Yesterday, I was at my local "We're not GameStop" gaming store whn I looked around and I noticed something.

There were a lot of games. Particularly Used Games.

So naturally, I asked the store's owner if I could count them.

Being used to my shenanigans, he said "sure."

Due to the way the store is arranged, I was only able to count used games. This meant that the hundreds of newer games the store also has were not counted.

Nevertheless, I feel that the information I gathered painted an interesting picture of gaming in my community over the years.

Facts:

• Total of 5439 Used Games in Store
• 29 different distinct platforms were represented, dating back from the 70's to 2013

Games by Platform:

Games by Generation

Console Makers:

Obviously this table shows a massive bias for people trading in relatively newer games, no more than about 10 or 15 years old. However, from this table, we can infer a few interesting things about the local gaming commnity.

History of Gaming in this Local Community:

• Before the crash, we were an Atari 2600 area. Over 90% of the pre-NES era games were Atari 2600 games, including about ten copies of "Combat." In total, the store has 70 games (including duplicates) from that era.
• Likewise, the NES led the way in the next era, including all but one Master system game. Common NES games included LJN titles and the early Golf. There is also an unlicensed game from Tengen. In total though, this era is only represented by 136 games.
• Once again, the entire market changed again in the 4th generation, this time favoring Sega. The Genesis had asurprisingly high 166 games, largely sports titles, more than the whole NES-era combined! In comparison, the SNES was underrepresented with only 37 games. Admittedly, two of them are copies of Chrono Trigger, but still. On the handheld front, there were 29 Game Boy games, of which several were Golf once again, and 17 Game Gear titles, of which a quarter were Sonic 2. In total, there were 257 Gen 4 games in the store.
• Spoiler: The market leader changed again generation 5. This time the original PlayStation led with 328 games, many of which were lcensed titles for movies and television shows. However, things actually perk up for Nintendo at this point; the store has 97 N64 games, including a bevy of sports games from third parties. The Game Boy Color had 70 games, of which many were licensed, like the PS1 library. Two, however, were Pokemon Silver. The poor Saturn though only had 7 games. One of them was Panzer Dragoon, but nothing else stood out. Overall, Gen 5 had 502 games.
• Gen 6 is where this store's bread and butter begins. The PlayStation family continued to dominate, with a whopping 766 games. There were less licensed games this time around and more sports games, though surprisingly few games were from the same company and year. For example, Madden only had four games from its busiest year, 2003/2004. Not to far behind the PS2 was the Xbox with 584 games, over three quarters as many. The selection was fairly similar to the PS2's albeit with less GTA options (2) and a surprisingly high number of Fable copies (7 or so). The GameCube, though dead last by far, still managed to have over 300 games in the storefront, Unlike its sports-oriented brethren, the theme here seemed to be 1st title games of all shapes and sizes. Melee, Mario Kart, and Mario Sunshine were absent, but Fire Emblem, multiple Donkey Kongs, Pikmin, Wave Race, and Pokemon were all present.  Last, the Dreamcast had a mere 42 games, of which a quarter seemed to be fighting games, but the most popular "title" was the internet browser. The Game Boy Advance, meanwhile, was another big step up from the GBC, with exactly 199 games, not including the one on the counter that needed to be re-labeled. So let's say 200. These mainly included licensed games from companies like THQ, but also included quite a few copies of the Super Mario Advance series. Overall, Gen 6 had a whopping 1901 games.
• The biggest gen represented was generation 7, but not by much more than Gen 6. Also, the ratio of games was pretty similar to last gen, just with the leader pushed to the back. The lead platform this generation was the Xbox 360, which with 893 games, was the store's most represented platform. About 120 or so of these games were Call of Duty iterations, and about 200 more games were EA Sports titles. The Wii was in second place this gen, with 627 games. They were largely shovelware, but a surprisingly diverse bunch of shovelware, with only two titles being represented over 6 times: Wii Play and Wii Fit, the latter of which ocassionally included balance boards. The PS3, with its 466 games, had relatively less Call of Duty games than the 360, but about a third of its used games were annual sports titles, even more (proportinately) than the 360. The DS had 268 games, the most of any handheld, and was a fairly eclectic mix. Imagine games stood beside a trilogy of Castlevania adventures, mostly because somebody hasn't done a great job alphabetizing. Still, of the large platforms, this was one of the more balanced. Lastly, the PSP had a surprisingly high 157 games. Like the PS360 though, many of these were sports games, with Madden NFL 07 alone being spotted about 8 times for the PSP. In total, there were 2411 Generation 7 games.
• Generation 8 is young, which means that the store's respective used games section is barebones. However, do note that the three consoles are roughly tied at this point, with 7 or 8 used games each. The 3DS has 42 used games, with Pilotwings being a recurring sight; the VIta has 4. Yeah, my attitude about the VIta has probably been shaped by this store's offerings.

So basically, our community seems to have done this over the years:

Atari 2600 --> NES--> Genesis -->PlayStation/Nintendo 64 --> PS2/Xbox/GameCube/GBA -->360 & Nintendo family with a big PlayStation minority

Pics, to Prove this Store Exists

The Sports Game Bargain Bin. Note the row of NBA 2K12 copies to the right and the 360 section looming in the background.

Pasrt of the big 360 section. Note that there's more shelf to the left and below. The shelf to the right has New and Xbone games.

The PS3 section. I tried to do a cool shot. It failed. Never again.

Most of the 3DS section, with the top part cut off. Note that there are at least three copies of Mario Tennis sitting on each other.

Some of these Vita games have sat here for over two years. The four used games are the bottom row.

All things considered, the Wii U section could be worse. Note the MK8 promo in the corner. Yes, I pre-ordered MK8 from here.

So many Wii games... this is only some of one of the gargantuan main shelf.

GameCube games! Including obscure oddities like Baiten Kaitos, Resident Evil 2, and DDR: Mario Mix!

Where shovelware games of prior centuries are found. If you look closely, you can strain your eyes looking for something particularly good!

The Xbox shelf. Is actually multiple shelves. You know, I alphabetized these guys once. It was officially longer and harder than counting every used game in the store.

The PSP makes a decent showing. The Xbox takes up a shelf and a half, and the PSP takes the remainder of the second shelf.

Behold the biggest collection of PS2 games for $10 or less East of the Mississippi! I think that's Singstar to the left.

The PS1 games take up fairly little space since their cases are relatively small. They still need a couple of shelves though.

This is behind a locked glass case. It's bulletproof. I checked.

Where some of the "higher end" retro games are kept. Also, does anyone remember why FF4 and Chrono Trigger were bundled in one disc on the PS1? Why not FF6 and Chrono Trigger, or FF4 and FF5? Just seems like an odd combo.

Another protected gem.

Handheld Pokemon Games are in constant demand, so this is literally every Game Boy Pokemon game in the store. There's a guy who can fix the batteries in the GBC versions.

The DS section. I have no idea how stuff gets chosen to be towards the top.

Tournaments are held back here. Mostly for Smash Bros.

The "upper end" handheld games of yore. Note the Call of Duty poster reflected in the glass, blocking out games.

Nintendo was serious about their stepping up marketing for Mario Kart 8.

Seriously though, the store is doing a good job at convincing people MK8 is worth getting RIGHT NOW!

...I honestly don't understand why these are sold here. Also, I don't think Hasbro ever mastered how to make convincing, moving wings on their pony plushies, which is a shame since half of the Mane 6 are now winged. And where is Applejack's hat? At least Pinkie Pie and Rarity came out well. I mean... ponies are icky and for girls!

The THQ licensed handheld game section, with the ocassional game made by another company.

One employee says that this has made several times as much money as every Vita-related product in the shop's history.

------

I'm not asking you to go to your local game stores and do the same thing (it only took an hour or so), but do you have any tales that can be woven from your local game stores? Are handheld games this unpopular everywhere? Did the trends in your community differ?

Alternatively, what do you think of the above data? Does it say something that Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony have roughly balanced each other out since 2001 or so? Isn't it weird how a company kept its lead for multiple generations only one time?

Most importantly, aren't I a good candidate for keeping census?

If youre interested, you can check stock of a UK pre-owned games shop online and on the side it shows you stock for each store, but if they have more than 4 in a store it will just say 4+
They dont do old gen consoles and games though.

https://uk.webuy.com/

I'm still shocked that you counted al those games.. will come back later to answer the question..

How long did that take you?

I have som pics of the store, but I only had my 3DS at the time, so they're a bit blurry. I'll upload them soon.

Maybe an hour or two.

Dude... You counted thousands of games and put in multiple categories? I'm not sure what to say lol

Bit bored huh? Although I wish I made more stores near me that carried so many PS1 games. Make my eBay buying obsession easier.

I was in a GAME not too long ago and over heard a conversation between a manager and new employee stacking/organising shelves. They said that to not put out more than 4 copies of used games, even if they have more in store. Not sure why mind you, something to do with looking like you have too many maybe. CEX on the other hand just don't care, you want in and there are 20 copies of GTAIV on each platform in each store. 

But at least GAME and CEX alphabetise. Grainger Games don't, it's crap.

Nice work!

I love used games stores, especially those that, unlike GameStop, sell/buy games that are more than one generation old. It's great searching for hidden gems and just taking in all the history. I could get lost in a store such as the one in the OP for hours.

Pics added! Just in case you were wondering what a game store looked like.