Classic Video Games Get New Life at CGR Games

It's been more than 20 years since it first hit the shelves, yet "Super Mario Bros. 3" remains one of the most popular video games ever produced, outlasting all the"Grand Theft Auto" and "Call of Duty" titles that have advanced graphics and in-depth gameplay. Adjusted for inflation, "Super Mario Bros. 3" is the highest grossing game that has been sold separately from a console, generating $1.7 billion in sales.

The continuing popularity of old console games like Mario or "Legend of Zelda" has helped Domenic Cerasi upgrade his homegrown classic video game trading website into a retail storefront on North Easton Road in Doylestown in just three years.

"I had a warehouse on Decatur street, but I was running out of room," said Cerasi. "I figured I would give a brick-and-mortar store a try."

Cerasi will open CGR Games at 1007 N. Easton Road soon after he finishes unpacking the boxes scattered throughout the store. He manages to find time to organize between gathering games and shipping them out to all corners of the world.

"I just sent an order out to Guantanamo Bay," said Cerasi. "Packages have gone out to all continents, except Antarctica."

His collection, gathered from wholesalers, customer trade-ins and everything else in-between, includes titles from the original Playstation, Atari 2600, Sega Genesis and so on. No matter how old or obscure the system is, someone is always looking for a vintage game to play.

"The '80s were the golden age of video games," said Cerasi. "People like to relive that with their old systems. Today's games are all about multi-player, it's much more social than ever. Back then, you just had the two-player games, and your partner had to sit next to you."