Pink Gorilla is the only retro gaming-focused store in the U District - but it's not a very good one.
For some history - I used to be the biggest fan of Pink Gorilla you could imagine. I started its Wikipedia page; I generally stopped by every month - for a while I stopped in twice a week. I tried to stay updated on the store's selection and grab interesting titles when they first appeared. This all transpired as I got into video game collecting and developed what used to be a casual hobby into a dedicated pursuit. The store has changed, though, and some of the experiences I've had have negatively impacted my view of this store.
First off, the staff are not very friendly. I would often walk in with an enthusiasm to browse for games and learn more about video game history, but the staff generally greeted me with unenthusiastic.. silence. Seriously, I would often have to greet them first with a "hi," to which they would respond with a "hi." I just haven't felt much enthusiasm.
The selection of games is decent, but it used to be much better. When I first visited the store in the summer of 2012, they had a wide-ranging selection of titles from across different platforms; if you wanted something it was generally easy to find. But as they have opened more locations around the Seattle area I've felt the selection diminish in breadth and variety. Now much of what you see is sports games fro $2 or $3 per cartridge. From time to time a Zelda or Pokemon title will come in but someone will tend to snatch it up quickly.
But, most problematically, I had a very unfortunate mixup at this location. Over the course of a few months in spring 2013 I had spent several hundred dollars at this location. I once bought a GameCube and half a dozen games; in another I picked up ten or so NES cartridges. I would spend three figures at a time because I found an interesting selection and thought the prices were reasonable. And then I bought Smash.
You would think it was simple enough - Super Smash Bros. Melee for the GameCube is a popular game. I picked up the case and asked to buy it, along with a few other games. The person behind the counter grabbed a disc from the cabinet and plopped it in the case. I went along my way, back home. As soon as I sat down I opened up the case to see what I'd gotten. It turns out... I got Soul Calibur II. I got back up and went to the store so I could get the right disc. I explained the situation to the salesperson who had rung me up. His eyes narrowed. He was immediately suspicious. He looked briefly among the other cases and in the cabinet and said that he didn't have a Smash disc. He said it was very weird and unusual for this to happen and said I was out of luck. He offered to take my number for the manager. I figured it was a weird mixup but that I would get my game over the weekend. The next day I came back in to see if any progress had been made; he had no news and asked me to call the West Seattle location at a certain time to speak with the manager. I called at that certain time, and the manager wasn't in. I ended up speaking with someone at the Bellevue location, who said the owner would email me. I also emailed the owner myself for good measure. A few weeks go by. I finally get a response. The owner offered to get me the disc I had purchased and also gave me a gift card. It was a gracious response and one that I accepted. However, that does not change the fact that I had to wait over a month to get resolution on a pretty simple, straightforward situation, and that the salespeople had consistently treated me with so little respect.
I'm left with a dirty taste in my mouth. I don't feel like supporting the salespeople who provide such shoddy service. I don't feel like they care. I figure I've spent at least a thousand dollars at Pink Gorilla, and yet none of the staff people remember my name, nor try even to be friendly with me. That says a lot about Pink Gorilla. read more