LOVEFiLM - Do online based game rentals work?
Through the past years, renting games has become more and more popular. Especially on-line based rental services, which all claim to be fast and extremely easy to use. LOVEFiLM is the largest online rental service in Europe, with a wide selection of not only video games, but films as well. But is the service really that great or does your corner rental shop still provide a better experience?
I started my service with LOVEFiLM in late January, and as soon as you sign up with them, they offer you a 2-week free trial. There are many different subscription types, but I went with the £15 a month (2 games unlimited returns) package. I liked the idea of this, as when I’m playing one game I can send the other back. This package also lets you rent movies, so you’re able to choose from anything listed on their site, not just game titles.
Here’s a list of the various consoles they rent titles for:
- PlayStation 3
- Xbox 360
- Nintendo Wii
- PSP
- Nintendo DS
- Xbox
- PlayStation 2
- Game Cube
For each of these systems, there are a large number of games, and new titles are being added all the time.
Their website is simple and attractive; you will find it very easy to find a particular game or type of game. Also, if you’re not too sure what you’re looking for, they have a system in place that lets you see other people’s collections. For example, one collection from a user is called “Easy Achievements” which lists a large number of games where you will find it easy to get all 1,000 points.
If you have really enjoyed the game you have rented they also sell games. The prices for the most part are fair, and in some cases rather cheap.
When you first start out, you want to make a list of around 20 titles you would like to play. After you’ve done that, select when you want the title delivered: fast, medium or ‘you don’t mind when you get the game’. I have noticed that I get more of my low end titles than higher, but the higher ones are newer games. Don’t expect to receive newer titles for a pretty long period of time, which is annoying, but I don’t mind it too much as I want to play every game on my list.
When they send out your titles, they arrive via first class mail, so you will very likely get them the next day. You also get free returns which is very handy! When I send my titles back to them, it only takes a day to get the next game in my list, which I’m really happy with.
Overall, I feel LOVEFiLM is perfect for gamers who don’t, or can’t, buy all the games they would like to play on the marketplace. Head over there now and get started!
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“Customer Service” dosent exist in my local stores. The local blockbuster employees are typical brain dead college kids that know nothing about games or movies and cant do anything to help other then say “the xbox section is over there”. Plus it takes brick and mortar stores a couple days to get new games in and even then all the copies are rented out. Plus its $5-8 to rent depending on whether its a movie or game. For $20 a month GameFly and competitive services are way better