Game Group PLC has gone into mini-crisis management mode, after selling ex-display stock as new to online buyers on gamestation and gameplay websites.

The games arrived stripped of their plastic wrapping, which made some customers suspect that they had received used copies.

The games retail giant blames the snafu on a mix-up at the warehouse, when it rushed out the goods to meet a surge in UK customer orders over Easter.

And it's very sorry - although it points out that all product was new , if not, in mint condition.

To us, films and games arriving through the letter box stripped off their wrapping means they have been used - by Mr. Postie in the sorting office. But maybe that's just us.

Game has issued a statement, which is reproduced in full by the venerable games mag CVG.