Buying and selling secondhand items has been a feature of the gaming universe since the beginning of days. A whole world where hard bargaining, peddling, and speculation are the cornerstones. And in the middle of all this whirlwind are secondhand shops. Loved and hated in equal measure, these establishments are the habitual meeting place for everybody who needs one last title to complete their collection or wants to get rid of their extra games. Vintage Game Shop gives you the unique opportunity to get behind the counter in one of these iconic locales. Don’t even think about missing this chance.
I have to say that personally I’m not a big fan of secondhand game stores. They’re places overrun with speculation, where the pleasures of gaming go onto a back burner and all that matters is money, money, money – which is of course understandable, or at least ubiquitous. In fact that’s the daily bread of popular apps like Wallapop, but this doesn’t mean I’m completely cozy with it, especially given how many times I got swindled as a kid. Great, eh?
But that’s precisely the raison d’etre of Vintage Game Shop, which shines a light on the inflated prices of lots of games that have become much-coveted relics of gaming. In this game you play the owner of a secondhand game shop. As in any good business, your mission is to collect profits at the end of the month. To do so you have to buy and sell different items from the throngs who frequent your locale. Although sales are automatic, buying is the juicy bit of the game.
Vintage Game Shop works like an encyclopedia. In the process of buying each item you can enjoy a mini-history of gaming. You’ll discover bits and bobs about the development, genre, and historical impact of the games – like a Wikipedia more than anything else. But though the value of the item you want to buy may reflect the significance of all these details, what really matters here is their condition: if they work or not, if they have their box and instructions, if they’re beaten up or good as new … you can even find items signed by the developers, which will up the price a good bit. Besides all that, sellers’ asking prices, if they give one, are a good base to start haggling.
We’ll start the bargaining keeping in mind the value of each seller’s patience. If you offer them trifling amounts they’ll likely get sick of you and ask for a ridiculously high price, so you’ll have to negotiate until you find a fair price for both of you. If you don’t know how much to ask for, the game gives you the option to call a specialist who will suggest an asking price, very à la Pawn Stars. We can pay it with part of our budget or view an ad for it: a good way of monetizing on the part of the game developer that doesn’t interfere too much with the gaming experience.
Vintage Game Shop is a fun and interesting title. It’s a good way to learn about the history of gaming and will keep you entertained for a good while. It might have been cool for it to include some kind of indicator to penalize sales of items in poor condition, but I’m not going to be too persnickety with this game because it doesn’t deserve that. Also, learning about this trade should clue you in a bit about how hard it is to own a business like this.
Vintage Game Shop for Android on Uptodown [APK] | Download
