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newVideoPlayer("gameover_gawker.flv", 520, 410);Avoiding tourists in a city like Amsterdam can be the only insurance you have to keep your fists in your pockets, and your sanity in tact. Between the groups of bachelor parties that crowd the triple-X Dutch Disneyland they call the Red Light District, and the geriatric attraction-seekers who will run you down to get a picture of a bicycle that has been chained up to the same bridge for the past three years, ducking down alleyways can be the only way to get around in Amsterdam. It can also be the only way to see the city outside of the way Rick Steves wants you to.
In the north of Amsterdam, the best way to dodge the human cattle coming out of Central Station is to go down a dark, narrow alley called Hasselaerssteg that connects a main road to a major shopping artery. Just after lunch, a little shop called Game Over will draw up their metal drapes, turn on a row of televisions and be open for business. Although the shop is absolutely tiny in size, once a person sees what they are selling, they can't resist popping their head in for just a second.
Game Over is a store that sells only second hand games. Not the most unique idea ever dreamed up, but considering that it is in the Central of Amsterdam and doing well financially for the last five years means they are doing something right. It also helps that the store is absolutely flooded with hundreds of thousands of games and gaming items. All the games are neatly divided up by console and are housed in glass cabinets that flank the right side of the building. In the center, there is another huge glass cabinet full of games reflecting Pac-Man and Pole Position screens from the televisions across for them. Products being sold range from stuff you've never seen before to stuff you almost forgot existed. In some cases you'll even see something that you can't positively identify as being part of your childhood or something you saw on TV. Each item is labeled neatly and organized in rows so you can read all the titles and see if they have been tested or not. In between the cracks of the shelves you can see the walls are painted red, though you can barely make it out through the boxes of consoles that are stacked to the quite literally to the ceiling. Unlike most gaming stores, it doesn't have a hint of mini-mall tackiness or over-the-top promotional distractions. Instead, Game Over looks more like a hipster bar than a video game store.
Dave, the manager of the shop has a unique servicing style in that he actually tries to talk to every customer that walks into a shop. They like it when people come in. They like explaining to people how all the consoles work, what condition they are in, and really they just interacting with all the different people that come into the shop. This is one of the reasons that they don't sell anything online. Although that doesn't seem like very forward-thinking for a business in this day and age, you almost have to applaud them for giving the store a sense of exclusivity. People who come to Amsterdam and are lucky enough to cross Game Over's path will always be able to to think of it as a truly unique experience to their stay in the city. One that most tourists often don't have the motivation to discover themselves.
Before Game Over was a second-hand video game store it was a music shop and Dave was a DJ. In 2002 his boss decided to change the direction of the store, and Dave went along even though he wasn't much of a gamer. Then five years ago, he bought a Gameboy with Tetris and in his words "went berserk". He now has 35 consoles in his house. Every time Dave tells a story about who comes into the shop and what kinds of things they buy, you can't help but think that these people will continue to come back. Not just because Game Over has an obscene number of second-hand games, but because it's a unique part of this community that is always looking to expand it. Even if at the end of the day, they're just selling other people's stuff.
You can visit them Tuesday through Saturday at Hasselaerssteeg 12, Amsterdam, or check out their website atwww.gameover.nl
galleryPost('gameovernl', 26, 'Game Over Amsterdam');
[IMG]http://feeds.gawker.com/~a/kotaku/full?i=LJmIA3[/IMG]
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In the north of Amsterdam, the best way to dodge the human cattle coming out of Central Station is to go down a dark, narrow alley called Hasselaerssteg that connects a main road to a major shopping artery. Just after lunch, a little shop called Game Over will draw up their metal drapes, turn on a row of televisions and be open for business. Although the shop is absolutely tiny in size, once a person sees what they are selling, they can't resist popping their head in for just a second.
Game Over is a store that sells only second hand games. Not the most unique idea ever dreamed up, but considering that it is in the Central of Amsterdam and doing well financially for the last five years means they are doing something right. It also helps that the store is absolutely flooded with hundreds of thousands of games and gaming items. All the games are neatly divided up by console and are housed in glass cabinets that flank the right side of the building. In the center, there is another huge glass cabinet full of games reflecting Pac-Man and Pole Position screens from the televisions across for them. Products being sold range from stuff you've never seen before to stuff you almost forgot existed. In some cases you'll even see something that you can't positively identify as being part of your childhood or something you saw on TV. Each item is labeled neatly and organized in rows so you can read all the titles and see if they have been tested or not. In between the cracks of the shelves you can see the walls are painted red, though you can barely make it out through the boxes of consoles that are stacked to the quite literally to the ceiling. Unlike most gaming stores, it doesn't have a hint of mini-mall tackiness or over-the-top promotional distractions. Instead, Game Over looks more like a hipster bar than a video game store.
Dave, the manager of the shop has a unique servicing style in that he actually tries to talk to every customer that walks into a shop. They like it when people come in. They like explaining to people how all the consoles work, what condition they are in, and really they just interacting with all the different people that come into the shop. This is one of the reasons that they don't sell anything online. Although that doesn't seem like very forward-thinking for a business in this day and age, you almost have to applaud them for giving the store a sense of exclusivity. People who come to Amsterdam and are lucky enough to cross Game Over's path will always be able to to think of it as a truly unique experience to their stay in the city. One that most tourists often don't have the motivation to discover themselves.
Before Game Over was a second-hand video game store it was a music shop and Dave was a DJ. In 2002 his boss decided to change the direction of the store, and Dave went along even though he wasn't much of a gamer. Then five years ago, he bought a Gameboy with Tetris and in his words "went berserk". He now has 35 consoles in his house. Every time Dave tells a story about who comes into the shop and what kinds of things they buy, you can't help but think that these people will continue to come back. Not just because Game Over has an obscene number of second-hand games, but because it's a unique part of this community that is always looking to expand it. Even if at the end of the day, they're just selling other people's stuff.
You can visit them Tuesday through Saturday at Hasselaerssteeg 12, Amsterdam, or check out their website atwww.gameover.nl
galleryPost('gameovernl', 26, 'Game Over Amsterdam');
[IMG]http://feeds.gawker.com/~a/kotaku/full?i=LJmIA3[/IMG]
More...