Coming up in club comms this week is the forthcoming opening of another Brighton Games retail experience - Games Saloon. The history of Gaming shops in Brighton is not an illustrious one. There is though the stalwart Games Workshop that has survived as long as I can remember. Not specifically a roleplaying shop, I do remember wandering in there many years ago when they did used to stock Merp and ICE modules from my Lord of the Rings days but I haven't been inside for a looong while but like a small shrine on a winding road I should really pop in and light a candle.
I do remember Wargames Haven more recently, nice try but closed after 12 months in 2009 sadly - lots of space for table top but floor area in Brighton does come at a high price.
Dave's Comics in the North Lanes is another long serving outlet that has reinvented itself several times over the years. I did have the pleasure of meeting Dave himself on occasion and my other half used to run the shop from time to time when he wanted to pop out for a cup of tea. Sadly no longer with us his shop has gone from selling large bundles of rpg modules that Dave must have bought in wholesale second hand and now aims for the premium boxset market but if you have the money then always worth popping in. I do remember a Magic the Gathering section staffed by an incredibly knowledgeable wizard during its hayday.
Who remembers the Brighton Adventurers Guild store in the North Laines ? It was before the internet.... and before even the Adventurers Guild ?..Well we have to go back as far as the RPG section in the local Virgin Megastore.
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I remember the Adventurer's Guild and the Virgin games section well; I recall being ridiculed for playing Shadowrun by someone -- not a staff member, but one of those people who just hangs around in there all day -- in the former. I got a copy of Utatti Asfet in Virgin and they knocked it down to half price because the shrink wrap was torn; half price was still a ripoff.
ReplyDeleteI think Hive comic shop -- on Kensington Gardens, had a Cthulhu-themed shop upstairs run by a bloke in a top hat, but I can't remember what it is now -- once sold games; I'm almost sure I got Legend of the Five Rings in there.
There was another place on a corner somewhere; I think it may have been on North Road or Gloucester Road, maybe where the Ninja shop is now. I only went in there once so I don't remember what it was but I don't think it was a games shop. I think it may have been a second hand book shop. Anyway, they had a big selection of gaming stuff at the back of the shop; I remember lots of old White Dwarfs and Rifts books.
I used to hang out a lot at Wargames Heaven.
ReplyDeleteWhat's a geek student to do when there are no finals approaching?
I spent a lot of time playing the Game of Thrones LCG at the time, and been buying packs whenever I had some money to spare... but I remember I stopped going after I got tired of my play-style being ridiculed time and time again...
Still, it was sad that Wargames Heaven went down but I hardly have any business acumen to say what went wrong in that respect.
Anyone happen to have any pictures of the Brighton Adventurer's Guild in the North Laines ?
ReplyDeleteI remember b.a.g. and across the road was foreboding prices and I too used play shadow run and battletech but that was along time ago.
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