Selling Japanese video games for American cash-money
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Admit it: With the usual overflow of video games hitting stores this fall, it's time to purge. The A.V. Club wasn't planning on slogging through the rest of Call Of Duty: World At War, and Red Faction: Guerrilla, and, meanwhile, that old Xbox Live Vision Camera is just collecting dust in the back of our closet. So with some Xbox 360 games and camera in tow, The A.V. Club sought out the best places in Chicago to ditch some unwanted game gear for quick cash.
Reckless Records (1532 N. Milwaukee Ave., 3126 N. Broadway Ave., 26 E. Madison St.)
A cooler-than-thou music destination with a few small shelves of video games that resembles John Cusack’s record store in High Fidelity, minus all the jackassery.
What’s good: You can pick up that rare Grizzly Bear EP on vinyl while you’re there.
What’s bad: They’re disc elitists. The bearded, bike hat-wearing clerk took a cursory look at our discs and ruled that they were too scratched up to purchase.
Verdict: Save the immaculately preserved games for this spot, and nothing else.
Amount of dough promised: Nada.
Gamestop (locations throughout city)
The ubiquitous Evil Empire of gaming stores has spawned franchises in nearly every other mini-mall in Chicago.
What’s good: Love ’em or hate ’em, Gamestop almost always offers the most for games released within the last couple of years.
What’s bad: Gamestop’s exhausting trade-in rules of Byzantine-like complexity. The clerk The A.V. Club encountered hounded us about purchasing a discount card for $15 to earn an additional 10 percent cash for our games, pre-ordering something else to get an extra 25 percent, or buying a new game for an extra 20 percent. We just wanted money. MO… NEEEEEY.
The verdict: Go here for trade-ins involving current console games unless you feel queasy doing business with this corporate monstrosity.
Amount of dough promised: $40 cash and $49 store credit.
The Exchange (1524 N. Milwaukee Ave.)
This Ohio-based chain specializing in used video games, DVDs, and CDs opened its first Chicago store in Wicker Park last summer.
What’s good: Friendly staff—the nerdy, attractive clerk chatted us up about her favorite Xbox games while she eyeballed our trade-ins.
What’s bad: The Exchange is heavy on product, but short on aesthetic—the inside feels like a cluttered hospital lounge.
The verdict: They pay a few dollars fewer than Gamestop, but it's a lot more personable of an experience.
Amount of dough promised: $36 cash, $48 store credit.
People Play Games (3264 1/2 N. Clark St.)
This year-old Lakeview games boutique with the populist name feels a bit like a retro-gaming museum.
What’s good: They take games from every system imaginable—even ones nearly lost in the sands of time (Sega CD or TurboGrafx-16, anyone?).
What’s bad: Relatively little money was offered for our newfangled Xbox 360 stuff.
The verdict: Other game shops give more for current-generation games, but this gaming nerd’s paradise is the place to go for ditching the games of yore.
Amount of dough promised: $20.70 cash and $23 store credit.
Chicago Craigslist
An online classified ad website that is simultaneously managing to help people sell their stuff, find local prostitutes, and drive the stake through the heart of the newspaper.
What’s good: You can wheel and deal games while sitting on your couch in your boxers.
What’s bad: Scammers. The A.V. Club placed an ad in the video gaming section of the "For Sale/Wanted" and within an hour we get this e-mail: “I am Roland from Los Angeles in California. I viewed your ads on craigslist I am interested in buying it.” No thanks. To get more attention, we posted a second ad in the “Casual Encounters” section advertising “Sexy Used Games WITH CAM!” It got flagged 15 minutes later.
The verdict: No one appreciates a good, loving cam anymore.
