For those of you who have not yet upgraded to the latest generation of gaming console, you had better think about doing so in the next 30 days. GameStop has just announced that after February 9th, 2009 they will no longer be accepting Microsoft’s original Xbox for trade-in within their stores.
The original Xbox was released in late 2001, roughly in the same time frame as its two competitors; the Sony PlayStation 2 and the Nintendo Game Cube. These other systems, however, retain their eligibility for trade-in at GameStop. While the Xbox had a short-lived success and made Microsoft a household name in the gaming console market, it has been overshadowed by its wildly successful heir, the Xbox 360.
Recent reports for Microsoft internal development state that there have been over 28 million Xbox 360s sold to date. This number is a great indication of the reasoning behind GameStop’s decision to stop trading the original Xbox, as much of Microsoft’s core demographic seems to have already made the switch.
