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Trade used games at Wal-Mart with this...machine photo

A few months back, I had lunch with a games retail buyer. We went to this great Mexican place and he recommended the Diablo Shrimp. Sh*t was so spicy that it made me cry like a little bitch. It was during this lunch that this buyer ran a question by me: What would you think about a used games vending machine? Just stick in a plain disc and get back either money or credit for another game from within the machine. If you've ever seen the Redbox DVD rental machines, you'll have a good idea of what this would be like.

I said, no. No way. Gamers won't do this. Gamers want the box. Gamers want to be able to see the game. I had a bunch of reasons why this wouldn't work, but I guess my comments never made it to the top, as it seems that at least one retailer is going ahead with this vending machine.

Neocrisis has images of a Wal-Mart Video Games Buy Back vending machine that allows you to trade in your used PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii games. A scanner reads the game and compares it to a database. Unfortunately, due to bugs, they didn't get any farther than this. Apparently Mirror's Edge isn't in its database. I didn't even account for silly things like databases and bugs.

See, you should have listened to me.

Would you use a machine to trade in games? 


LAUNCH GALLERY (1 IMAGES)
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47 comments | showing # 1 to 47

Gimic300's Avatar
Gimic300 at 05/18/2009 11:43
Fuck that noise, I refuse to shop at Wal Mart as it is.
SnakeDude4Life's Avatar
SnakeDude4Life at 05/18/2009 11:44
The machines are taking over! THE END IS NIGH!

JoZo's Avatar
JoZo at 05/18/2009 11:45
Hell no, I want the box wal mart!! dang cheap ass bastards.
lazyhoboguy's Avatar
lazyhoboguy at 05/18/2009 11:46
umm hell no
Holyetheline's Avatar
Holyetheline at 05/18/2009 11:47
I think there's a way to make it work.... If they find that way then I'll probably try it out.
GeekVarietydotcom's Avatar
GeekVarietydotcom at 05/18/2009 11:49
this seems really odd, like there seems like there could be a myriad of problems like getting games that are cracked or scratched beyond belief and who handles the customer service end of things for these cause you could scam the living shit out of it not to mention if your just putting the game in how does the thing know what game it is and whats to stop someone from putting burned copies of games into it and tricking it?

way too many issues with this for it to work at least thats my two cents.
CharleyTony's Avatar
CharleyTony at 05/18/2009 11:50
I dont like it and wont use it...

Will it work ? Of course it will ! Its in a Wal Mart !!!!

I think they chose the machine because their staff is too dumb to check what a game would be worth in a database and subtract it to the new games you are buying.

Gamestop/EB Games 's staff can barely do it as we speak...


Bonus Question:

Will this machine ask me if I want to preorder something ???
goodgamer77's Avatar
goodgamer77 at 05/18/2009 11:50
I don't think I would simply because I don't like Walmart.
BluDesign's Avatar
BluDesign at 05/18/2009 11:52
I wonder if anyone will quickly figure out how to dupe the machine to take back DVD-R's or something similar. It's too easy to fool the machine if it's accepting materials that don't come from the machine itself, like Redbox DVD's.

I know that some current game systems use the ring barcode, but that will prove to be unreliable if the thing has thumbprints and scratches on it.
gamadaya's Avatar
gamadaya at 05/18/2009 11:54
I don't care if it works or not, I'll still be getting shafted on price. Just stick with Ebay, where you can actually sell stuff for what it's worth.
BS3 Owner's Avatar
BS3 Owner at 05/18/2009 11:56
Bad business sense...
Above posters noted Scratched/Cracked Discs.

And as you do note Dale... No box or Manual or Database.
LAME!

Oh & now, "friends" stealing other PPL's Game Collections.
Monodi's Avatar
Monodi at 05/18/2009 11:56
I am not trusting something with an average of 50 dollars to a Wal-Mart machine
Blasto's Avatar
Blasto at 05/18/2009 12:00
HELL NO! I can't stand the way some people treat their games. Just looking at used games at Gamestop with all the missing manuals, chewed up cases and discs that have apparently had a pumice stone scraped over them repeatedly is disgusting. WTFF!!!

But, yeah, I'm sure the Wal-Mart WiiFit loving crowd will be all over this like a Sanyo LCD TV at a Black Friday sale.

sigh...
Dyna Geek's Avatar
Dyna Geek at 05/18/2009 12:00
Whilst this can eventualley become a good thing, it is the feeling alone that discourages me from using it, the feeling that I get whenever humans have created another machine to make it easier for themselves to be lazy.

Next we'll have machines to buy games for us, then make them, and them finalley play them.
007's Avatar
007 at 05/18/2009 12:01
I'd rather have this all done with a person than a machine. People need jobs, not inanimate objects.
SuitcoatAvenger's Avatar
SuitcoatAvenger at 05/18/2009 12:01
All I'm saying is that the very few times I've gone to Wal-Mart, the vending machines in the entrance-way have been broken. If I can't get a fucking Orange Crush for my buck-fifty, I sure as hell am not going to put a sixty-dollar game into a machine of a similar design.

Also (and more importantly), are we talking cashback on these or some sort of Wal-Mart buttbux in-store credit?
Black Nexus's Avatar
Black Nexus at 05/18/2009 12:02
I wouldn't be caught dead using that thing.
falinter's Avatar
falinter at 05/18/2009 12:11
This is a good idea, but instead of in walmart lets put them on street corners so I can get some buddies and throw in the back of a truck and drive off.
Kalmah's Avatar
Kalmah at 05/18/2009 12:12
Now, did they find out Mirror's Edge wasn't in the database the easy way, or the hard way?
Char Aznable's Avatar
Char Aznable at 05/18/2009 12:17
Goozex takes care of this quite nicely, thank you very much.
Woverine's Avatar
Woverine at 05/18/2009 12:18
yeah so how does it know the game? i suspect lots of cheating.
Professor Pew's Avatar
Professor Pew at 05/18/2009 12:18
Depends on how much they give you for it :P
AgentMOO's Avatar
AgentMOO at 05/18/2009 12:25
It begins with game trader bots. Before you know it we will have greeter bots!
Takeshi's Avatar
Takeshi at 05/18/2009 12:28
Hahaha! This is so gonna fail.
Dexter345's Avatar
Dexter345 at 05/18/2009 12:53
No way. I don't get rid of my games as it is, and if I were to, I'd rather Goozex them.
Obirano's Avatar
Obirano at 05/18/2009 12:58
You scan the barcode off the box. Hadn't looked at the one in the office too closely. Also, I love how the majority of the comments are about walmart and not the box.
Midgetsnowman's Avatar
Midgetsnowman at 05/18/2009 13:04
Obirano: You find that suprising? The average person who knows what Walmart does to local businesses has all the reason in the world to hate them
Chronic Logic's Avatar
Chronic Logic at 05/18/2009 13:33
Stick with ebay. You will most definitely get a better price. Although doing this does standardize things and may reduce costs.
WarZombie's Avatar
WarZombie at 05/18/2009 13:44
Lol, this is stupid.

I hate not having the box, but if prices are competitive enough I might buy into it. I don't like the idea, but hell, it might just work.

In all honesty though, who the hell goes to buy used games at Walmart?
TheToiletDuck's Avatar
TheToiletDuck at 05/18/2009 13:45
Umm, couldn't i just trade in a photocopied cover and a blank cd?
TheNomadicTroll's Avatar
TheNomadicTroll at 05/18/2009 13:59
I think that is a nice way of trading your old games. Instead being mad at a Gamestop employee ripping you off, you can get mad a machine and you have to worry about hurting its feelings.
FireofEvil's Avatar
FireofEvil at 05/18/2009 14:02
So maybe if this doesn't work they can take it to a trading machine trading machine and get their money back.
t0pc0w's Avatar
t0pc0w at 05/18/2009 14:43
How long before someone purchases a game and ends up with a Verbatim DVD+R DL with the words "Gears of War 2" scrawled across the front in Sharpie?
Obirano's Avatar
Obirano at 05/18/2009 15:07
Do you mean the average uninformed person?

Also, you can rent games out of these.
mrplow8's Avatar
mrplow8 at 05/18/2009 15:55
I would sell games to a vending machine, but I don't know if I would buy them from one. Then again, if I sell a game to a vending machine and then buy another game from the vending machine, I could use the box to the game I just sold for the one I bought.
HiddenAHB's Avatar
HiddenAHB at 05/18/2009 16:23
"Oh Shit! The machina just swalloed my game"
I foresse chaos, shitloads of chaos.
HiddenAHB's Avatar
HiddenAHB at 05/18/2009 16:24
"Oh Shit! The machina just swalloed my game"
I foresee chaos, shitloads of chaos.
elysse's Avatar
elysse at 05/18/2009 16:45
Where's the cartridge love? PREJUDICE!
mr showtime's Avatar
mr showtime at 05/18/2009 17:02
will it take my PSX console?
raisedmaze's Avatar
raisedmaze at 05/18/2009 17:18
Two words. Hellfucking NAW!
RiotMonster's Avatar
RiotMonster at 05/18/2009 18:21
No way.
DaedHead8's Avatar
DaedHead8 at 05/18/2009 19:37
Never in a million years would I do this. I don't get rid of games too often and when I do, there are better solutions than this.
fetusmilk's Avatar
fetusmilk at 05/18/2009 19:41
im gonna print fake labels and just throw in blank cds.
Los255's Avatar
Los255 at 05/19/2009 01:47
No, because my Gamestop is much closer than my Walmart, and it's retarded.
Sexualchocolate's Avatar
Sexualchocolate at 05/19/2009 03:22
It would be all about scanning the barcode on the box to Killzone 2 and putting the disc for Kane & Lynch in there. Trade in values are all different.

I would avoid for sure. i like to go into the shop and look the spotty kid in the face as he rips me off.
exodus1925's Avatar
exodus1925 at 05/19/2009 03:32
I suppose most people will prefer to yell and kick off at a real person instead of a machine when they are told that Fifa 04 is now only worth 50p trade in... sigh...
atastysammich's Avatar
atastysammich at 05/19/2009 09:12
Eh, if I was still into trade-ins, I'd certainly figure it in among the other retailer options. Nowadays, though, I'm all about the eBay.
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