I went into Gamestation today and put down £20 on a Playstation 3. Probably won’t get one on launch day, they don’t reckon, but I’m not overly bothered. The reason I’ve gone there – when Game and many online stores still have preorders for launch day open – is that I want to trade in games against the cost of the console, given that it costs an obscene amount of money in this country, and Gamestation give the best prices in town.

To that end I went through all my PS2, Xbox, 360 and Gamecube games and asked a series of questions.

1) Is it a UK game? If no, leave on shelf, if yes, proceed to next question.

2) Will I, thinking realistically, ever play it again in my life? If yes, leave on shelf, if no, proceed to next question.

3) Is it something that, even if it won’t get played, will still be loved? If yes, leave on shelf, if no, put in “to be traded” pile.

I’ve ended with about two hundred games to trade in and the vast majority of the games that I’m keeping are only staying because they’re foreign. They’re mostly very old PS and Xbox games that I picked up very cheaply several years ago, so I doubt I’d get more than a quid or two each. And I’m guessing the likes of Pro Evolution Soccer 2 and Dave Mirra BMX 2 won’t even be taken. Even the most recent stuff I’m getting rid of – 360 launch titles – won’t be worth anything much by now. I’m not going to take everything in at once, but some time in the next couple of weeks I’ll be taking the first hundred or so up to Gamestation. I’ll see what happens.

The person behind the counter is going to hate me, I’m sure.

(Actually, I’m pretty sure my Dave Mirra 2 is a US copy, so I shouldn’t have put it in the bag. I’ll find out in Gamestation, I guess. And I’m already regretting not keeping Mario Golf on the Gamecube, so I think I’ll take that back, too.)