People Play Games

Good store with a large selection of vintage games like Sega 1986 with two games already loaded up on the machine so I can play games and be reminded of my childhood playing these games with my older brothers.

This is a fun store to walk through. They are on top of what’s trending price wise, so you won’t be getting any deals here. However, it is the only place you’ll get reliable used stuff. You pay a little more, but you know it’s going to work. They also get unique items that you definitely won’t come across at GameStop or Exchange.

People Play Games has to be the worst name I’ve ever heard for any establishment ever. It’s like owning a brew pub that not only serves the best meats and cheeses, but also has a hookup on the finest ales that Asgard has to offer and then calling that place «Humans Eat and Drink».
Now that we’ve covered all that I don’t like about this place, let’s cover all I do like. I’m a lifelong gamer, but the last console cycle really bothered me. From a XBox 360 with multiple red rings of death, to a Nintendo with no third party support that became a dust collection unit, to a PS3 who spent most of its time turned on loading and updating, I decided to buy none of the new systems these companies had to offer and instead I bought one of those Retron gimmicks that play the old cartridge based games. It’s been money well spent.
But with this comes the gargantuan task of finding the third party titles of my childhood that haven’t been properly ported or ported at all. It’s pretty tough to find good 20 – 30 year old games. If you walk through these doors, that task becomes less daunting.
So Ion a whim I walk in here during a recent trip to Chicago. I’m instantly transported to my youth as I see a half dozen cases stacked top to bottom with cartridges. I notice a glass case by the register, and I realize this is the good stuff as I spy a hard to find copy of Final Fantasy VII on PS1 (which I currently own). So I’m looking at the case, and I instantly find a relic from my childhood– a copy of Star Fox on SNES, but with that very familiar «Not For Resale» bar on the sticker. It was the same copy I used to play at Woolworth’s after school as a kid (yes, I was around when Woolworth’s was still around, I’m old, I know, we’ve been through this before). I ask the guy at the counter how much, he says «$ 90, but I have $ 14.99 copies over here» and then leads me to the cartridges. Maybe my boyish, small town Milwaukee looks got to him, but I was really interested in that copy. But it was still a little to rich for my blood, so instead I really started shopping.
So I peruse the cabinets, and I grab copies of Tecmo Super Bowl, Dick Tracy and Ikari Warriors on NES and copies of Killer Instinct (the cool black cartridge), Taz-​Mania and Spiderman and the X-​Men on SNES. All the games were surprisingly reasonably priced for being near downtown Chicago, I seen some of the games I bought here sell for five dollars more in Milwaukee. The girl who opened the cases was very patient with me, as I was intent on spending no more than $ 50 on games and I changed my mind throughout since they had so many games to offer. The cartridge selection here is at least four times bigger than the biggest cartridge collection I’ve encountered here in Milwaukee, and I didn’t even look at their disc based games, which they had a ton of.
After picking out my cartridges, I turn around to find a working Super Nintendo display like they had in the stores. I couldn’t believe it.
I took the games home, 5 out of 6 of them started up instantly. My Tecmo Super Bowl stalled out on the first go, but I remembered that old cartridge trick (no, you don’t blow inside of it dummy! You’ll ruin it that way!) A little rubbing alcohol and a Q-​Tip revealed the problem, as some dirt ended up on the connecters. After the one cleaning, it was good to go, and I’ve been playing that game every other day since (Majkowski to Sharpe!) I can’t fault then on this, with so many cartridges in stock it has to be hard to keep everyone clean.
For retro gamers, this place is a dreamland and you should make time if you’re in Chicago.

Absolutely phenomenal service. The staff is very friendly. The deals are extemely fair. I look forward to many more interactions and business here.

This place might be small, but what it lacks in space it makes up for in a great selection of games, systems, and gaming accessories! I have been to this place many times in the past few years and I always see something I want to buy, even if I don’t have the money to buy it at the moment I’m shopping.
The many games I have bought from People Play Games have always worked great and every time you buy a disc based game they will literally clean the game disc (even if it doesn’t have any scratches) just to make sure the game works as it should. The few gaming systems I have bought here have also worked great and more often than not you can see the staff testing out systems they were recently given to make sure they work properly.
Speaking of the staff, the customer service is fantastic! If you ask for help, they are more than happy to give you a hand! If you don’t ask help, then they are busy in their front desk making sure the trade-​ins they got work properly before they put them on sale. They treat you like an adult and I appreciate that very much. The relaxed nature of the staff should not be mistaken for indifference to the customer. The staff is honest about what you buy and about what items have store warranties before you buy them.
There really isn’t anything bad to say about People Play Games! I guess people can complain about getting a low value on their trade-​ins. But to those people I have this to say, welcome to America! If you don’t like your trade-​in value, then go sell your games to GameStop and see if they will give you a better offer (they won’t)!

This is the place you go to for video games. From the late 70’s to today… although the now generation games are limited, they shouldn’t be the reason to be here. You should also visit regularly since you never know what game they might end up having. Great staff as well, if they don’t have an answer they at least try but 99% of the time they have an answer for any problem.

If I had been hit by a bus in 1989, my eight year old self would have died and walked into a place similar to this store called heaven (Of course, in heaven, the Cubs would have beaten the Giants that year). I now have a monster NES collection thanks to this place, and they also have every type of video game from every era that you could imagine. The store is well-​organized, and the staff is super-​helpful. I can’t even begin to describe all the cool gear they have in this place, you really do have to check it out for yourselves.
Oh, and do yourselves a favor and wait for them to clean off all the disc games. Sure beats having to sit in traffic and having to find parking again (Wrigleyville isn’t the most convenient place to get to) so that they can clean off the game after you discover that it doesn’t work.

Awesome place! This is where you go to f8nd childhood memories. I’ve purchased alot of games from them and all work perfectly, most recently being the gameboy I bought with the game tetris. The even repair old gameboy and game boy color games by replacing the battery! I can finally replay my old pokemon games without dear of the game not saving. Really cool place, check it out.

They have a HUGE selection of older games. It’s pretty awesome if you like to play SNES, NES, or any Sega game. The customer service is decent. It depends on the person really.
However, they really lowball you for trade in value. For example, say you have a game that sells for $ 35 anywhere else. They’ll only give you like $ 10 for it.
Their prices are also pretty high on somethings. You really have to watch what you buy here. You could be overspending.

I went to People Play Games in search of Christmas gifts for my brother and they certainly didn’t disappoint. There was a wide variety of every «vintage» video game (and console) that I can think of. They also have old gaming magazines. The staff was incredibly nice and helpful!

Stopped in here with a friend last week looking for an Xbox 360 controller. The one we ended up with seemed brand new and worked like a charm. The staff was helpful and friendly.

This store is the best retro video game store i have ever been in. The selection is good and the prices are fair. If you are looking for anything from the past this should be your first stop. The only thing that is better than the amount of retro goodness is the staff. I go to this store a couple times a month usually just browsing looking for something to catch my eye. The guys working here are friendly and ask what kind of things you are looking for. Last time i was in the store i was in the mood for a smup and i wasn’t having any luck so i asked the guy at the counter what he would recommend. After a little discussion about what systems i had and what kind of game i was looking for he made several recommendations and i purchased Burning Force. I was not disappointed. If you like Retro games From Atari to N64 This is the place you need to visit.

I’ve been looking for a while for a nerd store that sells the old style games and consoles that fits my needs. There’s nothing quite like being able to hold an NES or N64 in your hands rather than seeing photos of them online. PPG has a ton of great retro games for old fossils like myself to marvel at!

This is a great retro game store. I took my boyfriend who is a big game head and he was in love. They had a wide variety of games with everything displayed nicely. We found a lot of his favorite games from childhood for reasonable prices and a few collectibles. They are firm with their prices but they are very reasonable and a lot cheaper then other game stores we went to. The customer service was great. We spent over $ 200 and they very nice enough to clean the Discs and make sure everything was up to par. It was definitely a great experience and we highly recommend this store over any other retro game store. Thanks for the goodies!

Went in for the first time today and fell in love as soon as I walked in. I went to look for a Sega Saturn game and a ram cart, I found something worth buying but no ram cart. Still something there really caught my eye and I couldn’t resist the urge to buy it.
I purchased a Turbo Grafix-​16 console in its original box and with the original included game inside and a copy of Vigilante. Everyone was super nice and I was so happy with my purchase, even if it was a pretty penny. I will definitely return when I’m ready to get an Snes, Genesis, and eventually a Coleco Vision.

Literally my favorite store in all of Chicago. I’m a huge Sega fan/​collector, so this is like a gold mine to me. I lived close by and had to refrain from walking in there every day, but still managed to check it out a couple times a week. They always have a great selection at reasonable prices. If something is overpriced, it’s usually because they don’t get it in that much, so just go on eBay or Amazon.
Any of the bad reviews on here seem to be about the employees and the atmosphere of the store, but seriously, you just gotta give it a chance. The guys are super cool if you actually try and talk to them and they were always really helpful whenever I needed something or had a question. The owner is actually a cool guy if you talk to him as well. He just doesn’t try to pretend he’s someone he’s not and I respect that. Also, don’t get offended when they ask you to set your backpack at the counter before you browse. It’s a small store, but there’s a lot of rare stuff in there. It’s a big city and people steal.
I’m sad that I won’t get to stop by as much now that I live in Wicker Park, but I’m still going to make a point of checking it out a few times a month.
UPDATE — I just want to add that I have gone to The Exchange several times now that I live in Wicker and I’ve found that all their prices are near the same or even a few bucks more than People Play Games. And honestly, even when looking online, PPG seems to have comparable prices to Amazon and EBay. Plus, if you do choose to buy from PPG, you can always count on the games being cleaned to perfection and in the best quality possible. All the games I’ve gotten at either The Exchange or online have been filthy and are no where close to containing the love and care that PPG puts into cleaning their retro selection. I LOVE YOU PPG!

They’ve amassed the type of gaming collection that’s akin to several ultimate geek basements combined… but it also smells like the stereotypical basement too: mustiness and B.O. with a slight hint of stale corn chips.
This was my first-​ever visit, and I’m guessing that the stink was due to all of the snow/​water dragged in, but man was the store a mess. The 2 workers on duty were cleaning a bunch of games, which is awesome, but leaving dirty-​ass cotton swabs and stacks of games on the counter is not very welcoming (4pm on a Saturday afternoon).
I didn’t interact much with the staff, but hearing them talk to other patrons you can tell they’re pretty knowledgeable but maybe not so well-​equipped for social interaction or friendly chitchat.
For their inventory alone, I’d give them 4 stars. But given the presentation of the store, and slightly hire prices, it hardly makes me want to go back. I’d rather search online for the retro games I want.

I still do like this store, but the problem of them being blatantly overpriced on certain items (particularly complete in box (CIB) used games) bugs me. And probably one of the 2 main reasons I’ve looked at this store a little less in recent years, besides also The Exchange opening ¹¹⁄₂ blocks away. I would think this store would want to think about the fact that by pricing their CIB games the way they are, that they’re just encouraging people to look into purchasing them online instead. I know they can’t do a lot about certain factors like the high Chicago/​Cook County combined sales tax, but still it wouldn’t hurt to not price CIB games high for the eff of it. The owner can sometimes be a little annoying to deal with (not sure why, but it is), but at least the regular employees aren’t bad. And I recall learning the hard way a few years ago after purchasing a game I ended up not liking (but thought I would), that unfortunately they will only give you store credit and not a refund, if you purchase a game you end up not being wild about. You’ve been warned.
It’s just the more I think about this store, the more I remember why I haven’t been stopping by to the degree I used to. It still isn’t a bad store though, and I do try to drop by when I can, despite the factors I’ve more noticed about People Play Games in recent years. Also wouldn’t hurt to fix the hours issue and be open till 9pm every weeknight (rather than just certain ones like Friday), but that’s just me.

This should be renamed «People buy games and take them home and shrink-​wrap them and never open them and then sell them for hundreds of dollars».
Not as catchy though, right?
I’ve been here twice on two trips to Chicago, the last one with my husband in tow. This is not exactly a people-​friendly store; when it’s windy they lock the door on you, for example. They require all bags and purses to be left at the counter (the whole store is like 200 square feet) and they won’t really get up or offer to help you. So, if you need advice, maybe go somewhere else first. But if you know what you need or want, you can come here.
We mostly came to gawk– there is an amazing selection of unopened games that are 20+ years old. There’s also a selection of demo-​only games, that were technically not for sale, but are now. In short, there are a lot of «normal» games, that are either unopened or so special that they are now many times their original value. This is a store for a collector, an avid gamer, but not someone who just wants to play Duck Hunt for the fun of it.
Enjoyed looking around, but yeah, the employees are not very good. Besides keeping my purse behind the counter, they also ate their takeout lunch on the display counter (keep in mind it’s 3:30 in the afternoon), and didn’t go out of their way to help anyone. I assume it’s a catch-​22, because most everything here is pricey. Well kept, good condition, but pricey. Come in to look, but probably not buy.

Finally took a trip back to People Play Games and was pleasantly surprised!
I first noticed the selection expanded, a lot more games — and a great variety as well. Everything was well organized, clean and prices clearly marked.
I went on an afternoon to pick up a specific game, Donkey Kong Country 3 on the Super Nintendo. Asked an associate where it was and was quickly shown where it was on the rack and wondered around a bit, and found another game as well.
No ridiculous music playing this time, and employees that wanted to talk video games and offer suggestions too. This was the used game store I was looking for. Additionally, prices are just about on par with what you can find online, and its conveniently down the street.
I will be coming back for more retro purchases!