Trade-in Standards

I was lucky enough to receive a Nintendo Wii for my birthday last week. The gift, from my girlfriend Laura, came as a complete surprise. I’d been eying them while on holiday in New York back in July so she obviously had taken note. At 28 I’m perhaps a bit too old to be getting this excited about a new video console but it’s sort of justified with the Wii.

The console comes with the Wii Sports game which is great fun. With it you have the choice of playing Boxing, Baseball, Tennis, Bowling or Golf, each game utilising the unique Wii controls. Basically they all get you swinging around like a nutter. My personal favourite at the moment is the Tennis. If it’s a good workout you want you’re best going with the Boxing. The way the game demands you to move is not far off actual sparring. In fact I reckon Wii Sports Boxing is harder than real Boxing. At least when Amir Khan gets a bit tired when he’s pummelling his latest opponent he can lean on him for a few seconds. What am I meant to do when I’m knackered half way through round three? Lean on my 32 inch flatscreen? That’s not happening. I find myself getting quite involved during these bouts, baiting my digital foes with offensive tauting. Mind you, I shouldn’t really take such a cutesy, child friendly game so seriously, many of the characters you fight are wearing sunglasses or beanie hats. I can’t see the British Boxing Board of Control sanctioning that one. I also got a copy of Resident Evil 4. I’ve never really been into the ‘Survival Horror’ genre but the reviews I’d been reading on the internet suggested this was the best game available on the Wii. I haven’t been let down. I would definitely recommend it although you might want to buy a few spare pairs of underpants for the journey.

Anyway I felt this would be a good time to trade in most of my Playstation 2 games and get a new one for the Wii. Most of my PS2 games I haven’t touched since getting stuck on a level or a boss so I thought I might as well get rid of a bit of dead weight and free up some money. Firstly I took the ten games to Game where a staff member offered me £9.00 for them. He then kindly suggested I should try Gamestation as they have a good reputation for Trade-ins. There a staff member offered me a slightly higher offer of £10.03 but said two of the discs (Grand Theft Auto 3 and Pro Evolution 4) were slightly damaged so therefore needed to be repaired before resale. I thought ‘whatever’ and accepted the trade. It wasn’t until I got home that I studied the breakdown of the receipt. They’d paid me a total of £1.50 for both Pro Evo 4 and GTA 3 but then CHARGED ME £3.98 to repair the two discs so they’re ready for sale. THEREFORE I PAID GAMESTATION £2.48 TO TAKE TWO COMPUTER GAMES OFF ME!!! What the hell is that about?! What a rubbish system and what a bloody useless member of staff for not working out the best offer for me. I don't know why he just didn't kick me up the arse on the way out and have done with it. Needless to say I’ll think twice before using them in the future. I’d be interested to hear from anyone who have had a similar thing happen to them.