I made this post ages ago when playing Bioshock which got me thinking about shops and stores in games, and as a lazy blog post I thought I’d compile quick list of some of the most memorable

The Merchant – Resident Evil 4

Lets start with a bona-fide classic. Anyone that’s played RE4 will remember the merchant and his repertoire of phrases such as “What you buyin?”, “Got a good selection of good things on sale, stranger!” and “I’ll buy it at a high price”. What this guy is doing standing a round in a zombie infested hell waiting for someone to come along and buy stuff is anyone’s guess. The stress probably explains his strange vocal tick of adding “stranger” to the end of every sentence.

Beedle’s Boat – The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Memorable in much the same way as the Merchant in Resi 4 – for the odd noises and phrases he made. And being named after the much maligned and now dead British TV “prankster” Jeremy Beadle – which apparently Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto was a big fan of. This is about the best picture I can find of him

Sadly I can’t find a link to his brilliant little “ooooooowww” and the enthusiastic “thank you” sounds. On a side note – how much business did he actually get from running a shop, in a boat, in the middle of the ocean??

Circus of Values – Bioshock

Bioshock is a creepy and strange game, so obviously it has a creepy and strange shop. Scattered all over Rapture are vending machines called the “Circus of Values” with a scary looking clown on the front. First of all it’s a vending machine that sells a mixture of both ammunition and vodka, which doesn’t seem a wise combination to dispense. Secondly why is it called the Circus of Values and not Circus of Value, are we making some moral choice by purchasing items there? What use are human values if they can be bought and sold? Hmmm these are just some of the ethical challenges the game puts to us (either that or I’m reading way too much into it – )

“Fill your cravings at the Circus of Values! Ha ha ha ha ha!”

Listen: Circus of Values – Audio

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Another old school nut job. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (SOTN to his friends) is a 2D masterpeice. The shop in the game consists of The Librarian, an aged old fool voiced by what sounds like someone trying to do an impersonation of Worzel Gummidge after breathing in Helium. Everything he says is pretty much a “WTF?” moment, I especially like how initially he won’t help you, but decides instantly it’s OK to help if you are paying. The little “Thank You!” he exclaims upon an purchase, is pure gold.

Video quality is terrible but you get the idea