Support NeoGAF

[Slo]

My little experiment with Gamefly is over for the time being. Overall the experience was a good one, but I can't wholeheartedly recommend the service to people not near the West Coast. It usually takes a week between the time I send a game back to them and the time I have the next game in my queue in my hands. This is due to the fact that they only have one distribution center that is located in California. Those of us in the Midwest and East Coast are more or less screwed.

The price was very reasonable. I paid $22/month for the 2 game package. The selection of games is excellent, and being able to keep games indefinetly means that you're basically renting games for about $11/month each. This is a great price for those of us who are too poor to buy all the games we want to play, or so busy that we can't predict a good time to rent a title from Blockbuster and be able to get our money's worth out of it. I saved a ton money on games I glad I didn't buy, and played a few games I wouldn't have bothered with if I didn't have the service.

The primary reason for cancelling my subscription is that my list of "gotta play that someday" games has been pretty much wiped clean, which was why I signed up for the service in the first place. So Gamefly did it's job. A secondary reason is that I find myself neglecting games that I've actually bought in favor of playing games that Gamefly sent me. Seeing an unopened Gamefly envelope sitting on top of my TV drives me crazy, it feels like a rental is going to waste and that I'm burning money. So this means I end up playing games I consider 'rentals' over games that I actually went out and bought. Doesn't make much sense to operate that way.

I had the service for 4 months and played the following games:

Katamari Damacy - Quirky fun, but a little too weird for me. I'm glad I just rented it.
Fable - $50 saved. Honestly the game isn't bad at all, but I found Morrowind much better.
Monster Hunter - Gave it a chance because of the GAF hype, and didn't care for it. $50 saved.
Burnout 3: Takedown - Sooooooo much fun. I probably wouldn't have given it a chance without the service. I'll probably buy this later.
Hot Shots Golf Fore! - I already own HSG3, so I'm glad I just rented this one. I found it hard to find a matchup online, so I have no real reason to buy it. $40 saved.
Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy - I only rented this because of the GAF hype, and found it decent but mediocre. Satisfying rental.
Champions of Norrath: Realms of Everquest - Decent rental, didn't really float my boat. Glad I didn't buy it.
Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge - - Decent rental, didn't really float my boat.
Full Spectrum Warrior - $50 saved. What a boring POS game. This was almost a purchase for me before I decided to play it safe. Thank goodness I did.
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay - HOLY AWESOMENESS. I'm going to have to buy this when it drops in price.
Ninja Gaiden - $50 saved. It's just not for me. It's too hard, and yeah I'm weaksauce but I don't enjoy replaying a level 75 times just to 'master' it. In NG it seems you have to know the game backwards and forwards just to advance. That, and ever since I turned 12 I just haven't been into the whole ninja thing.
Disgaea- Wow. Back in the day I was a huge fan of FFT, but I wasn't really going to give this guy a chance because I've sort of outgrown the whole 'googly eyed Japanese children' thing. I'm glad I tried it, I'll probably end up purchasing it.

OVERALL GRADE: B

I'll probably start the service again next summer, when my wish list has filled up again. I'll likely get a Cube next year and I won't want to buy any of the older titles just to get a feel for the system's library.

 

[kaching]

Thanks, Slo. That addresses several of the concerns I've had that have stopped me from trying it.

 

[shpankey]

i've got the service right now as well (i'm in oklahoma) and i agree with your review. turnaround time is forever and a day. they said they are going to open up another distribution center in about 1.5 years but for now, your stuck with hella long times. i don't think i will renew but i'm not sure yet as there is a bunch of games i still want to play.

it's just this time of year is hard for me because there is so many great things going on with nfl, college football, baseball playoffs, and the fall premiers of all the best tv shows. then i have college courses and other games to play, and with halo 2 coming out, that is going to rule out all of my free time.

my grade so far would be somewhere between a C+ and B-

 

[border]

Does anyone know how it compares with Rec Octane?

Katamari Damacy - Quirky fun, but a little too weird for me. I'm glad I just rented it.

GAF OVER-HYPERS OWNED

 

[Ferrarisimo]

I've been using GameFly for the better part of a year, and I am happy with it so far. It keeps me from buying games that I would normally play once or twice, and then never pick up again. I've averaged two games a month during busy work schedules, and 4-5 games a month during relatively slow periods. From what I understand, I live about 10 miles away from their distribution center, so I get next-day turnaround on those games.

Thumbs up so far.

 

[Tabs]

I've had both RedOctane and Gamefly, still have Gamefly actually. I originally signed up for RedOctane back in the early days of the PS2 because they had a fairly decent selection of import games. I had to drop them because they would get new games way after release date and never stock enough to keep up with orders.

Gamefly, on the other hand, gets games in the same day as EB/Gamestop and ships them the same day if you put them in your queue ahead of time. There also never seems to be much of, if any, wait for games, even new releases. Only other downside besides shipping time is that Gamefly does not ship any instructions (RedOctane did if they had them) and points you to a web page that just has the controller layout (not enough for some games).

 

[seismologist]

so you paid $84 to rent 12 games? It doesn't sound like a good deal.

 

[Wario64]

My review from the free month I got over the summer: http://ga-forum.com/showthread.php?t=2351&page=4&highlight=gamefly

Really? Oh well, I'd rather squeeze the whole free trial period I need every minute to make sure I beat Tales of Symphonia before the week ends (and Onimusha 3 if time permits)

Since my trial is practically almost over, I guess I'll give a mini-review on the service itself

Shipping times for the service may kill the deal for some people, depending on where you live. Gamefly is based in Inglewood, California, and it normally took 2 days for me to receive games (living in the Bay Area). This means the total shipping turnaround for a single game is 4 days. I guess that's not bad, but I've been spoiled by Netflix's 2 day turnaround for a movie. So usually, I would get a game on Thursday/Friday, play the game over the weekend, mail the game back on Monday, and get the next game on Wednesday/Thursday. This is assuming it only takes me 2-3 days to complete the game, which isn't very long.

My rental history in the 30 day trial:


Title Sent on Returned to Status


Onimusha 3: Demon Siege 7/15/04 sent


Tales of Symphonia (2 disc game) 7/14/04 sent


Mega Man Anniversary Collection 7/10/04 7/15/04 returned


Amplitude 7/9/04 7/10/04 returned


Ratchet & Clank 2: Going Commando 7/8/04 wrong sleeve


Castlevania: Lament of Innocence 6/30/04 7/9/04 returned


Silent Hill 3 6/30/04 7/8/04 returned


Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time 6/22/04 6/30/04 returned


Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy 6/22/04 6/30/04 returned




If you look closely to the history, you can see that I encountered two errors, both of them occured on the same week. I tried to rent R&C2, but instead they gave me a Knights of the Old Republic. I told them to don't bother sending me a replacement since I had a game rental schedule going and they screwed it up. 2nd error (which actually benefits me): They sent the game Amplitude on a Friday. The next day, I get an email saying they received the game back to me. Problem is, I never received the game. So they proceeded to send me the next game on my list (Mega Man Anniversary Collection, which I did not want anymore after seeing the bitchfest). On Monday, I received two games in the mail, Mega Man and Amplitude. Oops! Now I could have been an ass and never said I received the game, but it felt wrong to screw them, especially when I shouldn't even have a 30 day trial. So right now, I actually have 3 games from Gamefly, although the system thinks I only have two games. Rock

The games are in pretty good condition, practically scratch free. I guess kiddies can't pursuade their parents to submit a credit card number over the internet, which is good for most of us. The game condition is much greater than what you see at Blockbuster or Hollywood Video. The games dont come with an instruction booklet, which kinda sucks. You can view the controls on the Gamefly website though. Better than nothing. They have a pretty good selection of games too, although some popular games usually have a short wait, which can take a couple weeks to clear up. I think Red Dead Revolver and Driv3r were the two games I saw that were short waited for the duration of the trial period.

Overall, Gamefly isn't such a bad service at all, despite the errors I encountered during my trial. I won't be keeping my account, however, since I rented the games I wanted to in my trial period. Maybe I'll try it again next year when there's a handful of games I want to rent. By all means though, Gamefly is pretty decent and I'd recommend it. Just make a note of the shipping times though...it can kill the deal for you if you live pretty far

 

[Slo]

so you paid $84 to rent 12 games? It doesn't sound like a good deal.

You can't look at it that way. Game rentals from Blockbuster in my area are like 2-3 days and cost $5.50. If you do the math, for $5.50 gamefly gives me a game rental for 2 straight weeks.

My schedule is such that I can't predict when I'll have time to play. Usually I'm busy as hell and have no time for game for days at a time, but then out of the blue I find myself awake at midnight with nothing to do. That's when I game. Renting from Blockbuster is very unpractical for a person like me. Gamefly is perfect in that regard.

 

[Matlock]

Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy - Satisfying.

 

[Vark]

Fable - $50 saved. Honestly the game isn't bad at all, but I found Morrowind much better.

 

[Vark]

Seriously though, I love gamefly. It gets rid of that 'oh, new, must play!' urge and unlike when i buy a game, i don't have to pretend i like it even if i don't. I declare it crap and back in the mail it goes. (Castlevania LOI, i'm lookin' at you kid).

 

[seismologist]

I just buy all my games. Pretty much anything I buy I know I'm gonna like at least a little bit. Only some end up getting traded in sooner than others.

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

i dont like the wait either im in ohio and its about a week it sucks


netflix on the other hand has centers all over and is like 2 days 3 tops for turn around



im cancelling mine after xmas

 

[Gorilla Jones]

Why don't you try the Gamepass from Blockbuster. Its only $14.99 for unlimited gaming for a month. I have it and I think it kicks butt. Plus if you have a GameRush near you they have some of the craziest trade in deals. You should try and then do a review. But you're right, I tried Gamefly and being on the East Coast your turnaround is sometimes over a week. :|

 

[Slo]

I just buy all my games. Pretty much anything I buy I know I'm gonna like at least a little bit. Only some end up getting traded in sooner than others.

Well if you've got enough cash to buy any game that you're even remotely interested in, then you should be spending your time driving high-dollar hookers around in your Ferrari instead of sitting at home playing videogames.

 

[DDayton]

If the price were low enough ($20 or so) and I could get 4 games at a time (thus negating travel time by ensuring that I'd always have at least 2 games handy), I might consider a game rental program. The problem is that there aren't enough games I'd care to sample for the rates being quoted...

 

[seismologist]

yeah I wish I could afford Ferraris and hookers.

I dont get to play half the games I want to try. I only bought like 2 games since Doom 3 came out. I play til Im tired of it. By then everything I missed out on is like half price anyway.

 

[Slo]

Gamefly offers 3 games for $30. But that's the best I've seen.

 

[Gorilla Jones]

^^^Yeah, but if you're on the east coast it sucks becuase there is a week turnaround. That is why I stopped using them and now use the Blockbuster pass. Anyway, if you are on the west coast I would say its still easier to get in my car and go get what I want whenver I want.