Gamestop says 'goodbye' to Xbox

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Gamestop rings in the New Year by no longer accepting trade-ins for original Xbox consoles, games or accessories. It is not official as yet, but an internal memo has been making its way around, informing employees that this new ruling will take place starting February 9, 2009. On the other hand, the memo does not make mention of the Playstation 2 or Game Cube - both consoles from the same generation as the original Xbox.

This may not come as a surprise to many, since the original Xbox will have been available for retails sale 8 years come November 2009. And while Microsoft seems to no longer care about original Xbox sales, once would think that retailers would still be interested due to the fairly large homebrew and modification scene that revolves around this console.

One would also imagine that the first console to be pulled from trade-in deals would have been the Game Cube - it has also bee out for 8 years come this November, the Wii has 100% compatibility with most (if not all) Game Cube games, there isn't any type of "hacking" scene around the Game Cube and the Wii is fairly inexpensive and gives access to a larger game library. The Playstation 2 may still have quite a while before it's pulled from trade-ins since it was by far the best selling console of its generation, not to mention that PS2 game sales are still relatively high when compared to the original Xbox or Game Cube. And with the current PS3's lacking backward compatibility, the PS2 market has bee left virtually untouched by its predecessor.

(5 replies) #1 Xenomorph on 06 Jan 2009 - 00:35

Good riddance.
Microsoft abandoned the system and turned its back on those who bought it.

I think only Sega's Saturn and Dreamcast has had shorter shelf-life than the Xbox. I take that back, I think there are still Dreamcast games being made.

#1.1 Steven77 on 06 Jan 2009 - 01:19

Xenomorph said,

When the hell was the last time a Dreamcast game was made?

#1.2 Skyfrog on 06 Jan 2009 - 01:33

Microsoft abandoned the system and turned its back on those who bought it.

How did they abandon anyone? The system lasted five years, were they supposed to keep supporting it forever?
Anyway NVIDIA stopped making the GPU for it, so Microsoft couldn't make them anymore if they wanted to.

2008, and more on the way. The system is still very popular in Japan.

#1.3 GP007 on 06 Jan 2009 - 02:22

That's just for Japan though. They like to stick to older stuff longer than anyone else imo.

#1.4 brent3000 on 06 Jan 2009 - 10:13

GP007 said,

If a company is still making games for it then the system is not yet dead...

#1.5 Xenomorph on 06 Jan 2009 - 17:32

Skyfrog said,

As soon as the 360 came out (with its very limited backwards compatibility), the original Xbox disappeared off shelves completely. It started to go away after just 4 years, shorter than other systems' lives.

After seeing the $400 price tag on the 360 and the lackluster backwards compatibility, those looking to buy a new Xbox system to play some classic games simply couldn't. I started picking up some Xbox games and accessories after the 360 came out, hoping to get a new (not used) Xbox. I couldn't find them anywhere. It was like Microsoft pulled them off store shelves.
I ended up selling my games (like Shenmue II) an accessories to someone else.

The Xbox came out after the PS2, and went away LONG before the PS2 will have gone away. The PS2 wont last "forever", but it certain lasted longer than the Xbox.

I just purchased a new SCPH-90001 revision of the PlayStation 2. That system came out in 2000, and they are still making new and revised hardware for it. New games have been coming out for a long time, and new games will still keep coming out.
While I don't have my GameCube hooked up, I can still buy GameCube games and brand-new GameCube accessories. The Wii's perfect backwards compatibility means GameCube is far from dead as well.

#2 HalcyonX12 on 06 Jan 2009 - 01:03

Good thing the XBMC project has been ported to other platforms.

#3 +stifler6478 on 06 Jan 2009 - 04:16

I ebayed mine (which hasn't been used by myself since December 2005) just this last December. Got about $70 for the console, six games, two controllers and a carrying case. Not too bad for how old it is, and more than GS would've given me for it.

-Spenser

#4 mentalindustries on 06 Jan 2009 - 08:52

the original Xbox will have been available for retails sale 8 years come November 2009

Game Cube - it has also bee out for 8 years come this November

Um so its be on sale for 7 years then. what's this rounding up 11 months?

#5 boho on 06 Jan 2009 - 09:34

That's good, I hope all computer games retailers stop trade-ins. It will mean more will be available on Ebay. Cutting out the parasite middle-man will reduce the cost. Though I think this sounds more like a publicity stunt. They surely will not throw away a lucrative market. My Xbox1 and PS2 are not going to be replaced any time soon.

#6 ermax on 06 Jan 2009 - 15:51

I picked up two backups because I figured this day would come soon. Not sure what I would do without XBMC. I don't really want to deal with building a HTPC for XBMC. I need to do some reading on the status of the AppleTV port. It may be time to by an AppleTV and start playing with it.

#7 Bri- on 06 Jan 2009 - 18:43

I think it's a good move. People will sit and bitch about how it's unfair or cry because of how the market has shifted and Microsoft left some customers out in the cold. It sucks, yes, but that's the way it is. Microsoft reinvented their flagship console, and in most ways, it's for the better. It's the same thing that happened with the PlayStation and PlayStation 2. Oh, and if you want to be technical about it, remember how fickle the computer industry is. Cut your losses, exchange what you can, pawn off the obsolete console, and get with the new.

(1 reply) #8 Defiantly on 06 Jan 2009 - 20:46

I went from 12+ years as a computer gamer right to the 360 about 2 years ago. I kinda regret missing out on the first xbox and it's games. I also regret the money spent on twice a year upgrades, all of those years, to keep up with the latest games. I can only imagine the money I'd have today. :-)

So yes, this was inevitable. ...and some day, we'll be reading this about the 360.
Such is life.

#8.1 LaP on 07 Jan 2009 - 15:48

Defiantly said,

Twice a year upgrade ???

I higly doubt you are a PC gamer.

I did not upgrade mine for a really long period and it can perfectly play Crysis (medium quality), COD4 and Fallout 3. It's an old Opteron 180 with a 8800 GTX and 2Gb of RAM. And it will play 2009 games fine. Will not upgrade it for another year or so.

#9 solardog on 07 Jan 2009 - 06:27

Perfect timing, I just gave my Xbox and all my games to my nephew and niece.

(1 reply) #10 LaP on 07 Jan 2009 - 15:45

I can't remember the last time i've seen a brand new Xbox in a store. Future Shop got rid of the Xbox soon after the release of the 360.

#10.1 Xenomorph on 07 Jan 2009 - 17:49

LaP said,

That is what I was saying earlier. It is like the Xbox was abandoned long ago. If anything, stores like GameStop was keeping a dead system alive this long.

#11 roadwarrior on 28 Jan 2009 - 05:58

My Walmart store has two copies of NHL '07 (yes, '07) left for the original Xbox, although we do still carry a third party controller. I've tried in vain to sell those copies of NHL to the few people that ask if we have anything for the system. You'd be amazed at how many people are shocked to hear that the Xbox and it's associated games are not made anymore.

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