While at E3 earlier this year, we had the privilege of visiting a new retail store called Game Realms, located in Burbank, CA. While there, we not only shopped for our personal collections, but also talked games with the employees and had an impromptu interview with one of the 3 owners; William (Will) Delaney.
During our time with Will, we discussed many things including his life, his store’s unique offerings, and the vision he and his co-owners, Lucas & Maggie Paynter, have for the future of their business.
Early in our conversation, Will expressed a love for what he does and an enjoyment of interacting with people. He also revealed that he’s a serious gamer and has been since he was a kid.
I always had computers at the house. And, gaming. I was gaming before there were graphics. When you had to actually read. Typing, “open the door.” That was my stint on gaming. I actually developed my 1st game when I was in high school.
Like many adults who have multiple responsibilities, Will deprives himself of sleep in order to find time to game.
I go home and spend time with my wife and kids and then I start playing between 10 and midnight and then I don’t stop until maybe 3 or 4 am. And, then I get up at 7.
Will, Lucas, and Maggie are great examples of perseverance as they struggled for a year to see their dream of a game store in Burbank come to fruition. Once it did, their next feat was to figure out how to make people aware that they were open for business.
At first, we tried all types of different advertising and it just didn’t work for us. So, I decided to do something I did a longtime ago for other companies which was word of mouth. So, we got families spreading the word. Our friends. And, then, pretty soon we had the people of Burbank coming in.
Then, they started telling their friends, in their neighborhoods. That helped us out. Then, we did a gaming lounge for an annual event at Saint Finbar. That really helped us. So, the people of Burbank just needed to know that we were here.
Once the people of Burbank started coming in, the owners wanted a way to reach out even further, toward the large retro community within the state. When Will’s friend, Romeo, had the idea of a swap meet that could take place in the store’s parking lot every other month, the co-owners jumped at the chance to implement what, in Will’s words, was “an awesome idea.”
So, this is a chance to give the game hunters {in the community} a place to set-up. And, then by having them set-up, it draws in people from all over because they have customers that follow them. It gets people to come into our store and see we’re here.
And, it gives me a chance to see what they have. And, they come into our store to see what we have. And we collaborate. They may say, “Hey, what can I get for this?” And, then I’m like, “you know, give me this.” And, we trade. Like an even trade.
The game hunters { } go to all the places that a brick and mortar store is not going to go to. They go to all the swap meets. They’re at yard sales. I’m not able to go out there {like these guys} and see. So, it gives me time to see stuff that I can’t.
Our next topic to discuss was how Game Realms is becoming a go-to place for gaming tournaments. Will gave details as to why these events are so important to him personally and how they’re a precursor to what he wants to do next.
Street Fighter & SALTY Skullgirls are the main {tournaments}. Also, Smash Bros. is every other Saturday. {We’re} doing Street Fighter V, we also run Street Fighter IV sometimes. SALTY Skullgirls on Fridays. We’re also going to start running Injustice Part 2 and the newest Tekken.
Because, eventually, what we’re trying to do is trying to get into eSports. I want to run an eSports room in the {San Fernando} Valley. Because all of this, that we’re doing now in tournaments, disappeared from the Valley. And, a lot of people in the Valley were traveling 1 to 2 hours to get to all of this stuff that they like. And, we’re trying to bring it back.
One of the things you notice first about Game Realms is the beautiful pay to play area in the back section of the store. There’s 12 TV’s and a variety of consoles from NES to PS4.
Classics like Mega Man II and Super Smash Bros. Melee beckon customers to sit down and enjoy. And, if you play anything currently demoing on one of the gaming systems, you can do so for as long as you want, without having to pay.
Think this all sounds too good to be true? That’s what one young man Will told us about thought too.
We had a guy come in and he played whatever Pokémon game we had out there, can’t remember. And, he came in for a week straight. He would come in at noon and stay until 6, until we closed. And, for a week straight. And, then he finally came to me and says, “Well they told me you were one of the owners.” And, I was like, “Yeah.”
He says, “Well, I want to ask you one thing before I tell you what I think. I just want to ask you one thing.” I asked, “What?” He says, “Why didn’t you ever kick me out?” And, I was like, “What are you talking about? Did you do something wrong?” And, he goes, “No, but I was sitting there playing and you didn’t make money off me.”
And, I asked, “Well, did you have fun? “ And, he goes, “Yeah.” And, I said, “Well, then, what I got off you is you had fun, you’ll tell your friends, family members what we do here and then maybe somebody will buy something here.” I told him, “For us, it’s not about the money. It’s about making sure that the community can come in and enjoy themselves. The money will come. We’ll end up selling. But, it’s about the community first.”
If you want to use the pay to play area to try out a game that’s not on the floor, it’s $5 for 30 minutes or $8 for an hour. If your time with the game is enough to convince you to buy it, the money you just spent goes toward your purchase.
Before our time with Will came to an end, we asked him, “What would you recommend for the casual gamer?”
Will not only answered our question but also gave some insight on how those who only play certain genres of games or even those who don’t call themselves a gamer at all, can go about finding something new and different to try, that’s still in their wheelhouse.
I would say look at what you like. If you don’t call yourself a gamer but you like the visual novels {for instance} and you want to see what else is out there. . . look for something in the hardcore, if you want to call us hardcore gamers or the ones that play so much and the Phoenix Wright, you find it in another game. Like say the Telltale series.
After our interview was over, we spent the next hour investigating every detail of this lovely store. We found some terrific items to return home with including a few back titles of Limited Run Games.
A big thanks to Will for being so generous with his time when we visited in June. We also appreciate the employees who assisted us with our purchases. We hope to see you again next year!
NOTE:
Pricing/Inventory currently in the store may vary from what’s mentioned in the article. This information is from our visit in June 2017.
General Offerings
Buy, Sell, Trade
Retro, Last Gen, Current Gen
Video Games
Video Game Consoles
Video Game Accessories
Weekly Tournaments
Pay to Play area
Standouts
A community focused retailer
Beautiful Burbank location
Friendly employees
Owners who know their business (Will used to manage Game Dude) & care about their customers
1 of a very few retailers in the U.S. authorized to carry/sell new stock of Limited Run Games
More trade-ins on used Limited Run Games than we’ve seen anywhere
12 consoles/ TV’s which can be played for free when you play a game demoing on a system
Reasonably priced pay to play deals for those who want to try out games not out on the floor
If you pay to play a game and decide to buy it, what you spent to try it out, goes toward your purchase
Weekly Tournaments – SALTY Skullgirls, Street Fighter V, Super Smash Bros.
Special events throughout the year (i.e. Persona 5 game launch with celebrity voice actor signings, Dreamcast 18th anniversary celebration)
Very good selection of retro games for a wide variety of systems
Valley Retro Game Swap every other month
Location
137 N. Victory Blvd
Burbank, CA 91502
818-841-1545
Social Media
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
tumblr.
Want to see pictures of the interior of this gorgeous store? Check out our Instagram account.
