Culture
New Game Store Opens in Athens
< < Back to new-game-store-opens-in-athens- New Gaming Store Opens in Athens Ben Postlethwait 0:59
Gaming enthusiasts in the Athens now have a new gathering place and shop that held its grand opening on Tuesday.
Phoenix Nest Games offers a selection of collectible card games, table-top board games, and retro video games, along with some accessories and collectibles that are often hard to find.
Owner James Harrod says that the store hopes to serve a region that lacks similar gaming stores and communities.
“I want to have a place where local gaming community can come down and comfortably have a place to play the games they love, get demos of new games, and things like that,” Harrod said.
The store stocks increasingly popular collectible card games like Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh, as well as guides and tools for complex table-top games like Dungeons and Dragons.
They also feature old-school video games systems and games ranging from the original Nintendo Entertainment System to the original Sony Playstation.
“If you don’t have the old power cord for that old NES sitting in the closet, we have that. We have new-made ones, all kinds of stuff like that. I try to find more and more of it everyday,” Harrod said.
Harrod’s goal is that the store can accommodate as large as a community as it can.
“The demos and running games here, that’s one way we can obviously [have that community.] It’s not going to cost you anything, you want to come out and we’re doing a demo. It’s not like it’s pay to play,” Harrod said. “We have a poor community, there’s no ifs, ands, or buts about that. I think its something were we can get everyone involved, even doing something more constructive than a lot of times.”
The business celebrated its opening with free food and a visit from Athens County’s steampunk organization, Airship Athena.
Phoenix Rising Games can be found at 540 West Union St. in Athens.
