The music industry has been embracing music lovers affection for vinyl for years and it’s time for the gaming industry to do the same for retro gamers. For years if you wanted any sort of old-school gaming paraphernalia, you would have to do some searching. But now it seems the gaming juggernaut GameStop will finally begin buying and selling retro games and consoles.
Last month they began buying PlayStation 2 trade-ons again which they had previously stopping accepting. Then this month, they announced plans to enter the retro gaming market with more old-school consoles and games.
However, there are some downsides for the moment. The program is currently only being used in participating New York City and Birmingham locations, a total of 250 stores. But if testing proves successful, then we can hopefully see it expanded.
According to the reports, GameStop will only be going back as far as 1985’s NES when it comes to how retro they’re willing to get. That means you can expect customers to be trading in such systems as the Super NES, SEGA Genesis, original PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and SEGA Dreamcast
Also, with GameStop entering the market, it could mean the end of some Mom and Pop stores that specialize in these type of sales. GameStop has been known to push contenders out of the way to get what it wants then charges awful prices while buying consoles and games from consumers at the lowest possible prices.
GameStop is currently set to begin accepting trade-ins on April 25 with the store stating that most items will not go up for sale until at least two weeks later. Each item will be sold with a warranty for any gamers out there wondering about the safety of their purchase. Each game and system will undergo inspection and will be sent to the retailer’s Refurbishment Operations Center in Texas before being sold.
