The Game Exchange

this place rocks. highly recommend them owner is awesome. check them out great place he helped me fix my tablet… place has everthing you could amagine for gameing and buying. very good prices for everthing. you rock joseph. thank you for your help

I went to The Game Exchange a couple months back, never had the time to write a review. I went there in search of finding Gamecube games — due to this being my absolute favorite gaming system. I ended up leaving with Ocarina of Time and an N64 game Pokemon Stadium 2. This place is amazing for old games and they have newer systems as well. The atmosphere is great and it’s in an easy spot to get too. :)

This review is strictly about Laptop repair. Joseph was recommended to us for Laptop repair. Things have not gone well. First of all after «repairing» the laptop it came back worse off than it went it! He has since been trying to «repair» it again for several weeks!!! He is rarely in the shop and does not return calls. This being without the computer has put a serious hardship on us as we use the computer for much more than gaming!!! Please think twice before using Game Exchange for any laptop/​computer repair. We will NEVER use him again I just want the computer back at this point.

We were just passing through and found this place. Very friendly staff who welcomed us and talked with us about games for quite a while. They were very helpful and patient with us while we looked through all their games (we collect). The store is very clean and organized.

The Game Exchange has been a staple of Simi’s gamer retail scene for as long as I’m able to remember, with my first experience being over or around 15 years ago. Though it endured over the years, I found myself choosing to do business elsewhere more and more frequently, eventually stopping altogether, as the store, in my opinion, progressively lost what had made it a must-​shop location for my somewhat more niche gaming needs…
After having since moved on years prior, I happened to find myself in the same shopping center it has been situated in since having moved from its prior location years previously, and with a bit of time on my hands with which to pay a revisit.
To my surprise, I found the shop had managed to do a complete one-​eighty turnaround from the lackluster direction it had been heading, and had once again become a gaming store in a league above and beyond the one comprising of the average franchise ElectriGame Boutiquestop shoppers can find next to every Starbucks in every strip mall in every suburb in every locale.
The selection of products available is great — featuring older cartridge formats like the NES, Genesis, SNES, and, as far as I know, every iteration of Gameboy to date, they carry disc-​based software for more recent last-​gen consoles like PS2, Xbox, Gamecube and the Wii. And, for those interested, they also have games to choose from for the modern platforms like PS3, PS4, the 360, Xbox One, and Wii U. On the hardware side of the matter, the shop carries a diverse selection of OEM options, as well as a few alternatives I don’t see carried at the more mainstream places.
The games in stock are constantly rotating as they are sold and brought in, so, at least for the no longer supported systems, luck plays at least somewhat of a role in finding a specific title, but the store carries enough stock that there’s always certainly at least a good amount of great games to be had, and I’ve found more than my share of personal gems to excitedly snap up, bring home, and slap in for some quality playtime.
I find the prices they charge for games to be extremely fair, especially when one considers the fact that the Internet is an overwhelming source of competition. One any particular item, is it possible to find a better price? Perhaps, but usually not enough to warrant any regret after shipping is taken into account, and the item being bought’s condition is readily apparent, and can be supported locally after purchase should any unforeseen issue arise. Plus the benefit of supporting local business and keeping sales tax within the community is a definitely plus, in my opinion.
The staff member I’ve encountered have been great so far, and the store’s managing owner seems to be passionate about conducting business in an honest, open, and friendly manner — something I personally appreciate a great deal. While some of the employees are more knowledgable about something than others, each seems to bring some different insight on specific parts of the inventory. Regardless, each member has been very friendly and eager to provide assistance.
I also can’t attest firsthand to the quality of repairs which are offered on iPhone devices — I brought in an iPhone 5, or whatever, with a completely destroyed screen, and had it replaced in just a few minutes and was charged lower than what I had expected the total to be. After getting it home, I was able to set it up as though it had never been abused and busted. Nifty.
To sum this rambling up — This is a great place to buy your games, and is putting in the effort to build and maintain a reputation for solid customer satisfaction. Plus they have two arcade machines up and running for single quarter credits — a Killer Instinct box, and a candy cab running some variation of a Capcom «xx Vs. xx» series.
Well deserving of a look or two.

I was recommended to this place to get my game system fixed. The owner was very nice, accommodating, and listened to my issues when we first met. He gave me a time line of when the system would be fixed. Great! I was excited to find this awesome place and to nerd out on all these old school games!
I’ve worked in the customer service industry for 13 years so I have some understanding of promising customers certain dates and following up with a customer if there are any changes. When the period of time to fix the system went by (which was about 2 weeks) I called the store and the owner said the system was all finished and will be ready for pick up on a Wed. I drove over on my lunch break that day to find out it wasn’t there and the owner wasn’t going to be there that day until after closing. I was slightly annoyed but decide to call again to see when it would be available for pick up.
It went down hill after. Every single time I called I would get nonsense from his employees. They would say things like «he will call you back by this time» and «the owner will hand deliver the game system to my house» or «the owner is in a meeting». It went on for about a week like this with empty promises that he will contact me in some way. That never happened. I know the owner knew I was calling and all he needed to do was say «I’m sorry, I was mistaken. The system is not ready» yet he never took any responsibility for it. I had to find out when he would be at the store and left him a nasty message that i’ll be there at this time and my game system better be there.
I understand that it is just a game system however being the owner of a company he should understand that follow up with the customer is key. He just disappeared off of the face of the earth and I had to turn into an unpleasant person to him and his employees to get some type of answer.
Moral of the story is that if you do decide to let this store fix your system don’t expect the system back right away and don’t trust his timeline of when it will be fixed.
And the owner needs to learn to not make promises he can’t keep. If he can’t follow through with something, follow up with the customer and let them know this. He takes down our phone number so it is not like he couldn’t contact customers. Most of the time customers will be ok with it. Maybe take better notes?
I was planning on purchasing a few things from there but after that experience i’ll never be back.

This place is awesome. Joseph sold my friend and I a Nintendo 64 as a repair for only 30 bucks. He said that we didn’t even need to bring in our old one which is usually policy. We brought back our old one anyway. It’s not like we were going to use it. That makes Joseph a cool guy in my book.

Great selection and great prices… This place always answers all my technical questions and goes out of their way to assist me… Great customer service and quality merchandise… Thank you…

When I walked into the store I was greeted warmly by a guy named Joseph. He was really helpful, and he was informative as well as super nice. I will be going back there again for all my new, and old gaming needs.

Excellent! As a new resident in simi and an avid retro gamer I decided to check this place out. I was pleasantly surprised!
The owner is a friendly stand up guy who engages the customers and makes them feel welcome, unlike other small unique stores you don’t get the feeling that you aren’t welcome if you don’t know every single thing about gaming which really appealed to my wife. The game selection is vast and the range of consoles available was amazing too!
I purchased myself a SNES worth a few games and felt the pricing was very reasonable.
I would highly recommend this store and I will be returning to buy more retro goodies very soon.

The place is a ripoff if you are trying to sell them your items. The owner, Joseph, totally tried to rip me off when I told him what I wanted to sell. I have a GameCube in perfect condition, a controller, all cables, a memory card, a GameBoy Player, and about 17 games. In those games are some of the most popular Mario games made for GameCube. Joseph offered me $ 60 for everything. I said screw it. I started selling my stuff on eBay and has been phenomenal. I have made nearly double what Joseph offered me and I have only sold 5 things, not including the actual console! It is way better to sell on eBay and get more money for your stuff. I would suggest you look into it before just selling right to Joseph. You deserve the most for your items and your most definitely are not going to get that with these people.

Wow Joseph is awesome! Brought it in Xbox with the disk drive stuck in the out position, i thought it was broken and I thought it could be pricey. My sister called ahead of time and sat on the phone with Joseph for 10 minutes while he clearly explained our options, he told me to bring it in. We brought it in he fixed it in 2 minutes and he didn’t even charge us… I will definitely come back here and I highly recommend him. thanks Joseph you’re the best.:)

The Game Exchange is a store you can keep coming back to and find some of your old favorites. It’s a retro gaming wonderland. The staff is always super friendly and they definitely know their stuff. I usually go for their Sega Genesis games and their selection isn’t as expansive as I’d like, but I like that I can try the game out in store and I really like the experience of visiting the store and finding «new» things that have come in.

Lot of potential at this store, great supply of games and the owner is knowledgable and has good goals for the future (expanding his retro library, better pricing on older gen games, generally looking to BE the place in SoCal for older games). Looking forward to
Coming back!

This place is great. I’m in town a few time a year and I make it a point to check out what they have in stock. The owner is a nice guy. He has a passion for video games. Great customer service skills. Games are reasonable priced. Only thing is it’s just him working there. Hope you find someone that loves video games as much as you.

I came here to look for some retro video games (Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo). As expected the selection was very scarce. The prices on the games they did have really bothered me. $ 20 for Toe Jam & Earl for the Sega Genesis! Seriously? As a game hunter, I expect to get a better bargain going into a game store than getting it on eBay. I checked the average «buy it now» price on ebay and it’s also $ 20! Yes, Game Exchange is using eBay pricing! This is a mortal sin for any re-​seller to do. Great way to scare off any new clients. Won’t be coming here for any games.

This place is sweeeeeet!
N64 games up the wazoo. Friendly and knowledgable owner (I think his name is Joe). A true gem for vintage video game lovers. I know, I know… N64 isn’t really considered «vintage» but if I recall correctly Im pretty sure he did have some Snes games along with newer stuff like gameboy, game cube and so on.
This place is a little bit of a drive for me but I will most definitely be coming back here!
P.S– this dude had Mario kart and DK for 64 IN THE BOX when I was there last. Totally radical!!!
P.P.S– Cut this dude a break! I’m pretty sure he not only owns but runs this place single handedly. Everyone needs a vacation, even disgruntled dads!

Great experience here today. Son bought an N64 and we couldn’t get it to work. Staff (wish I got his name) did everything he could to troubleshoot it and got it to work. Very helpful. Very friendly. My new «stop» for video games.

My kids love going to the game exchange and enjoy playing on the different game consoles they have on display. I was lucky to find them before christmas it is easy to invest hundreds of dollars on gaming. the game exchange cuts the cost in half and offers you money or store credit if you trade in your pre owned games. the guy even Fixes broken consoles and masters the Yellow Light of Death. they are friendly and have a wide selection of games and accessories.

The store has a new owner. The newest owner is a nice guy and is very accommodating. THey have a good selection of classic games and new ones as well.