Video games have been around for almost 40 years, and the Chicago store People Play Games celebrates the past with its retro systems.
"This is a video game store and we specialize mostly on the retro where we sell and buy all video game consoles and games," Adam Rolnick, owner, People Play Games.
The store has thousands of games to go along with the many different video game systems. The games sell for an average of $10 while the systems go for $50 to $80.
"People are very nostalgic when they come in. People love going back to games they remember playing when they were kids. They're a lot easier to play than the newer games are," Rolnick said. There's no doubt the games from the seventies and eighties were far less sophistated. But that doesn't mean they were any less fun. It's just that they were replaced by newer technology ... But now the old games are ending up back here.
"Most of them come from people who sell to us. We will buy any video game system and accessory that people find in their basement and their attic."
The consoles are cleaned up and put back in working order. So are the games, like Pong—just two paddles and an electronic bouncing ball with primitive sound effects. Compared to today's technology, it's not much – but Pong was the beginning.
"This was the baby of video games. It just exploded from there," Rolnick.
Today the video game industry makes more money than the movie and music industries combined.
People Play Games 3268 N Clark Street 773 883 8813
