GameStop held its 'Trade Anything Day' promotional event where customers could come in with (almost) anything and get cash or store credit. GameStop shared with IGN some of the craziest trade-ins.

Texas

GameStop's recent Trade Anything Day event resulted in more than 80,000 items being traded at stores across the United States, with customers bringing in a wide range of unusual objects such as taxidermied animals, road signs, and pop culture memorabilia. The event was designed to promote GameStop's trade-in program by accepting almost any item for store credit or cash, leading to a surge of creative and unexpected trades.

In other news, Katsuhiro Hirata, the longtime director of the Tekken series, announced his departure from Bandai Namco after three decades, citing personal reflection following the loss of close friends and colleagues. Universal Orlando Resort also released a new docu-series highlighting a family's special trip to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, emphasizing the immersive experiences available at the theme park.

GameStop's 'Trade Anything Day' was wild - IGN Daily Fix

What's up everybody, I'm Damon Hatfield and for today's Fix of Gaming News we have the results of GameStop's Trade Anything Day event, the head of Tekken is leaving Bandai Namco, and a peek into a family vacation at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort. This is your Daily Fix. Presented by Universal Orlando Resort. GameStop says it accepted more than 80,000 items during this weekend's Trade Anything Day event, and shared images with IGN of the weirdest items it accepted including a bobcat, a goose, and a physical Netflix disc for the Nintendo Wii. The chain's big trade-in event was the latest publicity stunt from the company, this time designed to highlight its trade-in program that provides customers with store credit or cash for a range of home entertainment items. Normally this range would not extend to taxi-dermied animals, road signs, or people's artwork of their pets with hair like Snoop Dogg, but this past Saturday, December 6th, GameStop advertised it would provide some credit for almost anything its customers cared to bring in. In a statement to IGN, GameStop ranked its more memorable trades from stores across the country as including items such as a tiny Jesus, a speed limit sign, Air Jordans, and tapes of Friends on VHS. Over on social media, customers celebrated shifting various unwanted items in exchange for credit including McDonald's Grinchmas socks and what looked to be a replica of the United States Declaration of Independence. Perhaps most bizarre of all were the taxidermied goose and bobcat, both of which appear to have seen better days. In other GameStop news, a new listing for Resident Evil Requiem includes mention of an unannounced character in the game, no, not Leon. Looks like it's Rosemary Winters, the daughter of Resident Evil 7 and Village protagonist Ethan Winters, who had a starring role in Village's DLC. Moving on, Katsuhiro Hirata has announced his departure from Bandai Namco, having worked on the Tekken series for 30 years. The 55-year-old Japanese game developer legend, who worked on all the Tekken games right up until last year's Tekken 8, said in a statement posted to social media that the loss of close friends in his personal life and the retirement or death of senior colleagues had caused him to reflect on the time he has left as a creator. Advice from Ken Kutaragi, the father of PlayStation, supported Hirata in making the decision, he said. Hirata did not reveal what he plans to do next, but he did not say he was retiring. Hirata has had a somewhat fraught relationship with the Tekken series and indeed Bandai Namco in recent years, and has spoken openly about the development difficulties he has endured while at the company. Most recently, Tekken 8 has caused a great deal of friction between players and the development team, and Hirata has stepped in multiple times on social media to address fan concern. Perhaps the most high-profile example of this came in October last year, when Hirata addressed a row over the sale of a premium DLC stage for Tekken 8 after fans accused Bandai Namco of corporate greed. His explanation for the DLC stage basically came down to his role on Tekken within Bandai Namco, and his separation from the business side of the operation to focus on development. The structural setup was a mistake, Hirata admitted in a tweet he eventually deleted, and he confirmed plans to reorganize not only the Tekken business, but his role within it to ensure community expectations were met in the future. It was a typically frank statement from Hirata, who was never shy to criticize his paymasters at Bandai Namco over their management of Tekken and the company's various fighting game franchises. Hirata joined Namco long before the acquisition that created the Bandai Namco we know today, in the early 90s to work on Tekken's arcade versions, which always launched first before console ports were released. At the time, Hirata was a junior member of staff, but over the course of several years he worked his way up the chain to become the director of Tekken and the face of the franchise, attending community events while wearing his trademark sunglasses and making a fist for photo ops. 1998's Tekken 3, which is considered by many to be one of the greatest fighting games of all time, was the first Hirata worked on as director, and a smash hit, selling at least 8.36 million PlayStation copies worldwide. It became the PS1's fifth best-selling game ever, ahead of the likes of Tomb Raider, Metal Gear Solid, and Resident Evil 2. And finally, have you been itching for magic? Well, Universal Orlando Resorts got theme parks full of it. To get started, check out this brand new docu-series from Universal, where a family surprises their son with a magical trip to the wizarding world of Harry Potter, where his favorite Harry Potter moments come to life. Let's check it out. We are the McLaughlin family. We wanted to surprise Daniel with a magical trip to Universal Orlando. He's gonna be a wizard. What is your name? The Wand. Chooses the wizard. What I read in the books with my mom came to life. To go to a park and you know you're gonna have a fun experience, but this was beyond just a fun family outing. This was really special. To discover more about the wizarding world of Harry Potter and Universal Orlando Resorts, check out the full docu-series on Universal Orlando's YouTube channel, or head to UniversalOrlando.com to start planning your next big vacation. And that is your Daily Fix for Monday, December 8th. Now that you caught up on the news, watch our video revealing the 2025 Game of the Year nominees. I'm Damon Hatfield, and for all your video game news, stay tuned to IGN.

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