EA reprinting older sports titles in Japan

As soon as the newest copy of Madden or NBA Live hits the shelves the price for last year’s edition is substantially marked down. Gamestop goes as far to deny trade in credit for sports games after they are greater than two years old. While selling old sports games isn’t successful in the USA, EA Japan is rapidly reprinting them. Last year’s editions of NBA Live and MVP Baseball are part of EA’s best hits budget line. Now it isn’t unusual for EA to reprint games, they do it with other brands such as the Sims, SSX, NBA Street and the Lord of the Rings. However, EA hasn’t reprinted older sports games in the USA, probably so they won’t cannibalize sales of their recent release. Is this a quick and smart cash in by EA? And more importantly would US gamers want to pick up a copy of last year’s NHL game?