Question about online rental-by-mail video game services

[Dragonsoul]

With Netflix you may rent dvd's but you get them in the mail and you send them back in the mail in a prepaid envelope. You pay a base price and check out dvd's for as long as you want. You may order more using the website.

What I want to do is find a website that I go to and I sign up for an account there and I choose a game to rent and they send it to me and when I'm done I send it back in the mail in a prepaid envelope.

Here is basically what some choices are...
Online video game rental - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_video_game_rental)

Today is my first day of researching this. I will be renting games for Xbox 360, DS, and PS 2. What are your thoughts on what the top companies are? What random issues should I be concerned about? Thanks. :)

[Renmiri]

I've seen ads for Gamefly.

[Araciel]

yea gamefly has ads all over x play....too bad it's not available in cana-duh yet.

[darkchrono]

I would think an online rental video game store would be good for short little fun games that you can breeze through real quick. But longer games that take some time to get through (or sports games) I would think you would be just as well off going out and buying it if you like it.

Unless you like to spend ten hours a day playing a game I would think in the end the price of renting it on an online rental store would be just as expensive as just going to the store and buying it (and if you go out and buy it you will have it forever and can play it as many times as you want (whereas if you just rent it online you would have to send it back after you finish it)).


Online video game stores are an interesting concept but it's just not as practical as renting movies online because you can breeze through a movie in one setting (where as a game you cannot).

I think you would be just as well suited to just first rent a game through a blockbuster store and then if you like it go out and buy it. Instead of paying for a subscription to rent video games online.

[Dragonsoul]

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion might be in the mailbox today, it should be actually. I don't get my Xbox 360($399 version) until Friday next week. So I'll have fun just reading the box for now. This is gonna be one of the longest weeks ever! :D

[darkchrono]

Just buy Elder Scrolls. That's one of the games that you have to play awhile to get anywhere. Or at least just rent it for a much cheaper price at Blockbuster.

[Dragonsoul]

I won't buy it unless I like it a lot. I haven't played it yet so I am not sure about it. I'm not sure about Two Worlds and Bioshock also but I'm pretty sure I'll like Blue Dragon. I am not sure about Blockbusters prices. $14.95 a month to rent one game at a time for as long as I want, unlimited rentals in the month, this is good! :D

I wonder if Two Worlds will be nearly as good as Oblivion?

[darkchrono]

The thing though is that you are paying about three times as much for any particular game if you get it through an online rental store vs. a local blockbuster store (I assume that if you get a game you like you will not immediately send it back and try another game). And then you have to put into consideration the amount of time it takes for the games to get back and forth to its destination (which can take up to a week or more if you add both together).

If you get a game you like and you keep it for a couple/few weeks you are basically paying about $16 (when tax is included) for one game. Where as if you go get it from a blockbuster store you will only be paying about $5 for it and there will be no annoying transfer time.

[Dragonsoul]

Cool, I'll consider this. I am not sure exactly of the rates but if I rent three Xbox 360 games a month using Gamerang that may beat out Blockbuster, I may rent 3-4 games atleast. :D

[darkchrono]

Try it out for a month or two and if the transfer rate is poor (meaning takes more than a couple days) cancel it and just go with blockbuster.

To tell you the truth the price of it has already got me scratchin my head a bit. 14.99 for one at a time is pretty darn expensive.

I get two at a time for Netflix and it is only 13.99 a month (and I can almost guarantee you that netflix will have a better transfer rate and better service in general than gamerang will).

If you find yourself only getting one or two games per month just cancel it and go with Blockbuster. It isn't worth it to pay that much for that little of reward.

[Dragonsoul]

toptenreviews.com does extensive research on this topic this year and did review of all top service providers in multiple categories and compares them. Gamerang.com got rated the highest. The only other one I was considering was Gamefly.com but I don't like the website design and content as much.

They mailed my game on Jul 31 and I got it on Aug 1. So far it's great. The price is not too high, it seems normal enough. I read the reviews...
Online Video Game Rental Review 2007 (http://video-game-rental-review.toptenreviews.com/)

Check that out. :D