The Nevada Sagebrush

Local video game store offers novelty games and consoles

By: Casey O'Lear

Monday, November 30, 2009 - 6:47 PM

Since 1993, local independently owned video game store Game Force has been offering hard-to-find video games and consoles to the Reno community, while competing for business with big-name video game retailers in the area.

The store, located in the Airport Square-Costco Center, offers a wide variety of games, consoles and services but specializes in older games that are not sold in most video game stores.

“That’s our specialty,” Game Force owner Scott Yauger said. “Anything you can play on your TV, we have in the store, and we’ll save you money on it. We’re the only store in Northern Nevada that specializes in old school games.”

Game Force sells a variety of old and discontinued systems such as Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis. Photo by Brian Bolton.

Yauger, a video game connoisseur himself, opened the store in order to offer competitive prices for the games that he enjoyed playing.

“I love video games and I’m a natural-born salesman,” he said. “I’ve been playing every game that’s created. I could have a video game museum. But I’m more of an old school guy. There’s a huge market for it that needed to be filled. The competition wasn’t there to save people money.”

Yauger believes that older video games and consoles still sell for nostalgic reasons and because the games are simpler than more contemporary games like “Modern Warfare 2.”

“Games these days are complicated,” he said. “There’s one button to jump, one to kick … My wife is never going to play that. [Older games] are still fun. They don’t rust or degrade. It’s the exact same experience today as it was 25 years ago. If you bought a car 25 years ago and put it in the garage, the tires would go flat, the rubber would wear out. But a program is still a program.”

Although Reno does not offer many places for gamers to convene or play together, Yauger says that gaming is progressing to become a more Internet-based medium, following the lead of console features like Xbox Live that enable players to interact and compete with other players on the network.

“It isn’t about arcades,” Yauger said. “Just like music and movies, video games will become all downloads. They’re just a few years behind.”

Despite the advances in video game technology over the years, older consoles continue to sell at Game Force and in similar stores nationwide. Yauger attributes the success of his store to the devotion behind it.

“We are a unique store,” he said. “We’ve been there all these years because we’re dedicated to customer service. We want to play games and have fun.”

Most of the games sold in the store are within the $2-5 price range and Yauger offers customers an opportunity to take the “video game challenge” — if they can beat him, any game in the store is free.

With their commitment to creating a fun atmosphere for customers and unique services, Game Force is an important aspect of Reno’s gaming culture.

“Not the whole world has the Internet,” Yauger said. “A lot of people just want to play PacMan.”

Casey O’Lear can be reached at colear@nevadasagebrush.com.