Video Game Rental – Rent Video Games Online Before You Buy

It amazes me how many console gamers out there don't get into the online video game rental world.  I can understand that it's a quite a leap above renting games from local video stores, but now is the time to start taking advantage of these services.  Games for the new console systems are reaching up to $60 a piece.  Buying 1 game a month would put you at around $720 a year in video game purchases.  If, however, gamers opted to rent games for $22 a month, they would be spending roughly a third of that amount per year.

The benefits of signing up with an online video game rental service is quite obvious: gamers are given the option of trying out games before purchasing them without ever playing them.  For example, when a new game comes out, there is usually quite a bit of hype surrounding this game.  People are talking about it at school, discussing it on game forums, and seeing ads on TV.  Sometimes the critics get involved and pump it up even more with abnormally high ratings weeks before the game is released.  Almost too often do we find these games to be a letdown.  Of course there are exceptions, like the guitar hero series and half-life, but there are also plenty of games that just do not play as great as they were made out to be.  As an active subscriber to an online video game rental service, there is never any need to get upset over a $60 purchase.  Simply send the game back into the mail and receive the next game in the que.

Let's discuss a different scenario.  Let's say that you rent a game that you fall in love with.  Instead of holding on to the and having it out for 2 months at a time, you can have the option of purchasing the game at a discounted price.  You will receive the box and the manuals in the mail with no shipping charge, and you will receive the next game on your rental que.  This is great because not only are you playing the latest released games, you are also beating the system by testing the game out for yourself and purchasing it later at a lower price.

Some games out there are only worth beating once.  This is where the online video game rental services really shine  You play the game for a week, beat it, and have no desire to play it again.  The game simply has no reply value.  This could be dependent on a lot of factors, like no multi-player, very linear story, etc. but the fact is that $60 wasn't spent on a 1 week game.  The game goes back into the mail and another game is received and ready to be played.

I currently recommend Gamefly for your online video game rental needs.  They have the fastest shipping, competative prices, and the largest database of games.  Check out my review.