Video games can be fun, but buying them can really drain a bank account, although maybe if your mom worked a little harder you wouldn't have to sacrifice Wednesday steak night, huh? Solving the video game pricing problem: GameStaq.com.
Just out of private beta, this P2P vid game marketplace aims to maximize value for both buyers and sellers by determining each game's appropriate selling price via a proprietary algorithm, which even the worst programmers think they have after a few drinks. Streamlining the typical used game marketplace, GS has eliminated auctions to avoid inflated prices, and ditched obnoxious "trade points" by instituting cash-only transactions that can either be paid out via PayPal or held in a site account to fund future purchases; each transaction's also moderated and guaranteed by the site, making sure you never deal with an unreliable party, not that you'd go even if they invited you, 'cause who wants to hang out with those jerks anyways...you've got video games! Buyers can easily browse the growing collection covering all major consoles, while sellers send off the merch using printable, Staq-provided prepaid shipping labels, making the whole process as easy as making it through the Third Sun chapter of Metal Gear Solid 4 in stealth mode without using a lethal weapon...hahahaha, psyche, that's, like, super hard!
They've even got a blog covering topics from the top ten viral gaming vids, to pricing updates, to the most anticipated games of '11, though you may be bringing back Rampage if your slacker mom doesn't pick you up a steak on the way home from the video game store.