Messages

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General Gaming / Re: Gaming on a budget. Rent vs. Buy?

« on: April 06, 2009, 11:33:40 PM »

Renting is not stealing. If it was gamefly wouldn't exist. Take a look into what it takes to operate a business that rents games successfully. First, developers aren't being hurt. In fact, I'd go so far to say they are probably in complete compliance. Second, gamefly has to buy X number of games to meet its demand and stay in business. They also need to consistently invest in games since they 1. sell them; and 2. rent them. Add in basic wear and tear, theft, and damages and it's clear that gamefly has to regularly invest in its overhead to stay competitive. The fact they have been able to do it and do it above and beyond anyone else is noteworthy. $hit ain't easy. Especially when you're catering to a bunch of heathens. *wink*

I'm not saying they keep the whole thing afloat but they certainly aren't hurting it.

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General Gaming / Re: Gaming on a budget. Rent vs. Buy?

« on: April 06, 2009, 04:06:48 PM »

I'm still a collector.  I finished college to enter a career that would support my buying habits.

HA! I did too and I'm still paying for it! Sadly a degree doesn't guarantee financial independence. Particularly these days.

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General Gaming / Re: Gaming on a budget. Rent vs. Buy?

« on: April 06, 2009, 03:57:52 PM »

Am I really the only person here who's cynical enough to automatically assume cardsgirl1980 is a GameFly plant?

I suppose I ought to look into that actually seeing what a shameless advocate I am. I can see why you'd think it. I'm a cynic too. No worries.

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General Gaming / Re: Gaming on a budget. Rent vs. Buy?

« on: April 06, 2009, 02:06:43 PM »

Yeah, I've heard of Gooex. Sound great if you've got stuff to trade. That's kinda where I'm at a loss. I don't have a stock pile of stuff to trade being primarily a renter and all. What I do own I want to keep. Gamefly just started a game trade-in option not long ago. I haven't used it as, like I mentioned, I don't have much I want to part with but credits go toward the cost of your monthly membership so it's a nice way to unload stuff that's gathering dust and try out some new stuff without making any financial commitments. Theoretically, you could probably get gamefly "free" for a few months on some good trades. At least that's what I've heard other people who've used it say. Makes me wish I had more I was willing to part with.

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General Gaming / Re: Gaming on a budget. Rent vs. Buy?

« on: April 06, 2009, 12:39:11 PM »

Yes, cheapass gamer is a great site all around. I'm a regular lurker there.

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General Gaming / Re: Gaming on a budget. Rent vs. Buy?

« on: April 06, 2009, 11:08:36 AM »

I feel like gamefly's store compares is pretty competitive compared to Amazon or Ebay. http://www.gamefly.com/store/?stp=13 (link goes directly to Wii games but you can search on all consoles) You don't have to be a member to buy games from them and shipping is free so that's a factor to add into the equation.

I really only ever buy games from them since I rent from them too.

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General Gaming / Re: Gaming on a budget. Rent vs. Buy?

« on: April 06, 2009, 12:20:42 AM »

Modchips are also a good idea. That way, you can kind of rent the game, but also sort of own it. Win/win!

Seriously though, I don't like renting games. The time it takes me to play through most games is far beyond that of an average rental time. Besides, in an ideal situation, the games I purchase are really good and worth playing through again sometime down the road. This also fails to take into account multiplayer games, which always recieve years and years of fairly solid play.

I get what you're saying. Personally, I'm kind of a junkie. I always feel like I'm missing out on something if I'm not playing the hottest new release, even if I only end up playing it for an hour it still satisfies this insatiable desire to get my hands on all things new. I think I might have a problem! There's the addiction factor and then the more logical fact that I have more than one console.

One nice benefit I've found renting over buying has been getting a hold of the random sleeper hit I probably wouldn't have otherwise even bothered with. Mario Galaxy being one. Granted, that may not fall into the "sleeper" category but I rented it sort of half heartedly and ended up loving it. I know for certain I wouldn't have ever even considered buying it so, you know, there are some happy surprises.

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General Gaming / Re: Gaming on a budget. Rent vs. Buy?

« on: April 05, 2009, 09:44:21 PM »

Yeah, I'm "new" more or less but have been nosing around for a while now actually. I didn't realize it had been nearly 3 years! Yikes. Thanks for the welcome. I know I've posted stuff here before but it's been a while. I guess there's a shelf life. Anyway...

To answer your question, yes, gamefly sends along all of the original packaging and manuals if you buy a game from them. Surprisingly, their quality control is exceptional. Out of the gate I was dubious as well but I'm really impressed with the quality of everything I get from them. I don't know how they manage it but netflix could pick up a few pointers where this is concerned. If I had to guess I'd say 1 out of 5 discs I get from them are damaged in some way. I don't think I've ever had an unplayable disc from gamefly. Go figure?

A little trick I've used in the past which isn't really a big secret anymore but nonetheless... is to get new titles into my queue before they actually release. As long as there's an open slot for a game to ship and the title is at the #1 position it will ship on release day. So, you've basically got yourself a brand new game untouched by anyone but you. Then, if you decide you want to keep it you can just buy it outright for anywhere between 10% - 20% off retail. More if you've got some gamefly coupons (they send these every couple months).

I generally wait about 3 days for stuff from them and I'm fine with that. Once in a while I might wait a day or two more but all said and done it's still a bargain and I play way more than I would otherwise so I'm not complaining.

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General Gaming / Re: Gaming on a budget. Rent vs. Buy?

« on: April 05, 2009, 09:10:01 PM »

I can definitely see your point. Where some games go it is worth owning them. I've still employed the strategy of renting first though as that way I can get whatever I'm buying with my gamefly discount which is a nice option. Not to mention the benefits of "try before you buy."

Still, if I'm really enjoying something and I realize it's going to take me a while to get through it or it's something I just want around (like Mario Party 8 for example) I'll just use the keep it feature. Not always but once in a while. I'm honestly trying to avoid buying games as much as possible so I use the 2 at a time plan and can have something going for a while and cycle through other stuff as well.

I hear ya on Boom Blox. Glad I rented it. When you think about it, just being able to toss it back in the mail pretty much paid for my gamefly subscription a couple times over.

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General Gaming / Gaming on a budget. Rent vs. Buy?

« on: April 05, 2009, 07:59:59 PM »

I pretty much rent everything from gamefly since I - like a lot of people these days - don't have the cash to just go out and buy everything I want to play every time the mood strikes. Gamefly ends up being way cheaper and I play a lot more than I would if I had to buy everything. It's literally the  difference between playing 4 games a year or 40 from a financial standpoint.

For me gamefly's the only way to get my hands on new releases and not go broke in the process. Renting has won out over buying for me by a long shot.

What do you think? Renting the new buying?