Game Masters-Home Video Games

I remember this shop as a kid… I begged my mom to take me here when I found out that their stick included a lot of Japan only releases for PS1. I wish they continued business or that another one just like it would pop up somewhere. Oh well, here’s to memories.

In the nineties, I would periodically beg my parents to take me to Game Masters. It was the best video game store I have ever encountered in a lifetime of gaming. A real gem. The store owners/​employees were just that right balance of aged A/​V geek and overall nice guys. They had games for older systems that mainstream retailers had long since abandoned. They had many boxed games on display from all game systems, like NES and Atari. These were not hidden away behind glass counters; they were ready to be picked up and ogled by any aspiring gamer who walked in. As I recall, most of the loose games were in floor-​to-​ceiling drawer storage behind the counter, and you’d have to ask for what was in stock. And there was a LOT of stock. I used to carry their business card around in my kid wallet like a protective talisman, and I would fantasize about all the great games to be had, «soon…»
My family had a Panasonic 3DO, so I would always spend some time browsing the 3DO section in the back corner. However, my main focus at the time was much older systems. During one expedition, my dad bought an Atari 5200 for me, with mint joysticks, and a few games (including boxed Ballblazer and Pac-​Man). Another memory is finally picking up Diddy Kong Racing after years of borrowing it from a friend. I *think* we got a Vectrex here too. Everything we purchased here I have to this day, and it all continues to work to this day.
The prices were good to fair, and the employees wouldn’t hesitate to make a bundled deal. While my parents had to stick to a budget, I was always more than satisfied with what I got. The dollar went pretty far here. When my mom and I discovered one day that Game Masters had closed, I was heartbroken, and remain so.
For older games… all that remains in the general area is a shitty Hayward games store run by greedy people who want to rip everyone off, not share any love of games. Funcolands are gone, replaced by Gamestops that only stock games for new consoles. Everything online is overpriced. The golden days are over.

*sigh*
This truly wonderful store has been closed for about…5 years now? How long has it been? It’s been quite a while now. I believe some dumb IRS place is now in the suite this terrific video game store once was.
Where should I even begin? I was a frequent visitor of this store ever since I was 5 years old. This place had everything you could possibly imagine. New, Used, and Japanese imports! The Japanese imports were always my personal favorite because I was able to play a lot of different games for many video game systems that never reached American shores.
I always really loved their massive collection of video games, accessories, and systems. Game Masters at pretty much all times until it closed had every single video game system in exsistence for it’s time. One of the last times I went into that store… I believe was about a month after the PS2 had came out, and I really wanted to see what they had in the ways of Japanese Dreamcast imports… and low and behold I was able to get an import copy of Phantasy Star Online (which consumed my life for a year or so… seriously, I have like 3,000 hours of my life logged into that game… crazy huh?) So I was like «OMGWTF HAX» I have PSO before everyone else. I was crazy happy. Eventually I bought the U.S. version, and that’s the one I played regularly… but I still felt special knowing I hacked the system.
That’s just one of many memories I have with this store. Their collection of video games was bar-​none the best available in the bay area. Their new games I believe were always 5 dollars more expensive then regular retail stores… but the sheer amount of used stuff — from video games, to hardware, to accessories was simply insane. In 2001, you could walk into Game Masters, and they would have a Japanese Super Famicon ready to be bought. How they were able to keep these things on the shelves was beyond my understanding.
Which leads me into the cast and crew of Game Masters, which throughout the time I was going in there, were some of the nicest, most knowledgeable people when it came to video games. So many times as a kid and as a teenager I would BS with the people there about video games, comics, and life in general. A lot of different faces worked at that store, but they were all truly nice, and truly wonderful people.
*sigh*
I really miss Game Masters. My heart kind of broke when I drove down E. 14^th one day and saw that they had closed. It was truly the end of a great era for video gaming in the Bay Area, because Game Masters was one of the best stores for video games in the Bay Area. It’s truly missed by myself, and I’m sure a lot more.