GameStop Converting Several Minnesota Stores To 'Retro' Locations

There are a lot of things playing into nostalgia these days. Whether it's in the movies, fashion, or other elements of pop culture, the "throwback" game is strong these days.

A national retailer is embracing this trend, converting a number of their store locations, including several in Minnesota, into "retro" versions of their store.

The video game retailer GameStop recently announced the big change coming for a number of their stores across the country, including a number of them in Minnesota.

What's changing at these "GameStop Retro" locations?

As the company put it in a social media post about the news, "The classics are back". The select GameStop stores being revamped will focus on throwback gaming systems and games, extending back into the 1980s.

Get our free mobile app

The stores undergoing the change to be a "GameStop Retro" will offer retro consoles, game discs and cartridges, and accessories to let you relive video gaming days of old.

Some of the brands and consoles highlighted include anything from the original Nintendo NES system and Game Boy to PlayStation 2 & 3 and XBOX 360 and a lot of other vintage systems and games like Sega Genesis & Saturn, Nintendo 64 & Wii, and first-generation XBOX.

Why the change?

Getty Images

Besides the aforementioned nostalgia factor, GameStop is figuring out what to do in a world of digital downloads on modern gaming systems. Once you have a new console, you can get your games online without going to a store and picking up any physical media version of a game.

This new concept for the company adds another player into the mix in the vintage gaming community, where a number of local gaming shops and pawn shops have been offering retro systems and games for years.