by McKinley Noble, GamePro  

Editor's Note: The following article is reprinted from GamePro.com. For more gaming news, visit GamePro's news page.

In what’s sure to be a one-two punch to the kidneys of the gaming and mobile industry, GameStop is apparently now ready to accept iPhone, iPad, and iPod devices as part of its trade-in programs.

Gamasutra broke the news this week that the influential video game retailer has started accepting iOS trade-ins worldwide, and the credit can be put towards any gaming, hardware, or DLC purchases. Coupled with the news of the retailer launching its own gaming-focused tablet, it’s a bold move into territory that’s well covered by many other mobile retailers. What’s unknown is if GameStop will actually be selling these devices new or used, although you can likely expect the retailer to do so—it already sells tablets, after all.

Moreover, the implications of this move are vast. By putting the iPhone and iPad in the same space as consoles like the Xbox 360, PS3, and handheld systems like the Nintendo 3DS, Apple’s iOS devices are being pushed by GameStop as equal players in the video game market. Of course, that was never in doubt, but to see a video game retailer selling and trading in iPhones is a bit weird. However, GameStop already sells iTunes gift cards in all of its stores.

As the website notes, any iOS device of any model is fair game—even the ones that don’t run apps, like the iPod nano, shuffle, and mini.

Also, iPhones and iPods are notorious for being high-theft devices, so it’s worth wondering how GameStop will handle trade-ins. Will there be paperwork? Do you have to prove the iOS device is yours? What we do know is that they to be in pretty good condition. That means your old iPhones with “dents, severe scratches, personal engravings on the casing, cracked or severely scratched screens” won’t be worth anything to Buck the GameStop Rabbit.