The Last Round For The Last Gamestore (4 photos)

After 17 years of selling video games in HRM, Adam Perry is closing down Clayton Park's The Last Gamestore on September 20.

Perry is disappointed his business is going away and attributes its fall to various factors both within and outside of his control.

In the past, he had success selling products at Halcon, Halifax's local sci-fi and gaming convention. But during 2014's event, he spent more than he made from his booth, which he says was a major blow.

Soon after, due to the harsh winter in early 2015, business declined to the extent Perry only made $5,000 one month, barely enough to cover rent for the store. He believes the relocation of the Lacewood bus terminal also contributed to a loss in sales.

However, Perry says what hurt him most was competition. Not only has online shopping made it unnecessary for gamers to go to a conventional store, but he says other businesses such as EB Games have outdone him in his own niche. 

When Adam started introducing gaming merchandise, he says EB Games did the same a few months later and at cheaper prices. Perry makes no claim that EB Games copied his idea, but he does believe the move hurt his store.

“EB saw the future and realized that physical games will disappear,” says Perry. “Part of me dislikes this is happening but that's how business works.”

Perry entered this business in 2002, when he purchased an established store called Video Games on Portland St. in Dartmouth. Adam added a second business in 2004, launching the The Last Gamestore at 278 Lacewood Drive.

However, Perry was losing profits and in 2009, he shut down the Dartmouth store, reorganizing his product at the Halifax location.

At one point, he tried selling comics and renting video games, but ended up scrapping them because they weren't making money and he felt the comics were dividing his consumer base.

After that, Perry's store recuperated but business was rough in between new console releases. The PS3/Xbox 360 era was the most profitable for him due to the length of the consoles' lifespan, which is the amount of time games are made for a particular system. 

“Seven years doesn't sound that amazing, but it was a big deal for my business,” says Perry.

Perry's brother Jon has been organizing events at The Last Gamestore for Street Fighter IV.

This gathering originated at the Dartmouth store, then migrated to The Last Gamestore on the Halifax side of the harbour when the Portland St. store shut down.

It was so successful, events emerged for other games, such as Tekken under Eli Charles and Blazblue under couple Katie Lantz and Simon Gaudet. With the scene growing in size, Nelson Hum and Adriano Silva — organizers in the New Brunswick fighting game scene — contacted Jon to established cross-provincial tournaments at The Last Gamestore.

However over time, the fighting game community at Perry's business evolved. No longer was Street Fighter the title the majority were playing, and large gatherings of 20-30 people diminished to around 8-10. 

The player base started to decrease at the time of Street Fighter V's release. The game was seen as polarizing to some in the community, and many weren't interested in playing it. By that time people had given up on Street Fighter IV.

As the Tekken and Smash Bros communities grew, they had to find other venues to play their game. Jon states he expects Smash Ultimate and Tekken 7 to dominate Halifax's fighting game scene in the near future. 

Despite the dwindling numbers, he is dedicated to maintaining his weekly gaming sessions. However, he hasn't yet found a new place to hold them once The Last Gamestore shuts down. 

The business works around Jon's schedule for his weeklies, and the father of four fears a new partner might not offer him the same flexibility.

“I don't have time to play other games,” says Jon. “Street Fighter is my night, and I'm already crap enough as it is at that game. I don't have time to be crap at other games.”

While The Last Gamestore has diminished as a hotspot for the competitive scene, many people still hold a connection to the location and the time spent there. 

Tekken organizer Eli Charles states, “I've never heard anyone say anything but good things about Adam and not one person is happy about the situation. Hopefully, we can give him a great send-off and continue to push the scene that he created into bigger and better things.”

With the store closing down, Adam has put most of his products on sale to clear out his remaining stock. 

While he is not happy about having to shut his business down, he says he isn't to worried about his future prospects and hopes his degree in biology will help him in the next stage of his career.

He still has faith that independent retail game stores can be successful, citing A&C Games in Toronto as an example, stating “it's possible, but they have to be more business savvy than I am.”