Review: RedOctane Game Rental Service

An anonymous reader writes "Are you thinking of subscribing to the RedOctane game rental service? If so, you may wish to read this review before signing up. Bottom line? Slow turnaound times make it uncompetitive with local rentals."

However...

[RyuuzakiTetsuya]

First post? I dunno.

The VARIETY can't be beat. The sheer number of import games ALONE makes it worth while. I'd like to see an import store that does rentals. or a rental store that does imports. Atleast in Las Vegas where I live.

Blockbuster Games Freedom Pass

[Anonymous Coward]

Isnt it better to get a $20 or so /month games
freedom pass from blockbuster? Get as many
games as you wish for a month.

Nothing new

[Wind_Walker]

This is the exact same thing as with buying games online. For about a year, I bought all my games online and had them shipped to me. I thought, "Hey, I don't have to pick up my games at the store, they're right on my doorstep!" But eventually, I got tired of waiting for terrible shipping delays, having my shipments sent back because nobody was available to pick up at 10:00 in the morning (does UPS realize that people work during the day and can't pick up packages at home?)

It's ten times simpler to buy it at a local store. They worry about shipping charges, they worry about pickups of games, and they always get the games at the earliest possible date - sometimes before. You also have the convenience of walking home with the game, and also interaction with other gamers. I originally had no clue what Serious Sam was until I went into an EB and heard people talking about it. It's one of the best FPS games I've ever played, and it's only $20.

There are only two reasons to buy something online:

• It's so unbelievably rare that you'd likely never find it in a store
• It's significantly cheaper to buy it online (after shipping) and you don't mind when you get it.

This rental service is just proving that all over again.

Blockbuster's Freedom Pass...

[tjgrant]

I've bought a couple of them for my three sons and myself. $19.95, two games out at a time, as many games as you can get in 30 days. It's a heck of a deal, there've even been times where we got a game in the morning, decided it sucked and returned it that afternoon for something new.

I usually get one game for the kids (T rating or lower and one game for me M rated). [I have to get something that only I can play cause my kids kick my butt on anything I play with them!].

Blockbuster doesn't necessarily have the best selection, but they've generally got enough to keep us interested.

Netflix

[wandernotlost]

Having just acquired a new PS2, I'm wishing that Netflix rented games as well as movies. I think this model is perfect for games, because you could actually keep the game for a few weeks and play it leisurely, without penalty. Since I already have their subscription for movies, though, I'm not willing to shell out another $20 just for a games subscription. I'm not a big gamer, and I just want to play occasionally, so I just can't justify the expense.

Netflix certainly have the movie thing down, though. Since they opened a warehouse near Boston, I've been getting DVDs sometimes as soon as 2 days after I put the last one in the mail. 1 day for it to get to them, and another day for another movie to get back to me. That's impressive! And well worth the price tag, if you ask me.

game playtime life vs. dvd enjoyability time

[gl4ss]

well, how long does a game stay on the 'wanted' list of a gamer(even on the consoles)? 1 month? 3 months?

compare that to the life of a dvd release, you can still enjoy 3 years old dvd releases, which are made from movies that are friggin 30+ years old themself.

my point? it's much cheaper to run dvd renting business than game rental(thus allowing more money to go into posting&etc)..