# Gamefly Video Game Rental Service: A Review
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572
**Category:** The Game Room
**Created:** [July 20, 2009, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572 "2009-07-20T00:30:14Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2009, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572/41 "2009-07-23T13:22:28Z")
It is rude to imply or even say directly that Lepracorn works at the Gamefly offices. It’s like screaming “troll”. It gets everyone’s hackles up and discussion screeches to a halt. I think it’s more than fair to evaluate his arguments on their own merit.
It’s not against the rules, and I’m not trying to junior mod…I just think it’s not a very nice way to welcome a new poster.
---
### Author:  [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2009, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572/42 "2009-07-23T13:40:05Z")
Geez Louise. The guy has 10 posts on this board, nine of them in this thread, three of those listing pricing plans.
It’s just a joke. Untwist the undies.
---
### Author:  [@Lepracorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lepracorn)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2009, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572/43 "2009-07-23T13:41:11Z")
> [@Anaamika](#):
>
> It is rude to imply or even say directly that Lepracorn works at the Gamefly offices. It’s like screaming “troll”. It gets everyone’s hackles up and discussion screeches to a halt. I think it’s more than fair to evaluate his arguments on their own merit.
>
> It’s not against the rules, and I’m not trying to junior mod…I just think it’s not a very nice way to welcome a new poster.
Thank you. I appreciate that.
---
### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2009, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572/44 "2009-07-23T13:44:21Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#):
>
> Geez Louise. The guy has 10 posts on this board, nine of them in this thread, three of those listing pricing plans.
>
> It’s just a joke. Untwist the undies.
My undies are not twisted. And you are certainly welcome to joke all you like. Just as I am allowed to think it’s rude and unwelcoming of a new poster.
Say he does work for Gamefly. So? He comes in here, defends it, right? Maybe he’ll stick around, maybe not. That depends on our behavior. I didn’t want him to think we all felt the same way.
Welcome aboard, Lepracorn. Corporate stooge or not. 😛
---
### Author:  [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2009, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572/45 "2009-07-23T13:58:01Z")
Sure. Welcome aboard. The more the merrier.
By the way, can you get me a pro-rate on my last billing cycle?
---
### Author:  [@Lepracorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lepracorn)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2009, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572/46 "2009-07-23T14:18:04Z")
> [@Anaamika](#):
>
> My undies are not twisted. And you are certainly welcome to joke all you like. Just as I am allowed to think it’s rude and unwelcoming of a new poster.
>
> Say he does work for Gamefly. So? He comes in here, defends it, right? Maybe he’ll stick around, maybe not. That depends on our behavior. I didn’t want him to think we all felt the same way.
>
> Welcome aboard, Lepracorn. Corporate stooge or not. 😛
Thanks again. 🙂
It’s fine. I joined a conversation out of the gate with a contrary opinion. I can see where the knee jerk response comes from. It’s just the continual harping on it that gets old. Whatever. I’m a big kid. I can take it. In the end, it’s a weak response to what could otherwise be a grown up conversation.
---
### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572/47 "2009-07-23T19:43:54Z")
> [@](#):
>
> There’s a pretty significant difference between a $1.13 investment and a $60 one. I’m much happier realizing I’m not particularly fond of a game and only being a dollar poorer vs. $60 for it.
And it’s even better to spend nothing on it. Why would you spend _any money at all_ for a game you’re not going to play?
---
### Author:  [@Lepracorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lepracorn)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2009, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572/48 "2009-07-23T21:30:05Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> And it’s even better to spend nothing on it. Why would you spend _any money at all_ for a game you’re not going to play?
Well sure, in a perfect black and white world but life doesn’t work that way. Are you saying you’ve never been interested in something only to later find out it wasn’t all you expected?
I don’t know what world you live in but the occasional miscalculation occurs in mine.
---
### Author:  [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2009, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572/49 "2009-07-23T22:03:49Z")
> [@Lepracorn](#):
>
> Well sure, in a perfect black and white world but life doesn’t work that way. Are you saying you’ve never been interested in something only to later find out it wasn’t all you expected?
I think what he’s trying to say is that in this world of Xbox Live demos and regular old Blockbuster renting, Gamefly can’t quite hold themselves up to be the moneysaver they’d like to be thought of as or you’re painting them to be.
Of the people that buy 40 games a year, I can’t imagine more than a handful do it solely with new games. Most likely do as **Just Some Guy** does and troll the bargain bins.
---
### Author:  [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2009, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572/50 "2009-07-23T22:07:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> And it’s even better to spend nothing on it. Why would you spend _any money at all_ for a game you’re not going to play?
I think you’re missing the point - it’s not about spending the money on a game you _know_ you’re not going to play, it’s about finding out if you like it or not before spending more than a small amount on it. For example, I got a number of games from GameFly, liked them and then went and bought them so I could play them at leisure. So you could say I paid for them twice - the retail cost, plus a portion of my monthly subscription.
On the other hand, take a game that I rented from GF and then didn’t buy because it sucked. In that case, I’m ahead by the difference between what I would have paid and what the rental cost was.
And the reason I can’t just rely on Metacritic is that opinions differ. Something that is universally loved might be something that just does not work for me. Or something that gets panned might be something I really like for one reason or another. Tastes differ, and Gamefly let me take chances without much cost.
One thing that’s been mentioned multiple times is that it’s hard to get new games. I didn’t notice that as much of a problem, but that may be just because the games I like are less in-demand.
Gamefly is neither absolutely good nor absolutely bad. It’s a service. It either works for you or it doesn’t. For me, it made sense. If it doesn’t work for you, that’s fine. But it would be nice if we could be pleasant about disagreeing with one another on the subject.
Welcome, Lepracorn. I hope you stick around.
---
### Author:  [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2009, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572/51 "2009-07-23T23:58:15Z")
> [@mhendo](#):
>
> To be honest, even that’s pretty poor turnaround time, unless you are in a remote area where mail service is slow.
I’m in a major metropolitan area where mail service is slow.😛
In fairness, I believe they only had one distribution center at the time, way across the nation from me, so my mailing a game Monday, having it get to them by about Wednesday, them sending the next game, and the next game getting to me by Friday was not pretty poor turnaround time. That’s like a day of travel each way, when you account for the lag you get when something gets to the local post office after the mailman’s left for the route for the day.
When it got to be over two weeks, that was poor turnaround time and unbearable. Once I turned in a game I would be without a game for half of the month I was paying for.
---
### Author:  [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572/52 "2009-07-24T00:09:53Z")
> [@TBG](#):
>
> I’m in a major metropolitan area where mail service is slow.😛
>
> In fairness, I believe they only had one distribution center at the time, way across the nation from me, so my mailing a game Monday, having it get to them by about Wednesday, them sending the next game, and the next game getting to me by Friday was not pretty poor turnaround time. That’s like a day of travel each way, when you account for the lag you get when something gets to the local post office after the mailman’s left for the route for the day.
>
> When it got to be over two weeks, that was poor turnaround time and unbearable. Once I turned in a game I would be without a game for half of the month I was paying for.
Can you pull the trick like you can with netflix where you send the game back that same day and say that you sent it back and are wondering where your next one is? With netflix they’ll mail the next one out immediately that same day so that you don’t have to wait for receipt of your old disc to get a new one. Netflix simply doesn’t care when you pull stuff like that unless you are racking up a ton of discs and never returning them.
---
### Author:  [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2009, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572/53 "2009-07-24T18:58:44Z")
I don’t play nearly enough video games to consider Gamefly, but I have to say I’m shocked at the people who are arguing that it couldn’t possibly be a good deal (regardless of turnaround time, availability, etc.) because you have to pay for games you don’t like.
Do you make the same arguments against _every_ subscription service? Netflix, book of the month, local produce delivery, magazine subscriptions. They seem to apply equally well.
---
### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572/54 "2009-07-24T20:06:11Z")
> [@](#):
>
> I don’t play nearly enough video games to consider Gamefly, but I have to say I’m shocked at the people who are arguing that it couldn’t possibly be a good deal (regardless of turnaround time, availability, etc.) because you have to pay for games you don’t like.
No, you’ve got it a bit backwards. I use Netflix, and by and large I don’t have to pay for movies I don’t like, because if I expect I won’t like a movie, I don’t order it. The whole “games I don’t like” thing is being raised as an argument in favor of the service by those arguing the pro side, in that they don’t have to pay _as much_ for games they don’t like as they would otherwise. Pointing out that you don’t have to pay anything for a bad game is a counterargument to that, not a direct argument itself.
---
### Author:  [@Lepracorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lepracorn)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2009, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572/55 "2009-07-25T02:40:02Z")
> [@Brainiac4](#):
>
> I think you’re missing the point - it’s not about spending the money on a game you _know_ you’re not going to play, it’s about finding out if you like it or not before spending more than a small amount on it. For example, I got a number of games from GameFly, liked them and then went and bought them so I could play them at leisure. So you could say I paid for them twice - the retail cost, plus a portion of my monthly subscription.
>
> On the other hand, take a game that I rented from GF and then didn’t buy because it sucked. In that case, I’m ahead by the difference between what I would have paid and what the rental cost was.
>
> And the reason I can’t just rely on Metacritic is that opinions differ. Something that is universally loved might be something that just does not work for me. Or something that gets panned might be something I really like for one reason or another. Tastes differ, and Gamefly let me take chances without much cost.
>
> One thing that’s been mentioned multiple times is that it’s hard to get new games. I didn’t notice that as much of a problem, but that may be just because the games I like are less in-demand.
>
> Gamefly is neither absolutely good nor absolutely bad. It’s a service. It either works for you or it doesn’t. For me, it made sense. If it doesn’t work for you, that’s fine. But it would be nice if we could be pleasant about disagreeing with one another on the subject.
>
> Welcome, Lepracorn. I hope you stick around.
Thanks for the welcome and your comments… I agree with you about Metacritic opinions. I’m a hands on kind of person. I like to form my own opinions for precisely the same reasons you point out. And, like you say, by renting as a means to do that I’m not taking a financial risk.
I really haven’t had problems getting new titles from gamefly either. Once in a while I’ve had to wait a bit longer for something if I didn’t get it into my game queue pre-release or I didn’t have an open slot for something to ship on its release day but even then I’ve probably only ever had to wait a week or so.
---
### Author:  [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572/56 "2009-07-25T21:57:40Z")
> [@Lepracorn](#):
>
> I really haven’t had problems getting new titles from gamefly either. Once in a while I’ve had to wait a bit longer for something if I didn’t get it into my game queue pre-release or I didn’t have an open slot for something to ship on its release day but even then I’ve probably only ever had to wait a week or so.
I would imagine the service would vary pretty widely based on where you live. I had a free month and I only got to turnaround the games once, and that was with barely playing them. Not worth it.
Now, I used GameFly some years ago so this may have changed… but, I was also pretty peeved because they gave you like a week to return the games (read: to return the games and actually have GameFly processing them) before, without warning, charging my credit card in full for both games at retail price. It took a lot of hassle to get the money back, too. They kept claiming the games never arrived for about two or three weeks, and then the games mysteriously appeared. Funny, that.
---
### Author:  [@Recliner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recliner)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2009, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572/57 "2009-07-26T12:26:32Z")
> [@Lepracorn](#):
>
> Guess I shoulda posted a “I like walks on the beach, little white kitties and sunsets” intro message. My bad.
>
> At any rate, sure… I can see your case and I suppose it could be interpreted that way but I stand by my opinion, however questionable it may appear. I’m just pointing out the bigger picture. Blockbuster’s got one foot in the bankruptcy grave and virtually everything is moving toward online distribution. Gamefly is the main player here and has a consistent track record of growth and improvement. Sure, there’s room to improve. I’m not claiming they’re flawless or beyond reproach, I’m just saying they don’t suck and it doesn’t take a huge effort to scratch the surface a little and see that.
They do? I see people here who’ve been using the service for SIX YEARS and its apparently still piss-poor. If you don’t think Blockbuster can beat that, you severely overestimate their demise.
---
### Author:  [@Recliner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recliner)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2009, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572/58 "2009-07-26T12:27:35Z")
And addendum: yes, it might save you money (although $15 a month isnt cheap) – but it sounds like you’re better off going to a video store, for all the convenience this provides.
---
### Author:  [@Lepracorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lepracorn)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572/59 "2009-07-26T15:41:35Z")
> [@Recliner](#):
>
> They do? I see people here who’ve been using the service for SIX YEARS and its apparently still piss-poor. If you don’t think Blockbuster can beat that, you severely overestimate their demise.
I don’t think I do. If you could experience the Blockbuster in my neighborhood I think you’d probably come around to my way of thinking. I honestly don’t know how they manage to stay in business. I’ve used gamefly for nearly 4.5 years and they are far superior. All things considered, it’s hard for me to believe I’m the only person who feels positively about them.
---
### Author:  [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2009, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572/60 "2009-07-26T16:12:29Z")
> [@Lepracorn](#):
>
> I don’t think I do. If you could experience the Blockbuster in my neighborhood I think you’d probably come around to my way of thinking. I honestly don’t know how they manage to stay in business. I’ve used gamefly for nearly 4.5 years and they are far superior. All things considered, it’s hard for me to believe I’m the only person who feels positively about them.
You’re not the only one. But you’re definitely the most enthusiastic about them. Like I said before, I like Gamefly and see the value in the system (a week’s rental from Blockbuster is roughly half the price of the one-game-at-a-time plan and I’d only get to keep it for a week), but they have definite inventory problems.
I imagine a “local Gamefly” would do very well as the inventory can be more tightly controlled for a smaller community as opposed to every gamer in the US.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572.md?page=2)
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gamefly-video-game-rental-service-a-review/503572.md?page=4)