Best Specialist: The Rage

Imagine a place where you can time-travel back to the golden age of video gaming, listen to any record in the shop and where everything you see is for sale. The Rage, on Dublin’s Fade Street, offers gamers who want to play a game for its playability rather than its state-of-the-art graphics, a home away from home. Plus, there’s the chance to recreate that nostalgic ambiance at home as you can buy anything you play.

It's quite the cosy set up. You can play Street Fighter on an arcade cabinet, vinyl discs and posters hang on the wall and you're encouraged to take any record they have and go downstairs to listen to it.

“It is what I would like to have in my ideal bedroom,” explains owner Nicholas Di Maio, a Michigan native who has lived in Dublin for about a decade. He worked at Trout Records in George’s Street Arcade and ended up owning it. In his desire to create a destination shop for vinyl, he saw an opportunity open on Fade Street when Road Records closed down.

“Every inch of wall space is decorated with images from my childhood,” says reader Dave Hill. “The staff don’t just sell their wares. They know their wares.”

“Many of our customers gave away their game collections or had younger siblings steal or break them,” Di Maio explains. “They range in age from six to over 60. And you’d be surprised by the amount of girls who like to hang out here.”

Edward Droste from Grizzly Bear; former Joy Division and New Order bassist Peter Hook, and Pavement's Stephen Malkmus have all trawled through the bins at The Rage. The star find has been a copy of Thin Lizzy's debut single, The Farmer, which changed hands for €2,000.

The Rage, 16 B Fade Street, Dublin 2, tel: 01-677 9594, therage.ie