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The Nintendo Game Boy will be 30 years old this Sunday and to celebrate this incredible opportunity, we will be presenting a series of related features this week, until the big day.
The Game Boy may be 30 this week, but that does not mean the system is dead and gone from a retail standpoint; In recent years, we have witnessed an explosion of interest in Gunpei Yokoi's masterpiece. People bought old units and modified them to make them even better than before. Among this community, we have also seen the emergence of a number of retailers, one of the most outstanding, at least in the UK, being Gameboy Shack.
Operated by Richard Tewkesbury from its base in the heart of the United Kingdom, Gameboy Shack is a company that aims primarily to reconnect the players and pocket games of their youth. If you've attended one of the many great shows in the UK in the last few years, it's likely you've seen Richard stand on his booth, which still has Game Boy consoles, games and related products .
Since he was right next to the Nintendo Life headquarters, we thought it was just that we were visiting him to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Game Boy – and to buy him a load of games, of course. Below you will find a transcript of the waffle we had. Enjoy.
What was your first Game Boy show?
Probably at the time of its release, around 1989. We were going to Leicester on the bus, me and my friend, every Saturday. We would go to Dixons [defunct UK high street electronics retailer]and, basically, play on the Nintendo display, as well as on the Atari Lynx, pretty much until the guy from Dixons expels us. At the time, we did not have money, so it was the only way to play the Game Boy. I must have been around 12 years old. My parents would not buy a Game Boy, so I had to wash the pots and break the fray to earn that money. I am really good at washing pots.
In your opinion, what made the Game Boy the market leader, despite the fact that there were more technologically advanced machines, such as Lynx?
There were more games out there, which played a big role. It was by far the most popular system when we were in school. I think that the power of the battery also came into play. I whipped the batteries on the left, right and center; so you probably need £ 5 or £ 10 a week – if you use an Atari Lynx, you'll need it again! There was only one child in school who had a Lynx and a couple who had the Sega Game Gear. Everyone had mainly Game Boy; so there was an obvious desire to be part of this club to be able to share games.
How did you become involved in modding and selling Game Boys?
I started selling at conventions and I was already working in all areas. My friend Gavin and I basically exchanged ideas. The smallest thing I could find in the car was the Game Boy, and she made good progress from there. It was purely logistical. "I can have 100 games in the car and it only takes 12 inches of space," that sort of thing. At that time, I only had one car, so we could not do much, stop completely. We had to essentially bring together two stores in one vehicle! It's just grown and grown and grown up. There are many other video game vendors at events, but I am the only one to offer the full range of Game Boys, I suppose.
How did you see this market grow?
This raises a lot of interest. Vendors are also very interested, and I'm afraid that the market is becoming saturated – making it harder for everyone. When I started, there were only two game vendors and that was all. And now you can go to a show and there are 15 or 20 … and now, every time we go, there is another, another and another. It's just an integral part. The market is growing, there is room for everyone. Personally, I have put a lot of effort into doing what I do best by giving him the wow factor. Every console I sell is reconditioned. Everything is dismantled, cleaned, put back in place. I make them fully functional and I usually refresh them; everything is refreshed when it comes out, so I try to achieve a very good level of product.
Do you think the market has reached its most important point? Is there a danger that it can be reduced?
Sometimes you attend an event and it all depends on how it goes. There will be good, very bad and new customers. Many people are just spontaneous people; they want a Game Boy with Tetris, Super Marioand so on – what they remember from their childhood. Just a quick shot. They have no interest in collecting anything. They just want two or three games and they leave, and that's cool. I think there is still a lot of room on the market when you combine this sector with serious collectors.
I think there is still a lot of room on the market, when you combine this sector with serious collectors
How many events do you tend to make per year and how do you go about it?
We have now acquired the experience of shows that are best for us. Sometimes it depends on the preferences of what you want to do, and sometimes it's when it happens during the year, and sometimes it's just because I do not have money. Basically, I do not make any emissions between December and March, so it was the drought that characterized last winter – and then, when you go back, you will take everything that happens . This weekend, I do not want to participate in an event, but I have to do it to be able to get extra money so that I can physically participate in this event the following weekend. Because I have to invest a lot of money to buy stocks and prepare everything else for the event, it's really a great balancing act; it's horrible at certain times of the year. The two major concerts I do are at the worst time of the year, and if they do not pay, then I'm completely screwed up!
What are the next upcoming events?
We will have insomnia next weekend. Then we do MCN London. I will also do my own show – Comic-Con Leicester. I will do Hyper Japan, London and Comic-Con Movie. They are among the biggest. You're trying to stick with the bigger ones because there's more traffic here and you know what's going on, although I've done one randomly for a friend in a Hull mall recently, and it really worked because it was instant – there were people there all day. But you have good shows, and bad, and no show is guaranteed. Personally, I never take anything for granted. Do not think you are going to win £ 5,000 in a weekend because you are not there.
Is the mindset simply to pay for itself and then see what you can do from there?
Always try to be in the green and cover all your costs. I want to go to an event and have fun – it's always essential. I do not want to sit there to annoy me. I want to be active, interact with nice people and sell good deals. I want people to enjoy what they buy, leave with something that will please them and earn some money. I have to put hours and hours and hours to prepare things. That's the problem. Especially when it comes to a weekend to another, where I have only a few days left to recharge again. During the summer, when there are a lot of shows, it's really stressful, and I end up working 15 to 18 hours a day just to try to get ready for the next show. And then, at night, between two shows, in the hotel room, I build a Game Boys to sell it the next morning. This is where things go really bad!
Is it easy to find what you sell?
I could spend money all day. I've watched some of my debut videos and I've had some pics of my first booth, and I was selling Game Boys at £ 10 – now I'm selling them at £ 45, and this is not the case. is only a few years later. This is where the market has changed; everything is so expensive now and it keeps going up. Sometimes I buy multiple copies of the game if the price is right, so I can sit on it and find that in a year or two, its value has increased. I spend too much money in stock, that's my problem. I always try to keep everything fully charged. I can not stay if the store is not exhausted; everything must be completed. All the consoles, all the shelves must be full all the time, and if it's not the case, I just can not stand it. If people say, "Oh, you do not have this game," I'll go home and find it, then I'll get it, and it'll be on the shelf next time.
Do you use a network of collectors to supply you?
I have pickers who basically choose for me. I use a lot of Facebook pages and games. Sometimes, occasional offers are offered on eBay. People come to me with things that they want to sell. And then, sometimes, I just have to get up and go through storage units and actually sort out what I own and sell it rather than buying new items. He continues to arrive. But it's a limit dependence, that's the problem. My accountant tells me "Stop spending money!"
Which part of it do you like the most?
I like talking to people. As I said, everything depends on events. Some events, people can be toxic, I'll be honest, and at the end of a long day, you just have to spend an hour in a quiet room. But the connection with enthusiastic players is part of the call.
Sometimes I hate to sell – I literally was about to put the game back and I thought, "I really do not want to sell that," because I really do not want to let him go.
Do you always collect for yourself?
No, my collection is now 90 percent is the stock I have. I use it as my collection. I have personal things, do not get me wrong; I have a collection of Game Boy bubble baths, so that's a niche and that's my thing. I have 26 different bubble bath bottles! But I use my stand as my collection. Sometimes I hate to sell – I literally was about to put the game on and I thought, "I really do not want to sell that" because I really do not want to let him go. And that's partly because I know I'll never have another one. It's bad when you find this thing that you never find again and find it. It often happened to me to drop something and I thought, "I should never have sold that". Sometimes you have to think, "You have bills to pay, you have this and the other one, you have a life, you just need to let it go. You have lots of other things. Ten minutes later, you will not even notice he's gone. "
You offer a tactile and tangible shopping experience that you do not really get; does it make you vibrate?
I love Game Boy collectors who know what they want and who work there. And they come out with a pile of random games and it's not just about Zelda, Pokémon and Tetris. I said that one day, it's all my stand. I will not have anything on the table except a stack of Tetris carts, a stack of Mario carriages, a pile of Zelda trolleys and a stack of Pokémon carts, and that's it! Some weekends, that's all I've done and it can sometimes be a little discouraging. I like to sell other games, and there are so many good titles on the Game Boy that people just need to overcome the obstacle, namely that there are five games of which you basically need while there are actually hundreds of other incredible games.
What do you think is the most expensive game you've ever sold?
About £ 100. Things like Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow on the Game Boy Advance, for example. I have sold it recently, but I have another one now. It's the mission. I have to find another miracle game and I've managed one. Sometimes it's about finding where there is some meat for you too because I can go buy everything if I do not care about losing money. This is at a price because each year, emissions continue to grow more expensive, all your costs keep increasing and you have to raise your prices. I do not like to raise my prices. Sometimes I'm not the cheapest person in the world, but again, everything I sell is very good. The boxes are not overwritten, everything is in good condition and Game Boy consoles are in perfect condition. You can go buy a burner on eBay, try your luck, and it's £ 10 cheaper, but at least I put the time and effort to be sure to get a nice solid console.
Going online, what is your current online presence and what is the relationship between what you do on events and what you do online?
That's my problem. Because I am only a group-man, I am really tense with time. And now, with having a baby too and everything happens, my time is up. The problem is that I put something cool on Instagram, for example, then everyone said instantly, "Oh, can I buy that, can I buy that, can I buy that? The problem is that I can not sell it because I have to have this stock to do the event. If I could sell everything on Instagram, that would be the case, but the balance is balanced because I need events to make a lot of money. If I go with a stand that looks like a trash because I already sold everything online, then I will melt with everyone. The time I have when I'm proactive on my website is between December and February, when I'm away. Did you see that I made a Gameboy mystery box that I made at Christmas? I will make another one soon. I could sell them all day long, but I need some time to collect the extra products needed for them. Online, it's great when I have time to do it, but realistically for me, the trade show revenue is higher than it is online.
Are you somehow in the opposite direction to everyone, basically?
Yeah. I would love to open a real shop, period. If I had not had a baby, I would own a store now! I had a little money set aside to open a store this year, then the baby arrived, then I had to buy toilets and house items instead! It's life. I would love to have a store, but it scares me, it's the only thing to do: whether it works or not. I have friends who have shops; Lee at Sore Thumb Retro in York said it was the best thing he ever did. Already.
I have the opportunity to save batteries, but my great confession is that I have never played a game of Pokemon.
You say you do not have much time now; Do you have time to play at one of the games you sell?
I probably play 20 Tetris lines when I test things or I will try the first level of Super Mario Land. I usually save some batteries, but my big confession is that I have never played a Pokemon game. I played at the first level where you basically have to enter your name and go to the first room – let's say I've already played 2,000 times, basically to test when I put a new stack. I am the master of this piece of the game! The other day, I came out of the first room. I thought, "What's outside the first room?" Oh, other things. "Then I stopped!
If anyone reading this is interested in participating in the Game Boy, what do you recommend where to start?
I would start from the beginning. I would like to buy an original Game Boy. I think it's a good springboard. Me too, I would not go into stocks, I would not do it – to "discover" it literally. So build it. Scroll through each generation, then edit it by points. Do not start with a modified console if you are new to the Game Boy, it would sometimes ruin the experience. People sometimes come back to me and say, "I can not even see it," and I say, "Well, that's how it was designed." Start with the first games, but look closely . all the other great titles out there. There are many other perverse games that people simply do not touch and that they should do. Do some research, watch videos online and you'll realize that there are many incredible Game Boy games.
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