Playing a lot of Bayonetta and spending much time at Rodin's place got me thinking on the concept of in-game stores, and asking myself when this was actually introduced into gaming. Of course if you are generous enough as to what counts as a "store", then in-game stores for sure have long existed in rpgs in the form of NPCs e.g. trading weapons for gold etc. But let's agree that "store" means more something like Rodin's place in Bayonetta, or the Pawn-O-Matic in Kingpin. I hope these examples suffice in lack of a definition to make clear what I mean.
With this provisions in mind let me turn to you and your gaming knowledge and ask you, which game was the first to feature in-game stores?

Well, what _was_ Rodin's Place in Bayonetta, or the Pawn-o-Matic in Kingpin? And what sets it apart from the regular shop NPCs that you want to exclude?

I think my first one was Zelda.

Oh shit, now that is a good question!

I can think of a few NES titles but I'm guessing that is way way late.

As in Zelda. Ninjad by Primo! XD

Akalabeth has shops. It is from 1980.

Actually Akalabeth was from 1979 technically which was when Richard Garriott began selling it. 1980 was when California Pacific released it nationally.

That's a fair question, which I avoided for a reason. Okay so I think I will have to try to answer it anyways. Since a picture says more than a thousand words, here's a picture of the Pawn-o-Matic

Couldn't find a picture of Rodin's place, but the beginning of this video has a short glimpse of it

Another example of what I have in mind with in-game shop would be the "workbenches" in the Dead Space games. Now in order to try to set apart these kinds of in-game shop from your average "helpful" NPC, let us agree on the following tentative definition. An in-game shop is a special-purpose GUI, that can be accessed from special locations in the game. In particular this rules out trading with NPCs.

Is GUI a requirement? If not, MUDs should fit the bill of having in-game shops.

How is that different from, say, Baldur's Gate? http://i.ytimg.com/vi/sNf5Ssn_TMo/maxresdefault.jpg

The only difference I can see is that one you access from a "place" and the other you go to a place and click on a shopkeeper NPC.

Can you explain what you're after again?

When I used the word "special purpose GUI", I had in mind something existing outside the game world itself. When you are trading in an rpg, this purchase takes place as an actual event in the game itself, affecting other characters.

Maybe that's like how it goes in Divine Divinity, where the vendors' relationship with your character will improve the more you buy and sell from him or her.

That's as may be, but trade with most RPG NPCs has no impact on anything whatsoever, except what equipment you have and how much money you've got (which is usually the whole point of trade in the first place). Generally, an NPC is also located in a specific place in the game world. In many cases, they are even located in a shop.

I must admit, I fail to see why the OP insists on making the distinction he does. As far as I can see, most RPG NPC shops fulfill all his requirements exactly and to the letter.

When you say shop it sounds like you mean the "shop" has a storefront and you go inside to see the shop owner behind a counter and you purchase items from them? Versus a random peddler on the street or in the wild who has items for sale?

After his last reply, I think he must mean a shop you access from anywhere in the game world and you are "transported" there - as if the shop is another dimension.

Still not a meaningful distinction to me, but I'll be darned if I can remember where I first encountered this ...