Videogame con-artistry has come a long way since arcade cheapskates figured out how to angle for free credits with a quarter, some tape, and fishing line. Today’s catch-me-if-you-can tricksters are a brainier, more daring bunch. All gumption and no greenbacks, they find ways to get what they want for less by working the system within legal limits (well, usually). We got four of these shady characters to share their favorite schemes. Note: We in no way endorse these dubious dealings, which we will now describe in step-by-step detail.

Trade-In Trickery

When game stores offer a recently released gem in exchange for a few used games, most of us go ahead and lighten our libraries. Not schemer Rory Manion. “First, find a Target or someplace similar with a never-ending clearance cycle of crappy games,” he says. For example, Manion found four copies of Mace Griffin for just $4 each. Buy the cheapo titles, haul ’em to the spot with the special offer, and you can essentially get a new hit game for less than $20. But brace yourself for smart-ass commentary: “The clerk asked me if Henry Rollins [the guy who lent his gruff pipes to Griffin] was my uncle,” Manion says.

Possible legal pitfalls: Perfectly safe, unless you take into account the mental anguish of owning multiple copies of crappy clearance games, if only for an hour.

Something for Nothing

Who says you have to be a loyal customer to reap the benefits of customer-loyalty promotions? Trickster Steve MacDougall swears he owned the three games that Nintendo required to take advantage of its free Legend of Zelda: Collector’s Edition offer. He just “lost the boxes.” Yeah, right. Fortunately, all Nintendo needed as proof was for customers to enter the required games’ product identification numbers on its website. “So I took my cell-phone camera into an EB, found the boxes I needed, and clicked away,” says MacDougall. He logged on to Nintendo’s site and entered the product ID numbers from his photos. The Collector’s Edition arrived a few weeks later.

Possible legal pitfalls: This scheme’s more of a white lie than a white-collar crime—so petty it’d be silly to prosecute.

Going the Extra Mile

Some swindlers go to great lengths when they feel ripped off by a shoddy title. “I bought a crappy game at one store that won’t let you return opened software,” says jilted gamer Jose Quezada. “So I bought another copy from a store that does take back opened games, took that sealed copy back to the first store, then brought the opened one back to the second store.” Twenty new miles on his odometer later, he had his money back.

Possible legal pitfalls: None whatsoever, but unless you’re the sort who washes his toilet paper for multiple wipings, taking four trips to two stores only to break even on one bad game isn’t much to brag about. Sometimes it’s better to live up to your mistakes. Or, better yet, just read EGM’s reviews before you burn that cash on questionable games.

The Fixer

When one gamer, who wisely wishes to remain anonymous, saw his PlayStation 1 go kaput after its warranty expired, he crossed the line and became a criminal: “I rented one that worked and pulled a switcheroo with the insides,” he says. “Unlike today’s consoles, the PS1 came apart nice and clean. I doubt you could do it nowadays.” He returned the busted system to the rental store and left them none the wiser. But our mystery man wasn’t ready to go clean just yet. “I scratched up my Madden, so I bought a Game Doctor,” he says, “then took ’em both back and said the device trashed my good disc.”

Possible legal pitfalls: Severe. Some rental outfits forward your late fees to loan collectors, so just imagine what they’d do if they caught you pulling a shenanigan like this.

From the Other Side of the Counter…

Even if game-store employees haven’t seen it all, they’re sure to pick up on a fair share of the funny stuff. Here are three see-through scams, according to Andrew Shaw, a hard-to-con clerk at a major retailer:

• “Trying to trade in legit cases with AOL discs inside.”

• “Buying a console then bringing the box back with a broken one in it.”

• “Getting and beating a game, returning it for something else, then returning that for something else—this worked back when we’d give full credit for software people weren’t satisfied with.”

Disc-read error: The ol’ AOL scam.

Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Electronic Gaming Monthly.