Howdy folks, and welcome to Houston Historic Retail! Game Over Videogames is a place you need to know about if you read this blog. Before we talk about the move, let’s talk about Game Over. As chances are if you’re into retro retail you’re into retro things in general, and Game Over provides my favorite retro game buying experience in Houston. That’s not to say they’re the most exclusive retro buying experience, but their combination of new and old stock, along with rare equipment, and other unusual finds leads to a great shopping or at least browsing experience. Game Over has been in Houston since 2011, the Greenway Plaza store being the chain’s first location off of the “I-35 Corridor” from San Antonio to Austin (where the company was originally founded). While Game Over has tried expanding to other areas, they seem to be doing exceptionally well in Houston. In other major markets, Game Over has had to shut down locations. However, possibly thanks to early viral marketing Game Over won over a fanbase and they have had success in Houston. Despite the success, rising rent prices have undoubtedly been the cause of Game Over’s Shift in the Summit Square Shopping Center. The store now at 3257 Southwest Fwy, Houston, TX 77027 was most recently a T-Mobile Store, which closed sometime after the Sprint Merger, for a much larger location across Westpark. The new location shrinks down about 800 Square Feet from the old store, making for a noticeably smaller video game outlet.
While the new store’s sales floor carries a roughly equivalent selection to their old spot, a few longtime features were missing from the new store. Like the playable Ghosts n Goblins cabinet, or the Couch area, that had a huge CRT TV hooked up to a Retron and an ever-changing list of games. Some of the Gaming Museum is still intact, however is it noticeably smaller, and taking up what I’m sure Game Over would consider relatively valuable shelf space in such a small store. I wouldn’t go so far as to call the store cramped. I didn’t have a hard time getting around and wasn’t bumping into others. The staff did a great job of adjusting to fit the smaller space. There are even a few updates, like the Defective Console Bin (although that could have been something I just never saw at the old store), and more space for commissioned art, skateboards, and the like. As of this article, Game Over has three locations in the greater Houston area. Including Summit Square, Champions 5020 Farm to Market 1960 Rd W, Houston, TX 77069, and Webster 587 Bay Area Blvd, Webster, TX 77598. If you’re into retro games and haven’t checked them out yet, I’d highly invite you to give Game Over a look!
Glad that the console museum is still there. I always enjoy my trips to Game Over, though their stock of older games in general, especially for more obscure consoles, has gotten much thinner in recent years (I get it, I’m sure it doesn’t move much, but it was always fun to browse and occasionally buy).