I've really tried to move away from GameStop and trading off my used games for virtually nothing. I have one very good friend who is also a 360 owner and we tend to swap games a bunch. I think both of us get more value than trading games and we get the satisfaction of doing well by a friend.

I do try to pare down my games periodically though. It used to be through GameStop, sometimes eBay. I've really been meaning to try Goozex, particularly for my older games.

I do try to buy more new games now than I did years ago, though I wait for the price drop a lot of times.

 

I like to buy games new, but if distributors and developers won't provide credit to retailers for returned merchandise, then you're stuck depending on a demo or rental before deciding to lay down potentially $60. In a day and age where replay value is expected to be high, there's no reason not to allow a 3-day return policy.

Gamestop made the right move when they started allowing used games to be returned and refunded within 7 days, regardless of the reason. The developers can whine all they want (no offense, developers), but they've already received payment from the distributor...what happens to the product after that is none of their business if they can't guarantee ongoing consumer satisfaction.

Personally, I hate trading in games. But I hate letting $60 games collect dust even more, so I try to take advantage of Gamestop's special deals. The other night I traded in two old games, received an extra 20% in credit (thanks to a $15 Edge membership and the current trade-in deal), picked up a used copy of UT3 (with 10% Edge discount), and paid off half of a new copy of HAWX with the balance.

If you buy and trade games often, you can eventually get screwed by Gamestop. But remember that each game is worth something different to each gamer. To you, it may be worth the extra $10 you might get from eBay...but to me, the extra $12 in credit that I racked up toward new games had more value.

 

I like to use Gamestop to make purchases, but I never sell through them, since they give such a ridiculous price. For instance, I was looking to trade in my copy of MGS4. They offered me $17, so they could sell it for $40. Thats ridiculous. Unfortunately, Im very lazy, so my old games just stack up and collect dust. I really should get rid of them at some point...

 

I stopped trading through gamestop along time ago. Now I trade through blockbuster and get 2 or 3x as much as I would at GS. For instance about 3 months ago, I purchased 2 eye of judgement games for $17 a piece clearance (new) at my work, and turned around and traded them in for $53 a piece at BB, and I kept the camera out of 1. I ended up getting a couple new games, I think I got Fable 2 and Fallout 3 for the 360. I loved goozex, until I realized that you don't really ever get what you want. There always seems to be a huge queue for the good games that takes weeks to widdle down.

 

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/03/05/games ... ce-of-wor/
Apparently Gamestop doesn't approve.

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/03/05/games ... ram-annou/
For good reason.

 

Ya know, I don't really see many other companies doing as well with trades as gamestop, mostly because of their used game PURCHASING perks; the Edge Card...

It'd be nice to see cheap used games in other places...though one evil corporation is rarely better than another...

 

Gamestop little by little over the last year particularly has moved the benefit needle way far to their side. It used to be just an ok deal to throw some games their way and walk out with some new/used different games. Now they changed their accounting to give the customer even less of a deal.

On the buying new games vs. renting or buying used. I juggle all 3 of those things.
I really can only afford to buy 5 or 6 games new, the rest I'll get used and I always try to get that 39.99 sale for the 59.99 game. I want the good developers to keep making games and get good money but companies also need to learn about what profit is enough sustainable vs. just plain getting greedy..like Gamestop. Meanwhile I'm sure they are paying the top dogs cush money while they let their people rot on the lowest salaries and benefits.

This year is going to be expensive, I've already put down money on
RE 5
Metallica
and I'll definately get the Beatles and will want to get Just Cause 2 and Bioshock 2.

I'm sure there will be more than that too and I've got to put money down for a bunch of Arcade titles I still haven't played like Castle Crashers, N+ and some others. I'd also like to grab some from the Community too.