Great store, so glad places like this still exist! They have everything from old consoles and games to modern accessories designed for old consoles (hdmi video cable converters, controllers, etc.). Everything is priced fairly and competitive with other similar retro stores. read more

I loved the service that I got from here, every time I asked a question over the phone they were really nice and actually gave a crap what I was looking for! read more

Wow this place is very nice and organized. What I like about the workers here is the fact that they know their store anything you ask them they have an answer. All The games they have are in good quality. Too bad is too far from My place I recommend it to all the gamers out there have fun read more

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"If you want more cash for your games, maybe list on Facebook Marketplace or eBay and do the work yourself" - Rude employee, Videogames Then & Now Gosh I should have paid attention to the negative reviews! Walking into the store you're greeted by large plastic bins stacked as high as you are tall, not sorted and seemingly all over the place. Most of the games on the shelves are titles that people don't typically hunt for (think Madden 06 and Bill Lambier's Combat Basketball). The display cases had some decent titles that seemed to be on the higher priced side. The one guy working behind the counter was not very friendly and was very firm with the trade-in price he offered after spending time pricing out my trade. Any haggling led to him cutting down and pointing out negatives in the products I had to trade. Before coming into the store I had in my head that a trade-in offer would 60-70% of price charting. I never assumed I'd get full price for my trade-in but I was offered about 30% of the value of the bag of games I was looking to trade-in. The employee then said, "If you want more cash for your games, maybe list on Facebook Marketplace or eBay and do the work yourself" and at that point I knew there was no deal to be made. Maybe a decent spot if you have a purchase in mind, but this store is hard to browse, had a pretty mid selection, and they are not really looking to make any sort of deal that benefits the store and the seller. read more

It was my fiancés birthday, and he very specifically asked for a Nintendo 64, in addition to a game called "Goldeneye 007". I called around Game Stops mistakenly asking for a PS4, and they referred me to Videogames Then & Now. Once I figured out that I actually needed to ask for a Nintendo 64, they confirmed that they did have one! I drove over and was pleasantly surprised to see that their store occupies part of the old Blockbuster location. I asked the gentleman at the counter if he had this game called "Goldeneye". He said he didn't, and we chatted about how it can be hard to come by. He was looking around and suddenly, he had found one! My Hero, honestly. I was just so excstatic that I got all the treasures I needed in one spot. The service was great, and I felt the price was very reasonable. They really helped a gal like me who knows next to nothing about video games. One thing that would add to the place is some music. My fiancé loves the gift! Thank you Videogames Then & Now, great experience. read more

Then and now is fantastic, these guys are fair and helpful. You want chit chat, go on social media, a bar, or old fashioned telephone. If someone dosnt say hello when ya walk in, say hello anyways. These guys see hundreds of people a week and not everyone is a conversationalist. It's not a reason not to go here. I come here with my son who has autism and is different we stay for 30 minutes and they've never complained or looked at us in wanting us to leave. Support this small business, they are fair, honest and where else can you go? eBay? Lastly for anyone that can't understand why you can't return games under certain circumstances is because some people are not honest, they'll play the games and bring them back for a refund. I'm sure almost everyone can understand that. Keep up the good work then and now- we love the store! read more

Best store in Chicago / neighboring suburbs . I'm glad I was able to find the new location after a few years . These guys do every thing right . Sell games at a discount , they restore systems , they fix them etc etc , what ever game system you need , whatever game , trust & believe they have it. Can't wait to go back and buy a few classic games. read more

The salesman don't greet you when you come in and his very rude and disrespectful and not wanting to help you.

The place is pretty cool and has a lot of antique games that are worth coming here but their employees are so rude and unpleasant. You walk through the door, say hello and they look at you burden. I love to support a small business and avoid corporate places but I'm disgusted by the way these employees act. In general the store has some good quality games that I recommend! read more

I been meaning to get to this store for the longest time. I finally got that chance. I'm starting to collect retro games and I kind of get tired scouring Facebook marketplace for old games. I came across Videogames Then & Now ad on Facebook. Well me and my son was in the area and decided to stop by. Boom! Instant nostalgia as soon as you walk in! This store has it all! From Atari 2600 to current generation. The wall is pepperewit with old systems and memorabilia from the past. It's close to my job so I can see myself spending a lot of money in here. I could literally get lost in here and stay in here for a couple of hours and not get bored. People talking about the customer service and all that. If you want customer service, go to GameStop. The guy is working cleaning systems to sell. I may go back today! read more

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This place has a really great selection of games, consoles, and peripherals. They have a lot of games and consoles constantly coming in and out so definitely come check them out! There are some great prices and deals on games & consoles. Thank you Ben for helping us out. read more

Videogames Then & Now - Video games - Video Game Stores Near Me - Harwood Heights, Illinois

Thanks Julia K! I can confirm that here you can find alot of great sh*t. Surprisingly there were alot of people stopping in looking for games for old systems, i.e., Sega Genesis, Dreamcast, For those of you still using Dreamcast, they have the controllers for $6.99. Thats a steal. They have a pc cafe in the rear, the systems look clean and reliable. Prices per hour are decent, not expensive like Screenz. They have Counterstrike! kick a$$! The counter guys aren't that experienced or knowledgeable of all their products, we were looking for a power source for a PAL system PS2, they didn't know what to recommend. We were also inquiring about mod equipment accessories, they didn't know anything about that either. Oh well, system prices are pretty good and you can find alot of decent PS2 games for prices as low $8.99. The median for good games seems to be $14.99-$18.99 They have games of all systems all over the place, just stop in and look. Its a real blast from the past. The store front faces West located just next to an Auto parts store. read more

I was visiting from out of town and went out of my way to visit the shop after landing at O'Hare. I showed up around 1 pm and no staff were to be found and the place was dead empty. I probably browsed for 15 minutes before the owner (I presume) came out of the back room and sat down at the counter without hardly muttering a hello. Customer service did not seem to be the forte. Customer service aside, the selection is pretty great. If you're a Sony fan, the entire back wall is PlayStation. They have everything organized very well by console, and generally the store is primarily retro games, which I was after. They have a nice GBA section with some sealed titles. The gameboy cartridge display case was severely lacking. The Atari shelf was full but it looked to be mostly commons priced for about $5 a piece on average (I can't speak to rarity as I don't collect for Atari). The Xbox selection is similar size to the PlayStation collection. They also have a few shelves of hard to find toys, keychains, plushies, board games and puzzles, etc. These were new and appeared to be priced at MSRP, and I saw a few items that I don't usually see in stores. The N64, NES, SNES, and GameCube selections were lacking, and are mostly commons/uncommons. Nothing to write home about. I was disappointed that the only CIB for these systems were sports games. Still, all the loose carts seemed to be priced competitively well. If you are after cables, components, hard-to-find hardware components for all of these systems etc, there is an entire wall of this stuff. It was a wide variety and would be a good place to check out if you need that certain cable or a replacement memory card. The magazine shelf has different past issues of game magazines, with Nintendo power being the majority. The ranged from about $2-4 each, which I think is good. Obviously it's not a bundle price, but I found and purchased a couple of guides I didn't already have that I wanted to use to build my collection. Lastly, there is a special shelf that it is stocked with random and rare items (I forgot how they described it). They have all sorts of goodies in there, including a rock band kick pedal, a NES game cabinet, a ziploc of memory cards that may or may not work, etc. They say they restock this shelf with 5 new items every day, so that would keep me coming back here if I was local. Overall, I had a good experience and would recommend this location. It is not a prime location in the suburbs and is a little hard to find, and I can't call it a gem, but it is worth checking out. TL;DR Please note I am a retro games collector and can be critical. If you are coming here over a local GameStop, that is a good decision. read more

Store is great and the prices are reasonable as well! Only issue I have is it feels pretty unwelcoming. A hello and a smile goes a long way and they don't do that. They pretty much just glance at you when u walk in and that's about it. Some music would be nice too, uncomfortably silent sometimes. But honestly I hope they start greeting people, that would make this store pretty elite. read more

I just bought games there recently and love this business, I also bought a ps3 there recently and it works fine. Had to go get it replicated 3 times but 3rd one works so fine, I recommend going here to buy games and support them read more

Browsing around you'll probably find something cool you like even if it's not a video game. I found a documentary I didn't know existed so it was worth checking out. read more

If I could leave a negative start review I would. I never write reviews for stores I go to but this one is the first. I went in to purchase a game for my boyfriend and once I did and realized that I had bought the wrong game and called before heading back to get a refund for the game the employee that answered told me to come in and give me a refund so when I arrived to the store and asked for my refund the same employee looked at me with confusion and said that it's there "store policy" to not give refunds only in store credit. So why was I lied to? Was this employee not aware of the policy or just lied to me? I will never understand a no refund policy. That doesn't seem right especially considering that I will NEVER shop at this store again. And to top it off, the OWNER himself was rude, unaccommodating, and was not able to do anything to help me out. Now I'm left with $70 worth of i store credit that i'll more than likely never use because that store all they sell there is overpriced old garbage. read more

This place is a kind of museum and game store in the same time. I like it. Looks like the owner is really passionate about his business. He shared with me some interesting facts about consoles I am interested. He was friendly. He sell new and very old collective games. some of them I didn't see nowhere else. I will come back! read more

Love coming here. Great amount of new and retro games. 5 Star rating if Customer service was a little better. Also would be great if they knew what kind of inventory they had. You at least need a good hour to shop around. If you're looking for some rare gems usually they'll have them in a glass case or behind the counter. read more

Are you looking for a top loader NES so you can play your old childhood games? Do you need an adapter for your old Sega Genesis, an extra joystick for your Atari 5200, or an expansion pack for an N64? Maybe you just want to play Pong on a Magnavox Odyssey? Don't start looking on Ebay just yet because there's a good chance you can find all those here. But before you think about "just stopping in" on your way to work, you have to understand that this place is laid out like a video game nerd's basement than an actual store. Things are arranged in kind of a roundabout general order. So if you want that Genesis adapter, you have to go to the wall of all the video game "accessories" they have. If you want a particular game for N64, you'll have to go to the N64 game shelf and sift through the seemingly endless copies of Superman 64 and Carmagedon before possibly finding it. You'd think you could save yourself the trouble of having to go through a bug hunt by asking the guy at the counter for help, but that's probably not going to go over too well. In my experience the man is fairly curt with his customers and would probably respond with some variation of "everything we have is out there." Your only option is to plan on being there for about an hour and thoroughly go through everything. Price wise, the place could appear a bit steep for second hand stuff. Sure, you might be able to find the same thing cheaper on Ebay, but consider this: the difference isn't going to be *that* much, there are no shipping charges, no fear of unscrupulous and dishonest sellers, and no waiting for it to arrive in the mail. I'd say that's worth a slight markup. Stop in on your next day off. Worst case scenario, you'll spend your time looking at all the old video game memorabilia repeating the phrase, "Oh my god! I remember that!" Come to think of it, I think I understand why the guy working there looks so pissed off. read more

This store makes me feel like I am in Canada again! The land of cute independent video game stores! Without all the stupid crap of dealing with the evil EB or Game Stop! If you are a game collector you must stop by, they have games for pretty much every system imaginable! Sega Masters System, Atari, Genesis, Nintendo, Super Nintendo and the list goes on and on! They even had a *neogeo* system!! I have wanted one of those for ages! Edit: Changed to 3 stars because the manager is a dick!!! I want to stab him in the eye. Edit 2: The manager is at least 40% more jovial. Star has been re-designated. read more

Definitely pretty upset with the service. The store itself is great and the prices are great. My problem lies with the service. I called 3 times with no response. I called one more time with a different phone and was greeted with a discerning voice just saying video games. I asked if they had an ORIGINAL super nintendo power cord and they said yes. I was feeling a bit better so I made the drive and I felt not welcome from the moment I stepped in. The cashier didn't say hi and literally stared at me until I got to the register. If that wasn't bad enough, they didn't have the cord I wanted even though I specifically asked. Where are the happy faces and greetings from small businesses? Won't be supporting them anymore if they can't even show a smile when they have business. read more

Love that you can purchase empty video game cases for older systems, super-cheap. And while I agree in wishing that the placement of games on shelves should be alphabetized, I never fail to be astonished with remembering video games I'd all but forgotten about. And the games are very clearly organized by their respective system, despite not being alphabetized, so no big complaints here. The selection of games from countless older systems continues to be amazing, and their ridiculous inventory of cables, wires, etc. gives me hope I might be able to replay some of my older games again one day. Yay Video Games Etc.! read more

Love this store! My boyfriend has been looking for a gameboy micro for months. MONTHS. A game stop employee told us to look for this store as they don't carry that kind of thing at game stop any more. So we drove over and walked in to our past. Directly in front of you as you enter is video game heaven. Where all your systems and games came to rest and be sold again. And, sure enough, they had old systems, even an old game boy micro that had been in stock just last week, but they sold it just as fast. I got a refurbished Xbox 360 here for a steal, and all the accesories for about $200. I've even seen a kinect for cheap (which i haven't picked up yet but should) The new game selection is not as extensive as the old, but just as fun to browse. I need to go look and see if they actually carry the game boy games now that we've found the micro, but i know they carry sega genesis, SNES, etc etc etc. You can find used and refurbished in house (with a warranty, i believe) systems and ipods. if you don't want a brand new system, come here. totally worth it. read more

I noticed a couple of reviews mentioned disappointment with the staff. Been to VT&N many times over the past seven years, and I think the owner was the only staffer I've ever seen there, and he's always been very friendly to me; might be because he and I share the same first name, I dunno. But it's amazing the number of vintage consoles this place supports. Obviously, there are the usual suspects: Atari VCS, Atari 5200, Atari 7800, Intellivision, etc...but you'll also find stuff here for Vectrex and God knows what else. (And I MEAN that -- there are games there for systems I've never even HEARD of.) Prices are pretty fair and based very consistently on the rarity guides on atariage.com. Now, they even sell arcade games, and what they have for sale are out on the floor so you can actually play before buying. (And from what I can tell, playing the games does NOT imply that you necessarily WANT to buy them.) Just one warning: this place is easy to miss if you're not careful. It's right by a Taco Burrito King and a car repair joint. The sign on the road is very subtle. Might want to check Google Maps Street View before you make your first trip here. read more

So today I decided to get into retro gaming since see clips on You Tube got all nostalgic for my favorite games. Looked on EBay,and Amazon but decided to go local instead since you it makes things difficult if something goes wrong. Today I stopped by to see if there were any Sega Saturns since it was tied as my favorite with the Dreamcast. Luckily they had two so I grabbed one at a very good price after comparing several avenues. I assume the person who attended me was the owner who not only acknowledged me when I walked in but also replied to the good morning I said. When I finally got home and set the system up the controller and 2 faulty buttons, I switched ports with the same issue so I was fairly certain it was the controller. When I returned to exchange the controller the owner asked me of I had brought the system in to see if that was the problem, I said I would return if it contained but I was certain it was the controller. Even though I didn't show it I was extremely happy about him asking to test out the system, this was the exact reason why I went local. read more

I want to love this store. I think I do love this store. We share so many great memories. The shelves and kiosks are lined with good times of yore. We're talking NES, TurboGrafx-16, Genesis, Colecovision. Everything! Alas, my current obsession is reserved for that sexy, big-bosomed blonde down the street named Gamestop. Yeah, blondie's kind of an airhead. She's superficial. And, oh my god, she spends all of my money on bullshit. But Videogames Then & Now is too familiar. I've been there and done that. Sure, it's a fun trip down memory lane, but what's left once the nostalgia tour is over? I want the thrill of new pussy. And that's where this store falls short: I wish there was a bit more emphasis on the "Now" part of its name. I like to support independent stores with my business, but it's difficult in this instance because Videogames gets big, new releases days or even weeks after all of the major chains. I just can't wait that long. That said, the bread and butter here is all of the old and rare games from decades ago. That's this store's specialty, and that's where it differentiates itself from the dime-a-dozen Gamestops all over Chicagoland. Videogames Then & Now is a collector's bonanza that brings back memories of perusing the shelves at Funcoland. read more

I have gone to this place about 2 or 3 times. Whenever I go, the workers seem to have a bad attitude, kind of like they're mad someone even walked in to the store. I was going to buy a Super Nintendo system with 3 or 4 games and an extra controller, but I decided to go to The Exchange after getting such a bad vibe from this store. HOPEFULLY the next time I go, they have a better attitude. Good selection in games and game systems, just workers with sh*tty attitudes. read more

If youre a video game collector, this is place to be if youre into buying retro games. Understand though, the prices are according to the secondary market. Selections like the Atari 2600 to this current generation shows the type of variety they have on hand. Not to far from the HIP, it a few blocks away to get your nostalgia on. read more

Even though I'm not a hardcore gamer (but used to be as a teen), this place is way cool. It's worth a trip, if just for the nostalgia. It can restore your youth! Remembering all the different systems- graphics getting better & better, how you couldn't wait for whatever new game (that look so cheesy now). Aside from what others already said, even though they have a extensive selection of games from different systems- their organization is really lacking. They don't have the stuff organized alphabetically, and don't expect for them to look something up for you. The last time I went (few months ago) they didn't have their stuff in a database on a computer (or were they too lazy to help?). Strange for a place like this. Well I was reduced to a being like a kid in a candy store. For no particular reason that day I picked up Vanguard & a Megamania(because someone once borrowed mine and never gave it back). I didn't use them yet, but it got me to download Vangaurd online and play it on my computer. Really, it's like going to Borders, you can just wander in, hang out and come out with "a find". Even if you're not into games as much anymore, it's a fun place to go just to relive old memories. read more

Last time I gave a review about this place I did say that it was great but the prices were too high, but now the prices are perfect! I also discovered that they have some great accessories too! I got a Wii controller shell that makes it feel like a SNES controller which is very useful for games like Punch-Out and New Super Mario Bros Wii. And it was only $10! So I highly recommend this store to any generation of gamers who want to buy good games and good accessories for a good price! read more

Great prices a lot to choose from. Decent guys! Only negative is the store isn't so clean.. Quite a mess actually but the friendly atmosphere makes up for the mess. Picked up a PS2 and found Breathe of Fire II on SNES for great price! read more

Fantastic selection and knowledgeable staff. A worthwhile destination for any retro videogame collector. I found several 'gems' here for my collection of early 80s console titles. They have many vintage hardware units in stock that are hard to find, even some home computer components. read more

This store is the best. The owner is really knowledgeable about all things videogames. The best part is all of the older videogames you just can't find anywhere else. It's a great local business I'll continue to go back to. read more

My only complaint about this place is the fat its kind of hidden. If not for others already missing it several times due to it being right next to a Lee Auto Parts I would have suffered the same fate. Other than that its an excellent store. Its like a video game museum that happens to sell its exhibits they have lots of old stuff. So if anything its always fun to look although I always have walked out with something. For anyone who is into old games this is a great place and there is a fine selection of newer stuff too. The only issue is that some things are priced a bit steep but there's some satisfaction in buying from a store that isn't Gamestop since they basically have a stranglehold on the used game market. read more

Called to see if they maybe had something in stock. Guy picking up the phone was very rude. And giving nothing but one word answers. I even said have a good day and he hung up on me. Never going to come here again. read more

Very very very cool place. They have everything! !! I'm in love with old school games and gaming systems and this place is awesome!!! Beats people play games hands down. read more

This place is probably my favorite place to pick up any classic games. They have a wide selection of games for a various amount of platforms. They even have games that are even hard to find online. The first time I went there was 2 years ago. I remember buying Donkey Kong Classics, Life Force, and Super Mario RPG. The next item I bought was all of the Mega man games on the NES. All of the games I bought worked very well. I am unsure about the trade-in-values, for I have not traded any of my games to them yet. I have a couple of games I am willing to trade, but I'm gonna check the prices before I sell them. I heard some people say they don't like the manager. So far, I have not had a problem with the manager at all. He doesn't really talk much, but then again I'm not a sociable person myself either. I even noticed some game systems/games like the Vextrex and Neo-Geo, which are pretty tough to find. They even have a good variety of newer games too, and the prices seem pretty reasonable. It's not going to be as cheap as going to a garage sale, but it's not as expensive as ebay. Overall, If you love classic games and newer games as well, you should definitely stop in. You won't be disappointed! read more

This place is awesome! Huge selection of old games and hard to find stuff. The prices are very good. The owner is very knowledgeable and friendly. A definite must visit for any video gaming fan. read more

Sold me a PS2 with a busted power switch. Could tell something was fishy when I noticed how dirty the console was. Completely dissapointed in this store. read more