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Games Entertainment

Game Rentals Even Bigger Business 45

Posted by simoniker from the blockbusting-profits-indeed dept.
Thanks to the VDSA (Video Software Dealers Association), who have released new information from its 2003 Annual Report, including the information that "Gamers spent $722 million renting video game software [in the US] in 2002." This is significantly up from the 2002 Annual Report, which gave a figure of $633.6 million for game rentals in 2001, and presents an interesting comparison to DVD rentals, which were $2.9 billion in 2002. The report also reveals that "65 million people own at least one game console", and, for what it's worth, that "the majority of console video game users prefer ultrarealism and sports competition." Now, if they could only invent an anti-scratch coating for game rental discs...
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Game Rentals Even Bigger Business More

Game Rentals Even Bigger Business

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  • And This is Surprising Why...? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by LordYUK ( 552359 ) <jeffwright821.gmail@com> on Wednesday August 06, 2003 @06:55AM (#6624402)
    With all the 2-3 hour games out there, would YOU want to spend 50 bucks on them? Hell no. Couple that with the fact that everyone I know with at least 1 current gen console owns another (in other words, most of us own PS2s and either GC or Xbox, or all three) PLUS a PC (which we use mostly for gaming), and it equals lots of hardware, but no software.

    Now, we HAVE to buy the PC games because they dont rent those, but for a weekend of fun, 5 bucks is hard to beat (and since you blockbuster and hollywood video give about 5 or so days for 5 bucks, its not THAT bad a deal).

    Also, in the days of the NES, many of us got burned with games that were 50+ bucks (catridges were expensive!) that royally sucked (deadly towers anyone? Sqoon?), why the heck would we want to get burned again? IF its a good game, you go out and buy it after the rental... if it sucks, well, you've only lost 5 bucks.

  • the netflix of console gaming (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 06, 2003 @07:00AM (#6624439)
    Gamefly [gamefly.com] I haven't tried them yet, but I like their rent-to-own policy. Anyone have any experience with them?
    • Yeah, I knew there was a Netflix-like service out there for games... Gamefly was what I was thinking of, but I did a Google search anyway. I had no idea how many of these companies have sprung up now!

      Just look at this list! [google.com]

      It's amazing... it's clearly pretty easy to copy a successful formula. [slashdot.org]

      Checking the order of companies on that list also tells me that Gamefly (who, I believe, was first to market with the video-game version of this business) needs to do some adjustment to their pages to get a bett

    • I've been a Gamefly subscriber for a few months now. I've got to say, I've been very impressed. They have a very good selection of games and the site is quite easy to use (pretty much just like Netflix). Every game I've gotten from them has arrived quickly, worked, and was packaged very well. Customer support answered my emails fast. No complaints here.

      Now, if I could only get them to restock Rez for the PS2...
    • After a month with gamefly I wrote a full review here. [bitsmack.com] Overall I am extremely happy with the service.
    • I've used RedOctane for some time now, and I'm happy with them. They don't have the rent-to-own policy, but they do have games for the Playstation 1 & Dreamcast games, and they have some imports. The recent additon of some anime titles is nice, though the selection of such is still pretty bad.

      Also, they ship the game manuals with the game, and they're cheaper.
  • Well of course game rental profits are up. Have you rented a game lately? I rented Wario World [everything2.com] last week and paid $7 for the opportunity. Then I beat the game - start to finish - with only five hours of play time. I remember back in the days of the NES paying $4 for a four day rental with extra days costing $0.50. The late fees now at more along the lines of $6 a day. High prices and short games leave a bad taste in my mouth when it comes to rentals.

    • Re:Well Of Course! (Score:3, Insightful)

      by LordYUK ( 552359 )
      If you spent 5 hours playing it, thats roughly 1.4 bucks an hour at 7 bucks, and since you beat it, you'll never have to play it again... please show me another activity (that costs money) where you can spend 7 bucks and get 5 hours of entertainment.

    • Yeah, that pisses me off. Especially since most games suck and I end up returning it the next day.

      As far as scratches go, I saw a few years ago this product called a DVD condom. It was a little plastic slipcover type deal that stayed on the DVD, and if it go torn up you just replaced it with another one. I never understood why this didn't catch on with rental places. If DVD had been done right they'd all come in plastic like minidiscs do.

      • Re:Well Of Course! (Score:3, Insightful)

        by LordYUK ( 552359 )
        I'm really confused... when I go to {insert game store here} and buy a $50 game, and it sucks, and I am stuck with it, THEN I get pissed.

        When I go to Blockbuster and pony up 5.99 and get a dud, I chalk it up as a "well, at least I didnt buy it"... and generally I dont rent stuff that I wouldnt have bought if there WAS no place to rent it.

        Why get pissed because the rental stunk? thats GOOD, you just saved about 45 bucks from not BUYING the game.

        Its just a silly waste of energy to get mad because a RENTAL

        • Re:Well Of Course! (Score:2, Insightful)

          by suyashs ( 645036 )
          Thats why you figure out if the game is worth your $50 by reading online reviews, talking to your friends and looking at how well done the cover of the game is (the better the back of the packaging looks, the worse the game usually is)...
          • I read nothing but good reviews of GTA, took about 3 days for me to hate that, and it was purchased not rented.

            The most recent rental (I didn't choose it) was Army Men Sarge's Heros 2, which sucked. I wanted to get Mario Golf, but alas it was out...
            • You should have asked a friend who had GTA (it was a huge seller, so somone you know should have had it), and if you did know someone who did, you could have asked to play it for a bit...
          • Mario Golf is fucking amazing. Trust me, it's a welcomed addition to my library of Gamecube games - and when Mario Tennis comes out, it can join its brother. Camelot did an amazing job, and the end result is a rediculously fun game, especially multiplayer (oh the taunts!) So go get it already.
    • I don't know where you're renting from - "$6 a day?" Blockbuster, at least here (I'm not sure if this is national, but this is the way it is here in the Charlotte, NC, area) has game rentals for $5.99 for 9 days - if you rent on Saturday, it's due back noon the NEXT Sunday.

      The catch - they no longer have late fees. It USED TO BE that it was $2/day. Now, they simply renew your rental. If you return on 1pm on Sunday, you have to pay an extra $5.99. If you return on 10am the following Thursday, it's still
  • I used to host rather big parties and would often rent a few Playstations and N64's (along with a bunch of games ^^). I would also always rent the console I was considering buying. All of the stores around me (yes, even Blockbuster) have stopped renting actual consoles, however. They claim the new CD based units wear out too quickly for them to make a profit renting them (which I have to agree with since I'm on my third playstation and have heard bad things about playstation 2...)

    Anyway, it seems to me
  • I bet stores like Blockbuster have lots of frustrated customers who complain about how nearly all rented DVDs and video game discs don't work due to previous morons putting thier many thumbs all of over the data area. I would bet it is frustrating for Blockbuter, too, who are trying hard to ride the DVD wave.

    Why can't they put some sort of automatic disc-washing machine into each store? I've already gotten into a habit of hand-washing each and every movie and game disc that I rent, lest the movie crap ou

  • my job to help the economy (Score:5, Funny)

    by sabinm ( 447146 ) on Wednesday August 06, 2003 @09:01AM (#6625185) Homepage Journal
    they didn't mention that half of that $722 million was me paying late fees on final fantasy x and kotor. ;|
  • The majority of the time I will rent a game before I buy it. $50 is a lot of money to spend on a game and I'm not willing to gamble if a game is good or not. Many times I'll rent a game and be sick with it before it's even time to return it or it just plain sucks. I'd rather spend $5 than $50.

    Currently I'm living in Germany and am using GamesforRent.com [gamesforrent.com]. It's a great service. I've used it for over 6 months and haven't had any problems.

  • "Now, if they could only invent an anti-scratch coating for game rental discs... "

    there is one, its called "responsible renters."

    if blockbuster gave away a free rental to customers who return five game rentals without a scratch (zero tolerance policy), i bet the amount of disk abuse would drop measurably.
  • "Thanks to the VDSA (Video Software Dealers Association)...."

    Silly me, I would have thought the acronym for Video Software Dealers Association would have been VSDA. Great job, Slashdot editors!
  • "Now, if they could only invent an anti-scratch coating for game rental discs..."

    I haven't heard of one yet, but there's this [digitalinnovations.com]...
    • For ps2 games, they could switch to those new TDK "Armor plated" DVDs...Supposedly you can write on them with a sharie marker and still be able to read the data...(I would assume you'd have to find some way to remove the sharpie ink first, but still)...

      Steven V.
  • I rent games. Why? Because I don't like paying for them. If I want myself a copy of a brand new Playstation or Nintendo game, all I have to do is pay a few dollars to rent it, take it home, and rip it into a ROM. This can be done with any console game, provided of course you have the accomodating hardware to rip it with, and it's much cheaper than actually buying it. It's also much more reliable than searching for hours on Kazaa. Especially if it's one of those DVD games or multi CD games like Playstation 1
    • If you don't respect the copyrights of others why should anyone respect yours?

      From the bottom of every page on your site.

      Site version 5.3, design 10
      (C) 2003 Eric Newport. All rights reserved
      14948 unique hits since 11.08.2001
      • If you don't respect the copyrights of others why should anyone respect yours? From the bottom of every page on your site. Site version 5.3, design 10 (C) 2003 Eric Newport. All rights reserved?
        Go ahead and pirate yourself as many copies as you want of all the stuff I offer on my website for free. =P
  • I've been renting games since the original NES. It's a great way of try before you buy. Then again, I worked through the games in a weekend, so I saved a ton of money by not buying all of them.
    Now, it's no different. There are plenty of cool games out there. But most of them are not worthy of my $50.
  • Anyone know if the developers get any kind of kickback when their games get rented?

    I don't want to start a filesharing type discussion about whether it's fair, legal, moral, or anything else for the rental store to profit from renting out the same game to multiple people. I'm just wondering from an economic standpoint whether in increase in rentals is good or bad for the game industry.

    If the publisher/developer gets paid a small percentage of every rental, all is good. If not, then theoretically speakin

    • I'm not an expert on renting organization's buying policys, but I think they buy the games directly from the publishers, in turn, the publishers/developers get a higher cut for that game. However, it's gets sticky when the renters gain profit from potential lost sales from games that would have been bought regulary. Correct me if I am wrong, please.
    • The rental stores pay a larger fee for each title that they intend to rent. Legally, they have to because they are profitting off the distribution of the game/film.

      For example, you or I can go to the store and buy Daredevil on DVD for about $20US. But Blockbuster or Joe's Movies, pays something more like $125US for each copy that they intend to rent. The copies that they intend to sell, they pay something more along the lines of $10US.

  • ...because of Enter The Matrix. Goddamn, that was a waste of $45. At least I was able to trade it for some older games (FIFA 2003, Eternal Darkness, and Pikmin). Wario World was a great rental, loads of fun for $6 - even if the game only took 6 or 7 hours. But 6 or 7 hours is definitely not enough to justify a $50 purchase. Now when WW hits the $20 mark, I'll gladly snatch it up.

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