About The Old School Game Vault and Founder Brandon Perton

How I Got Here

I was born in 1980 and started gaming on a Compaq Portable playing something like the Coleco Mouse Trap game. My first console was an Atari 7800 around 1986. By the time I got my NES in 1988, I was hooked. I obsessively searched for Rygar after playing it once at someone's house. I faked being sick to skip a family outing so I could finish The Legend of Zelda before I had to return it.

The first game I bought with my own money was Tecmo Bowl. I saved up paper route money for weeks to buy it in 1989. I still own that original complete-in-box copy today. (Photo Below is Me & Ronnie Lott)

The Business

I started an eBay consignment business in 2007. In spring 2008, I was in a near-death automobile accident. I spent four months in the hospital - one month in a coma, three months learning to walk again.

When I made it home, I got sick of selling other people's stuff on eBay. I'd always liked old electronics, so I bought a ColecoVision console to test the market. I sold it with all the games for around $250. That moment changed everything. I pivoted the entire business to buying and selling old video games in 2008.

Gaming Milestones That Shaped Me

• First Video Game console: Atari 7800 (around 1986?)

• First video game(s) played (that I remember): something like the Crystal Castle on the Atari 2600.

• First Video Game I rented: Space Jockey on the Atari 2600.

• First arcade and video games played: Showbiz Pizza – Mario Bros, Double Dragon, BurgerTime, Joust.

• Favorite Video Game Console: The NInendo NES - Turbografx-16 come in 2nd.

• Favorite Video Game: The Legend of Zelda (Nintendo NES).

• First game I recall binge playing: after giving someone a false excuse for why I couldn't do some other activity elsewhere: The Legend of Zelda. I had borrowed it from someone, and so wasn’t going to have it for that long. I think I told my parents I wasn’t feeling particularly well and so begged off a minor family outing.

• First cheat code: Konami code for Contra. I really liked that game and also Super C for its co-op capability.

• First game I left on: for days to beat because there was no save system: Super Mario Brothers 3 (also mentioned in an earlier blog) for the Nintendo NES.

• The first game I bought with my own money: I had a paper route when I was in grade school, and I remember saving and saving up to buy Tecmo Bowl.

• First Video Co-Op Video Game: I remember playing: Contra, every family event or holiday, my uncle would always bring his Nintendo NES and Contra. My uncle is no longer around, but one of the last times we got together as adults, I brought one of my business consoles to the family event, so my uncle and I could play Contra again, I’d guess around 2012.

• First video game that significantly enriched my appreciation of an intellectual property from another medium: Star Wars: X-Wing made by Fantasy Flight Games, and being able to pilot fighters around the Star Wars universe in a quality flight sim…holy craps, guys.

• First video game that shocked me with its violence: Mortal Kombat - The blood code.

• First handheld video game console: Sega Game Gear.

• First game I looked forward to: Bioshock: Infinite.

• Games that got me back into console gaming after about five years of gaming mainly on PCs: Final Fantasy VII, Mario Kart 64, and Super Mario 64. These games, played on friends’ consoles, got me fiending for my own console again after having wholly skipped owning a console during the SNES generation. Also, FFVII was the first console game whose story sucked me in.

• First mobile game I got embarrassingly sucked into: Angry Birds, & Still to this day, my wife and I play Pokémon Go.

• First Famous Sports Player I met: Ronnie Lott, meet him years ago at the NRA Show in Chicago.

Where am at Today

Besides running The Old School Game Vault, I spend time building websites and databases. I went back to school a few years ago for data analytics and became certified in MySQL and Oracle databases.

I have two kids. When I'm not in the office, I'm golfing or fixing things with my hands. I remodeled my bathroom last year and have been to nearly 100 Phish Shows.

I'm committed enough to this business that I got it tattooed on my arm - designed to look like an NES controller cord.

I also enjoy: Writing gaming articles as I've actually played these games, bought these collections, and lived this history, and it's fun to share it.

I've been featured in:

Meet the (Small but Mighty) team.

Meet Zach

• Zach grew up in Maryland Heights, Missouri. He developed a love for gaming in his basement with a Nintendo 64 and PlayStation 1. He spent many hours playing games with his brother, sharing controllers, and enjoying classic video games.
• One of Zach's proudest childhood gaming moments? Attempting to speedrun Resident Evil 2 sparked a strong passion for gaming and gameplay precision. Today, Zach splits his time between working at The UPS Store and being a full-time game tester at The Old School Game Vault.
• Zach makes sure every console, cartridge, and disc works perfectly before we ship them out.

Meet MJ

• MJ is currently a high school student at Niles North in Skokie, IL, and a rising star at The Old School Game Vault. A longtime fan of the God of War series, he developed his love for gaming early on.
• When he was 7, MJ took on different jobs to save up for his dream system: a complete, in-the-box Red PlayStation 3 God of War Edition. That dedication shows how committed he is to gaming.
• MJ is a vital part of our team. He tests games, organizes inventory, and keeps operations running smoothly.