A new destination for gamers, Fourth Emerald Games, opened its doors in the heart of the West Seattle Junction on July 5, 2025. Owned by West Seattle residents Joshua and Tiara Silas, the new retro game shop aims to be more than just a retail space; it seeks to foster a vibrant community for gamers of all ages.

Located at 4517 California Ave SW, Suite D, right upstairs above Rush Hour, Fourth Emerald Games is poised to become a central hub for buying, selling, and playing games, both old and new. The name itself, "Fourth Emerald," is a nod to retro gaming, referencing a phrase made legendary by Shadow the Hedgehog (2005).

Fourth Emerald Games is designed with distinct zones to cater to various gaming needs:

• Zone 1: Buy and Trade! – The shop offers a wide selection of consoles and games for purchase and is always looking to expand its collection through trading.

• Zone 2: Lounge and Play! – Gamers can enjoy refreshments and play the "hottest games, both old and new" in designated "Emmies" bays, which feature the latest gaming technology. Customers can walk in or reserve an Emmie in advance on their website, and even play the store's inventory while there. Note that Emmie reservations cannot be made online one hour before closing.

• Zone 3: Meet Up and Compete! – The store plans to regularly host events and tournaments, inviting gamers to "meet up and show their skills". Updates on these events will be available on their blog.

The shelves are already stocked with a variety of titles, including Assassin's Creed III, Pokémon Pearl, Final Fantasy X, and Donkey Kong Country Returns, as well as consoles like the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the PlayStation 2.

Looking ahead to the West Seattle Summer Fest from July 11-13. During the festival, they will host a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Tournament. The buy-in for this competition is $20, with a discounted pre-registration price of $15, and the Grand Prize is a Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World Bundle.

Video games as a industry now dwarf movies. 

• In 2025, the U.S. video game industry is projected to generate $109.4 billion in revenue.

• By contrast, the U.S. box office typically earns between $8–12 billion annually, even in strong years

Even so, many people use video games as a kind of babysitter, Josh responded to that with "It doesn't strike me as the term that people should use. When people use technology in this way, they're really just using it as a shut up button. They're using it as a way to get their kids to just stop thinking, stop talking, stop being loud, right? But the thing with kids is they're not idiots. They're not dumb. They're very very smart. They can pick up on things very quickly. And the best way to get them involved with each other is to use that technology to augment something that is already real. For example I used to work for a childcare facility. where I ran a  game design camp. And we would run this program and sometimes we would have little tournaments to see which one gets a new resource to play with. And so utilizing the video games, yes, I'm using technology. Yes, I'm doing something that they like, but I'm using it to further my actual mission, which is get them engaged with what I'm doing."

In fact Fourth Emerald has plans in the works to hold video game design camps in-store at some point. 

Who are they aiming at? "Our clients tend to be teenagers from early high school to late 20s maybe early 30s at the oldest just because those tend to be ones that gaming as a hobby has evolved for. One of the first big home consoles to really kind of strike a chord with everybody was in the 70s with the Atari 2600 and it's only gone up from there. Gaming is now a massive hobby that a lot of people share and a lot of people can connect with. You have online tournaments where people can meet. there are people who have entire friend groups that are only online that they connect through to with games.Games have that kind of ability to bring people together. And so we wanted to bring something like that to West Seattle." 

Regardless of your age, if you love gaming, Fourth Emerald probably has something you'd like.

The couple met in college and at one point Tiara even kept his gaming console for almost a month. She loves gaming too.

The store's regular operating hours:

• Sunday: 11 AM - 5 PM

• Monday: CLOSED

• Tuesday - Thursday: 1 PM - 9 PM

• Friday - Saturday: 1 PM - 10 PM

Fourth Emerald Games is committed to bringing the gaming community together in West Seattle, whether it's for tournaments, collection expansion, or simply hanging out. You can reach Fourth Emerald Games by checking out their website, fourthemeraldgames.com, calling 206-457-6394, or emailing store@fourthemeraldgames.com.

For the latest updates, follow them on Facebook and Instagram at "Fourth Emerald Games" and "fourthemeraldgames" respectively, or subscribe to their mailing list.