AOL discs in new Xbox games...WTF?

[briansraregames]

Anyone else have any problems with getting AOL discs in their "Factory Sealed" XBOX games? I've got two in the last month alone. One was in a Raze's Hell from the CC sale, the other was an Enter the Matrix from the Kmart Sale. Is this a common thing, cause I've never seen it before. How do they get in there?

[RoadDogg]

Is this in place of the game? or in addition to it? I've never see it myself, sounds weird though.

[KiySeph]

Sounds like someone with a resealer bought a copy of the game, swapped out the disc with an AOL disc, resealed it, then returned the game to the store for a refund. I've heard that K-Mart is infamous with AOL discs in their "factory sealed" games. I blame the return policy...

Seems a like a lot of work though just to get a free copy of Raze's Hell or Enter the Matrix...

[zionoverfire]

This has happened to a few people here in the past. Basically someone carefully cuts the seal, swaps the disk with a junk disk and reseals it with glue. They put in a junk disk incase they shake it to make sure a disk is inside at the return desk.

Keep in mind that someone probably went through all this efford many, many months ago when the game was actually worth something.

[KiySeph]

This has happened to a few people here in the past. Basically someone carefully cuts the seal, swaps the disk with a junk disk and reseals it with glue. They put in a junk disk incase they shake it to make sure a disk is inside at the return desk.

That makes more sense than my theory.

[noodles]

I recently traded a copy of Incredible Hulk (XBox) from the CC sale to someone, and he reported when he received it that it actually had an August 2005 Nintendo Power disc inside. Said it was pretty badly scratched/damaged, if I remember correctly.

I had gone to CC twice looking for the game, and didnt see it. On the second trip, having dug through the bin, I took a spin through the GBA/DS aisle looking for stragglers. Upon wandering past the bin on my way to the checkout, voila...Incredible Hulk sitting right on top. My theory is that someone had returned it, although it was still "factory sealed" so I didnt think anything of it.

The recipient speculated that someone at the factory did the switcheroo. Hard to say. Either way, we were fortunate that CC allowed him to exchange the game without any hassle (since I had the receipt in my possession some thousand miles away).

[KingDox]

My buddy works security at target and told me people buy games then return them with AOL cds in them.

OPEN YOUR GAMES IN THE PARKING LOT OF THE STORE!

[Monsta Mack]

This has also happended at my Wal-Mart.

As KingDox said, open the game in the parking lot, or better yet open it at the register and if they ask why claim you've been screwed once and don't wish to be screwed again.

[DuelLadyS]

My buddy works security at target and told me people buy games then return them with AOL cds in them.

OPEN YOUR GAMES IN THE PARKING LOT OF THE STORE!

Open your games IN the store. Then they can't say you swapped it in the car.

[Sk8erlink7]

This happened to me once... man I was pissed, but luckily they let me get another copy of the game, no hassles. I opened that copy right there at the register, just to be sure.

[adamsappel]

My copy of Metal Arms was actually an OXM demo disk. The clerk at GameCrazy exchanged it, as they'd had it happen before. Unfortunately, I often buy games intending to play them someday, and I hate opening them early, so I'll probably get burned again one day.

[dragonxxiv]

I once bought a Golden Axe fighting game on Saturn at Good Guys for $9 and when I opened it I found Panzer Dragoon II Zwei inside.....pretty sweet deal. That's like buying Enter the Matrix and finding Prince of Persia III inside. I wonder who was the bond-head who did the swap?

One way to check if the game has been tampered with is to check what type of plastic wrap the game is sealed with. All games are sealed with a plastic wrap with folds at the top and bottom. If it's air-tight sealed, someone probably bought the game, swap the disc, and then sealed it back up with their very own sealing machine.

[eldad9]

My buddy works security at target and told me people buy games then return them with AOL cds in them.

OPEN YOUR GAMES IN THE PARKING LOT OF THE STORE!

That works if the game's for you, but not if you're picking it up for a trade.

[Puffa469]

*thinks about the 15 or so supposedly 'sealed' Xbox games in the trade pile*

*gets headache*

[solid snake]

My buddy works security at target and told me people buy games then return them with AOL cds in them.

OPEN YOUR GAMES IN THE PARKING LOT OF THE STORE!
mmm dont they have addresses on the computer so they could go after the person that did it?
i mean like just match up all the numbers how do ppl not get in trouble for swapping?

[CocheseUGA]

*thinks about the 15 or so supposedly 'sealed' Xbox games in the trade pile*

*gets headache*

Thinks about the 10-12 games I have that I haven't opened yet...

[the3rdkey]

Nothing beats when I worked one summer at GameStop and EA shipped the college football game without the disc. I was in for retail hell. I think it was around 2002.

[niceguyshawne]

Thinks about the 10-12 games I have that I haven't opened yet...


QFT

[Xizer]

Nothing beats when I worked one summer at GameStop and EA shipped the college football game without the disc. I was in for retail hell. I think it was around 2002.

I've never heard this. What's the story behind this? EA shipped a game without any discs inside? What was the name of the game?

[peloquin17]

i have so many games unopened.

shit. now i have to go home and inspect them all after work.

[Josef]

One way to check if the game has been tampered with is to check what type of plastic wrap the game is sealed with. All games are sealed with a plastic wrap with folds at the top and bottom. If it's air-tight sealed, someone probably bought the game, swap the disc, and then sealed it back up with their very own sealing machine.


That's not always true however. For example, most Ubisoft GameCube games have a very generic shrinkwrap that looks like somebody did a resealing. Also, Konami DS games like Castlevania: DoS and Lost In Blue are the same way (no folds at the top and bottom).

If I can remember correctly, one XBox game - Scrapland - was shipped by the manufacturer without shrink wrap. Some retailers, like Best Buy, put their own generic shrinkwrap on them.

[kjauburn]

It happened to me with Dead to Right II for the xbox at TRU. I knew the area DM and asked him about it later on. He said the problem is issue for all chains with xbox games. The games were produced I believe he said in Mexico and discs were swapped while at the factory. There may be a few people out there resealing games, but for the most part you notice eveyone complaining has said Xbox game. Normally the disc is just a blank CD-R, but with the amount of free Aol discs available you see why they would get used.

Now if you ended up with a wierd disc then I would say resealed.

[chodax]

Ive heard of this before, that stinks.