Alienware offering cash for old consoles now too

There's a lot of people getting excited about the next console generation right now and understandably so; we're getting very close to the release of both Microsoft and Sony's new systems. However spending hundreds of pounds on a box that isn't a PC, doesn't help companies like Alienware, which is why it's offering its own trade-in scheme, for consoles and PCs. Drop off your Xbox 360, PS3 , Wii or PC and you can get as much as $200 off a system from the gaming PC maker.

Alienware has offered a PC trade-in scheme for some time, letting you send it in after buying something new from the now Dell owned system manufacturer, but this represents the first time it's done the same for consoles. It works in the same way as the traditional scheme: you buy a new PC, laptop or tablet from Alienware, then once it's arrived, you send your old gaming rig off to Alienware, at which point it sends you cashback money straight to your bank account.

There are a couple of stipulations though: the console or PC can't be more than five years old; in the case of the Xbox 360, it has to the be the slim version with a minimum 250GB HDD; with the PS3, it can be fat or slim, with minimum HDD sizes 60GB and 120GB respectively. A Wii is just a Wii to Alienware though and you still get $200 for it.

The only downside to all this, is that the console trade in scheme only appears to be available to US customers at the moment. We contacted Alienware to confirm this and it told us that only people within the US could receive this sort of cash back deal.

There is a trade-in scheme for the UK and other countries offering up to £200, but it's limited to PCs and laptops.

KitGuru Says: Maybe some of our US readers are looking to upgrade their PC instead of going next-gen console. Would something like this help you get a new, contemporary system? Or are you more likely to just build it yourself? [Cheers IGN]

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