Rise of Babbage's and Video Game Stores - Video Game Years 1984
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 ส.ค. 2016
- A look at the rise of Babbage's and video game stores in 1984.
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Join Pat the NES Punk, James Rolfe, Pro Jared, and others as we talk about great games!
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GameStop traces its roots to Babbage's, a Dallas, Texas-based software retailer founded in 1984 by former Harvard Business School classmates James McCurry and Gary M. Kusin. The company was named after Charles Babbage and opened its first store in Dallas' NorthPark Center with the help of Ross Perot, an early investor in the company. The company quickly began to focus on video game sales for the then-dominant Atari 2600. Babbage's began selling Nintendo games in 1987. The company went public in 1988. By 1991, video games accounted for two-thirds of Babbage's sales. - เกม
*Nothing but Babbage’s in here tonight*
*Babbage’s only*
Going to Software, ETC and Babbages back in the day to drool over the pricey systems and carts was always a highlight. Thanks for the nostalgia.
Babbage’s only
I have a snap shot memory of staring at a Babbages wondering if they were selling a game I already had, but couldn't figure out. It was called "In Search Of The Most Amazing Thing" which is all over youtube now.
I remember going to Funcoland back in 1989 or 1990 for the first time with my dad and brother. Those were the golden years of gaming for me and nothing will change that. I don't recall these other game stores that are mentioned in this video. I bet they were in my area back in the day though. Interesting bite size vid!
I remember that I did alot of business with them because my brother had a friend who worked there.I used to pre order new games and drop 80-90 dollars knowing that the value was going to be next to nothing when I sold it
Ian acting like the typical GameStop shill employee at checkout is hilarious.
Oh, so that's what it was.
Believe me its not that we want to do it. We have to do it.
We have the strategy guide for this game.
I love it
I remember when I was a kid going to the mall and getting really excited to go to Babbage's. I recall it being a sorta book store/game store with more emphasis on computer software. One thing I will always remember is going in there and walking to the back to play Sonic 2. That always stuck with me...
***** Yeah, and I even remember when Myst first came out and it was pretty mindblowing.
Some of the speakers were misleading in this. I worked at EB in the 80s and Babbage's in the 90s.
1) Neither shop accepted trade-ins until the mid/late 90s. That was a FuncoLand thing first. (need a system cleaner?!)
2) Babbage's never had a membership card, neither did EB until they started the Game Stop conversions.
3) Babbage's and Software Etc. joined forces as "NeoStar Retail" in the early 90s but originally had chosen to keep all upper management and stores, causing massive overlapping and inefficiency. There were some store closures later but not enough.
4) Might have been '94? But we went bankrupt and got no shipments of new games for a few weeks. We were later white-knighted by the guy that ran Barnes and Nobles so our jobs were saved.
5) Shortly after this, they started converting Babbage's to EB Games and Game Stops, depending on the territory.
6) Eventually most stores were renamed Game Stop, but it's literally taken decades. Some EB Games still out there.
eb games all over canada.
Babbage's - video game mecca back in the day. Loved their stores. Great vid!
these are always waaaaaaaaayyyy too short, almost like what's the point?
Views
They get like a third of the views of the CUP videos on average, so I'm not sure it's working...in fact I gave up on Video Game Years a long time ago and only clicked on this one because I mistook it for CUP. The series could be really cool, it's just so stingy with content...they almost feel like trailers for longer videos.
I remember having to go to babbages or sam goody because they had a deal as a exclusive seller of some things like iTunes .I remember trying to get everything for a handspring or palm device and being so overwhelmed when dealing with those stores.
I loved my local Babbage's back in the day. As a kid, every time I was at the mall with my parents or siblings I would just hangout in there looking at all the PS1 games :).
I remember always going to the local Electronics Boutique in the mall back in the day, always bought my PC/Console stuff from there
It wasn't until the 90s that we got these stores. I bought my NES games from a small computer store. I think Software, etc was the first chain store to move in.
Im a babbage you cant kill me
Babbage's was around until at least 2001. Pat, there was one in the Freehold Raceway Mall if you ever went there. I miss the Time-Out arcade that was there. I haven't seen an arcade in any mall since like 2008.
My favorite store but was too young to actually buy anything. Loved just looking around.
There wasn't a Babbage's near us that I remember, but we had Funcoland, KB Toys and Player's Choice. I used to go to Player's Choice all the time for used games/trade ins. That's where I got my Funtastic Black/Smoke N64 in 2002-2003 for $50 with a smoke controller, expansion RAM, and two games. I remember thumbing through a small box of just Pokemon Red/Blue looking for good labels and they were $5-8 each, those were the days.
I worked at a babbages... the good old days
nice! yeah I was there when gamestop and Babbage co ex-existed. Then they merged the brands. Then they bought funco land. I got out of dodge at that point and worked for eb games for like a season or so.
Where can I watch the full version?
babbages had my sierra kings quest and other games that took 12 floppy disks to install and took hours, i loved it
That ending....hilarious... Well done Ian
Not only did the one I went to had games but they had all the latest an greatest toys when I was younger,like iconic Toy Biz an gi joes
I wish these were longer.
If it takes more than a minute somebody is doing something wrong
I remember when they sold specialty action figures there and I bought a bunch because you couldn't find them anywhere else unless you went to a store that sold them.
The Babbages near me was in mall and had two outside screens with a constant game demo loop of about 15 games. I would seriously hang out in front of those screens forever while my parents shopped. Equal parts Babbages equal parts Dreammachine/Cyberstation arcade. Mall circa 1992.
Nothing but babbages in here tonight
There was still a babbages in my local mall in the late 90s/early 2000s
that makes sense because that was before they went bankrupt
Bought my first computer CD at Babbages in 1994. It was a font pack for Windows 3.1.
00:20 the guy is speaking about those stores like they're separate. I thought Software ETC. and Electronics Boutique were Babbages after it was bought out finally becoming Game Stop.
I loved the Trade-In Value newspapers that Funcoland would give out.
Pat, being at one time you were in NJ, do you remember there was a Babbage's at Ocean County Mall in Tom's River NJ all the way up to the late 2000's? Now it's been converted to a Gamestop.
No, but it was a Babbage's in name only at that point. By the early 2000s they were just about all under Barnes & Noble/GameStop control.
Yeah that's true! I remember by the 2000's it felt exactly like a Gamestop.
I like babbages cause they like babbages too
I miss the old Software, Etc. store here in Winchester before Gamestop took over.
Man, talk about memories!!
i bought a dresmcast in 99 from babbages lol. i miss that store
At my nearest mall there was a Software Etc. and an Electronics Boutique, competing. Then it was just Electronics Boutique. Then that became GameStop. Then I became sad.
Holy crap Pat also went into Egghead as well?
Back in the day I'd go into Egghead more then Babbages.
I was sad when Egghead closed. :(
Pat, you should listen to Daddy Ian. He knows what is best for you!
Ian can't even stop himself from being blurry.
CAN YA TAKE IT ALL AWAAAAHAAAAY CAN YA TAKE IT ALL AWAAAAHAAAAY
What's the name of that dragon game taht flashes at 0:03?
I use to get all of my Apple IIGS games from Egghead Software.
I used to buy almost all of my MS-DOS games there...
So, can Babbage authenticate an Australian complete-in-box Atari (2600) Air Raid like EB Games?
Every stupid mall store had a card that I got and threw out when I got home.
0:38 Why is the actor of Lex Luthor from Batman v Superman here?
Glad my uncredited photos made it... (Colonial Park Mall and Wilton Mall)
i miss funcoland man i got my dreamcast there
Gotta do one on Funcoland and Media Play
EB and Babbage were so much better then Gamestop as they even had a good selection of computer games and would complete for prices
Malls around me had both a EB and a Babbage
Also Compusa and Egghead were alright back in the day and tend to have good computer game prices and selection
+Rick Harding it's true. they competed a lot. there's no way in hell you would pay 5 dollars less for a used copy of a game that is less than a year old. you would normally see them for 30 or 35 top for a 50 dollar new game. game stop got the while thing fucked up because there is no competition.
Babbages was always a mandatory stop for me when I'd go to the mall as a kid. I think, at least in Houston, they slowly got replaced by FuncoLand and EBGames, until GameStop came around and bought them all out. Essentially the exact same stores, just with different names. It's a wonder GameStop gets so much hate while those places were beloved.
It boggles my mind that people expect to be go to GameStop and get 50$ for their used games. It's absurd to expect to get retail prices back as trade ins. Especially when people come in with sports games. It's a business that has to make money. If they gave everyone nearly retail trades they woulda closed 20 years ago
@@jonathansoko1085 I think some of the complaints are valid. Expecting a premium price for a 15 year old Madden game that sold a million copies is a little much, but even newer games and systems are under valued and when a company makes that a huge part of their branding, it can feel like a kick in the nuts to walk in there and get a tenth of what they’ll turn around and sell a game for. Smaller independent places can offer a better price to buy used software and hardware and still turn a profit. Why can GameStop? My guess is rampant corporatism, being a publicly traded company with shareholders that expect to see stocks go up and profits rise with infinite growth, if only makes sense that they’ll squeeze every penny at the cost of the experience of the customer.
Either way, it’s all moot now. In 5 to 10 years GameStop likely won’t exist, at least in this form. Whatever they chose to do it probably won’t be enough to save one of the last brick and mortar chains that caters to kids primarily.
Ian sounds just like a Gamestop employee.
The first time I encountered a computer game was at an Egghead store. It was called Doom... I really wanted to join the PC master race right then and there but we were far too poor for a PC.
Didn't have a Babbage's near me. Only had Electronic Boutique and Funcoland in my area until Gamestop took those over and ruined them.
Damn i miss software Etc . the good old days .
Why did they put you guys up to this, Ian and Pat?
We had Funco Land before they got bought up by GameStop and Game Stop bought anther store chain cause it used to be GameStop and something else i forgot
I remember Babbage's and funcoland
I was 3 at the time so I never knew the store.
Then Crazy Learners-Permit Girl gave me a ride to Babbages.
What? They ain't got no turbographx games?!
IT'S OVER!!
I kinda miss Babbages. The atmosphere was nice, it was well organized, and NOBODY HARASSED YOU FOR PRE-ORDERS! Nor did you have to up with in store propaganda playing on their TV while you were browsing!
Geez, Ian, if I wanted to hear that I'd just go to my local grocery store.
Nothing but babbage's in here tonight
WOOWWW BOB MACKEY
Wassup Roo!
Babbages was way better than gamestop
Babbages only
For me it was all about Funcoland
Never experienced it
all these great stores like babbages, eb, funcoland, software etc. plenty of choices and reasonable prices. then gamestop came along and competent ruined everything. even toys r us was a fun place to shop for games. not now
I really like how Toys R Us had all the nes games hidden in the back, so you had to pull those plastic picture labels and take them to a counter to get your game. I always thought that made them even more cool.
+creekandseminole I just like that it used to be a fun place to shop. when there was more than one place to get video games it seemed like you actually got customer service, and employees tried bc they knew you could go to 3 or 4 other places. now it's all the same. you go in and usually have to find someone and have them unlock the glass case. rarely do you find anyone thats even mildly knowledgeable.
+oxygeninterface I will give gamestop credit and say at least you don't really have t search for someone. however all the negative things about that place trump anything positive
Gamestop
am I being to cheap or is my local store ripping people off? I know it's a business, but they buy everything for 20-25% of resale or 40% store credit and everything they sale is about 110% to 120% retail value, I understand overhead but they have no local competition.
bigdogbourne
It's as if you don't have this thing called the internet where you can find everything for much cheaper than what they offer at bricks and mortar stores....oh wait.
funcoland, enough said.
gamestop isn't bad. its that most customers are socially inept and cannot shop properly.
Bad bitches
What was the point of this video
I really want a 90s version of this show.
Huh?
But y called babbage
Toys R Us easily had the greatest videogame aisle of the mid- late 1980's , and probably of all time. If you were to witness an entire wall of brand new landmark NES games
In stacked rows with amazing artwork after amazing artwork , and see groundbreaking accessories In exhibited glass cases with the most high tech toys , It was gamer heaven. Gamestop of today is trash and needs to hurry up and go out of business.
Poor editing. This Egghead Software stuff sounds completely out of left field and unrelated to Babbage's. I'm only assuming it's somehow related because I'm giving you guys the benefit of the doubt, but you're supposed to be telling me something I DON'T know about Babbage's and that was a missed opportunity. So, explain to us: What does this defunct "Egghead Software" have to do with Babbage's?
Too short
Cinematography is a disaster. Who thought it would be a good idea to shoot closeup and make guest look off camera? I guess that's what you get when everyone with a smartphone thinks he can make movies.
will always get a thumbs down if I see anyone wearing a hood. :(
Just watch the whole bits, peeps. These slivers of great content are basically useless.
only reason I know about Babbage's is from the memes around those stupid pop 'artists' like Nicky Minaj where they say 'bad bitches' too much >.
+Wheels8504 not really I never knew any of these because I grew up with eb games
Wheels8504 it kind of is, yes, but......yeah, we never had them anywhere where I lived as a kid, either, so......ya know
just wanted to say electronics boutique made it to the the uk. game stop hasn't... but it spawned together with game station. which ended up bonding with game. the game stop of the uk. but isn't as big as game stop from what i can see. cause most uk buyers buy second hand.. completely useless information from a nobody. your welcome. world!!
All this videos are very rush.
Yeah this one seemed shorter and more rushed than usual.
This comment seemed rushed.
I bet you don't know this segment is part of a whole episode.
these are annoyingly too short
Babbages only