Nintendo was actually Suing video rental stores, and then they lost that lawsuit. So Sega said let’s just go the opposite; embrace video stores, video rental stores. So I was one of the main distributors to VHS stores. They approached me and I became an exclusive distributor. If you, a video rental store, wanted Sega you had to get it from me. That was pretty cool.
P: What did that entail, being an exclusive distributor?
N: That was really cool, Sega was really good to work with. They just did the opposite of what Nintendo did. Everything was done in Japan like it still is [for Nintendo], everything was allocated, you know you could never get enough of the hot tittle. Nintendo wanted to control everything; they didn't want their merchandise in the video rental stores. They tried suing the video rental stores, they lost the lawsuit. It got to the point where the video rental stores; they didn't want the youngster to take home the original instruction booklet because they would lose it and couldn't supply it to their other customers. They [video rental stores] would go to their copy machines and copy off the instruction booklets; that’s a copy right infringement. Nintendo sued and won that one. Sega was just pro business and wanted anyone’s help. I was in the trenches and the front lines dealing with all these video stores. They would approach us “what can we do?” They wanted to go after this market, they were pro rental and they made a good product and could prove it by letting customers try it before they buy it.
P: What kind of market do you think your game store hits now?
N: North of Boston, but we have people come from all over because of our items and our store. I never wanted to or planned to have 3 or 6 stores all thought the opportunity has been there many times. I just wanted to try to focus and have one good location. Try to please. You can’t please every customer all the time but try to please most of them most of the time… and just really have fun. I’m selling fun and I wanted to have fun doing it. I wanted it to be a fun business. It is a “fun business” and I haven’t let it turn into just “business” if that makes sense.
P: Would you consider this a passion, video games?
N: Yes, I’m an avid collector myself. I have a really nice collection myself and I do like to display it and talk to other people that have the passion of collecting; and I will say though Nintendo is really dear to my heart. Their games not their method of business. They just make great games and their customers are really loyal because their games are so great.
N: The Nintendo fan base is so loyal, and they have turned that into a real business. They [Nintendo] will always be a force in this industry
P: When did you start collecting?
N: Pretty much from day one with the Sega and the Nintendo; trying to keep one of everything for myself. I’m lucky to have a lot of merchandise come in my story so I’m able to grab, or kind of cherry pick the good stuff [laughs]. I will let it go to another collector if I really know he’s serious and not in it for the money as a lot of the collectors; they call themselves collectors, but they’re speculating. I call it a poor man’s stock market.
P: Is there a big collecting scene that you are involved with?
N: There definitely is and I try to help a lot of collectors get the titles they want. They let me know what they’re looking for and the condition they are in, and I have a network of a lot of other friends customers and collectors; we kind of network among each other so to speak.
P: Have you been collecting up until now?
N: Yeah, off and on. Yes. Its fun and I like to help fill other peoples collections. I do sell a lot of my rare stuff to fellow collectors knowing that they are true collectors; not hoping to make a buck on it. That is fine too but they are too different animals. One thing I wanted to touch basis on, we were talking about what I enjoy with my game store. One of the things I like to do is interact with the customers. I love when a father brings in his son to buy stuff that he was playing when he was a child; his son is now interested in it and the son didn’t even know his dad had the Nintendo, Super Nintendo, or Sega stuff back in the day. These ten to fifteen years old kids are seeing something on the internet and saying “oh this is cool”, and researching it, then they realize they’re dad is into it. I had a father and son in Saturday, and they were collecting together. His dad was able to share his experience: “ I remember Christmas morning you know when Santa brought me this Sega Genesis and all my games”, you know just listening to the father share his memory with his son, and having them build their collection together.
P: Is that motivation for your collection?
N: No, I just do it. It’s a hobby, a sideline hobby to my business. One other thing I have a lot of people that come in, as I mention I have had this store for twenty odd years, kids coming in when they were twelve who have always been in Salem Mass now come in with their kids. They share stories of me selling them their first Genesis and you know, its really nice that they’re bringing their sons in to collect now. That is what I like about it: The long term customers that I've been dealing with for twenty plus years, and now their kids.
P: How have you seen the industry change in that time?
N: Quite a bit, its gone from soup to nuts, but good games sell systems. That has never changed.
P: You’re not a GameStop, or a franchise. Do you think of yourself as in the Niche market of games?
N: I think so, I've always been a game store; a video game store carrying every video game available. Retro video games are hot right now, they've been popular, but there are a lot of Johnny-come-latelys that have been jumping into it. The current gen systems are doing very well too. The PlayStation four is doing very well; I think its just a whole complete ball of wax so to speak. Good games sell systems.
P: What systems have you noticed sell well?
N: The Sony, the PlayStation 3. From the get go when the PlayStation 2 became the number one video game seller of all time there was a huge space there. People have upgraded to the PlayStation 3, and now the PlayStation 4. It seems to be when I talk to my customers when they have a PlayStation 4 they’ve always had a Sony product as their main gaming console, and they same goes for the people who have the Xbox one; they seem to have always had Microsoft as their main gaming console. In my opinion the Halos just aren’t doing it any more, I don’t think they have a must have game that is going to drive system sales. My customers seem to have a lot of systems.
P: What kind of customers do you get? What kind of people?
N: Well we have the current gen people that are just into the newer game systems. You can fine tune that, when there are current gen people who are just into sports games or just into Call of Duty. We have a lot of people we only see once a year when the Call of Duty comes out. We have a lot of customers who come in just to pick out sports games, or are casual gamers who just play in the winter time because they can’t be out doing other things.
P: Is there any type of gamer you've noticed in your store that is regional different?
N: … No I don’t think so
P: … or is a Gamer a Gamer all around?
N: Yeah. Yeah. There are old school gamers, customers that have everything; Nintendo right up to P4 and current gen. Then we have customers that just do the older school stuff. Then we have casual gamers who just want the Nintendo. We have customers who just want the PlayStation 2 because it has such a great selection of games.
P: Vince from IGN shared with me that he experienced a lot of stigma as a Gamer in his early years. Is that something you experienced as a Gamer?
N: No, maybe because birds of a feather flock together? The people that I hung out with and interacted with were into my same hobby. You know tomorrow I hope to be hanging around with skiers and boarders in the ski lodge talking about our best runs. I think that is what I experienced. I was always involved with other hobbies, and I have other passions as well, but No. At one time I think that there was the controversy of violence in video games, and video game ratings. That kind of had some stigma on it, that’s what I noticed. The shooting and all the backlash, that they’re blaming video games on a lot of crime and violence in the world.
The store’s website http://www.gamezonesalem.com/