You don't sell computer games? You'l be out of business in a year! (long)

[Acolyte]

RPGs today are almost dead. I haven't seen a D&D book in a book store (B&N, Borders) in over two years.

Seriously? All the big chains up here (Chapters and such) have a huge selection of RPGs-the local Chapters has the better part of the D&D range, d20, Star Wars, Rifts, Gurps, a bunch of smaller stuff (Everquest d20 conversion, stuff like that) and more.

Maybe Canada's just geekier.

[CaroPhoenix]

Some small town places don't have the RPG stuff. Now we're getting people about 45 minutes away 'cos a local comic book store closed down and people are jonesing for comics and decent RPGs.

Actually, hubby & I went to a gaming store in Winchester, VA. The thing was tiny and we were lucky to find the D&D Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide. That was about it. Period. And they advertised themselves as a great gaming store to come to and game at. So, yeah, there might be stores that have no RPG stuff. Besides, my Borders keeps moving their RPG stuff, but I believe it's found a home near the Fantasy section, but I'm not sure.

[Sylvia727]

My local (Saint Louis, in midwest USA) Barnes and Noble has an RPG section between the manga and the fantasy books. Probably about 35 books total, it has D&D for Dummies, about 10 or 12 official D&D books...some others, too, but I only play D&D so I didn't notice. GURPS, and maybe Star Wars something?

[cinema guy]

D&D 4th edition is out next year. It ain't dead yet.

[Lusorius]

Idrinkarum, not sure where you are, but I'm in Annandale, just inside the DC Beltway. Our local Borders has a bunch of RPG books, but mostly D&D or WoD. There's one game store in Falls Church, but between the exorbitant prices and repulsive staff, I'd happily drive 45 minutes to a 'real' gaming store like the one you describe.

[Acolyte]

Maybe I just got lucky. Windsor's a university town, so there's a good geek community here. Whitehorse is out in the middle of buttfuck nowhere, so if you're not into cars, ATVing or outdoor sports, it's kinda geeky hobbies by default, and, as such, we have quite possibly The Best Gaming Store Ever. Little short on the RPG books, but they've got all the big names. Plus, the staff is awesome.

So, I'm happy with the arrangement.

[Broomjockey]

No, not lucky. Most of the chain bookstores here in Edmonton have a decent selection of books too. The size of the section is mostly dependant on store size, though there's a couple that have inordinately large sections considering the size of the store.

[CaroPhoenix]

When I went to college eons ago (), we had no gaming stores and no bookstores carried the books at all. A used bookstore was all we could find to get the gaming supplies. Even 7 years ago, it was hard to find a bookstore (chain or not) that carried the books.

The Gaming Store I work at has been at its location for 4 years. Its sister store has been at its location for almost 20 years. But if you're not too into gaming (and only do it occassionally) you're not going to find out about it except for word-of-mouth or just driving by and seeing it.

[draggar]

I just got some very depressing news.

The Wizard's Tower (that store I was talking about) closed earlier this year. Odd that a friend of mine emailed me now about it (and he hasn't emailed me in months).

[CaroPhoenix]

I'm sorry to hear that Draggar. Gaming stores closing is sad to see. But it's hard to compete with Amazon and even the local toy stores (like Toys R Us) who carry certain games/books/etc.

Also, here is an economic reason why my gaming store doesn't carry computer games. It's too expensive for us to buy them, maintain them, and we can't give the discounts the big box stores can because we'd be out money being an independent, small rinky dinky retailer unlike the other stores.

[Gravekeeper]

Also, here is an economic reason why my gaming store doesn't carry computer games. It's too expensive for us to buy them, maintain them, and we can't give the discounts the big box stores can because we'd be out money being an independent, small rinky dinky retailer unlike the other stores.

Yeah, once you're into it you have to keep up with the new releases to maintain stock you can sell for the full price tag. Computer games drop in value like *rocks* the longer they're on the shelf. Older your stock gets the less its worth and its a pretty rapid decline in the PC game market. Not to mention if a game *sucks* arse they'll still charge you full price for it from the supplier. =p