Mill o’ Rumour: Microsoft, Gamestop to have “Special Trade In” for 360 Elite?
Actual potential news on a Saturday! I’m so freaking excited! Ok, ok, ok…
Earlier this week, when news finally broke of the Xbox 360 Elite, making it official, I was quick to call my local Gamestop and ask if they were taking pre-orders. They said no. Fine. Two days later, I called back, and again they said no. Finally I called the Gamestop at my local mall (Genessee Valley FTW) and asked him if they were taking pre-orders. Again, he said no. But then something odd happened. He asked me if I owned an Xbox 360. I said yes, and he told me that I shouldn’t trade it in just yet. I asked why, and naturally he said he couldn’t tell me yet, but just to know that if I had plans to trade my 360 for store credit towards a 360 Elite (which was my plan, I admit) to hold off because “something big” is in the works for existing 360 owners.
And then I find this…
Over at the Xbox forums, a man with the gamertag “Xx KILLA KEV xX” tells us of his encounter with a Gamestop employee in regards to the Xbox 360 Elite. He says, and I quote:
I called Gamestop today to see what kind of value I would get for my Prem 360 and the manager told me that they would have to see it in person, of course we all know that, but after talking to him about the elite he said that corporate had sent a memo stating that MS was working on a special Trade in for existing 360 owners to get the Elite. Im guessing there is alot of truth to the statement due to all the negative feedback from the gaming community.
That would make things alot better if they did.
You know, after reading that, coupled with my own experience I am forced to believe that there is some sort of deal being hammered out that will benefit us 360 Premium buyers who are, shall we say, pissed off. Knowing Gamestop, I would expect a deal to be put in place that would sound enticing at first, but once you think objectively on the matter you realize that it’s just Gamestop boning you up the rump once again.
Regardless, keep an ear and eye peeled for more info about this deal as it becomes available.
UPDATO MAGNIFICO!
Ok, so I submitted the story to Digg because I think people should know about this rumor, and I do like the idea of my site’s traffic jumping another 200% in the next few months. Regardless, a man who works for Gamestop (and who’s screenname is my life motto) “Sega 4 Life” left this little gem:
I work for game stop and an E-Mail was sent to our store stating we “Will Not be giving special trade in’s on the 360 Cores and Pros for the Elite”.
Yes I know it kinda sucks, but hey you still get some nice cash for your used 360.
I’m just going to trade mine in.
Slight disappointment in reading this, but for now the scoreboard is still 2-1 in favor of something fishy. Sure, the scoreboard means nothing, but it’s nice to have.
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March 31st, 2007 at 12:32 pm
If there isn’t a special trade in, I was thinking about trying to unload my current box on someone at work for about fifty bucks less than retail… with the insane amount of taxes around here that would save him about 86 bucks. I’d be getting more than I would at gamestop, I’m sure.
March 31st, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Microsoft have GOT to do some kind of deal otherwise there’ll be so much bad blood between them and early adopters of the 360. Now that all 3 main consoles are out, any bad publicity or move could be disastrous in the long-term.
March 31st, 2007 at 1:31 pm
So DaveP… you get pissed off every year when a new model of your car comes out? OH NOS… those dirty rotten car makers HOW COULD THEY?
A new model of the 360 does NOT screw over early adopters in any way… and frankly, it’s funny to see/hear people whine about it like it’s the end of the world.
If anything, GameStop will probably have some trade-in offer, but it probably won’t be done through Microsoft. Probably something like trade-in your Premium 360, a few games, and something else for the Elite.
March 31st, 2007 at 2:17 pm
[...] Microsoft & Gamestop to Have “Special Trade-In” For 360 Elite? Filed under: Uncategorized — recar @ 7:16 pm Microsoft & Gamestop to Have “Special Trade-In” For 360 Elite? Could Microsoft and Gamestop be working on a deal where current owners of Xbox 360 Premiums (and Core owners who later bought the hard drive) could trade in their consoles for the new Xbox 360 Elite? Two accounts involving Gamestop management hint towards “Yes.”[news] [gaming news] [gaming] [...]
March 31st, 2007 at 3:01 pm
BurntToast; yes, but thats an irrelevant analogy. The main advantage of owning a console is now being taken away, and that is that you buy one console and you are done with the thing. Now, I don’t really care about the bigger hard drive or the color; both can achieved by the consumer privately and its not that big of a deal. But the HDMI support is not an add-on that can be purchased, and that is where the problem lies.
Again, the biggest advantage of consoles over PCs is that once you buy one you dont really care about upgrading or anything because you dont have to. Microsoft is taking this element away from their console and that, in my opinion, is a bad thing.
March 31st, 2007 at 3:26 pm
I doubt that their will be a special trade in for the elite. I could see a special trade in for the pro though. If you look at the gears of war tournament coming up they are giving away Xbox 360 Pro’s. Which are probalby just elites, just white and not special edition. Either that or maybe special deal for a bigger harddrive or something.
March 31st, 2007 at 3:26 pm
I work for Gamestop of san Diego and we recieved a memo reporting we would offer some special trade in value for premium owners wanting an Elite
March 31st, 2007 at 5:54 pm
Genesee Valley as in Genesee Valley Of Flint Michigan?
March 31st, 2007 at 6:34 pm
[...] can trade in broken ones? Share this post: email it! | bookmark it! | digg it! | reddit! | live it! Published Saturday, March 31, 2007 7:30 PM by AzShrapnel Filed under: Xbox 360,Rumor [...]
March 31st, 2007 at 9:32 pm
I also work for GameStop and we have no word of any special trade in in the works, sorry~
April 1st, 2007 at 12:13 am
I work for gamestop, and now that we aren’t ranked on used sales anymore, gamestop is wanting us to push trades like a machine. Even says in the mission statement for 2007 that the #1 priority is trades now. So naturally, stores wanna rank well and get that extra 2 grand for being top in trades. So no doubt they are gonna tell you what ever you want to hear to get you to bring in that 360. Because, from BILL CHIN himself, MR VP OF GAMESTOP did an email himself to the entire company saying ” WE ARE NOT AND WILL NOT BE ISSUING ANY TRADE SPECIALS FOR THE XBOX ELITE.”
April 1st, 2007 at 1:08 am
@ soulx231
.
Good points, I didn’t think of it that way before.
April 1st, 2007 at 1:53 am
That’d be nice if they did that… I was holding out till they announced an HDMI Xbox 360 (like a year and a half), so it doesn’t affect me, but my friend would certainly appreciate it if they did. But seems like a lot of Gamestop workers are saying nothing like that is in the works… the manager of the Gamestop near me lets me in on stuff but has mentioned nothing of the sort.
April 1st, 2007 at 9:10 am
April fools day everyone! This crap is a joke.
April 1st, 2007 at 11:46 am
April Fools day jokes are only valid one day of the year. This rumor came up well before April Fools. It might be fake, but it shouldn’t be a prank.
April 1st, 2007 at 1:53 pm
to Chad: The one and only Genesee Valley of Flint.
April 2nd, 2007 at 2:10 pm
I called 3 different Gamestops 1 flat out side their wont be any deal, the 2nd said yes then after talking to a manager quickly changed his story to an unconvincing no (I could here the manager in the back say that they arent aloud to talk about it yet) and the 3rd just said yes there will be but he cant give me the specifics on it just yet.
Wether this turns out to be true or not I really think is should be expecially since my 360 just gave me the ring of death and is no longer covered by MS. (I fixed it by wrapping it in a sweater though–I know wierd but it worked although Im still worried it wil crap out again]
April 2nd, 2007 at 2:46 pm
When a new model of my car comes out every year, I don’t get angry because I know it’s going to happen. I expected that just like any other console, it would last for about 4-5 years and then there would be a new console battle. I didn’t think they’d upgrade my Premium! Are they going to upgrade the Elite too at some point? You can’t get far by screwing your customers over, so there has to be some sort of consolation to people who bought the 360 early.
April 2nd, 2007 at 4:05 pm
[...] Now, the main question is whether or not there is a need for the pre-order. I’m in the minority by saying yes on this, simply because there are people out there who want the HDMI support, in addition to the larger hard drive and the new, sharp black look. I myself will be getting one because my current 360 is on it’s last legs, and I need a new console. That, and I want to give it to Gamestop before it DOES crap out on me, just as a little jab to the people who pride themselves on raping your wallet. [...]
April 3rd, 2007 at 11:28 am
Arnold, how are they screwing you over by offering something that’s better? It’s up to you if you want to buy it or not. It’s not like they send out a signal that destroys all the old XBoxes when a new one comes out. MS did mess up by not including 1080i to begin with, but at least they are trying to make up for it.
April 16th, 2007 at 11:58 am
[...] In a story that was FIRST reported here at Xbox 360 Rally, it’s now been confirmed that Gamestop will indeed have a special trade-in deal for your current Xbox 360 system! [...]
April 16th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
[...] CONFIRMED: Xbox 360 Trade-In Deal! In a story that was FIRST reported here at Xbox 360 Rally, it�s now been confirmed that Gamestop will indeed have a special trade-in deal for your current Xbox 360 system! Xbox 360 Premium: $250 Xbox 360 Core: $200 Xbox: $50 Yes, you even get fifty bones for your original Xbox. Pretty awesome, isn�t it? I think so � and I know for a fact that I�ll be buying an Xbox 360 Elite, so this works out great for me. And remember� for once, you actually DID hear it here first. (Too bad none of those other Xbox sites are giving proper credit. Douchebags) __________________ Thanks, Smokey_Vol http://www.TheSummitonBluffMountain.com I like popcorn.. [...]
July 18th, 2007 at 10:46 am
Let it be, let it be… What a strange place here.
October 10th, 2007 at 11:57 am
[...] read more | digg story [...]
June 5th, 2008 at 3:45 am
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