Walmart Stores Begin Accepting Used Game Trades

Mega-retailer Walmart has entered the lucrative used game buy back market through a partnership with kiosk provider e-Play.

As part of a pilot program, e-Play leased space and put buy back kiosks in 77 of Walmart's 3,656 US locations, reports Gamasutra.

The self-service kiosks, which can also rent movies and games, require users to scan the UPC code from a game's case. The game's value then appears on-screen, with the machine later needing the user's credit card and drivers license information.

Before completing a trade, the kiosk requires a game disc to be inserted to confirm its authenticity. The value of the game is then put on a credit card. Due to the disc-based authentication, the program is limited to Xbox, PlayStation and Wii console games.

What exactly happens to the discs and cases after that is a mystery, as e-Play will only say that there are "couple different methods" for the company to deal with used games.

Word of the program emerged over the weekend, after Cheap Ass Gamer noticed a NeoCrisis blog post with initial details and pictures of one kiosk.

While other retailers, such as GameStop, see a majority of their profit come out of used game sales, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has doubts about the kiosks.

"I can't see this having tremendous appeal to hardcore gamers, unless the credits are substantially higher than those offered at GameStop," he told Gamastura.

"Even if this takes off, it's not going to make much of a dent in the used market," he added. "I don't see it being a big deal."