Ten Games You’re Likely to Trade In

Every year the gaming industry is toppled over with more and more great games that every gamer should purchase and enjoy. However, along with that increasing number of quality titles comes the increasing number of trade-ins as well to places like Amazon.com, GameStop, and even Best Buy now. Despite how great a game is, when it lacks true multiplayer or a reason to keep it past its 6-15 hour campaign, it’s likely going to either sit on a shelf collecting dust or receive the 25% treatment towards a future title at GameStop.

Whether or not you’re guilty of massive trading in order to get your next gaming fix or not, chances are, you’ve traded in a game at some point or another — we’re all guilty of this. As Collector’s Editions continue to release and great games continue to his the shelves, the used games industry is going to continue to strive and we all will be prime contributors to it. With 2010 slowly creeping to an end, it’s time to look back over the course of the last ten and a half months and pin down the top ten games most likely to be traded in.

[Editor’s Note: I’d like to point out that this list does not include painfully obvious titles like movie-games and things of that nature.]

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

Enslaved, developed by Ninja Theory, is a prime example of a great game that sold below expectations. Much like the developers previous title, Heavenly Sword, Enslaved failed to capture the hardcore audience out of the gate and is more than likely going to be subjected to the wrath that is used game sales. Despite the fact that the game has scored positively well on average (roughly 80), most gamers will probably wait until this title hits the $24.99-$34.99 mark at GameStop before picking it up.

Considering how quickly used prices have been dropping recently, it wouldn’t surprise me if you could find Enslaved at that price point within the next two to three months. The main contributor to this quick drop will be the lack of initial new sales and thus resulting in a surplus of used titles on hand. Supply and demand is always king in this market and due to the high likelihood that Enslaved will be traded in to make way for games released after it (Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, etc), it’s almost a guarantee to walk into GameStop and find this bad boy used.

God of War III

It’s almost painful to type this title into an editorial like this. After all, the God of War franchise is not only an iconic staple in the PlayStation library, but a well recognized brand across gaming in general. Unfortunately for SCEA, the God of War franchise has never featured a multiplayer component that offers any type of replay whatsoever. Thus, most gamers will plow through the certainly epic, yet short campaign and then dash off to trade it in before its value is lost.

It’s quite painful to admit, but God of War III can be found in any used location at a great price and while this may suck for developers, it’s a great opportunity for gamers to play one of the best games this generation at a low price point. Chances are if you traded in this bad boy it was likely for an upcoming game that wasn’t really worth it. Afterall, there wasn’t much released between March and July worth the value of God of War III — in our opinion anyways.

Despite the anticipation and the ability to deliver upon that anticipation, God of War III falls short in being a true keeper in the average gamers stable of games. Perhaps if it was more like Halo: Reach or Call of Duty, you’d see more people with this in their library due to the multiplayer aspect, but unfortunately, that’s just not the case.

Bayonetta

This one should probably come as no surprise. Released early in 2010, Bayonetta was praised for its great gameplay and ability to leapfrog over Devil May Cry as fan favorites within its genre. Sadly, it doesn’t have nearly close enough to the staying power that Dante has in gamer’s minds. Not to mention the poorly ported PlayStation 3 version of this game more than likely resulted in a high amount of trade-ins towards BioShock 2 or even Mass Effect 2.

I won’t lie and say that Bayonetta isn’t worth the price of admission, of course it is. It’s easily one of the best games of 2010 and every gamer should play through it once to get a feel for where the hack and slash genre is headed. After all, Bayonetta is in strong company with our previously listed title — God of War III — in terms of gameplay and the exact same reasoning as to why it is so easy to turn back over to GameStop to get almost half-off a GOTY contender like ME2.

Readers Comments (9)

  1. I solemnly swear that I have never ever traded in a game.
    You guys who do trade-ins are lame impatient gamers.
    😀

  2. I’ve rented God of War III, Bayonetta, and Prince of Persia. I bought Fable III, and I don’t see myself returning it any time soon.

  3. COD BLACK OPS is the only game I’m returning

  4. No way I’d ever trade in Enslaved, GoW3 or PoP:FS..

    Mafia II – doubt I’d play it again, but don’t see me trading it either. Bioshock 2 I actually enjoyed – more than Bioshock 1, so I’d keep it.

    Definitely agree with HAWX 2 though, that game is probably the biggest disappointment of the year for me.

    Where’s Dead Rising 2? Fallout: New Vegas? Split/Second? Those are probably some of the most boring or technically broken games I played this year lol

  5. @TRF LIES!!! anyways i too have been guilty of this act, at the start of 08, sometimes you just need that extra money to get the other game you want

  6. The only entry on this list I don’t agree with is Mafia 2, I honestly thought Mafia 2 was more than twice as good as RDR. Not that I returned RDR either, mind you. Also, i hung on to my copy of God Of War 3 because the story is absolutely epic and I know i’ll want to play through it again sometime.

    Games like Alan Wake and Fable 3 were absolute crap, though. Those games were pretty much day 2 returns.

  7. I doubt I would trade in GoW3 and I know I would not trade in Fable 3.

  8. well i will newer trade in gow3 and enslaved, ensladed is just a kick ass game that i will be honured to hawe on my shelf 4 ewer
    and gow3, well while on normal i finished the camaing in 11 houres, the chalange and combat arenas, the making of videos + the fact of you wanting to replay the game just to relive those scenes is probably the reason why i play it all the time
    just cuz it has a short campaing dosent mean it dosent hawe replay valeu
    i beat uncharted2`s campain 5 times and i still wana beat it on crushing

  9. @ reigen i agree and both uncharted 2 and gow 3 is great im going to beat uncharted 2 on crushing soon and ive already beat gow3 3 times and ive already platinumed it and maybe one day i will beat it on chaos just because a game doesnt have multiplayer or it isnt really long like 30 hours or more is just fine with me i can just keep on playing them

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