the Price of Online Game Rental

Similar to online DVD rental, this is a service where you can pay a monthly fee of $9.99 to become a member of a website service. This service sends you any game that you request in the mail along with a postage prepaid envelope for returning the game. There are no late fees with this service concerning how long you hold onto the game, but only a certain number of games can be rented out at one time so one must be returned before another is rented. Beside the monthly membership, there are no other fees that are necessary for this service.

I am a big fan of this service because it limits my need to have to visit a physical rental store, which has it's own rates. I rent quite a wide variety of games, so just paying the monthly fee is very beneficial compared to paying per night for each game. I thoroughly enjoy the additional aspect of being able to play a game as long as I would like, because the lack of late fees really allows me to play a game all the way through instead of having to return it unsatisfied. The only downfall of this service is the transit times between sending a game back to the service and the time it takes to get back the title of your choice. However, if you stagger your returns and always keep a few titles in your possession, you can work around this delay and always keep a new games in a rotation.

My advice is to figure out which service would be the best in terms of how many games are offered. Also, check to see if the service provides a prepaid return envelope or else the postage you will have to pay will add up to potentially prohibitive levels. One of the best tips I can give is to figure out how many games you would rent in a certain month, then compare the costs of renting from an online service versus traveling to a physical rental store and renting game by game and paying on a per-night basis. If you find that you do not rent enough games to utilize an online service, then stick to going to your local rental store. Lastly, beware of bargain offers that seem too good to be true just to try and get you locked into the service provided. If a monthly rate sounds a little too good, it probably is and that introductory offer will not last long.