I love Rochester. Buffalo is the wasteland - a wasteland with promise and pride, but mostly a wasteland. Yes, Roch-cha-cha has its problems, as do must upstate NY cities, but it is much more cosmopolitan than my current home.
The villages of the Genesee valley are very picturesque, especially Geneseo (plug for ye olde alma mater), but not much there for the average gamer. If you do go to Geneseo, you must stop at Buzzo's music and Sundance Books on Main Street. Hippie heaven, and Buzzo is quite a character. Just hope he isn't outside playing one of his instruments in his bathrobe on a windy day. Eat a sub at Aunt Cookies.
Rochester's malls are nice, but they don't have anything more than the typical mall store chains. The mall mentioned in a previous post sounds to me like the Irondequoit mall, which is quite fancy. Or was, at least. Been a while since I've been. The city used to have some good used game stores, but the two I frequented have since closed - the yellow pages would be your best bet. I think there may still be one on Monroe Avenue.
If you are into pen and paper RPGs, CCGS, or wargames, you may want to google search and mapquest Boldo's Armory (right off the 490 Monroe Avenue exit) and Millenium Games in Henrietta (West Henrietta Road), which is also by the Marketplace Mall. And a big pr0n store. I prefer Boldo's, as it is more of your typical, small, but decently stocked store that feels, well, geek homey. Millenium is a mega store, with great characters present, but kind of big and impersonal - plus, it took over the location from my beloved Crazy Egor's Discount Game Warehouse, and it pains me to go in there. Nothing personal to the inhabitants - it's a great store, but it just doesn't feel like my old geek heaven anymore.
If you like music, House of Guitars is indeed still there, with a great selection of everything from vinyl to CD's, in every genre, and a giant plexiglass case that, if I recall correctly, is two stories tall, circular, and filled with guitars autographed by actual rock and roll gods. The place is a must-stop for most bands that hit the area.
For drinking, hit Monroe Avenue. Good times. I forget the name- The Toad and something, I think - is an authentic English style pub is one of my Rochesterfarian friend's favorite hangouts.
The one thing you MUST do is get whomever you are visiting to take you to Nick Tahou's at 320 W. Main - not far from Boldo's. There, you will sample the gastronomical delight that is the Garbage Plate. It looks like hell, but tastes soooo good, and is cheap too. Go hungry. But not if you are a vegetarian. Check out the Roadfood review at
www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Writeup.aspx?ReviewID=218&RefID=218.