Your Used Games -- Trade Out, Not In
I made a promise to myself that I wasn't going to spend one second doting on Friday's bad luck, so I won't even mention the certain geometric shape of a certain color and what it means to my gaming life. Instead I'm going to focus on a couple of the great things about gaming. If you're like me and have found yourself with a bookshelf of uninteresting games with no replay value, then you may want to consider my first gaming tip.
Keep reading past the break for just one idea on how you can turn your old stack of games into a brand new stack with very minimal effort.
It was just a few months ago that I found myself staring at several small shelves full of games that I really no longer had any interest in playing anymore. Admittedly some of the titles had never even been opened. Coincidentally, just as I was chiding myself over my gaming glut, I happened to be listening to Wombat and CheapyD of Cheap Ass Gamer who (on their podcast) were giving mention to the ever-growing game trading site, Goozex. I wasn't familiar with Goozex (or "goose sex" as CheapyD occasionally pronounces it) but I looked into it and soon joined up. Registering with Goozex this year has genuinely improved my gaming life all while saving me a decent amount of money. Did I mention that by trading your games out instead of trading them in at a retail store you are also sticking it to the man a bit, too? That always feels nice.
While you can read all about Goozex's specifics in the Goozex FAQ, I can give you a quick run down of what to expect. Once you register with Goozex, you input what games you have to trade as well as what games you would like to receive. Every game is assigned a point value. When you send someone a game, you receive credit for that game. When you receive a game from another member, that games value is deducted from your account balance.
For example, I recently added Manhunt 2 to my library of available titles. At the time, the game was still very new and a number of Goozex members were queued in line for it. Shortly after listing Manhunt 2, the Goozex system contacted me by email with the information of another Goozex member. I confirmed the deal, dropped the game in the mail and I earned a 800 Goozex points, which roughly comes out to a value of about $48. Nice. It was but the next day that I received another email stating that it was my turn to receive Skate (360) for 850 credits. Including some previous credit I already had on the system, I had more than enough points to cover the new game and within days I had received Skate in the mail. A brand new, shrink-wrapped copy no less.
It's as simple as that. Send games, get games. And while you may be a little nervous about sending your games "blindly" to someone else, rest assured by the Goozex guarantee. I initially had a somewhat negative experience caused by a lackadaisical user, but I trusted in Goozex to make things right and they did so perfectly. Now, it is nearly two dozen trades later and my game shelf is no longer filled with old and busted, but is now spilling over with new and not so new hotness. From recent releases such as Forza 2, Halo 3, and Blue Dragon to older, harder to find titles, Goozex is definitely a community resource that is worth checking out.
How do you alleviate yourself of extraneous games in your library? Are there any other Goozex users out there? I can't be the only one! Speak up and let us hear your impressions!
Goozex Game Trading Community [Goozex]
Dear Texcub's Xbox360,
Get Well Soon.
Regards,
Dawdle
BAM! LOL I just got home from exciting pants and belt shopping and found another Goozex notification. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is shipping! I love those kinds of emails!
Trading online? occasionally (shout out to CAG trading forums!)
Trade into eb/gamestop for cash/credit: Never ever again!
Sorry to hear about your 360 TexCub. :_(
Yeah, Game-Boi, I've traded a few times on CAG's threads and had good luck. I just really enjoy the simplicity of the Goozex system and since it had added to my gaming habits in such a positive way, I wanted to give it a little plug. Without Goozex I wouldn't have the stack of nearly a dozen unplayed 360 titles waiting on me that I do.
I love the idea behind this site. I've added quite a few games to my library, and have put SMT: Nocturne on my wanted list (let me dream).
I tried Goozex once but was too afraid of it. At the time, I believe they could ship you the game without the manual or box, depending on what was available. I prefer GameTZ, where you can talk to the people trading, haggle, etc. But hey, to each his own. :D
Anyone have an invitation code? I think I'll sign up, but if I can help anyone out by doing so that'd make it even better! (I'm guessing members get something for inviting people?)
I can invite you Brian. Just get me your email address. Goozex is an awesome service.
@leeatard: You can choose how you wnat your games sent. You can pick "Full package only" if that's what you want. There are also options for the non package stuff as well.
I've been doing PaperBackSwap for a couple of months and I just started using DVDSwap.
I'll totally be checking this out as well. :D
I've been doing it for a while now, though I'm not quite as active with it. A lot of the games I was willing to part with were older and thus worth very little, and it takes a lot of copies of Tribes 2 to equal out one copy of Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Still, I'm starting to let some more things go (just shipped off Pokemon Pearl for 400 points), and because of this program I finally got to experience Phoenix Wright for the first time.