Game Players Unlimited is a local used video game store that I have enjoyed frequenting since I was young. I remember my grandfather taking me there, and being so excited to get a copy of Kingdom Hearts Chain of memories for the Gameboy Advance. Things certainly have progressed a lot from the time of the Gameboy Advance… Anyways, this place is great, and I stop in from time to time to check to see if they have gotten anything new and exciting. Before I get to the incredibly, mind-blowing, awesome game that I was able to snag though, let me show you a few pictures of what this store looks like!

They actually have two locations. The one I usually visit in Batavia, and one in Brockport.

45 North Main St Brockport NY 14420

Now, on to the inside!

Official posters everywhere! There are some I definitely wouldn’t mind for my room!A giant case full of Nintendo DS games.

They also sell lots of gaming accessories! Including Dance Dance Revolution mats, which took me right back to my middle school years…. Games…Even MORE games!Also worth noting, they do sell a lot of used movies as well! They are very affordable, and sometimes you can find some real gems. I know I saw one of my favorite movies Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure in there….

Okay, the moment you’ve all been waiting for… Let’s talk about the game!

Now, you have to understand that I have two Holy Grail, sell my right arm, ultimate dream games. I now have one of them. Yeah, this game acquisition is that major to me. It does place second on my list though. My number one dream game is Rule of Rose.

You can buy Rule of Rose online, but a new copy currently costs around $250. This is a whole lot better than the $999 I’ve seen it going for in years past however. Why so expensive? Well for starters it was banned from the UK less than a week after its release. It was also banned from various other places. it is a deeply psychological horror game centered around orphan children, keyword children, so when it came out publishers wanted nothing to do with it. It got a lot of bad, and unfair press, by people who had obviously never played the game. This game is intensely controversial still, but intensely fascinating. Several university teachers have even developed college classes around this game, and in fact I wrote a thesis on it for a video games as literature course. In all my years of searching I have yet to spot it in a physical store, but it does happen. I went into a store in Albany once asking about it, just to find out that not knowing what they had, they’d sold a copy for $20 the week before. Anyways, I could talk all day about Rule of Rose (see my previous thesis statement…), but let’s talk about Holy Grail number two. The one that I now actually own, and am playing…Haunting Ground!

Rule of Rose VS Haunting Ground

This game, like Rule of Rose, is stunning. It has everything I love, a Victorian Gothic setting, a unique and thoughtful story, psychological horror, and memorable characters. Both Haunting Ground and Rule of Rose are Playstation 2 games, but they are very visually impressive for their era. 1Up.com praised the graphics, stating they were “some of the most detailed, lavish 3D environments Capcom has ever produced”. This game like Rule of Rose implements the use of a dog companion, and I would say that they implemented it better, and with more refinement. I was so so lucky to find this game, and with the original box and manual, all in great condition! The store owner was excited to see it sell so quick, remarking that they only just got it in. Talk about perfect timing!

Okay, I’m going to wrap things up here (so I can get back to playing Haunting Ground…), by once again stressing how awesome used game shops like Game Players Unlimited are. You just never know when a treasure is going to turn up! I’d been searching for Haunting Ground for years, and then when I least expected it, boom, there it was. I cannot begin to explain how precious Haunting Ground and Rule of Rose are to me, and if you’ve ever played either of them I’m sure you understand. If you haven’t I can’t recommend them enough!! Best of luck finding them though! But hey, that’s half the fun!