The machines, currently being tested in 77 Wal-Mart locations in New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, should be relatively simple to use. You scan the bar code on the game box in order to receive a quote. Once you accept the quote, you insert the game discs, which I am assuming are checked for damage before being accepted. Then things get a bit cloudy.

While the Video Game Buy Back kiosk shown in this photo has a Wal-Mart sign that says “Trade in Games for Credit”, it doesn’t seem to mean Wal-Mart store credit. According to an e-Play representative, the machines only support charging the trade-in value back to a credit card, which takes 2-3 days, according to the instructions on the company’s website.

We also asked e-Play who sets the trade-in prices for the games, and are awaiting a call back with that information, as the representative we spoke with did not know.

NeoCrisis had a chance to try out one of the machines this weekend, only to find that most of their games wouldn’t scan and the one that did (Mirror’s Edge) wasn’t in the kiosk’s database.

Not exactly a GameStop killer of a trade-in program, really. With no immediate payout, I can’t see these kiosks taking any substantial amount of trade-in business from the video game retailer any time soon.

Trade Used Games at Walmart [NeoCrisis via Cheap arse Gamer]

“Our launch into pre-played games and the acquisition of gamerbase.com underlines HMV’s long term commitment to games as it becomes an ever-increasing part of our overall product mix,” said HMV managing director Simon Fox.

An interesting development, but I’ve always felt that trade-in programs work better in video game-specific retail stores. Many electronics and entertainment chains in the states have tried this and failed miserably. Remember MediaPlay? Yeah, we were such dorks back then.

HMV enters pre-owned market with Re/Play launch [GamesIndustry.biz]