In the land of consoles and controllers the corporate king, Gamestop, generally rules the digital domain. However, a challenger approaches from the Rust Belt seeking to contest the longstanding lack of competition: Oogie Games.
Beginning in his basement nine years ago and eventually growing into the modest three-store company it is today, owner and CEO of Oogie Games, Kevin McMullen is quickly making a name for himself.
But before McMullen's enterprise leveled to its current state, he remembers an enlightening first experience in the gaming resale world.
"For a Christmas gift I was going to buy my girlfriend an old Nintendo NES with the original Mario Bros. and I had gone on eBay and I had saw that the original Nintendos were going for anywhere between [$60 to $100]," McMullen said. "So me being in college still, I was like ‘I'm not going to pay that' and I went to the Walden Flea Market and bought a Nintendo from the dirtiest dude there."
The system, as it turns out, was broken. McMullen, only 20 years old at the time, saw this as an opportunity to fix the defunct system and turn a profit. This auspicious event showed McMullen that not only was a niche open for alternative retailers, but in an area as entrenched in gaming as Buffalo is, a blue-collar game store could absolutely thrive. With the seed planted, it wasn't long before Oogie Games was born.
Now a few years older, McMullen owns and operates three stores that specialize in retro games, new and used titles, repairing broken systems, and hosting tournaments in specially designed gaming arenas.
Tournaments in many of today's biggest sports and first-person shooter games run Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at two of the three locations. The closest to campus, Oogie Games' Sheridan store, boasts a brilliant Bioshock theme, while out in Lockport gamers get some up close and personal time with the iconic Level 8 and the master of its keep, Bowser.
Beyond strutting one of the only gaming arenas in the Buffalo area, Oogie accommodates its gaming fans by offering customers the best value.
"I know [Buffalo is] a price-conscious town – it's a blue-collar town and I want to make sure we're not only providing the best service to people, [but] that we will go above and beyond to match and have the best prices in town," McMullen said. "I don't want to have our customers want or need to go anywhere else."
While Oogie can't always contend with its corporate competitors, the game store prides itself on being a service-oriented organization.
"People want to go where they're known and where they're taken care of and where they feel special," McMullen said. "And that's one of the things we can do that Gamestop can't."
Aaron Kryeier, an employee at Oogie Games' Sheridan location, recounts the dedication of the store manager as he went out of his way to help an elderly woman remember her grandchildren through games.
"An older woman came in and bought a Super Nintendo," Kryeier recalls. "She wanted to play some stuff she remembered playing with her grandkids. Well, her Super Nintendo decided not to work for her, but couldn't make it back in [the drive] was too long for her. She was from Orchard Park, so one of the managers here got her a Super Nintendo, drove over to her house, hooked it all up for her and made sure it worked."
Beyond its dedicated staff, price matching is another way that this indie retailer goes above and beyond its competition.
"For Modern Warfare 3, if you trade in any two games from the current console generation valued at $3 or more, we're going to slash $10 off the price," Kryeier said.
While this slight price difference seems small, McMullen explained that the company would rather take a hit in its profit than drive away its potential local customers.
Being a locally owned store means a lot to the Queen City native and McMullen claims that this community is the driving force behind his company's success.
"Buffalo really likes to support local business and it's definitely a huge scene, and we love to strive on that – letting everyone know that we're locally owned," McMullen said. "All of the money is going back to the economy here, we're all about Buffalo."
McMullen goes out of his way to hire staff from the area that have a vision similar to his own, and with the expansion to six or seven stores next year, McMullen will be bringing even more jobs to the local economy.
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