The trade-in program Toys R Us was testing back in March seems to have tested well, as the retailer launches said program nationwide today, accepting used games from the Atari 2600 on up.


Yes, the Toys R Us trade-in program differs from many of their competition in that there is no cut-off point when a game is too old to be traded in. As long as the customer supplies the original game in the original packaging, they can exchange their games for store credit good at Toys R Us and Babies R Us stores, along with the corresponding online outlets.


"The video game trade-in program is another way we're providing customers with additional value when they visit our stores," said Bill Lee, Vice President, Divisional Merchandise Manager, Toys"R"Us, U.S. "This program is designed to make the exchange process completely hassle-free for customers by accepting games from even the oldest systems, including the original Atari 2600 and 32-bit Sega Genesis."

Outside of the odd vintage video game shop and online outlets like eBay, there really aren't many places you can take your old Intellivision, NES, or Sega Genesis games for store credit. Depending on the reaction to the program, this could make the Toys R Us used video game section a very interesting place to shop, with games we've not seen in ages popping up on store shelves.

G/O Media may get a commission Subscribe and Get Your First Bag Free Promo Code AtlasCoffeeDay20

As if I needed more of an excuse to visit Toys R Us.

Update: Just got a message from a Toys R Us representative explaining that the games will not be going up for resell in Toys R Us stores. "The games will be collected by a third party that will then resell the games to retailers across the country."


That's a missed opportunity right there.