Dalum's Views & Reviews
Friday, January 09, 2004
Gamefly Rental Services
OK... Now that I've been on this service for about 2 months, I've got a good feel about how this service works. To be honest, anyone that can navigate the web can find all the info about this site and services pretty fast. But gauging the level of customer service and dedication, shipping times, quality of selection, processing of orders and ease of use are many of the things that can't be found by reading a FAQ on their site.
Let's start with the basics...
Gamefly is a rental service like a video store. You can rent video games from them for your Nintendo Gamecube, Sony Playstation 2, Microsoft X-Box and Nintendo Gameboy Advance. Sign up is a snap. Just enter your personal information, put in your form of payment and you are ready to rent!
(At the time of sign up to this date, there was a 10 day trial period. Be sure to check with Gamefly for other possible promotions before signing up.)
After signing up all you have to do is gather up your games into a list and wait. Gamefly has taken the traditional web based shopping cart and transformed it into an intuitive way to prioritize the level of importance of each game you have waiting in your list. This is what they call your "Q".
The service has another great feature called "Keep It." It's just as it sounds... If you like any of the games you have on-hand, just go to the site and click on the Keep It button. Just by being a Gamefly subscriber, you get the benefits of discounted prices EVEN IF THE GAME IS BRAND NEW!
Case in point: I had Need For Speed: Underground for the Gamecube in my Q long before it was released. Upon receiving notification that it was shipped, I was able to go to the web site and click on the Keep It button and pay a great price of $34.99 instead of the current price of $49.99. There is an added shipping cost of almost $1.30, but you get everything with your game. The game box, instructions, warranty card, supplimental documentation, other various extras and accessories (if the game comes with any.) Even with the shipping costs added on, the Keep It option is great. Keep in mind that getting a discount isn't always a discount. The discounted prices are good to take advantage on games that aren't very common or new releases. Older games aren't such a good deal.
Shipping times have been minorly slow but this could be that they are sending to Michigan. 5-8 days between games can be unbearable if you have a 1 game subscription. Having a 2 game subscription allows for staggering incomming and outgoing games.
All in all: Anyone who considers themselves a gamer NEEDS to do something like this. Subscriptions run $21.95 for 2 games and $13.95 for 1. Even with the minor issues with shipping, it's still worth every penny spent.
Gamefly's website