Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Amazon.com To Accept Game Trade-Ins

Posted by timothy on from the this-game-sucks-you-try-it dept.

revjtanton writes "Amid all the discussion and argument about Gamestop's two-billion-dollar trade-in industry it seems Amazon.com is getting in on the action. Like Gamestop, Amazon asks for the games to be in good condition, however they offer just a few more dollars for your discarded game (Gamestop listed Left 4 Dead for the 360 at $24 while Amazon had it at $26.50 trade-in value). Gamestop had already ruffled feathers in the developer and distribution communities with its practice of accepting used games; does Amazon joining the practice legitimize it?"

1 of 242 comments (clear)

  1. Re:hmm? by vux984 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Whether you own it or not is one thing, but no publisher or developer has successfully argued that you do not have the right to resell a physical, original copy of a game.

    They don't need to make the argument if they can prevent me from doing it by technical means instead. Its the whole "What good is a phone call if you are unable to speak?" situation.

    I bought both portal and lost planet, in a box, with a disc, at a store. Do I have the right to resell them? Sure, do, but who ever buys them can't use them. The activation key is already used up, tied to my steam account.

    And I can't move a title out of my steam account. Either I hand over the password/login and all the games in it, or I don't. There is no way to separate out a title and say, here, this isn't mine anymore, and re-enable the activation key for someone else.

    Hell, per the EULA I can't even give the entire steam account away. (Not that I'd want to because I still want -some- of the games.)

    So, even if I do have the right to resell them, what good is it? I can't meaningfully exercise it.