Player 1 Video Games
About
Player 1 has been running in Friendswood since early 2010, which in this business is a long time. It is family owned, and I think that shows in how the place is put together. The thing reviewers mention first is not the inventory, it is that the store is clean and the shelves are actually organized, which is not a given in retro game retail.
The range runs from the Atari 2600 up through current generation hardware. Games, systems and accessories rather than a card shop with a games rack in the corner. If you collect across eras instead of specializing, this is the kind of shop where one trip covers a lot of ground.
On pricing, the recurring praise is that they do not gouge, which matters right now given where retro prices have gone. The recurring critique is that pricing can be inconsistent from shelf to shelf, so it is worth checking a couple of comparable titles rather than assuming the whole store is priced the same way. Staff come up over and over as friendly and genuinely knowledgeable.
They have a real website on their own domain, which is unusual for an independent this size and worth supporting.
Getting there
101 W Parkwood Ave, Suite C, in Friendswood. This is the Clear Lake side of the metro, so it is a genuine drive from central Houston, but it also covers an area the directory has nothing else in. Open seven days, later on Friday and Saturday.