Peer To Peer Games Swapping Service For All
For actual pennies! Awesome new game swap service launches
If you are bored of losing loads of money trading in games at your local game store or sick of waiting around trying to flog games you don’t want any more on eBay or Amazon, then a new cheap and instant online ‘videogame Swap Shop’ launching this week is what you need.
TheGamePort.co.uk enables UK-based gamers to swap their unwanted games by putting you in touch with other signed-up members of the service that either have a game that you want, or want a game that you have.
We're told that the technology matches complex swaps between thousands of members and forms recommendations based on the member’s gaming tastes and habits.
It’s described by founder John Ellen as the "premier peer-to-peer trading destination for video games". We haven't tried it yet, so we can't say how premier it is - but it sounds like a good idea for us Limeys, Poms and Brits.
“Similar sites have been around in the US for a while now and they are hugely popular,” Ellen just told us, “but for me the idea for the site really came from my needs as a gamer.”
“For some time now I had been trying to get rid of my unwanted, played games. I found the only way I could achieve this was by spending endless time listing them on eBay or online marketplaces such as Amazon, and then having to wait patiently for someone to come along and buy them. Once I had found a buyer, I would then have to wait days for payment to reach my bank account before I could actually send the requested game out.”
“Great! So I had got rid of my unwanted games but now I needed to find somewhere to buy the games I wanted. After searching through online shopping portals I would find a game I wanted but would then have to wait a further five days for it to be delivered at my door! It was all too long winded and time consuming for me, which spurred me on to come up with a revolutionary online ‘swapping’ platform.”
Ellen stresses to us that the site is all about convenience – you basically print off and construct the envelope to send your game to your swapping partner off your printer and it costs users 99p only when they receive a swap that they want.
“Down the line we hope to organise pre-paid postage so that the users of the service don’t even have to buy a stamp or bother going to the post office,” Ellen told us.
We then found out that Ellen was a mere slip of a lad at seventeen. Hardly out of his school shorts!
It’s a great idea and SPOnG hopes it takes off, as we want to use it. Check the site now to register at thegameport.co.uk
TheGamePort.co.uk enables UK-based gamers to swap their unwanted games by putting you in touch with other signed-up members of the service that either have a game that you want, or want a game that you have.
We're told that the technology matches complex swaps between thousands of members and forms recommendations based on the member’s gaming tastes and habits.
It’s described by founder John Ellen as the "premier peer-to-peer trading destination for video games". We haven't tried it yet, so we can't say how premier it is - but it sounds like a good idea for us Limeys, Poms and Brits.
“Similar sites have been around in the US for a while now and they are hugely popular,” Ellen just told us, “but for me the idea for the site really came from my needs as a gamer.”
“For some time now I had been trying to get rid of my unwanted, played games. I found the only way I could achieve this was by spending endless time listing them on eBay or online marketplaces such as Amazon, and then having to wait patiently for someone to come along and buy them. Once I had found a buyer, I would then have to wait days for payment to reach my bank account before I could actually send the requested game out.”
“Great! So I had got rid of my unwanted games but now I needed to find somewhere to buy the games I wanted. After searching through online shopping portals I would find a game I wanted but would then have to wait a further five days for it to be delivered at my door! It was all too long winded and time consuming for me, which spurred me on to come up with a revolutionary online ‘swapping’ platform.”
Ellen stresses to us that the site is all about convenience – you basically print off and construct the envelope to send your game to your swapping partner off your printer and it costs users 99p only when they receive a swap that they want.
“Down the line we hope to organise pre-paid postage so that the users of the service don’t even have to buy a stamp or bother going to the post office,” Ellen told us.
We then found out that Ellen was a mere slip of a lad at seventeen. Hardly out of his school shorts!
It’s a great idea and SPOnG hopes it takes off, as we want to use it. Check the site now to register at thegameport.co.uk
Comments
alexh2o 20 Apr 2007 15:31
1/2
Wow! What an amazing site. Im really looking forward to using it. Sadly just tried signing up and got an error, try again later. I do hope this is successful and not shut down by the copyright police under some stupid legality...
SPInGSPOnG 21 Apr 2007 08:35
2/2
Certainly looks very professional. I'm guessing that although a 17 year old had (copied) the idea, a rich uncle put up the investment capital.
But if it's a UK site, why does it have ESRB ratings all over the place? And why do all the ESRB ratings say "not rated" even when the game has got an ESRB rating?
And almost every games availability says "Not available".
Good idea - but because transactions are double-sided, it needs critical mass to take off, and until it gets that - it's not terribly compelling.
And it could require a LOT of subscribers before the game you want is available from someone who wants what you have to offer. Plus, I guess it will be beseiged by people offering Rainbow Islands and wanting Motorstorm, or offering Saint's Row and wanting Crackdown.
I wish them well, but it's an uphill battle to get started.
But if it's a UK site, why does it have ESRB ratings all over the place? And why do all the ESRB ratings say "not rated" even when the game has got an ESRB rating?
And almost every games availability says "Not available".
Good idea - but because transactions are double-sided, it needs critical mass to take off, and until it gets that - it's not terribly compelling.
And it could require a LOT of subscribers before the game you want is available from someone who wants what you have to offer. Plus, I guess it will be beseiged by people offering Rainbow Islands and wanting Motorstorm, or offering Saint's Row and wanting Crackdown.
I wish them well, but it's an uphill battle to get started.