Video Game Wizards

These guys saved Christmas for my Nephew today. I was trying to piece together an affordable gift for the little dude and I had purchased a Sega Genesis 1 console from elsewhere, and an AC Adapter from some cheapie online seller. Big mistake! The AC Adapter was totally poopy, and although it was advertised as being for Genesis 1, it didn’t work!
I called these guys up desperately seeking an official AC Adapter, and not only did they have one, they held it for me until I came to pick it up later that day. When I arrived, I came to find out that they had pulled one off of their own personal system so that I could purchase a good working original part to power my gift. So RAD!
So, yeah, moral of the story is support your local video game store. These guys’ kindness today won my future business for sure!

Please go here instead of GameStop. These guys deserve your business way more. The employees are helpful and friendly, they offer a wide variety of video games and accessories, the prices are good, the credit for trade-​ins is great, and they have a flexible return policy, so buying is always safe. I’ve moved away from Portland, but I hope I can find a video game store at least half as good as this one someday.

The ONLY PLACE TO BUY GAMES IN PORTLAND!
Seriously, very friendly and in depth knowledge of all systems., amazing inventory of hard to find games!
I have shopped here for over 4 years and will only buy from them. Congrats on an awesome, well ran local business !

I just wanted to stop by and say what awesome employees you have and I love the welcoming feel when I come to this store. The old school games are perfectly priced and I appreciate that. Even if I find something online a little cheaper I’m more likely to buy from here since I know if something is wrong with it I will be took care of properly. Rather give my money to a ma and pa store in the community then some big company franchise. Thank you for being a trustworthy business.

Amazing selection and very knowledgeable staff. They were able to help me get what I needed on trade that benefited both parties.

gotta love it! great deals, retro set up and great selection. some of the staff are very young and uneducated but that is the only flaw in this place. keep up the good work!

Where has this place been my whole life??? I wandered in here with some time to kill after browsing Unilocal for suggestions on nearby businesses in the area. I am so glad i did! This is a small and packed store which can be overwhelming but to me is part of what makes this place so great! Their selection of movies and games is out of control! As they say everything from atari to now! They have lots of retro systems (30 day warranty on all of their equipment) for what i felt were super reasonable prices (not only less than what youll find online but no shipping AND instant gratification). Their games are also priced right within the ranges of what youll find online and some a little lower (10 day period to return for instore credit only)!
I came in to check out their selection of super nintendo and wii games, and was pleased with what they had to offer. I ended up getting a few for each system (im telling you, their pricea are awesome). I had been considering replacing my old jungle green n64 for quite some time, but hadnt found a good local store as my previous favorite had closed. I asked if she had any n64s in stock and she had a few options –including my coveted jungle green. I walked away with it too plus 2 games to get my old collection started. The system includes all the chords + 1 controller. They have older original controllers but also sell new controllers made by third parties, which i of course had to purchase so i can get groups going!
She took the time to clean the machine off and plug it in to the tv so i could check it out and verify it worked which i thought was great. speaking of the service, Lacy was working at the time and I have to say I was impressed with her. The store was busy, she was the only one working and having multiple conversations with people, helping folks find their desired items, ringing up sales and also helping folks who came in to sell their items! The amount she took on was impressive and she also executed as though each person was the only one there.
I would recommend this shop to anyone whos in the market for video games. I had a great experience and cant wait to go back!!!

I’m no expert on video game stores but you’d better believe that I prefer ANY of these independently run game stores over Game Stop… a little disorganization and clutter to make it a bit more nerdy. I like it!
There’s a lot going on in this store! Movies galore. Games for every console. Consoles and controllers for all your needs!
We came here with high hopes and left happier than you can imagine!
We had all our needs met AND the guy running the show was very cool and friendly!
We will return!

These guys are rad. Came in looking for a replacement NES as my old one bricked out, and got one here cheap. The guy even subtracted the cable/​controller prices since I didn’t need them. It works perfectly. He also tested it on their TV right in front of me before selling it which I thought was extremely nice.
I looked at their retro game selection a little but didn’t have a lot of time. I’ll be back for sure soon to check out what they’ve got.

We’ve been coming here for years. They have great prices and are willing to work with you on price when you buy several things or match online prices (at their discretion). Very friendly and knowledgeable staff. We play NES, SNES, and Sega exclusively and they have a great selection of all three.

Went there after craving some far cry 3. They matched the price of the PSN network so they saved me a huuuge download and immediate play :) its a cool place, a smaller yet better gamestop this place is.

I don’t give many 5 stars. The owners of Video Game Wizards are simple good people. They provide a service (buying and selling entertainment software) that is reasonable to the consumer in a way not found in the corporate stores. they check the price of things they sell, if you ask them to, if way off they adjust it appropriately. Most the staff are very nice. I recomend this place if oyu need a video game, movie or a game system.

My hubby and I live just a few miles from this shop. My husband drives right by it 2x a day. And yet we had no idea it was there until he was looking online for local video game shops!
Assuming they had recently opened, I congratulated a co-​owner on their business. She replied thanks, but the shop has been here 20+ years!
I have to give major, major props for service. I was interested in a 2^nd-​hand Wii game and, being neurotic, was a bit leery of the disc that had a couple minor scratches on it. The woman cheerfully offered to run the disc through their buffer-​cleaner-​machine-​thingie and then I could examine again before I decided to buy it. She was also very clear about their 10-​day faulty-​game easy return-​for-​store-​credit policy. The disc came back looking like a new penny and I was sold.
There was a gorgeous pit bull named Duke behind the counter. Having an animal present will always win you points with me.
And holy massive selection! The entire middle of the store is filled with case after case of DVD’s. We were there awhile so I made a bit of a game thinking of a semi-​obscure or really old DVD and checking if they had it. They always did!
I have to give four stars instead of five for just a couple reasons. #1 It is pretty darn cramped in there. They really make the most of every square foot. I’m a curvy gal and sometimes squeezing past other shoppers was a bit of a dance. #2 It was hard to be certain if the folks standing nearby speaking at length and in depth about various games were employees or loyal customers. I wanted to see a game from behind a counter and lingered awkwardly (and cramped in an aisle) near 2 young men while trying to see if one of them was wearing a nametag or would notice me and behave as a store clerk should.
There is ample parking, and being adjacent to a 7 – 11 is probably convenient one-​stop shopping for their target clientele — indoor types with the munchies.
If you’re looking for a place to score some great entertainment at reasonable prices, give VGW a try. And be sure to say «hi» to Duke!

Great staff on Sunday. Instinctively know the video games their selling, and care about them. They had let people in after closing for a quick purchase, and for people who still needed time deciding, like me. Up to date on current events, and most of all cheapest used movies, and fairly priced selection of video games/​hard to find movies. Come give them business, Unilocalers!
Side Note: they don’t inventory their DVDs, but many labeled $ 2 ONLY!

Yes the space is tiny and cramped (not for the claustrophobic), but the selection here is amazing! I went in looking for vintage SNES stuff, and I was overwhelmed by their stock. Carts only, complete in box, factory sealed, accessories. I found some great rare titles, and the pricing was either right on the mark, or cheaper. Staff was friendly, (if not understaffed), but overall I would highly recommend this store, especially if you’re a retro gamer such as myself. I will be back next time I’m in Portland, that’s for sure!

love this place, since day 1, have a big selection of retro gaming stuff, and newer system games as well as dvd’s, and game guides. only bad thing is small aisles and everything is just piled up everywhere, but aside that awesome place to go to. friendly staff too.

It’s nice that Video Game Wizards has such a large selection of games and dvds, but that’s actually part of the problem… I think the place is supposed to be organized alphabetically, but lots of things seem out of place/​you have to dig through their bins to find something. With such a large stock, the store itself isn’t easy to be in… The aisles are big enough for only a little more than one person, so you always have to be constantly shuffling around to let someone pass by.
As far as selection, this place does have stuff all the way back to the NES, which is nice for old school gamers. Everything is also pretty cheap as compared to most major used game retailers (cough cough Gamestop), so it’s a nice way to check out old school games for cheap. My personal favorite thing about this place it their disc buffering machine. One of our copies of a 360 game was severely scratched. We tried taking it to another place, but they probably just made the problem worse… It took a bit of time, but Video Game Wizards got the product to work like new, so props to them. Overall, it’s a bit small of a place with a whole lot in it, but it’s a nicer and cheaper alternative than most used game outlets.

It is amazing how much product Video Game Wizards squeezes into their space. It is just this tiny shop that is overshadowed (visually) by the 7 – 11 next door. Yeah, its that small.
Its easy to lose track of time while navigating through all of the movies and games they have. You can vaguely decipher some sort of organization… or at least… that it was organized at some point. I suppose when the search is half the fun, its a good time just to browse for a while and it is unlikely I will leave without a few purchases.
The store is generally overcrowded (for its size) and understaffed. The staff is always friendly but it looks like they have to work so hard. Perhaps cutting labor is the downside of the inexpensive prices.
At VGW you can find movies for cheap! Cheaper then it would be to rent them in most cases. Most of the ones I’ve bought are just $ 2 – 3.
They also have a decent variety of games and on older consoles as well. That is, in fact, how I found myself at VGW the first time.
I was searching for a difficult to find video game for the xbox. I had gone all over town for a game that I wanted that night (and therefore didn’t want to find online). After several stops I found myself at a store at Clackamas Town Center. After being told «no» by another game store employee, I was told that their Vancouver location had a copy of the game, but that it was decently scratched up. A customer who overheard my problem came up behind me and handed me a card for VGW. He told me that they have a killer buffer that could probably fix the scratched disk and that they might even carry the game! I headed out to this store and was pleasantly surprised to find that they not only had the game I was searching for, but it was only $ 11! This was almost half the price of anywhere else!
Video Game Wizards (and the random stranger) saved the day! Hurray!

There’s a lot to love about Video Game Wizards… so much so that it is quite sad that it is literally buried beneath so much product; only a few customers can actually fit inside the store at any given time. Yes, there are tons of vintage titles for those like myself who are inclined towards bolstering their own collection, but the massive display cabinets that dominate the center of the floor space don’t do them any favors.
For example, most of the space chock full of DVDs — I know that it is tempting for game stores to trade in movies in order to «take advantage» of a side market, but really, I am going to step out on a limb here and suggest that they pay out WAY more in credit on movies than they receive in profit from people who actually buy them. Those DVDs have got to go.
Another problem is that their actually salable items are locked away out of sight — boxed games, import gems, etc… most of them remain out of sight or sitting behind the counter in less-​than-​obvious locations.
All in all, a solid store with great stock… you might have a hard time finding it, though.

Good little store that’s packed to the ceiling with used games. While buying a couple games there, I felt like I got a good deal. The staff was friendly but a little sketchy, pretty normal for these types of places.
The one complaint I would have about this place is the faint smell of old cigarettes.
If your in the hunt for an old game this is the place to look, but just a warning it’s a little grungy.