Dec 25, 2007

The ability to trade games for other games is a beautiful thing. However, it's also fraught with peril. Not all game trading sites are created equally - and if you're like us, the last thing you want to do is risk sending your game off and getting nothing in return.

So here we are to help you out. We've spent literally months trading games on various services and choosing the best ones to recommend to you. We've scored big a few times, we've gotten burned a few times, and if we ever figure out where URm0mZah0_101 lives, you'd best get the cops there before we arrive.

Anyhow, here's the rundown on all the trading services we checked out. Granted, more patient gamers might have made different choices, but this is what worked and didn't work for us.

Goozex
We'll come right out and say it: Goozex is our favorite. It's a snap to use, its got more games than just about any other site, it has very solid security (which we were saved by first-hand), and it has been very aggressive in adding new features, many of them suggested by the user community.

Goozex uses a simple system that has also been adopted by several competing sites, though we can't say definitively who thought of it first. You buy trade credits for a dollar each, and each game in its database is given a points value (100 points = roughly $5). You get points by either buying them outright or by sending your games to other users. And you spend those points by giving them to other users, who then send you the game you want.

It's slightly more complicated than trading a game for a game, but it adds critical flexibility: you don’t have to wait for someone who wants to trade your Madden NFL 08 for Odin Sphere; you can trade Madden for points to one guy, then trade those points to someone else for Odin Sphere.

It's also almost effortless and mostly idiot-proof. You make a list of all the games you have to trade, and another of the games you want. Goozex then tracks your lists, even telling you how many people are in front of you in line for each game. When your turn comes, Goozex emails the "seller" a mailing label they can just print up and gives them three days in which to mail the game. When it arrives, you make sure it's the condition you asked for (disc, manual and case vs disc only, etc) and log on to select the feedback you want to leave from a menu. You can even give them a tip. That's it.

Goozex is also really into security and improvement. If something has gone wrong, you narc on the sender and Goozex swoops in and keeps you from getting swindled, even refunding your points if need be. We know this from first-hand experience. And in the months during which we've researched this article, the site has revamped its user feedback system (sending a pirated game used to be considered a neutral action; now it's negative), tweaked its browsing tools and added a facebook app, among other things. We love it.

But hey - maybe you don't like the name? We've got plenty more options. Click on.