$50 Game Store Challenge – YouTube Video Breakdown

Watch the video, explore the story behind the challenge, and read the full transcript.

Entire Transcript for the Power Down Video “I Tried the $50 Game Store Challenge”

00:00:00:04 – 00:00:05:19
Today we’re just south of Boston and we’re seeing how many video games we can buy for just under $50.

00:00:05:19 – 00:00:11:26

In what’s quickly becoming one of the most expensive places to live in America, I set out to answer the question

00:00:11:26 – 00:00:15:10

Can people still afford the luxury of video games while on a budget?
My only rules for this challenge are.

00:00:17:41 – 00:00:20:08

We must buy at least one thing at each store.

00:00:20:08 – 00:00:22:18

I can’t spend it all in a single purchase,

00:00:22:31 – 00:00:30:15

obviously everything must cost $50 or less.

00:00:30:19 – 00:00:30:32

How’s it

00:00:30:40 – 00:00:35:55

To start out this challenge. We’re in nostalgia games. This is in Brockton, Massachusetts. This is one of my favorite

00:00:35:55 – 00:00:41:05

game stores in the area. Not gonna lie, there’s tons of great stuff here. As you guys can see,

00:00:41:05 – 00:00:46:44

But I think the real test is going to be staying under budget with so many great games to choose from.

00:00:46:54 – 00:00:56:54

All right, guys, one of my favorite things about this store is the massive amiibo case. As you can see, there’s tons of great ones in here. One of my personal favorites, the Ocarina of Time link,

00:00:56:59 – 00:01:03:09

is playing a little ocarina right there. And the best part? It’s only 25 bucks. That’s great.

00:01:03:14 – 00:01:13:00

I just spotted this one. Did he come? My favorite animals in monkey. I mean, how cute is that with the little barrel? Let’s see how much it is. 20 bucks.

00:01:13:04 – 00:01:17:15

Guys, we’re looking for a Mario Party game. That’s one thing I want to leave with

00:01:17:23 – 00:01:23:48

Oh, wait.

00:01:23:53 – 00:01:28:22

40 bucks for this Mario party.

00:01:28:27 – 00:01:31:48

Guys, another thing that I’ve loved recently

00:01:31:53 – 00:01:38:59

is physical Nintendo Power magazines and any like gaming magazines are super cool. So what have we got

00:01:39:04 – 00:01:43:28

They had like one of these posters in pretty much every single Nintendo Power magazine.

00:01:43:33 – 00:01:45:08

So it’s super cool that it’s still there.

00:01:45:12 – 00:01:51:24

Mario Sunshine guides. See, these are a lost art because now you just look

00:01:51:31 – 00:01:55:26

all these tips online. But they used to come in these magazines.

00:01:55:31 – 00:01:59:49

Like come on guys. This is really a lost art.

00:01:59:54 – 00:02:25:23

With a new Ocarina of Time game that’s coming out. Look at how sweet this thing is. The official strategy guide for the original Zelda Ocarina of Time on the N64. The whole world map, right when you open up the magazine. Cute little art of these two. This is just amazing. You have a retrospective of every single game up until this time on the N64.

00:02:25:28 – 00:02:38:52

More art. This is just tons of cool stuff throughout this magazine. Super sick. So if you guys want this, come pick it up. Could be yours for the price of 5

00:02:39:05 – 00:02:39:48
bucks.

00:02:39:53 – 00:02:44:12
So these are all ROM cards and these are just ported to working Gameboy advances.

00:02:44:12 – 00:02:48:09
And they’re just like ROM hacks are just different versions of actual Pokemon games,

00:02:48:14 – 00:02:49:44
fan made and stuff

00:02:49:49 – 00:02:53:47
I used to have this action replay when I was a kid. I might have to buy that again.

00:02:53:52 – 00:02:54:55
We’ll see how much it costs, because

00:02:55:06 – 00:03:14:45
One thing that’s unique about nostalgia games is they have a lot of cards also. Like, look at this. I’ve never even seen this promo before. And they have this and tons of other stuff that you could pick up. Oh, Crown zenith. Oh my god. This might be the best set of all time. The pull rates in these are insane.

00:03:14:47 – 00:03:17:22
There’s almost guaranteed to be a gold card in this thing.

00:03:17:27 – 00:03:35:14
The other thing I just got is I just got a three gifted to me from one of my close friends when he moved out. So with all these Pierce three games, I’m sure there’s something that I can find here. Like, I’m already looking at Black Ops three. Only 12 bucks. So got multiplayer. Excellent game right

00:03:35:19 – 00:03:37:10
Oh, red Dead redemption.

00:03:37:15 – 00:03:46:00
Don’t roast me in the comments. But I started this and never played it. I know it’s a sin. DNF the game. It is what it is.

00:03:46:04 – 00:03:48:00
Guitar hero three legends of Rock.

00:03:48:13 – 00:04:01:27
My parents decided when I moved to college that I didn’t need any of my games for when I was a kid anymore, so they sold all of them. So I hear legends of Rock. I don’t have it anymore. I don’t have any of my guitars either.

00:04:01:32 – 00:04:09:34
But thankfully for me, if I need one, I can just buy one right here because they have the full set up, the full guitar right here.

00:04:09:38 – 00:04:21:16
Guys. A fun fact about this one. They remade this in the American version because it got banned, because originally Grammer was like looking up this person’s skirt, so they had to ban it in Japan.

00:04:21:21 – 00:04:24:20
I love this card, so.

00:04:24:25 – 00:04:27:46
There are some corns.

00:04:27:51 – 00:04:30:31
For 20 bucks.

00:04:30:35 – 00:04:32:43
Oh my gosh, we do have cloud strife.

00:04:32:47 – 00:04:38:29
I love a good cloud of me about this one.

00:04:38:33 – 00:04:44:36
started about, I believe, 13 years ago. I’ve been here for 13 years. We started with just half of the store,

00:04:44:44 – 00:04:51:56
Before that, I personally had done, like clean outs. I’ve sold people on Craigslist and, you know, eBay and things.

00:04:51:56 – 00:05:01:46
And I always, you know, I’ve been selling people video games prior for another ten years prior. But I was like, I always wanted to own a store. And then finally this store came up and I was like,

00:05:01:50 – 00:05:12:53
you know what? Let’s go for it. And I’ve been so grateful over the past 13 years, I’ve literally seen every single kind of game from Commodore to PS5.

00:05:12:53 – 00:05:18:29
And the fun thing, I’ll tell you if you want to look at that Grand Theft Auto five

00:05:18:34 – 00:05:25:33
I could finally upgrade, that poster that was I got I put that poster on the wall right when we first opened,

00:05:25:44 – 00:05:31:35
and now Grand Theft Auto six is coming out and I can upgrade it. So I’m I’m very excited for that.

00:05:31:35 – 00:05:36:02
it’s been great. I love doing this. And yeah, I want to do this for another 13 years.

00:05:36:02 – 00:05:40:16
And yeah, I guys like you coming in and just makes me happy. You

00:05:40:22 – 00:05:42:04
you know I absolutely love

00:05:42:08 – 00:05:56:04
All right, guys. So even though this is a game store, there’s so much more that you can find. I just picked up this Smeagol card super sick and this Diddy Kong amiibo. So all together we’re paying 25 bucks for these and we’re staying under our budget.

00:05:56:16 – 00:05:59:15
And now we’re off to our second store.

00:05:59:20 – 00:06:06:16
Located in our south. From nostalgia games, we embarked on our journey to beautiful Plymouth, Massachusetts.

00:06:06:20 – 00:06:10:50
you. A bit about what I do.

00:06:10:55 – 00:06:19:57
All right, guys, we just touched down in Plymouth. This place is absolutely gorgeous. So I want to take you around here a little bit before we go to our next door, which is called Bowser’s Basement. It’s a couple blocks

00:06:20:12 – 00:06:23:01
but it’s amazing out here. Come take a look at

00:06:23:06 – 00:06:26:25
But it’s always a surprise. Well, it’s always a

00:06:26:32 – 00:06:30:31
I.

00:06:30:35 – 00:06:51:28
All right, guys, we just landed in Plymouth and we got some insane looking food since we’re in Plymouth. Obviously we got to get seafood. I mean, look at this behind us right in the water. So, you know, we had to get we got a plate of fried clams, lobster bisque, you know, how to get a beer. And then Lido got some nice fish and chips.

00:06:51:33 – 00:06:58:02
Looks amazing. Should be great. Let’s dive in.

00:06:58:07 – 00:07:00:31
Open this up to.

00:07:00:36 – 00:07:05:59
day.

00:07:06:04 – 00:07:15:13
That washes all my work. Your way home. So that way.

00:07:15:18 – 00:07:18:31
Always a surprise. Well, it’s always a

00:07:18:36 – 00:07:29:32
All right, so you guys have probably heard of Plymouth Rock. You’ve probably learned about it in your history books. Come take a look at what it actually looks like.

00:07:29:37 – 00:07:30:50
waiting.

00:07:30:55 – 00:07:37:33
Yes, that was actually the rock that the pilgrims first set foot on when discovering North America in 1620.

00:07:37:34 – 00:07:41:45
But that’s enough history lessons for one day. It’s time to get back to our challenge.

00:07:41:53 – 00:07:59:40
All right, guys, I’m super stoked about this. Next door, we’re at Bowser’s basement in Plymouth, Massachusetts. You guys left plenty of comments on my last video telling me to go to the store. We only have about 25 bucks left in our budget, so let’s see if we can go in and make the most of our money.

00:07:59:45 – 00:08:05:39
How are you?

00:08:05:44 – 00:08:13:01
This is like a dream for me. Like it’s so organized and it’s so many games. It’s like perfect, perfect.

00:08:13:06 – 00:08:20:34
Look at these. These plushies. Acute as this little dk.

00:08:20:39 – 00:08:24:25
Dragon.

00:08:24:30 – 00:08:27:19
They’re on the amiibo stuff, which is interesting.

00:08:27:24 – 00:08:29:17
Down here.

00:08:29:22 – 00:08:30:43
They got some down there.

00:08:30:48 – 00:08:34:52
they have a mewtwo. Oh, I haven’t seen Mewtwo in person yet.

00:08:35:06 – 00:08:38:03
They have a lot of ones that I just haven’t seen before.

00:08:38:08 – 00:08:42:54
Like the warrior, that other Diddy. Yeah, that’s the other Diddy. I don’t like that one as much as the

00:08:42:59 – 00:08:46:49
But like, they got Mewtwo back there for 14.

00:08:46:54 – 00:08:47:40

00:08:47:45 – 00:08:51:58
Metroid.

00:08:52:03 – 00:09:03:39
Looking for Mario parties. We only have about 25 bucks left to work with guys, so we’re kind of within a tight budget right now, but I think we can make it work. I think we can get something and really make it work. Let’s see. Figures crossed.

00:09:03:43 – 00:09:07:26
So we have Jules here. She’s going to tell us some awesome stories about the store.

00:09:07:37 – 00:09:11:59
My name is Jules. I’m the manager here at Bowser’s basement Plymouth location.

00:09:12:03 – 00:09:14:48
And I just want to share one quick story with you. So

00:09:14:55 – 00:09:22:25
I was asked what was one of my rarest games that we’ve sold, and I was saying that today we had Earthbound for Super Nintendo,

00:09:22:25 – 00:09:35:58
every game in here we purchased from people that walk in, so someone had sold it to us and he was a kid, early 20s came in with it in the box, in the box with the scratch and sniff stickers. Everything is so rare. Super rare.

00:09:35:58 – 00:09:37:36
so we were transparent.

00:09:37:38 – 00:09:42:55
Do you know what you have here? Yeah, yeah. He said his uncle had passed away. His uncle collected games in the 90s

00:09:42:55 – 00:09:46:03
And his uncle had left everything to him when he passed away, unfortunately.

00:09:46:03 – 00:09:52:3
So he had received all this stuff and he was like, I’m just not a gamer. I just don’t know if it will mean more to someone else. So he brought it to us.

00:09:52:42 – 00:09:54:08
We put it for sale

00:09:54:13 – 00:10:01:48
within like a half hour. A dad walks in, picks up the phone, calls his kid, and says, I found it.

00:10:01:53 – 00:10:06:26
and you could hear the kid on the phone just be like, dad, do it like, this is what we’ve been waiting for.

00:10:06:29 – 00:10:21:36
This is what we. This is what we’ve been saving for to get it. And then I have the gooses and then so like then to get to see the person come in and buy it with him and his dad and such a beautiful thing. It’s like, oh, that’s amazing. I’m crying and I’m like, video games. Yeah, right. They bring people together like stop playing video or whatever.

00:10:21:38 – 00:10:24:07
Yeah, yeah. Video games are are the equalizer.

00:10:24:07 – 00:10:25:41
and it’s super cool. And I would have

00:10:25:46 – 00:10:26:43
thought or realized

00:10:26:43 – 00:10:31:48
that the culture was so big and that there’s only different aspects of it, so many things that are connected to it.

00:10:31:48 – 00:10:36:17
Thank you so much. Jules, is there anything else you want to tell us about the store here or actually?

00:10:36:17 – 00:10:47:39
we have two locations, one in Taunton, mass. One in Plymouth, mass. The Plymouth location is the newer one, but we’re super proud of it, because one thing about this store is that it’s a fully female staff video game store.

00:10:47:42 – 00:11:07:23
So for us, we’re super proud of it. We love that the girls are learning to repair things, the pricing, the purchasing, all of that stuff. So we’re super proud of that. We’re trying to change the vibe. I think it smells good in here. It’s clean, so we’re really trying to change the vibe of what people think. Pre-Owned video game stores use video game stores are.

00:11:07:23 – 00:11:15:46
And so yeah, we’re super proud and we’re happy to be down here in Plymouth. Awesome. Well, thanks for having us. This is amazing. Thanks for coming in. We’re going to keep shopping around a little bit. We’re going to find some good stuff.

00:11:15:46 – 00:11:26:13
All right, guys, we made our decision. We’re going to pick up one of these Game Boy Advance games. And also I’m going to get an amoeba that’s over here.

00:11:26:18 – 00:11:38:38
I caved in and we’re going to go with that Mewtwo in the back. Haven’t seen it yet. Haven’t seen it in person. They got a nice selection here and we want to pay it forward. Even though we might break our challenge just a little bit. It’s worth

00:11:38:43 – 00:11:40:07
You guys are matching.

00:11:40:12 – 00:11:43:59
Yeah, we are matching the Mewtwo. It’s cool.

00:11:44:04 – 00:11:50:37
All right, guys, they were absolute sweethearts in there. We had a great time in Bowser’s basement, but unfortunately, I have to be honest.

00:11:50:41 – 00:12:00:38
I almost walked out of there. Perfectly on budget. This game is 25. We spent 25 in the last store. However, I just couldn’t pass up this. Mewtwo. Look at this. Look at this guy.

00:12:00:43 – 00:12:06:53
How can I walk out of that store without him? So we went 15 bucks over budget. But it’s kind of what you expect in this economy.

00:12:06:55 – 00:12:12:13
We ended up paying 65 instead of 50. I think we still had a great day. We made out like bandits.

00:12:12:13 – 00:12:13:31
Come check out these stores.

00:12:13:31 – 00:12:16:24
If you’re trying to stay under a budget, you might get close.

A Retro Game Store Challenge for the Ages

In this video, I was very eager to try out some new videogame stores in Boston all the way to Plymouth MA. We started at Nostalgia games, in Brockton Massachusetts for our retro game store challenge. It’s a neat little retro videogame store with an owner who is very passionate about what he does. He has been in the business for 13 years and got started buying and selling through craigslist!

Nostalgia games has an absolutely MASSIVE collection ranging from NES, Xbox, Amiibo, to Pokemon Cards. The prices were a bit on the higher side, but what can you expect? I walked away from this store with a Dope looking Diddy Kong Amiibo where he is sitting on a barrel. I also picked up a Smeargle Pokemon card which I’ve never seen before. For only $5 I couldnt pass it up! combined with the Diddy Kong Amiibo, the total at this store was $25 which took out half of our budget instantly. This game store is for sure one of Boston’s Hidden gems and definitely worth checking out if you’re in the area.

Power Down holding up diddy kong amiibo in a retro game store
Power Down holding up diddy kong amiibo in a retro game store

Touched Down in Plymouth Town

Afterwards, we set off to Plymouth Mass. We shopped around a bit more off camera and went into some shops to look for sweatshirts and tees, but nothing caught our eye. We went to Wood’s Seafood which was right on the water. It was AMAZING. I paid about $30 (Maybe a little less) for Fried clam strips, fries, Lobster Bisque and a beer. And I was under the impression Plymouth would be expensive! I might just be used to those Boston prices…. After our late lunch and some sight seeing, we set off to Bowser’s Basement.

Fried Clam strips, with lobster bisque and a beer
Fried Clam strips, with lobster bisque and a beer

Bowser’s Basement

The branding at Bowser’s Basement in Plymouth is excellent. You walk up to a white painted store front with a little off brand bowser logo and Mario figures inside the glass. The brand is immediately recognizable as a Game store. And a very professional one at that! Upon entering you are greeted with a very organized, well maintained shop with shelves filled to the brim with games, plushies, and posters. I can’t emphasize enough how well organized everything is. It just makes you want to buy stuff! Perfect for our intense game store challenge. After you walk past intend, Xbox, and PlayStation games you find a figure glass case at the end of the store. It was here that I spotted a mew two amiibo and my next purchase. Just behind that is a playable Mini SNES classic.

Jules Earthbound story

Jules, one of the two girls that worked here was kind enough to share a story with us about one of the most expensive games. She explained how they had Earthbound the game comin the store. This is an extremely valuable game and labelled as a holy grail for many gamers. The person who brought it in got handed down lots of games from his uncle that had passed away. Jules explained they could get more money elsewhere than they could give, but the guy who brough in the game assured her he wanted them to have it. Then Jules and the bowsers basement team put it up for sale and you wont believe what happens next! A father comes rushing into the store within 30 mins. He calls his son on the phone and says “Son we found it!” They started tearing up on the phone since they have been looking everywhere for this game and they finally got it. Huge shoutout to Jules for the great story.

Challenge Failed

It was a blast but once we got back to our challenge I picked up a Mario kart GBA game along with the mewtwo amiibo. Unfortunately the total of all items (Diddy, Smeargle card, Mewtwo, and Mario Kart I also bought my camera man a GBA Game but didn’t add that to the total) was $65 which pushed us over the $50 limit and thus failing the challenge. Nevertheless, we had a blast and can’t wait for the next crazy adventures I wind up on with this YouTube channel! Also, don’t forget to check out some of my products below!

Power Down standing with Jules as she is about to explain the story of Earthbound at Bowsers Basement
Power Down standing with Jules as she is about to explain the story of Earthbound at Bowsers Basement

On sale products