Locals go back to future in retro game shop

    Ranger – When Dylan Winders was laid off from his job at the start of the summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he happened the opportunity to fulfill one of his childhood dreams – owning a retro video game store.
    “At first it was kind of a joke,” Winders said. “I was like, ‘Maybe one day I’ll own a video game store,’ but I didn’t really see it happening. Then I got laid off because of COVID and I was like, ‘I guess we could start a store’ – and now here we are.”
    Winders and co-owner Jonny Moore bonded over their mutual love for retro video games and became friends years ago as co-workers at the GameStop store in Murphy. They saw an opportunity and seized it, leading to the duo establishing Player 2 Gaming.
    “It’s only been a couple of months in the making,” said Moore, who is still working a full time in addition to helping operate the store, which opened for the first time Aug. 7.
    “We just saw an opportunity of time, took advantage of it and ran with it.”
    The walls of the store at 7285 U.S. 64 W., between Peddler’s Village and Bear Creek Mini Golf, are filled with video game discs for almost every console developed, with the duo’s collection totaling more than 1,500 games. Winders and Moore amassed those games between the two of them through months of searching yard sales, online listings and attending retro gaming conferences, where collectors stockpile and sell retro products.
    “With this (retro games), you can’t just go buy this from a vendor,” Moore said. “You have to go find it in the wild. Searching Facebook, yard sales, thrift stores. There were some days that we would drive in circles for hours just to pick up different products for the store.”
    Fascination with retro video games has skyrocketed over the last decade, as nostalgia is pulling people back to the games and consoles they grew up with. Winder likens the continued growth of the retro game industry to your first car.
    “It’s all about what you grew up with,” Winders said. “My first car was an ’89 hoop-de-wagon Buick Century that was trash and looked like trash, but I still love an ’89 Buick Century even though it was a terrible car. People are still going to love to play games that they played when they were younger, even if there are better options out now.”
    The store’s “gem,” according to Winders and Moore, is a copy of Nintendo’s Animal Crossing for the Game Cube with a memory card included, which has a world saved that has been constantly progressing on its own over the last 15 years.
    Winders and Moore plan on fleshing out the store’s interior with some furniture and TVs with the intention of allowing customers to try out games before purchasing them. They would also like to host retro gaming tournaments and competitions at Player 2 Gaming in the future.