Well, that last horse-buggy dealer probably made a killing, too. Last week, Walmart announced that it planned to "shake up the marketplace" by letting customers exchange old Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft XBox games for store credit. Basically, consumers could sell off their games to buy paper towels and formula while Walmart sells them back to the general public at a tidy profit. Granted, Walmart is having a tough time moving the inventory currently sitting in its back room , but at least it's trying to generate money with a proven formula, right?
Well, kind of right. Temporarily correct at best. The bad news is that is that this isn't the Funcoland era anymore and used games aren't the currency they once were. In the mid-'90s, enterprising young gamers walked through the doors of their nearest mall's Funcoland and sold their old games and consoles for a chance of walking out with newer, glossier games and gadgets.
The value of gamers' turned-in treasures was dictated by sprawling, demand-driven Funcoland pricing sheets that is still questioned by graying, irate gamers today.
Though a series of mergers and acquisitions that engulfed game shops including Funcoland, Software Etc. That chain has been targeted by both console producers and developers for making a living off of their used titles, but has survived despite the emergence of downloadable content and one-time features such as access codes for online play.
But it realizes its game-selling days are numbered. During the Consumer Electronics Show, Sony unveiled plays for the Playstation Now that would allow gamers to play games from the PS1, 2 and 3 without relying on a console or discs. Gamers, ideally, would be able to use the service on Playstation Vita handheld consoles, Sony Bravia televisions and tablets and smartphones -- think Sony's Xperia smartphone, for example.
Sony has also hinted that it may try to give those games a little bit of extra life by introducing them to a new generation of online players with new retrofitted tasks and trophies for each game.
Our goal is to create a safe and engaging place for users to connect over interests and passions. In order to improve our community experience, we are temporarily suspending article commenting. Recommended Stories. Giants Wire. Atlanta Black Star. Entertainment Weekly. Roll Tide Wire. The Weather Network. The Daily Beast. The Providence Journal. Broncos Wire. Miami Herald. As with the trade-in program for phones and tablets, CE Exchange will also handle this new game trade-in program.
For consumers, the used games industry is a real money-saver, depending on the title; some are bargains and some are downright laughable. However, for developers and publishers, the used games industry seems more like a thorn they can't pull out.
They're not making a dime off secondary sales unlike GameStop, Walmart and other retailers. Despite the complaints, it seems that there's no stopping the used games market. There's also no stopping GameStop who doesn't appear to see Walmart as a potential threat … yet. Topics Business Computing. See all comments Hehehe, I may not be a fan of walmart as a company, but that ad was pretty funny. Oh pristine condition 1 month old AAA game?
How is that any different from Gamestop or other stores that do game trades? The only way this will work for me would if they do deals like Gamestop does.
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