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Tue, Jun 23, 2009

Best Buy wants your used games

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Watch out Gamestop, looks like Wal Mart isn’t the only retailer testing out the used game market.

If you live in Dallas or Austin Texas you’ll be able to redeem your used games at your local Best Buy using their new kiosks. The game disk is slipped into the kiosk and read (to ensure that it’s still playable) and then spits out a Best Buy gift card that customers can use at all Best Buy locations. Pretty convenient.

Wal Mart also has stores throughout the country utilizing their Buy Back kiosks (pictured below) for it’s used game pilot program. Essentially doing the same thing, so this concept isn’t new. And if Wal Mart and Best Buy decide to deploy this program to all of it’s stores it could present a real threat to Gamestop’s used game monopoly.

e-Play-kiosk

Overall this may be a good thing for us gamers. Competition between the retail giants might drive the price they pay for used games up. Benefiting consumers. It makes sense. Gamers would have more options when trading in used games, and would probably seek out retailers who would be willing to give them more money for their trade-ins. And because the kiosks give the customers gift cards to their stores, it would ensure future business from that customer.

What do you guys think?

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