Follow us on:
Cracked LCD 5.8: There Will Be Games Part X
Our saga concludes with the sad end to the Atlanta Game Factory.
Date: Thursday, June 19, 2008
Author: Michael Barnes

I could go online and order it from some deep discounter but not only did I want to support a local business, but I also wanted it for the evening’s gaming. And I had no way to do so other than to go to this terrible store that I had hated for many, many years. There wasn’t an option. The great game stores I had grown up going to were long gone and now AGF was another casualty even though it was a success. That thought made me really, really sad.

The closest store was miles north of the city and it wasn’t exactly a Friendly Local Game Store by any stretch. Nonetheless, I made the trek to this ancient shop and I was actually surprised that they even had it. The store was dark, dusty, and the one person in the store was too engrossed in a trash fantasy novel to even say “hello.” Third or fourth-hand grocery store fixtures, rusted and rickety held ancient, unloved, and marginal games. It smelled terrible, like dirty human, although no one was in the store. At least I thought. There were two people huddled in a corner playing a game of HEROSCAPE. I swear there were no light fixtures in this place. I actually thought it was closed as I walked up.

I bought it anyway, and I sat in my truck out in the parking lot for a few minutes- not breaking open the shrink-wrap for the customary in-the-car survey of new game contents but thinking about the past couple of years. I realized how much had been lost at that point. Not just to me personally or financially, but to the entire Atlanta gaming community. There wasn’t anything that could replace AGF.

I felt like my customers, my fellow gamers, and my friends needed me to do something.

I felt like I owed it to them.

Questions or comments for Michael? Send them along to gameshark.feedback@yahoo.com .

Version 1.0 Version 1.1 Version 1.2 Version 1.3 Version 1.4 Version 1.5 Version 1.6 Version 1.7 Version 1.8 Version 1.9 Version 2.0 Version 2.1 Version 2.2 Version 2.3 Version 2.4 Version 2.5 Version 2.6 Version 2.7 Version 2.8 Version 2.9 Version 3.0 Version 3.1 Version 3.2 Version 3.3 Version 3.4 Version 3.5 Version 3.6 Version 3.7 Version 3.8 Version 3.9 Version 4.0 Version 4.1 Version 4.2 Version 4.3 Version 4.4 Version 4.5 Version 4.6 Version 4.7 Version 4.8 Version 4.9 Version 5.0 Version 5.1 Version 5.2 Version 5.3 Version 5.4 Version 5.5 Version 5.6 Version 5.7

Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter Review
Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, draw a man a fish gun and he shoots fishes forever.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Review
Brash, loud, pretty, offensive, and over the top -- Modern Warfare 2 is a smashing success.
In this special two-for-one segment, we give Gajin Entertainment's newest console-oriented sim and Saitek's pimped out flightstick a spin and see how well they complement one another - and more importantly, find out how well the uber-complex flight sim series actually performs when ported over to consoles.
Five years later...we meet again.
Cult classic RPG now available in fun-size!
A look at the Dark Elves race being added to the footballer.
To include online multiplayer battles.
Preparing for a number of DLC packs next year.
Happening alongside the Nemesis Confrontation event.
Skate 3 Hands on Preview
Fast becoming the Madden franchise of skating.
Gratuitous Space Battles Preview
You most likely have never heard of Gratuitous Space Battles -- well, it's now time to pay attention.
The Lord of the Rings goes deeper and darker...
The adorable platformer is nearing completion! We get one last look this year at PAX.
It's free. 'Nuff said.