Once the current economic crisis really takes hold and you have to sell your Wii collection* just to afford this month's supply of baked beans and ramen, be thankful that Wii games officially attract the highest resale prices. See, things aren't so glum!

A poll conducted by the stat-tastic VideoGamePriceCharts.com has discovered that Wii software carries the lowest margin of loss when resold, losing on average 25.4% of its original MSRP. At the other end of the table, Xbox 360 owners typically lose 37.2% of their initial outlay whenever they resell a brown and gray futuristic shooter. Not only that, but Nintendo-published games are also high in resale value -- out of 45 publishers, only Bethesda's games are sold on for more. We suspect Wii Fit may have skewed the results somewhat, but all the same: yay!

Make the jump for the publisher charts!

* You did sell all of the family first, right?

If you bought Gears of War 2 new (and don't live in regions unsupported by Live), you can stop reading now. If you picked it up used, you didn't get a free voucher code for the Flashback Map Pack -- a set of five Gears of War multiplayer levels given face-lifts for Gears 2, which can now be downloaded from the Xbox Live Marketplace for 400 ($5).

Think of those five bucks as Microsoft slapping you ever-so-lightly on the wrist for turning to the vile second-hand games market for your jollies. Then again, you might want to wait until Epic has ironed out all of the multiplayer kinks from Gears 2 before investing in more maps.

[Thanks, Alex]

Marty O'Donnell caused something of an uproar recently following controversial comments aimed at used video game sales. In particular, it was the Bungie audio director's apparent assertion that content creators and publishers "shouldn't stop receiving income from further sales" that served as the biggest sticking point; after all, why should the game industry be given special treatment beyond the initial point of sale?

Not long ago we had the opportunity to have a candid conersation with O'Donnell on this topic, during which he clarified his stance, and stated that while he doesn't feel games represent a "special category," he believes that "digital content is creating a crisis for the economic model of new and existing mediums."

How do you feel about buying used games? We've found there's actually quite a split amongst gamers: some folks just don't buy used games from stores (but will buy them from individuals), some won't buy them at all, while others never seem to pick up anything new. Of course, that last could be due to levels of poorness, but we won't go into that.

"It seems to me that the folks who create and publish a game shouldn't stop receiving income from further sales." That's the word from Bungie audio director Marty O'Donnell, who obviously feels that game developers and publishers should realize residual income from used game sales, much like we imagine the vehicle, book, and toothbrush industries do today ... in Bizarro World.

The sound guru also believes that used game sales had a "big" impact on Halo, though he admits that "complaining about sales when you have a multi-million seller is somewhat difficult to justify." That it is. While it's interesting to see that not everyone is doing backflips over pre-owned sales, we can't help but wonder if O'Donnell envisions a future where companies are allowed to double dip with online auctions, or if a Spartan will pay a visit to our neighborhood garage sale looking for his fair share.

Summer blockbusters aren't just good for propping up the sales of crappy new movie-based games ... it turns out they're also good for pumping up the prices of crappy old games based on the same characters. For proof, look no further than the always interesting Video Game Price Charts blog, which shows a distinct and recent uptick in the selling prices for older games based on the Speed Racer, Iron Man and Indiana Jones franchises. Never mind that these games aren't directly related to the new movies, or that the games are universally awful (well, almost) -- once that old clunker of a game gets attached to a hot new movie, the asking price can get inflated by up to 170%.

We can almost see the logic behind the increased demand, from the average consumer's perspective. After all, why waste $50 on the crappy new Iron Man game that junior is begging for when you can pick up a crappy old Iron Man game for half the price (even after accounting for the recent uptick). The little punk won't know the difference anyway, and the game will get him out of your hair so you can get back to having an affair with the pool boy. It's win-win!

Even without any discount, the Link's Crossbow Training and Zapper bundle is already cheap at $20, but if you're looking for a way to pick up the pack-in game without being taxed for the extra plastic, Game Deal Daily has just what you need! The Woot-styled online shop is offering used, standalone copies of Link's Crossbow Training for only $4.95 (plus shipping and handling.)

Really, for a minigame collection with only an hour or two worth of content, that price sounds on target. Buy it now before the sale ends! You can finally find out what we were talking about when we said the game reminds us of your mother!

[Via CAG]

Following an apparently successful ten-store test program started nearly a year ago, Circuit City has decided to broaden its used game sales, according to SmartMoney. No word on how many new stores will be adding a used games section or how quickly the expansion will roll out, but Circuit City Vice President Irynne MacKay said the company wants to be "competitive on pricing." That's a relief. We were worried they wanted to gouge us.

High margin used game sales could help the struggling electronics retailer, whose sales fell 11 percent last year in the face of competition from Best Buy (which, incidentally, was also testing out used game sales at one point). The company is also toying with gaming tournaments, a 10% off "Gamer Savings Club" (with a $20 annual fee) and a new store layout that prominently features gaming kiosks. That all sounds well and good, but we'd recommend caution with the placement of those Wii kiosks. There's nothing worse than an overzealous Wii Sports player knocking over an innocent customer looking at big screen TVs.

We've long known that used games are the key to profitability for a growing number of video game retailers. But just how key are they? Over at Next Generation, Matt Matthews digs into Gamestop's latest SEC financial report and extracts the answer to that question in handy, easy-to-read chart format. Among the key findings:

• Gamestop's used software sales grew a whopping 444% from 2003 to 2007, compared to a "mere" 384% for new software.
• Used sales account for 44% of Gamespot's gross profit in 2007.
• Gamestop makes a ridiculous 50% gross profit margin on used game sales, compared to just 21% for new games (i.e. Gamespot keeps 50 cents for every dollar of used game revenue it receives, but only 21 cents of new game dollars).
• An estimated 53% of all games Gamestop sells are used games.

While this might sound like bad news for publishers that only make money off new game sales, remember that consumers tend to take trade-in value into account when making those new game purchases. A bloated $65 price tag for a new game is a lot easier to swallow if you know you can get a good portion of that back once you're done with it, after all.

Need to fill a few holes in your DS library? Take advantage of this week's GameStop sale for over 175 used games. While most of them are crap -- license-based software and other forgettable releases -- the titles listed below are worth picking up at these prices.

• Hotel Dusk: Room 215 - $19.99
  
• Elite Beat Agents - $15.99
• Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin - $14.39
• Contact - $14.39
• Puzzle Quest: Challenge of Warlords - $14.39
• Age of Empires: Age of Kings - $10.39
• Battles of Prince of Persia - $7.99
• Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits - $6.39

Unfortunately, these bargains are only available at brick and mortar locations, so we hope you don't mind throwing on a thick coat and braving the winter weather! Don't forget to bring along the coupon we've pasted past the break.

Update: Clarified that this sale is in-store only. Thanks, Joe!

Video game rental service GameFly has a pretty big year-end sale going on through January 4th for over 30 of its used DS games. Though the carts are all pre-played, each one will come with a new manual and case, so you need not worry about receiving an incomplete set.

As usual, we've picked the notable titles out of the bunch and listed them for you, except this time, we've done it in Christmas carol form!

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
DS Fanboy sent to me:

• Twelve Diddy Kong racers Racing ($17.99),
• Eleven Spectrobes for collecting ($15.99),
• Ten Hoshigamis a-SRPG-ing ($14.99),
• Nine Planet Puzzles Leaguing ($19.99),
• Eight Custom Robos a-fighting ($12.99),
• Seven Sim Cities a-building ($16.99),
• Six Bombermen a-touching ($22.99),
• Five of Sonic Rush's golden rinnngggggs ($17.99),
• Four Mana Children ($14.99),
• Three Elite Beat Agents ($22.99),
• Two Mega Man Star Forces ($17.99 each),
• And a Naruto: Ninja Council 3 ($17.99)!

[Via CAG]

The current buzz around the Cheap Ass Gamer community indicates that both GameStop and Electronics Boutique, the latter being a subsidiary of the former, are supposedly suspending the sale of new GBA games. Similar to how the two retailers recently converted their dusty GameCube stock, GBA titles that were previously marked as "new" are now considered "used" and are sold at used prices.

While this seems like the perfect opportunity to fill in the gaps of our GBA collection without having to spend too much, we are a little worried that this changeover might prompt some stores to gut the new games, throwing away their boxes and manuals to free up rack space. That just ain't right!

[Via CAG]

Invariably, we want more games than we can actually buy. We have to make some tough decisions at times, and occasionally, games get left behind. What's your strategy for getting your hands on as many games as possible? Do you do trade-ins or sell used games somewhere, like on Amazon? Do you rely on holiday gift requests to get the games you want the most? Do you rent? Or do you maybe work something out with friends so that you each buy different games (when you can, outside of multiplayer needs) and trade off? The worst option, of course, is going without. Even though we've certainly had moments of that, we still shudder at the very thought of making such agonizing decisions. When you do choose to let a wanted title pass you by, do you try to pick it up later, or just let it go?

GameStop usually sells its used DS Lites for $119.99, only ten dollars less than how much a new system goes for -- might as well buy a new one at that price, right? But for the next week, the video game retailer will be offering the preowned handhelds for only $99.99, provided that you present the above coupon. That sounds a lot more reasonable!

Just cross your fingers and hope that your console's previous owner treated it a lot better than these guys did with theirs.