In the day and age we live in, what some consider ‘lost media’ is growing — from the paintings and art of yesteryear, to video games you might have seen in the last 30 years. One store in Brockport is hoping to inspire others to protect that medium in preservation, sales and accessibility, without breaking the bank.

"The idea of vision of the store was to build a community," said Gameplayers owner Zack Fairchild. "Where a bunch of nerds and outcasts can all hang out together and get along."

And Gameplayers is on a mission — a pretty lofty one at that.

"To have one of every system, then the next goal became one of every game. We're trying. We're running out of room fast," Fairchild said. "But the whole concept, my brother said it perfectly the other day, is a browser-able museum, so [like the Strong National Museum of Play,] but you can actually shop it.” 

From the Atari and Segas of old to the current generation Xboxes, PlayStation and PCs.

"Each game has their own story. Each game has their own [feeling of,] 'I used to play that back in the day,’" he said.

It's these games that brought people like store manager Alex Willman into the mix over the years.

"I was raised on almost strictly PC. Not because old consoles suck, I just couldn't have anything that plugged into the TV," said Willman. 

But there's been a certain level of 'gatekeeping' and inaccessibility unless you've had major purse strings to work with.

"That is a model that has worked for the last however many years," he added. "They've got so many stores and such giant reach [that] it works."

But here, they’re trying to break down those barriers.

"We're here to recommend a game that you'd like," said Fairchild. "Not recommend the game that we'll make a lot of money on." 

That way you find something to connect with.

"There is a connection to our past that makes us feel good. It is commonly referred to as nostalgia," said Willman. "But here, it hits a little bit different.”

Heading over to the old Gameboys case toward the front of their shop, you can see the lengths they go to to not only make all this old tech and used titles available, but to bring together that gamer community.

"The industry is going to have to get out of the mentality of making as much money as possible and move into the mentality of make people as happy as possible," Willman said. 

A recent report cites that video game market sales across the planet hit more than $183 billion in 2022, but even that was a drop-off of 5% from previous figures.

With stores like Gameplayers across the country, their hope is that while the money spent may not be enormous, efforts to restore, preserve and recruit will bring people back to the consoles and PCs like never before.