Seems everyone wants a piece of the pre-owned pie with HMV joining the pre-owned market in 2008 adding to publisher woes as more and more consumers buy traded-in games.

High Street retailer Argos is following suit by offering their customers vouchers to spend in store in exchange for pre-played games.

Currently, the move is in its trial stages and is being rolled out in just 27 of the UK chain's 735 stores. For now the plans remain wide open, with no definitive word on the length of the trial or whether it will be extended to other stores.

Argos are only offering trade-in exhanges on a select number of console titles, paying £22 for Assassin's Creed II and £11 for GTAIV, but rather than giving customers cash for trades, Argos is exchanging games for gift vouchers which can be spent on anything in store.

Sales of pre-owned games are responsible for a chunk of lost revenue, hitting developers and publishers right in the coffers, which is why EA is attempting to combat their proliferation with a recent "Project Ten Dollar" initiative, wherein new copies of the game come packaged with a single-use code entitling the buyer to exclusive DLC. 

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]