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Games Entertainment

Rent-a-Game 127

Posted by michael from the reinventing-the-arcade dept.
Mwongozi writes: "British broadband users can now rent computer games to see if they are any good before they lay out the cash to buy the full game. This week, BT Openworld revealed details of its Software To Go scheme which lets people rent software by the hour, day or week. This includes games, graphics packages, educational titles and even programs that let you design your garden."
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Rent-a-Game

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  • Blockbuster did this a while back... (Score:3, Informative)

    by BigJimSlade ( 139096 ) on Thursday September 06, 2001 @03:42PM (#2259459) Homepage

    ...at least in Columbia, MD. And it was only games. You could actually go in and rent CD-ROM titles just like you would Playstation games. Guess they didn't rent too many because they don't do it any more.


    ... or the big bad ISDA shut them down :)

    • Dammit, I meant to sat the big bad IDSA [idsa.com]. Whoops.
    • Software rental was made illegal in the US under the "Software Rental Amendments Act of 1990". That law was proposed because Congress felt that rental made it "too easy" to pirate software - sound familiar? Yeah, it's the same justification used for the DMCA. As far as I know, the rental prohibition is still on the books.
      • Im not sure about that. My company did some outsourced tech support for a company that tried rental pc games at blockbuster. Its probably the same people that the poster is talking about.

        The way it worked was when you installed the game you had to be connected to an internet connection (I think they had a 800 dial up option too) then It would ask you for a code that came in the game box. This would register it with a server on their end that would start the time limit and tell the game locally how much time was left. I think it was about 7 days. Some of the game files were encrypted and there was a modified exe file. When you launched the game it would open up the renter's spash screen telling you how many days you have left and if you want more time or to buy the game. It was reletively secure and because the code was registered on their server you couldn't just reinstall the game or even use it on a different PC. Anyway I think they went out of business after a while.
        • Heh, the MegaGames near where I live used to (and had been since they started putting software titles on CD) just rent a regular game (I'm sure they had paid the "rental" type price for the license to rent the game out, but there was no copy protection to be seen.

          Jaysyn

      • Software rental was made illegal in the US under the "Software Rental Amendments Act of 1990" ... [which] is still on the books.

        The citation is 17 USC 109 [cornell.edu](b). Note that section 109(b)(1)(B)(2) makes an explicit exception to allow software designed for video game consoles to be rented, defining video game console as "a limited purpose computer that is designed for playing video games and may be designed for other purposes."

        This may have an adverse effect on rental for PlayStation 2 software, as Sony markets the PS2 console as a computer to get around several countries' import duties and other taxes. For instance, the Japanese PS2 can run a simple GNU/Linux system [slashdot.org], and the European PS2 has a Basic interpreter [slashdot.org]. It could very well be the case that Sony has not released the PS2 Linux kit in the United States because it doesn't want the extra paperwork burden of licensing rental rights to all the game rental stores.

      • Hmm... That's strange. All the way up to '92 I was riding my bike every 3 days to Software Pipeline in Corvallis, OR to pick up some game for $5-7/3 days.

        jedrek

      • Read the law. It is only illegal to rent software without the express permission of the copyright holder. Before dealing with the digital copying issue, there is a simpler rationale. You can't buy a truckload of PC games as a retailer and then turn around and rent them out, because you only pay the wholesaler once, and there is no per-use compensation or royalty for the content developer and copyright owner, even though you derive continuous revenue from it. The compensation model for PC games was not historically structured to accomodate rentals.



        The exception for consoles is there because the console industry lobbied hard for it. Console games have been rented for a long time, unlike PC games (especially back in 1990). The channel revenue equation for console distribution reflects this, just as videotape rentals do. Music CDs , on the other hand, or PC software, or other digital content, was not widely rented, because there was no infrastructure available for the copyright owners to capitalize on the recurring revenue stream.



        You are correct about the piracy issue, however; the law was passed primarily because it is possible to make perfect copies of digital content, but not of videostapes or console game cartidges--or, (or so the thought was), copy-protected proprietary console CDs.


        Remember, if the copyright owner gives permission, you can rent to your heart's content.

    • Blockbuster near me still rents games; however, I've discovered that if I wait a few months, the prices of most of the good games go down enough that it's almost more cost-effective just to buy the game at a discount or grab it on eBay.

    • I don't remember about Blockbuster, but a local supermarket had a video rental cubby, where you could also rent CD-ROMs. I remember thinking, around 12 at that time: "heh! Too bad I don't have a CD-ROM drive, or I'd be pirating some games!"
    • Channelware [channelware.com] (now called NetActive) used to rent games through a deal with Blockbuster. They also distributed games inside cereal boxes that you could only play for a limited time. If you liked the game, you could rent the software online to "re-charge" the CD the games came on.
    • Wow... my local vieo ezy (australia's biggest chain, our blockbuster if you will) rents cdrom games, has for years, most of them do here... I've rented a few games, and I didn't pirate any.
  • Maybe...
    [I'm sure some will beg to differ...]

    but unless they have a good licensing scheme, you could probably hit "hibernate" in Windows 2000 or never turn off your machine... :)

    • Either a packet logger or a quick dump of memory is all you need. Seriously, someone could probably write a quick program that did a memory dump and extracted such games, making it bloody easy for the renting chap to save the program to disk after all.

  • EB (Score:2)

    by FortKnox ( 169099 )
    Electronic Boutique [ebworld.com] offers returns on opened packages, for full refunds. They never have a problem with me returning any game, just cause I "don't like it".

    • Re:EB (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Kingfox ( 149377 ) on Thursday September 06, 2001 @04:09PM (#2259767) Homepage Journal
      As long as you're within ten days of the original purchase, you can return it with a receipt. When I worked at an EB, we'd get people returning games all the time because they beat it, didn't like it, whatever... and it was store policy.

      Hell, the EB POS software has under the listed return reasons, "Did Not Like"
      • I would be outraged if EB ever stopped allowing returns because the buyer didn't like the product. Most other industries allow returns for this reason, it only makes sense that software stores do this too.
      • Probably one of the reasons EB will never fold.

    • Re:EB (Score:4, Informative)

      by Uberwangen ( 518634 ) on Thursday September 06, 2001 @04:40PM (#2260061)
      EB does take down your driver's license number (they ask to see it) and other assorted info. I used to work for EB and they would actually send out letters to people who abused this. Some stores would actually not accept items from certain customers.
      • I used to work in a store that took drivers license numbers and other info on returns but people could always just refuse or say they didnt have one. If they did that, we had to just accept it. I dont see why you couldnt do that for EB too. They also have to accept returns from people that cant drive I'd assume.
    • I bought a psx2 in Frisco, then a month later it quit reading dvds and playstation2 dvd format games. So essentially it became a fast psx. I lost my receipt and they wouldn't make any effort to track down the receipt even though I had my visa transaction number. Months went by arguing with them and Sony and by the time someone actually made an effort at EB, my warranty had expired. So fuck EB. They can kiss my lily-white ass.

    • Re:EB (Score:1)

      by dlb ( 17444 )
      Hey, Costco is the same way... except they only carry the most popular games, and they're usually FAR cheaper than EB.

      ...and you dont even have to have the receipt if they still have the game in stock.

      ~dlb

  • Big Deal (Score:5, Informative)

    by BigumD ( 219816 ) on Thursday September 06, 2001 @03:46PM (#2259481) Homepage
    Electronics Boutique [slashdot.org] launched EB1.COM a while ago. It's the same service, availible to broadband users in the US/Canada. This is old news.
    • Have you seen that site?

      Check out "buffer times" for a wonderful joke. It lists "expected start times in minutes" vs your rated connection. Got 1.2 Mbps download? Start time on Thief 2 is 55 minutes! Only have 256 Kbps -- hour about 4+ hours!

      Nice idea, but if the implementation isn't better than that, they will never fly.
        • Got 1.2 Mbps download? Start time on Thief 2 is 55 minutes!

        Also, from the article: Exent had broken up the rentable programs into chunks that were streamed to a user's PC when they needed them. The chunks sat in the working memory of the user's machine and were never written to the hard disk, making the software almost impossible to pirate

        What's that smell? Is the powerful and obnoxious odour of mendacity? I think it is, because either you'd need a Gb of RAM, or you'd need to wait another 20 minutes for each level to load, and anyway, you could still alt-tab, load something massive, and have the whole lot paged to your hard drive swap.

        All that said, I might give this a try and see if it's more convenient than trialling games from Usenet (and yes, I do trial them, and pay for what I want to keep, or just wait six months for the title to go budget).

  • Actually a good idea. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by chill ( 34294 ) on Thursday September 06, 2001 @03:50PM (#2259522) Journal
    This isn't a bad idea. Yes, most Linux users will just use a free piece of software but regular Windows users are different.

    I've lost count of how many times people have complained to me about crappy software they were stuck with after buying it blind. This could save them some money.

    • you can generally guess when a game will be good, and won't be. If you stick with the certain brands, you'll in the clear. Like EA, Bullfrog, Eidios, etc. Ususally it seems like everyone who's like "Playstation is so much better" pick up PC games out of the bargin bin or some no name pic like wheel of fortune, or deer hunter..and they insist that the pc games suck. Its ashame, because my PC graphics will always be better than a Playstation, plus, I have the options to save stuff to DISK. Although PS2 can save to tiny memory cards, I can still import custom things from my PC, which finally game manufactures have been doing lately...

      thats my 2cents..

      .kb

  • Looks familiar (Score:2, Informative)

    by Wavefront ( 104048 )
    This looks very similar to the streaming software technology developed by IntoCenter [intocenter.com] earlier this year. Electronic Boutique [eb1.com] has made some interesting titles available through the IntoPlayer. I gave it a try a couple of months ago and it seemed to work quite well - although it only works on Windows 95/98/Me. The other odd thing is that it installs a SCSI controller into your hardware configuration; I suppose that is how they create an encrypted file system.

    Personally, I think this concept is great - there's nothing I hate more than spending $60+ on a game and finding out that it sucks. However, I wonder how long it will be before someone cracks the encryption?
    • It doesn't actually matter whether the encryption is cracked or not. That would be no worse than having one person buy the software and pirate it to everybody. I think the goal of this is to give everybody a taste of the game, in hopes that they'll enjoy it enough to pay for it, and not pirate it, even if they can. Sort of like I _could_ pirate Descent games, but I don't, because I think they're worth paying for. If I know that I'm not wasting my money, I'd be more likely to actually pay for software.

  • woot (Score:1)

    by Torke ( 101454 )
    When I was a kid, there was a store in my small town that did the same thing for the old floppy-based games. I would rent the old Sierra titles and just copy them. Heh. Dummies.
    --
    tgm

    • Re:woot (Score:2, Interesting)

      by El_Smack ( 267329 )

      Those "dummies" got to sell the same game over and over.
      Buy once, sell many. Not so dumb after all.




  • About 6 years ago, here in Edmonton, Alberta there was this place you could rent computer games. The name of the place started with Circus(?) or something. Anyway, they charged $8 per 2 days. I don't know what ever happened to them, probaby got shut down.
  • "British broadband users can now rent computer games to see if they are any good before they lay out the cash to buy the full game."
    then
    "The scheme is open to any broadband net user, not just those that have signed up with BT Openworld."

    So which is it? British-only, or any net user?
    I don't see any links to the signup/info page in the /. article, nor in the original article.

    Personally, I'm not terribly excited about this anyway. Pay more money so that I can check out a game I may want to purchase anyway? I'd rather just wait for a review from a trusted source or a friend. ;)
  • Something like this was done in the UK years and years ago (around 1992) for Amiga games. Consoles and their games have been available for renting since the NES days, but this was like, pay £5 and you get a special time-limited version of, if I remember correctly, The Killing Game Show (Psygnosis) and some more games of the era.

    Of course it flopped because the crackers in those days were light years ahead of the Nero+CDR drive "crackers" of today.

    This might be moderately successful on a local level - but for the majority of the world of computer users who don't have broadband it's largely redundant. And plenty of folks have broadband connections at work to forward all those useless 5MB email MPEGs and such with SirCAM, but they are unlikely to be able to justify GAMES with the connections.

  • Have to pay a fee to rent the content, content expires after a certian amount of time...
  • These "software rental" schemes are really starting to worry me. Why? Because this is what inevitably happens:

    Some company (MS, DIVX, BT Openworld, etc.) launches their rental product.

    Some 16-year old somewhere in the world, who realizes that if the code can execute on the user's box, the user can save a copy, finds a way to crack the piracy protection and uploads the crack to his favorite FTP site

    A bunch of freeloaders all over the U.S. start using the crack and getting the software for free

    The company gets pissed off and uses the DMCA to squelch distribution of the crack's source code

    The users get pissed off and distribute the code even more

    Some hard-ass conservative judge decides that the best way to stop the piracy is to butcher the First Amendment

    And now, source code is no longer considered protected speech

    It's not the vendors' fault for deploying these schemes, but the damage to our civil liberties that inevitably results is immense.

    -all dead homiez

    • IANAL, but honestly, I don't see any real reason to protect code more than, oh, any other system of instruction. Of, if you insist, to treat it any better than simple *action.*

      It's not a civil liberty. It's an action--and it should be treated exactly the same. Treating it like "speech" is what demans our civil liberties--not people trying to outsmart software pirates.

    • * Some 16-year old somewhere in the world, who realizes that if the code can execute on the user's box, the user can save a copy

      Not necessarily. If the operating system has tight memory protection (Windows XP feature) and requires all kernel-mode components to bear a digital signature by Microsoft Corporation [1] so that you can't run a debugger (XP is headed in that direction), how are you supposed to fetch the 128-bit decryption key?

      [1] Not "Microsoft Corporation" fraudists [slashdot.org] but MS's digital ID.

      Some hard-ass conservative judge decides that the best way to stop the piracy is to butcher the First Amendment

      Are you predicting that the Supreme Court will have a majority of five "hard-ass" justices by the time they hear a case like this? I can see BSA, RIAA, and MPAA members buying off a district or circuit court judge, but the Supremes have shown a bit more integrity with respect to refusing bribes.

      • Not necessarily. If the operating system has tight memory protection (Windows XP feature)..., how are you supposed to fetch the 128-bit decryption key?

        IMHO (and so far nothing could prove me wrong) no piece of software is uncrackable. So you want to embed protection in the kernel? Big deal, people will simply examine the kernel files and then hack the kernel.

        You have no idea how innovative and cunning crackers are. They've been able to crack code which decrypts itself at runtime opcode by opcode. They've even managed to crack dongle-protected applications without having a suitable dongle!

        As long as all code and data is accessible, it can be compromised.

        • Big deal, people will simply examine the kernel files and then hack the kernel.

          Not if (as I mentioned, and you snipped) the kernel won't boot if it doesn't match the digital signature.

          They've even managed to crack dongle-protected applications without having a suitable dongle!

          Not worthy of an exclamation point. Most dongle-based apps just call a function that checks for the dongle: if (!find_dongle()) {alert("no dongle"); exit(1);} and the cracker just replaces find_dongle() with {return TRUE;}. However, they have not yet been able to fully crack Capcom Suicide [retrogames.com], which does the decryption in a dongle that forgets the key if the voltage to its key RAM is tampered with.

          • [people will simply...hack the kernel]

            Not if the kernel won't boot...

            The user has unlimited access to the hard disk (and if only from a second OS), so he can modify the kernel AND the code that loads the kernel all the way up to the MBR.

            [They've even managed to crack dongle-protected applications...]

            Not worthy of an exclamation point. Most dongle-based apps just call a function that checks for the dongle...

            Some. But a few applications have more intelligent dongles that actually do a little bit more than simply say "I am here" all the time, like the Capcom dongle you mentioned. There have been other approaches like this (I remember Ocean's Amiga "Robocop 3" protection scheme they claimed to be "uncrackable"), and they have been overcome.

  • GOD (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    This has been available to Danes since july I think. GamesOnDemand is the name, and it is run by a Danish ISP.

  • In Denmark (Score:4, Informative)

    by Erwin-42 ( 117944 ) on Thursday September 06, 2001 @04:02PM (#2259681) Homepage
    One of the bigger ADSL ISPs in Denmark, CyberCity [cybercity.dk] has done something similar at PlayingGod.dk [playinggod.dk].

    There are fewer games but it seems cheaper: a game for 7 days for 50 kroner (about 4 UKP), 12 games for 30 days (they select the games) 150 kroner (12 UKP) and 5 games for 7 days for 100 kroner.

    All games can be downloaded (they claim to use some sort of streaming technology so they are downloaded on demand rather than everything at once). If you are a CC ADSL customer, you can also temporarily upgrade your bandwidth for a price to speed up the download :)

  • Interesting.... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by wbav ( 223901 )
    I find it hard to believe that people would not be able to keep the games they download, without modifications to the original game; however, I will not completely discount the idea. Also, being a 56k luser I couldn't help but notice that it takes a broadband connection.

    The two things that really concerns me about this, is first, this would be an ideal place for a virus to spread. With high-speed users connecting to the server to download and run games, the whole system invites disaster.

    Secondly, (as I see it) what is to keep this company from invading your privacy or compromising your system to the outside world? Anything that is dealing with licenses, registry values, and such is surely advance enough to return to the server what is in those files.

  • Usenet (Score:3, Funny)

    by vbrtrmn ( 62760 ) on Thursday September 06, 2001 @04:14PM (#2259823) Homepage
    Yeah, I hear that you can .. um .. rent software before you buy it on usenet, although, you are renting the software for free.
  • I can see it now....

    "I can Crack that game in 3 notes...."
    "CRACK That Game!!"

    haha
  • its going to happen, no matter what. this idea is going to be turned into a source for warez.
  • This is a great idea for the consumers, could be bad for the companies, now they can hype all they want but if it's not up to snuff with the rental crowds then 'pshaw' on that game and on to the next.

  • Red Octane is awesome. They let you rent PSX games for a small fee, with free shipping. When you send back games they send you new ones.
  • I'm surprised noone here has mentioned Sega. They had a great online service where you could download classic Genesis games to your system (I forget the storage medium, but the size of the games were never that large). I remember people saying they could rent Sonic the Hedgehog and Outrun.

    Not to mention the fact that a good majority of console makers are planning game downloads (if only demos) for next generation machines. Sony and Microsoft can all but ensure this capability, with ethernet and hard drive support (XBox has this out of box). Of course, there were also plans to have a CD-ROM for the SNES, so who knows what will materialize? :)

    • Sega Channel maybe? It was a game cartrige that plugged into your Sega unit and...suprise...your local cable network. Subscribe to Sega channel and you could play lots of Sega games any time you wanted to. Lemme think now...this was what? Very early nineties? Talk about being ahead of the times. :)
  • and they have been for nearly a year now.

    [eb1.com]
    http://www.eb1.com
  • I don't find it difficult to get on a beta list for games. Blizzard is pretty kewl about putting a lot of people on betas of their up and comming realeases. I am sure other gaming development companies do the same...if they don't they should. This is a great way to test a game and see if it is to your liking.
  • i keep reading these posts about in this thread about other companies that have done this but nobody knows what happened to those companines, except that maybe they got shut down. I know there is a place here in my hometown thats been doing this now for about the last 4-6 years and they are making quite a profit on it. However, they are not stupid... they will not rent programs or games that are on the top ten list. Only older programs/games or newer ones after the slip a few places on the charts.
  • They stopped renting video games here in Washington State about 10 years ago due to legal pressures. Seems SPA didnt like people renting new games, and it also broke some licensing policies. I think this was the same issue as Renting Music CD's, and how they closed down stores that sold "Used" Cds.

    I couldnt find the law about renting disc based software, but I swear it exists.
  • Some of the comments make me think that the concept is not understood - this is not like going down to your video store and 'renting' the title for the night and taking home a disk to install - the application is encapsulated in a broadband delivery software environment that manages access, and delivers the software to the user very quickly. And the games are modern, not old 8-bit arcade classics.

    Sure, someone out there is going to find a way to crack the encapsulation mechanism, save the game, and distribute it to all his luser mates, but then again, isn't this more secure than simply ripping off the CD-Rom that most games come on now? And when the cost of trying out the game is not much more than the price of a blank disk, you have to be really cheap to still want to rip off the games studios.

    I personally thing it is a great idea - in London a new game costs £40, and it's so easy to get stuck with a lemon. This way works out cheaper for people who want to play a lot of different games a few times.

    Also, it might not be top of your agenda, but don't forget the environmental angle - digital delivery means less plastic, paper and aluminium ever getting processed for the games.
    • Did you not read the question earlier? The one asking "Why do we code for Open Source"?

      It doesn't matter what it IS....just that it is out there. It takes a bit to hack it, then all the better. More of a challenge.

      Because the only reason to do anything is because you can and you want to.

      It is a great idea. However, if man can make it, he can break it too.
  • Are there enough broadband users with enough bandwidth in the UK to make this worthwhile? BT's prices for ADSL are shocking... four times what I pay here in Canada for half the speed! I have a friend in Britain considering getting "broadband" from NTL (his cable company), which I find quite amusing as they're only offering 64 kbs... that might be broadband technology, but come on! That's just a bit faster than dialup and only equivalent to a single ISDN channel! I don't think I know anybody in Britain with broadband at home, and I do know quite a few geeky/techie software engineers. Compared with N. America (at least Canada) where I know lots of people with cable or DSL who are down right scared of computers! Besides the later roll-out, I really think broadband is being limited in Britain by costs and especially by the restrictive practises of BT.
    • ! I have a friend in Britain considering getting "broadband" from NTL (his cable company), which I find quite amusing as they're only offering 64 kbs... that might be broadband technology, but come on!

      While I have to agree with you about the shocking state of broadband here in the UK, your information is incorrect. NTL offer either 512k or 64k downstream. The 512k is either 128k or 256k upstream, and presumably the 64k option allows 64k upstream.

      Go to the NTL [askntl.com] website for more details, although they're very slow on the updates so the information there might not be the same as was given to me by an NTL engineer earlier today ;)

      --
      In need of some dARK Therapy [darktherapy.co.uk]?

      • Ack! Half right :( Perhaps my friend thought that the 64 kbs deal was at a good price to make it a good replacement for his dial-up access. I've been dial-up free for 2 years and wouldn't want to go back.
        • As far as I can remember, the 64k deal is around £5 per month on top what you're paying for your TV/Phone package. Not a bad deal considering my ISP, BTInternet (one of the worst in the country btw), charges £14.99 for 24/7 'free' dialup with a 2 hour cut off.

          I would go for DSL or cable but it's not available in my area yet, so I'm stuck with the blistering speeds of my poor little 56k modem. *sniff*

          --
          In need of a little dARK Therapy [darktherapy.co.uk]?


    • erm.. I have NTL broadband, and it's 512kbs downstream and 128kbs upstream.

      They do also offer a 64kps service, but don't wrongly assume that's _all_ they offer, as it isn't.

      Note that I am paying UKP20/month (less than US$30) and the 64kps service is UKP5/month - including cable modem rental.

      Although the NTL cable modem service often sucks for online gaming (due to ping times), in terms of bandwidth and availability it's a superb service and very fairly priced.

      Having said that, I suspect I wont be using BTs Openworld service - I can rent games from my local video store, or (my normal tactic) I wait until a friend recommends a game to me before buying.

      ~Cederic
  • In my town there used to be a co-op that you could join for a yearly fee of $50 or so. In exchange, you could buy and sell games and apps all year long at no loss. You could keep the game/app for as long as you liked, and sell it back for the same price whenever you were sick of it.
  • He! a danish isp (CyberCity) launched that some time ago (as in weeks). It's here in danish [playinggod.dk]

    I havent tried it out and probably never will. They actually claim that you dont download the parts you dont play, so it's pretty fast to get. Besides adsl i widely spread here in denmark so it isnt that much of a problem.

    I do wonder if they really modify the game so it only downloads the parts that is needed.
  • Why not just download the free demo that most game companies produce? You get to play the first level (or whatever) for free. Then if you like it you go buy the full version.
  • I live in Oklahoma, and before the big corporate video rental chains moved in we had a unique place called Aardvark Video. I only rented Super Nintendo games there, but for a brief period they rented computer games as well. The only PC game I can remember seeing in the store was Beavis and Butthead related. I didn't have the right platform, but my friends talked about how they could copy minigames to their hard disk and run them individually. This of course, was before CD-R became mainstream.

    There was a large, cartoon aardvark painted on the front window.
    It looked a lot like Alf .
    I think it is now a Mailbox Etc.
  • Back when i had a Trash-80 and apple, folks were renting games in the san jose.. man that brings back some old school memories..

  • Umm... maybe somebody already posted this, but isn't that what /demos/ are for?

    OK, sure - you might not get the full game experience that you would from fooling around with the full version, so you won't get to see if the gaming quality drops off a couple levels in or something, but that's what sites like Sharky Extreme and FiringSquad are for. Isn't this just a /little/ redundant?

    Then again, publishers are prob'ly in love with this idea. Not just because it's moronic, but cause it helps 'em rake in some more cash charging to rent ;p.

    -Warble://VX
  • I recently read this very topical article [adequacy.org] on the popular news and discussion site Adequacy.Org [adequacy.org] . This article raises a lot of good points, and makes me wonder: what will video games be like in five years? In ten? Does this "Rent-a-Game" craze represent a new step in game evolution, or is it a passing fad that nobody will remember in five years? What are the implications in the growing broadband market? Will it guide the types of games we see in the future? I'm used to reading insightful articles on the popular news and discussion site Adequacy.Org [adequacy.org] , but the above-linked video game article is a rare gem. I know video games are largely insignificant to the world as a whole, but they represent a microcosm of something much, much larger.

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