Interviews

Published on March 8th, 2020 | by Andrew Bistak

Glenn Pereire Interview of Pixel Crib

We catch-up with Glenn Pereire of Pixel Crib (https://www.pixelcrib.com.au/), a specialist gaming store that is dedicated to classic and rare memorabilia.



Welcome to Impulse Gamer Glenn, so tell us a little about yourself and what ‘game’ drew you to gaming?

Believe it or not, my favourite first game from my childhood was Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers on the NES. I have special memories of this game because my cousin flew down from Perth each Christmas with his family and the 2 of us used to play this game for hours on end. Because we were the littlest in the family, we had to wake up at 5am to squeeze in hours of Chip ‘n’ Dale before the rest of the family woke up and hogged the TV!

I was lucky enough to grow up in the 80s, and the NES in general was a lovely memory for me. It was mesmerising to be able to control characters on a TV screen. And, we played as a family, so Mum & Dad included. It was unbelievable to be able to ‘shoot’ the screen when playing Duck Hunt & Hogan’s Alley. So I would say that it was the NES in general that got me hooked on gaming for life! Some of my best memories were with  so, not just 1 Super Mario Bros 1,2 & 3, ExciteBike, Balloon Fight, Ice Climber, Metroid, Legend of Zelda + Adventures of Link, Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers, Double Dragon etc… I was a massive fan of couch co-op gameplay and wish that more modern games carried this tradition.

Which game did you love in 2019 and why?

Persona 5!!! I know this was a 2016 released game. But one of our fastest selling products from last year was the Persona 5 Vinyl Soundtrack (we had the 4xLP Box Set release) which has sadly, all sold out for good! So, just by way of curiosity from this soundtrack being so popular, I gave this game a go and was absolutely hooked! I have never quite played a game like this in my life – RPG elements, mixed with going to school and taking exams, building a social life. And the best part was having a similar gameplay feel to the classic point and click style adventure games. All with an absolutely fantastic art-style and an incredibly memorable soundtrack. Have never seen anything quite like this and my biggest regret was not keeping a copy of the Vinyl Soundtrack for myself!

Okay… Pixel Crib, so for the uninitiated, what is Pixel Crib?

PixelCrib is a video game culture store for high quality gaming related memorabilia and collectables. While there are pop-culture stores selling a myriad of pop culture merchandise and collectibles, we wanted to create a gaming culture store exclusively to sell products relating to video game franchises only.

But we wanted to go further than that; we didn’t just want to create a Video Game version of a Pop Culture store (i.e. by selling Pac-Man coasters and so forth). We love gaming and wanted to celebrate its culture. So we made it a mission to only carry products which educated, promoted and celebrated video game culture and history. For instance, we sourced reference books cataloguing classic GameBoy games. Or an orchestral tribute to the soundtrack for the Ocarina of Time (in vinyl format). The idea is that when you purchase one of our items, not only is it a tribute to the game or console, you get to learn and appreciate the history and artistry behind the franchise.

How did Pixel Crib come from thought to reality?

The idea for PixelCrib started some years ago when I moved into my own home for the first time. I wanted to decorate my home with stuff that reflected my personality. And I was a life-long gamer who was lucky enough to grow up in the 80s so I had long loved these franchises. And one of the first things which I bought for my home was a gorgeous print by a very talented artist, Jed Henry titled ‘Rickshaw Cart’ (https://shop.ukiyoeheroes.com/collections/giclee-prints/products/rickshaw-cart-giclee-print-1).

Like many others, I loved Mario Kart and I was blown away that this artist had done such a cool, artsy interpretation of this game franchise. Because gaming had long been a part of my life, I wanted more and more such decorative pieces for my home; not just artwork but coffee-table books and other decorative items. So the initial concept for PixelCrib was more akin to a ‘homeware’ type of store carrying video game products. Which is in part why our logo shows a ‘home. Our logo gives a hint as to what we aspire to be – a ‘Home’ for all video game related memorabilia and collectibles which you can place in your home.

The trouble was that I found it difficult to source any of these items. I couldn’t find 1 particular store that sold all of the items that I was looking for. So that led to the idea of how we could become a video game store, selling video game related products and decorative items to be placed in a living room or games room. And our customers loved what we did and supported us right from the beginning for which we will always be grateful for. Even today, we often get complimentary words from our customers who appreciate us doing what we do.

Most proudest moment about Pixel Crib?

Growing up in the 1980’s, Point & Click Adventure and MS-Dos types of video games have always had a special memory for me. And an especially memorable game for me was Leisure Suit Larry. I reached out to Al Lowe, who created this game series and he actually agreed to grant me an interview! We did the interview via Skype and I provided the transcript to James Burns of Super Jump Magazine. James was kind enough to write an editorial based on my interview which you can read here (https://medium.com/super-jump/al-lowe-reflects-on-leisure-suit-larry-6f0f82741e4d). It was a proud moment for me because PixelCrib is all about celebrating video game culture and history – and I got to personally speak with a true legend who created an iconic video game character. In the future, our aim is to conduct similar types of interviews with other gaming icons.

Biggest challenge?

We are always on the hunt for more wonderful, high quality-gaming memorabilia! What makes it difficult for us, is that we will only carry items that fit a certain-criteria: the product must be a well-made and created to celebrate, promote and educate our customer about a specific video game, franchise, console or publisher.

It would be easy for us to sell a product with a just a video game logo on it – but this doesn’t actually tell us anything about the particular game. On the other hand, the coffee table book, the Art of Fallout 4 shows the development notes, process and artwork behind the game so this is something that fits our criteria and thus we are willing to carry it in our store.

So rather than going for a large volume of gaming related products, we’ve taken the more difficult route to source quality goods that fit our criteria. So, whilst we won’t carry every single gaming related item out there, our customers can rest assured that the items that we do carry will be of a certain standard that they can appreciate and enjoy for years to come.

What’s your top 3 favourite products that you are selling at the moment?

NES/Famicom: A Visual Compendium (https://www.pixelcrib.com.au/products/nes-famicom-a-visual-compendium). This was the first product that we carried in our store and it has a special memory for me. And it is a beautiful tribute to the NES Console, my very favourite console of all time. I spent hours enjoying reading this book and photographing it for our store. And I enjoyed the experience of re-living my gaming memories via this book; and this was the same experience which I wanted to give to our customers. This same experience is the core of PixelCrib.

Mario & Chill LP (https://www.pixelcrib.com.au/products/mario-chill-lp). Being a massive Mario fan, I was so excited when this particular vinyl arrived. This is not a soundtrack per se, but an amazing Synthwave interpretation of memorable scores from the Mario Bros universe. It covers fan favourite hits such as Dire Dire Rocks (Super Mario 64), the Odyssey theme from Super Mario Odyssey – to other memorable tunes spanning Mario Kart, Super Mario World, Mario Galaxy and more. You should hop onto our website to have a listen to it – it is probably one of my most played soundtrack, especially while working on PixelCrib.

The Witcher Notebook (https://www.pixelcrib.com.au/collections/books/products/the-witcher-notebook-limited-edition). I actually kept a set of these notebooks for myself. I made a New Year’s resolution to do daily journal writings – and I actually use these notebooks every single day. They are very well crafted and made of beautiful leather and the pages are made of high-quality paper. So from a practical point of view, this is something which I actually experience on a daily basis. Coincidentally, my wife (after watching the Witcher series with me over the Christmas break & reading the Witcher novels) has started to use these notebooks too. She’s now got the Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt on her list of games to play. Funny in a way because in this instance, using the Witcher notebook has actually encouraged her to try the video game, rather than the other way round!

Where do you source your high quality gaming memorabilia from?

We have partnered with many businesses throughout the world, really – so our partners are based in the UK, France, the Netherlands, the United States and more. These companies may be independent record labels, gaming book publishers, specialty game developers, musicians and artists. The one common thread amongst all of us is a love video games; and an appreciation and respect for gaming history and culture. And this is reflected in the high-quality products that they produce – which we are excited to bring to our customers.

Can you tell us what 2020 will bring Pixel Crib in terms of products?

We’ve always got new stuff coming up for pre-order but some of our favourites (which haven’t gone up on our site) are – a very gorgeous Persona 5 Collector’s Notebook; a mini Arcade Machine for Street Fighter 2; a ‘heavy metal’ rendition to the Final Fantasy VII soundtrack, on vinyl + oh so many more good things over the upcoming months (hint…Banjo & Kazooie Soundtrack on vinyl). The Nintendo 64 Anthology is also arrived in the 2nd half of the year and this has been highly anticipated.

Lastly, what game or console are you most looking forward to in 2020?

For Console, am looking forward to the PS5 which I’m sure will be superb.

For Video Game – most looking forward to the Last of Us Part 2. TLOU was one of my favourite games of all time and I’m sure Naughty Dog will be able to re-create some of that magic for the 2nd rendition.

To get your exclusive and rare gaming merch, check out https://www.pixelcrib.com.au/


About the Author

When he's not trying to save the world, Andrew enjoys travel (although loathes turbulence), going to the movies, reading and being a dad to his two dogs (and now twins) with his wife.


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