Store Review: BragGameRights

Good store name guys. I'm not sure exactly what it means... something about being the best at a game and trash-talking to everyone within earshot like it's your God-given right. No, it's not. Sore winner.

BragGameRights is a new game store that just opened in Duluth, Minnesota, right across the street from Best Buy. There is a GameStop-style wall of new games, food and drinks for the hungry gamer, and over a dozen individual gaming stations set around the wall like private viewing rooms at a sex shop. There is also a pitifully small retro gaming section in the back, with about 24 square feet of old games. I was expecting more... why would I come here instead of GameStop?

You see, BGR's gimmick is that if you see a game you like, you can try it for 30 minutes at one of their private HDTV's for $2.50. If you like it, you can buy the game and have your $2.50 taken off the price like a down payment. If not, then you only wasted $2.50 instead of $60. Also, there are in-store tournaments every Monday through Thursday. Most are $5 to enter, and the winner get $40 store credit or $25 cash. It'd be kind of fun to go there every night and take home a cool $80 a week. Still, at 2 hours a tourney, that's only $10 an hour. Not exactly a pro gamer living wage, but it's still cool that this is even an option. Before, you'd have to wait for GameStop to hold one of their tournaments, and those are, at the maximum, once a month.

The biggest problem with BGR is the lighting. Because of all the TV's lining the walls, the entire store has to be kept in a perpetual twilight to reduce glare. Whereas GameStop is comparable to Wal-Mart fluorescent bright, BragGameRights is lit a lot more like a church - subdued, quiet, and oppressive. Also, their old game stock is lacking and their new/used game stock is not very extensive either.

Maybe I just don't get the gamer lifestyle of Jolt Cola, Fritos, and all-night Halo 3 sessions. Maybe I just didn't show up there on tournament night. Maybe I'm too old to care about game stores. Or maybe BGR is just doing it wrong. You can check out their decent website and decide for yourself, or make a road trip to Duluth. Still, there's always room in the world for a GameStop competitor. But you HAVE to do some things better than them, or you won't survive. And that's sad.