Everyone is looking at different tactics to avoid gamers selling off their used goods to the nearest GameStop. Some are offering constant free content. Others are looking at episodic content and subscriptions. And then there are the lunatics want to make you buy the end of the game if you purchase it used.

Then there's Nintendo. Nintendo is employing a different, unusual tactic. Remember when we told you that the Wii Speak microphone would have a ticket to allow you to download the Wii Speak Channel for free, but weren't sure why? Turns out there's a reason for that.

As is so often the case, I discovered something interesting in the fine print. Here's a tip: if you're buying Wii Speak, don't buy it used.

...The peripheral can also be used without "Animal Crossing," just for game-free voice chat, but that requires used of the Wii Speak Channel, which will be released in December.

But there's a catch, a fine print surprise. There is a pamphlet packaged with the peripheral that includes a 16-character code, a "Wii Download Ticket Number," to be used for downloading the Wii Speak Channel. According to the pamphlet, this code "cannot be replaced by Nintendo or your retailer if it is lost or stolen."

A Nintendo rep further clarified to me that the channel won't be able to be downloaded through any other means. You won't be able to get it off the Wii Shopping Channel manually, nor would you be able to buy it. Essentially, the Wii Speak Channel will be available to new purchasers of the Wii Speak mic and that's it. -- MTV Multiplayer

In theory, this shouldn't affect the functionality with the game, but we don't really know for sure. But since the Wii Speak Channel won't be open until December, one would assume that Animal Crossing: City Folk could work fine without it.