Soldato
First memories were dad buying games in Toys R Us. The next one was getting Sega and then Amiga games in a shop called Antics in Stroud (but they have branches all over the South West). Although they don't sell video games anymore they're still going as a model shop and I now buy Pokemon cards for my son in there. Apart from the games disapearing from he shelves not much seems to have changed in there. I think my dad first took me in there to get model rail stuff, but the shop was called the Model Shop at that point. I have asked the staff when the name changed, but to them it's before their time.
Other shops were Format in Gloucester for Amiga and PC games. It was a bit of a odd shop since it also sold Jigsaw puzzles as a games, the guy who ran it was probably in his 50s and had no interest at all in computer games. They never stocked Nintendo or Sega games but I seem to remember having some games from that odd 32 bit generation of consoles (3DO, CDi, 32cd etc.).
There were also loads of chains selling games, Dixons, HMV, WHSmith, Woolworths. Two others I remember were Silica who had concessions in Debenhams and MVC which was owned by Woolies. MVC was a fairly decent shop for CDs and Videos (I also remember them stocking Minidiscs and Laserdiscs). The odd thing about them was you had to sign up for a membership card or you'd pay much higher prices.
When I got older I tended to end up going to Swindon more often then Glocuester, I can't remember any independents from back then. My favourite game shops there were Game and Future Zone which later became Electronics Boutique. The two companies then merged, and the EB became a branch of Game and then Game became a Branch of Ann Summers.
Other shops were Format in Gloucester for Amiga and PC games. It was a bit of a odd shop since it also sold Jigsaw puzzles as a games, the guy who ran it was probably in his 50s and had no interest at all in computer games. They never stocked Nintendo or Sega games but I seem to remember having some games from that odd 32 bit generation of consoles (3DO, CDi, 32cd etc.).
There were also loads of chains selling games, Dixons, HMV, WHSmith, Woolworths. Two others I remember were Silica who had concessions in Debenhams and MVC which was owned by Woolies. MVC was a fairly decent shop for CDs and Videos (I also remember them stocking Minidiscs and Laserdiscs). The odd thing about them was you had to sign up for a membership card or you'd pay much higher prices.
When I got older I tended to end up going to Swindon more often then Glocuester, I can't remember any independents from back then. My favourite game shops there were Game and Future Zone which later became Electronics Boutique. The two companies then merged, and the EB became a branch of Game and then Game became a Branch of Ann Summers.
Just before it closed I picked up a huge Total Annihilation pack, including the book and other bits for £5.