MANSFIELD – For fans of classic arcade games, walking into Geeksters at 68 S. Main St. is like stepping back in time.
At first glance, the modest storefront seems like a place to buy older video games. But behind the counter is an entirely different world where gamers can play 40 different vintage arcade games for $5 per hour, no quarters or tokens needed.
It’s a thing of dreams for any adult who grew up playing arcade games, including the dream of Galion residents Eric and Stacy Young. Eric has been in the business of selling and dealing video games for more than 20 years, and first opened Geeksters on Park Ave. East in February 2015 to do just that.
“When we opened on Park Avenue I decided to get a couple vintage arcade games just to have in the store,” Eric said. “Then I decided I was addicted to arcade games.”
One of the very first vintage arcade games the Youngs acquired was Ninja Gaiden, one of Eric’s favorite games growing up. From there, the arcade collection grew exponentially. The Youngs made the move to their South Main Street location this past February.
“The games we have are such a broad spectrum, it doesn’t matter what kind of games people enjoy, we have a little bit of everything,” Stacy said. “There is literally something here for everybody, from ages three all the way up to however old they like to play games.”
For children of the 90’s, older Nintendo and Sega games like Donkey Kong and Sonic the Hedgehog are available on big screens. For the sports enthusiast, basketball shooting games and Skee-Ball are ready and waiting. There are dancing games, shooter games, driver games, etc.
Arguably, the real draw (especially for adults) is Geeksters’ stand-alone vintage arcade games – original arcade games from the early 1980s.
“The four-player Simpsons and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games are originals,” Stacy said. “Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man and Super Pac-Man are originals from 1981 and 1983, and original Frogger from 1979.”
Geeksters even has a Killer Instinct game from the 1990s, one of the shop’s crown jewels as the game was made in extremely limited quantities. Another surprise is a Beast Busters zombie shooter game that once belonged to former Cleveland Browns player Josh Cribbs.
The Youngs are eager to add to their collection, but vintage arcade games aren’t the easiest hobby.
“We have more, but we’re trying to bring them back to life and they need some more work,” Eric said.
“The hardest part about a vintage arcade is keeping them alive,” Stacy added. “The technology is gone, nobody does anything with them. So to bring them back to life, there are thousands of numbers to trace back what went wrong. It’s time-consuming.”
Still, it’s a labor of love. Eventually, the Youngs want to do away with selling games to focus strictly on the arcade, even offering food options and creating more of a family atmosphere. Their main purpose of bringing a game shop to downtown Mansfield is providing entertainment for kids.
“We wanted to be able to give kids in this area something to do besides get in trouble,” Stacy said. “We felt really compelled to come to Mansfield, because there’s nothing for kids to do within walking distance of downtown.”
However, the customer base at Geeksters is pretty much even between kids and adults. It makes it easy to forget who the real kids are.
“A lady came in for her 7-year-old son’s birthday party, and after they left they said the adults had more fun than the kids,” Eric said with a laugh.
“People will come in for the game store and they’re curious about what’s back here, so I’ll give them the tour,” Stacy said. “By the time we get out they’re pulling out the money to go back.”
Geeksters is open from 12 to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, and from 12 to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Sundays are open by appointment only.
