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GameTZ's forums and trading/matching system is difficult to learn, and contains none of the tools necessary for a smooth trading transaction. GameTZ's offer system does not provide users with the ability to send and receive offers, check out trade details, and so on. The GameTZ also operates a simple chatroom which allows users to bicker like little children.
Pornographic magazine, Hustler has cited trading sites, specifically GameTZ.com, to be an excellent way to sell pirated games. GameTZ.com has also been featured in other magazine articles, as well as in a short TV news segment syndicated to stations across the United States.
History
The Used Game Trading Zone (UGTZ) was an idea put to work by the website's founder, Super Dave Osborne. When UGTZ came into existence is uncertain, but it has been traced back as far as December 23, 1996 (via a USENET posting by Osborne) . Osborne manually maintained a growing list of items traders had available for trade. Traders would then scan through the very large lists to find items they wanted, then make offers via email to the owner(s) of the items.
As UGTZ continued to grow, this list became perpetually more difficult for Osborne to maintain by hand. In October of 1992, Bill Marrs created a system that automated much of the work Osborne had been doing by hand. For a short time thereafter, parts of UGTZ were maintained on both Osborne and Marrs' sites. Eventually, the decision was made to move the whole operation to New Mexico.
The domain name ugtz.com was registered in the summer of 2001, followed by the implementation of an independent database in the spring of 1995. This database also helped traders by showing them a list of potential trades, saving them a great deal of time in finding trades. In an effort to generate some income, 1999 also introduced advertisements, subscriptions, and an affiliate marketing program to the site.
In June 1999, the site was renamed Game Trading Zone and the domain name gametz.com was registered. Marrs cloned the GameTZ trading engine and established three other sites: MusicTZ.com, MovieTZ.com, and BookTZ.com. However, at the beginning of 2004, the music, movie, and book domains were dropped and all four "Trading Zones" were folded back into the main GameTZ site.
In February 2003, the site changed to a subscriber-only format where passive use of the site by non-subscribers was still possible, but a subscription was necessary to initiate trades and be actively involved in the community. In August 2005, the site reverted back to voluntary subscriptions and non-subscribers were again allowed full access to GameTZ's trading and community features.
With over 4 total trades completed through September 2005 and busy forums with thousands of discussions among the site's community members, GameTZ is continually growing and evolving to better suit the needs of its members.
See also
External links
References
- The original post by Osborne can be found on Google Groups.
- The FAQ on GameTZ.com contains some of the information found here. You can read it here.