Stores offer video-game trade-ins and preorders in battle for holiday thrift

As the battle lines form for this holiday season, the video game aisle will be on retailers' front lines. With everyone from Walmart Stores (WMT) to Toys "R" Us racing into the breach left by the late Circuit City, shoppers should have a lot of options this holiday.

Sears Holdings (SHLD) announced it will offer preordering for video games at Sears and Kmart stores. Shoppers can sign up online or at in-store kiosks to preorder games coming out between October and February, including some expected blockbusters like Band Hero and Guitar Hero: Van Halen. And prices of popular consoles such as the Nintendo (NTDOY) Wii and the Sony (SNE) PlayStation 3 by were cut by $50 to $100.