San Francisco Game Shops

[1upus]

Hi one and all,
Am heading over to San Francisco for business later on in the year and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to a good game store to visit. Will be staying pretty much near the convention center so if possible it would be great if they were near by, rather than traipsing around looking for it.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

lupus

 

[Akrasia]

Here are three:

(1.) Gamescape on Divisidero (near lower Haight). It is OKAY. Selection is relatively broad, but they usually don't replace stock that has sold out. Staff is okay, but there are 1-2 mildly irritating folk. Avoid going there on the weekend -- at the back there will be several loud teenagers playing Warhammer or Warmachine, or Magic, or something else that involves lots of shouting.

(2.) Games of Berkeley (easily accessible via BART). Quite good -- decent selection (including plenty of non-d20 stuff). Lots of stock. New stuff is frequently 10 percent off. Staff is pretty useless IME (generally ignorant of RPGs), but the stock is well organized.

(3.) Endgame in Oakland (also easily accessible via BART). Quite good -- reasonable selection, and good staff.

 

[RedShirtNo5]

4) Gator Games in San Mateo. Large selection and friendly staff, but not near BART.

-RedShirt

 

[MrFilthyIke]

Akrasia, can you search for the thread I start last May-ish for this same topic, there was quite a few pages on the subject.

 

[Davelozzi]

I'll second the recommendation for Gamescape on Divisidero, but I'd say it's more than okay, especially as a store you're visiting on a trip rather than your everday local game store. Why? Because they have a huge selection of used games, so it's nice to be able to check and see if there's any old gems that may no longer be available in your area. The downside is that they sometimes shrinkwrap a lot of their stuff*, though I can't recall if this was still the case on my last visit, about 10 months ago.

I haven't been to Games of Berkeley in four years or so, so I'll have to defer to Akrasia's judgement there, but last time I was there, the selection was very poor for RPGs. They seemed to be more focused on board games and puzzles. On the other hand, I was impressed with them on my first visit, back in '98.

I've never been to Endgames.

*Fortunately, not the used stuff, IIRC

 

[Drago]

I'll put my 2cp in..

Games of Berkeley has the best selection now , it is very good.
End Game in Oakland has the far better staff and has excellent playing
facilities, definitely take a pass !

DAvid/Drago

 

[grodog]

This thread over at Critical Hit (a SF Bay area gaming board) is also useful: http://www.cilibrin.net/rolldice/viewtopic.php?t=52

 

[MrFilthyIke]

This thread over at Critical Hit (a SF Bay area gaming board) is also useful: http://www.cilibrin.net/rolldice/viewtopic.php?t=52

Good link Allan, the wife and I are still planning on hitting the Bay area, and it looks like Gator Games might have to be added to the list. I gonna need to rent a car. :\

 

[1upus]

Thanks to all who replied. Well....just have to make time now to actually go hit the shops....

Well, that and find the locations of all these places

lupus

 

[grodog]

FWIW, I'm less of a fan of Gator Games when it comes to OOP stuff---you can sometimes find a nice deal, but the store is incredibly slow when it comes to grading the stuff they have in stock: I'm still waiting for a price quote on a lot of modules that they had in the back for the past 18+ months. Yes, 18+ months :rolleyes