Game Crazy makes Port Orchard debut

Port Orchard is no longer out of the loop with the booming video game industry.

Hollywood Entertainment Pro-ductions, which runs Hollywood Video and Reel.com recently opened a Game Crazy store at the Port Orchard Hollywood Video store on Bethel Avenue.

Game Crazy, which started opening nationally two years ago, opened its Port Orchard doors in early August. While stores like Fred Meyer and Wal-Mart only sell video games, Game Crazy was created to meet all the needs of gamers.

Besides buying video games, customers can also sell or trade video games and equipment.

Employee Nick Kelly said Game Crazy meets all the needs of the customer.

In the past, once the gamer mastered a game it would sit on the shelf collecting cobwebs.

That’s not the case anymore, Kelly said.“The game would either sit on a shelf or you’d have to sell it at a garage sale,” Kelly said. “Here we will buy everything and give store credit.”

Kelly was quick to point out that the buying, selling, and trading starts with the original Nintendo game system from the mid 1980s.

“We don’t do Atari, sorry,” he said.

Today’s new games from Game-cube, X-Box, and Playstation 2 run at $50 a pop, but under the buy-back policy at Game Crazy it is possible a customer could sell enough games to earn enough store credit for a new game without forking over a dollar.

The one stipulation is that the game isn’t defective.

“If it plays we’ll buy it,” Kelly said. “This is a video game heaven. You sell us your games and you get store credit to purchase anything in the store.”

Game Crazy will also buy back equipment, especially today’s gaming systems. A computer—not employees—is used to determine the value of used games for store credit.

The store isn’t limited to just video games and gaming systems, Kelly said.

“We’ve got accessories, strategy guides, and video game magazines,” he said. “Whatever you need we’ve got.”

Game Crazy also guarantees its products. “You get a 90-day warranty on all the items,” he said.

Kelly said Game Crazy has advantages over any retail store.

One of the other advantages over retail stores is customers are allowed to try any game—except for those rated “Mature”—before buying it.

The store doesn’t reach out to just today’s modern gamers, Kelly said.

Anyone feeling nostalgic can come in and find a selection of 100 Nintendo and Super Nintendo games they used to play 10 to 15 years ago.

And the price of these games range between $4 or $5.

Kelly said the bulk of business revolves around today’s big three systems.

Currently the most popular games are role-playing, hacker and slasher, and sports games, Kelly said.

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