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Gaming stores in San Francisco / Redwood City
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Invincible Overlord
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Post Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 1:51 pm 
 

So I am watching my brothers 6 and 8 year old for the week here in Redwood City.

Any cool game stores in the area that I should go to?   :wink:


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Post Posted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 4:01 pm 
 

I've been so busy with other things that I haven't had a chance to go explore RPG shops much.  I didn't think too much of Games Of Berkeley when I had a chance to stop in.  I have heard pretty good things about Gamescape but haven't been yet.  If you want to come by and help me sift through some things I'm thinking of selling, that might be better than any store.  :)


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Post Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 2:05 am 
 

You should check out Gamescape in SF, although it's used section got chopped down significantly the last time I was there (which was several years ago).  Games of Berkeley was an OK store, but Endgame in Oakland was better and used to have a better used section too (although nothing likely there of major interest to Acaeum members; I used to game up at Endgame when I lived in CA).

Also worth checking out is Gator Games in San Mateo, which has a lot more used stock, and occasionally will have something worth buying ;)  

Down in the South Bay, there's Legends Comics & Games in the Vallco mall in Cupertino (near Apple's campus), but it's all new material (they don't sell used anymore), as well as Game Kastle in Santa Clara (near the airport; this is the retail store for FRP Games).  

If you guys are still out there in Oct/Nov, I'll likely be back in Sunnyvale for work again---could be fun to run around one evening together :D


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Post Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 2:10 am 
 

I lived in SF for 8 months in 2011. I second Gamescape, but I really liked Endgame.

Personally, I was shocked by the small number of game stores and the limited selection of what I was interested in. Games of Berkeley had a pretty good used selection but I don't recommend it as I found the staff on three different occasions to be more surly than I was used to- even for a game store.

Just my 2 cents.

Zach


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Post Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 8:24 pm 
 

grodog wrote in Gaming stores in San Francisco / Redwood City:Also worth checking out is Gator Games in San Mateo, which has a lot more used stock, and occasionally will have something worth buying ;)  

If you guys are still out there in Oct/Nov, I'll likely be back in Sunnyvale for work again---could be fun to run around one evening together :D


Oh good lord...  Just five minutes from where I have to drop off the kids from school!!!!   :)

Sadly, I am only here for the week, then it's back to Chicago.


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Post Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 11:06 pm 
 

Invincible Overlord wrote in Gaming stores in San Francisco / Redwood City:Oh good lord...  Just five minutes from where I have to drop off the kids from school!!!!   :)
Sadly, I am only here for the week, then it's back to Chicago.


I think in a week, you'll have plenty of time to check the store out from head to toe, unless they've expanded since I was last there ;)


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Post Posted: Mon Sep 30, 2013 8:36 am 
 

I just returned from San Francisco (there for Oracle OpenWorld), and played a bit of Magic the Gathering at Gamescape, as well as looked through their gaming section.  

Their used section is very lean, but they have a lot of new gaming books, board games, and minis.  Overall, a nice store.  A fun walk from Market Street too.  ;-)

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Post Posted: Mon Sep 30, 2013 1:45 pm 
 

Much to Historian's and my disappointment, I didn't get as much time as I thought I would to drive around and visit people and places. Taking care of a six and eight year old takes a lot out of you. I have no kids of my own (that I'm aware of), so it was a pleasant, yet eye-opening experience.  :)

I did get to visit EndGame in Oakland (it's near where my sister-in-law was staying). Although not a lot of older material, I did love the layout of the store. The second story of the store is dedicated to open gaming (miniatures and RPG's). And as far as overall space, it's one of the larger game stores I've been in.

I also checked out Gator Games in San Mateo. Although it's a much smaller store, they did have a bit of older material (3rd Ed. d20 stuff that I like...).

Both stores had very reasonable prices for their older items, and the staff of both stores were extremely courteous and pleasant to deal with. Kudos to the guy at the EndGame store that referred me to the burger place in the Oakland Mall a couple of blocks north. It was an awesome bacon double cheeseburger!

When I'm not taking care of kids, I promise to come back and give the game stores a better look-through.


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Post Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 7:28 am 
 

Invincible Overlord wrote in Gaming stores in San Francisco / Redwood City:When I'm not taking care of kids, I promise to come back and give the game stores a better look-through.


I was lucky enough to visit SF on a work trip a few years ago and had an amazing time. The city is beautiful - it really is. And there are some really great bars and good places to eat (and I found the locals extraordinary friendly).

I did manage to get to Gamescape and it was good, but it did not have a huge old-school.out-of-print collection. It did look like it hosted quite a few games though!


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Post Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 11:40 am 
 

One of my highlights when in San Francisco was when I had to help my sister-in-law move to another apartment in Berkley (from San Fran). That was last Wednesday, the last day of the America's Cup. She is originally from New Zealand, so I had some good humor at her dreadfully slow team in the race. Not bad for a team that was penalized two points at the start of the competition...

I wondered why there was so much traffic that day. I mean, I'm from Chicago... I know what traffic is like...  :)


RPG’s, D&D in particular has had a major influence in my life. It’s bonded me together with life long friends...it’s that bond in life not just as friends, but in our jokes, our mannerisms, and what we find funny. Invincible Overlord
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Post Posted: Tue Oct 01, 2013 2:40 pm 
 

Since I was at the Oracle conference, the America's Cup was a huge deal.  Larry even skipped his Cloud keynote to attend the race that day.  I was able to catch the last race on the conference monitors, quite impressive.

I guess the Oracle boat deserved the win, with the money Larry put in to it...  ;-)

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