Retro Game Store Visit: Edward McKay - Winston-Salem, NC

More of a used book store than a game store, Edward McKay is a chain of stores throughout North Carolina. Located in college markets, these stores carry everything from books, movies, pop culture items (toys) and of course video games. My first exposure to this chain was in Raleigh, NC. I was in awe of their selection of retro games and consoles. I believe that is where I picked up my complete copy of Alien Crush for the TurboGrafx-16 a few years back. It had been awhile since I've darkened the doorstep of one of their stores until a recent trip (March 2016) to their Winston-Salem, NC location off of Oakwood Drive.

I actually stopped by this store a few months back, but didn't buy any games. I saw one Master System game that I passed on and after leaving I regretted. Thankfully on this most recent trip the game was still sitting in one of their cabinets. Kenseiden was Sega's attempt at a atmospheric action/adventure game in the vein of Castlevania for the NES.

 I've often heard good things about the game and the store was only asking $15 for it. Turns out the game was also complete which just sweetened the deal. As of this post I haven't played the game yet, but I do eagerly await sitting down to play.

Along one side of the store they have these small locked cabinets with most of the retro games and accessories. They had loose games, boxed games, expensive games and cheap games. Everything from NES to Atari Jaguar in these cases. Prices for the games ranged from eBay prices to reasonable prices to cheap.

The more modern games were placed on nice wooden shelves that lined the side wall of the store. Most of them were turned face out so it was easy to see them. They had a decent selection of games. The PS2/PS3 and 360 selection was the largest.

In addition to Kenseiden I grabbed two loose handheld games I saw on a clearance rack when going to check out. To be honest I don't know much about the Desert Speedtrap game, but it was really cheap and I'm looking forward to picking up the Sega adapter for my RetroFreak console. The GBA game is Ty the Tasmanian Tiger 2. I remember playing this franchise on the original Xbox and thought it was fun. Plus my daughters are starting to discover GBA games via their DS units I recently bought them and I thought they may enjoy this one.

I love the sheer variety these stores offer and I really wish I had one closer to my home. They have another store near by in Greensboro, NC and while I haven't made it there yet I do plan on getting over there sometime soon to check out their gaming offers.