With gas prices going up and experts projecting that food might get more expensive too, many Americans might be in that stage where they’re looking around the house for old junk to sell or trade in. They might want to check on that box of old video game controllers in the attic.
GameStop announced this week that it considers three consoles that might have been lying around since “House M.D.” and “Desperate Housewives” were still airing new episodes “officially retro consoles.” Before millennials lament their fading youth, they can head over to their nearest GameStop for a Retro Trade-In bonus through Saturday, March 21.
Consoles eligible for the trade-in deal are the Sony PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii U. With the trade-in, customers will get an additional 10% trade credit.
“The ruling was reached following careful analysis of multiple indicators including: the presence of component cables, the lack of Fortnite, and the realization that they launched when George W. Bush was still president,” said GameStop in a Monday social media post.
It said that the three consoles now join the ranks of other “beloved” retro gaming devices such as the Sega Saturn and the Nintendo DS. In addition to the three newly classified retro consoles, people can bring in other older consoles, games and accessories for the 10% trade credit. A full list is available at www.gamestop.com/video-games/retro-gaming.
“GameStop is pleased to announce stores now accept defective retro consoles on trade,” the social media announcement said. “Customers may now trade in these historic artifacts even if they are non-operable, missing accessories, or aesthetically unfortunate; they just need to power on.”
Even though the consoles are now retro, GameStop very politely assured its customers that they are “still very cool, and anyone who owned one at launch is absolutely not old.”
Polling resulted released by Economist/YouGov this week showed that nearly 60% of Americans think the economy is getting worse (the highest share since October 2022), so getting a deal on old tech might outweigh vanity in this economy. Participating GameStop stores can be found on the company website here.