I think the industry has partially brought this on itself. Game prices are high; used sales wouldn't be so profitable if new games only cost $20-$30. Also, games have turned into interactive movies: the only reason to sell Tetris is because you've got a newer, better version. You can sell Twighlight Princess or Metal Gear Solid 4 as soon as you've played through the story. (Do you really want to slog through that long, boring opening section of TP all over again?)
I think downloadable gaming is one solution to this: smaller games at lower prices with no easy resale method. This can be extended to retail games as well. In addition to making games smaller and cheaper, I'd suggest making them something that players really want to play again: let us skip obstacles like tutorials and cutscenes and focus on addictive gameplay and don't create a throwaway game that's going to be replaced every year (sports games, Mario Party, Tony Hawk, etc).
Above all, make the games really good. The OP referred to some AAA games on the used shelves, but in general good games are harder to find used than average or poor ones. How many used copies of DK Barrel Blast are on the shelves versus used copies of Mario Kart Wii?
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