Renting games before buying?

[SerSlavos]

I have never rented a game before, but maybe I should have. If that even exists, but I don't know for that option. I believe that it is a great feature since you can determine if you really want something or not.

 

[SashaS]

I remember renting being a big thing back before the boom of online streaming, when video stores still existed. But that concept is long gone in most developed parts of the world. Its sort of a vintage thing if you will. But renting games now? Eh...

Most games come with demos and you can easily watch hundreds of videos on more popular games on YouTube, you can read reviews and so on before buying. Honestly, the only reason I can see for wanting to rent a game is if you're doing it on PC and want to know if it will run on your computer. But for that I usually buy the game on Steam and if it doesn't work they refund you within a few hours. No need to stress. Free demo if anything. Paying money to figure out whether you want to pay more money seems a bit pointless.

 

[hermessantos]

Generally I do not usually rent games before buying them, as I usually see many reviews on Youtube and comments on forums about the game I want to buy. In some cases, I can borrow some friends as well. But most of the time I do a good search on the internet and buy the game I want.

 

[WarVet]

I guess it all depends on the money involved. Over here I never used that service because there have always been very few rental stores and during my teenage years we could buy cheap games for 2 or 3 times the price of a rental, it made much more sense to buy the actual thing. Still, nowadays we have torrent and other means of downloading games online if a test is all you want it makes much more sense to get it online

 

[BethSztruhar]

The only way I try games before buying is if there's a demo. I don't rent it because we don't have a store nearby so it's easier for me to just go ahead and purchase it.

 

[valy]

I rent games only when i don't have money to buy them. I play for a while and if i think it worth the money finally buy it! If not i will rent another one, and so on!

 

[overcast]

I used to play the games with friends on their console. So it was as good as renting. And it was fun to play to those set of games. I have found that compared to arcade and game places, this was lot better as well. I think if you can try out games like this you'd be able to play them for sure. You may want to try like this before buying permanently.

 

[Pixie06]

I have never rented a game before. In fact before buying a game I usually try to read all the reviews on the internet and also ask my friend for their opinions. Some games have demos available so I usually try the demo version before actually buying the game.

 

[kenoobie]

I have never rented a game. If I ever see an interesting game, what I do is look at reviews and playthroughs in youtube. If I like what I see and the reviews are good then I buy the game.

 

[thart]

I always buy. I can't remember the last time i rented a game. But that's because i love having a nice collection of games on my shelf.

 

[Neiltarquin]

Games I've rented before buying was, Starcraft, Red Alert, Generals, Diablo, and Silent Hill

 

[Eliza]

I have definitely rented games before buying them. I mean, why not? I'm not going to like every game that I buy, so I'd rather check them out before buying them. I also go into game stop sometimes and test out the games that they have on the consoles.

 

[PenguinManiac]

I don't have any places that rent games nearby anymore, but even then I never did that. Making a final decision makes me more determined to play a game until I finish it, and I also like the idea of being able to come back to it any time I want later. I guess nowadays the equivalent is Steam's 2 hours refund or watching a gameplay, and both look useful enough to see whether you'll like a game or not (as long as you're not wasting money on games you're not going to play, that's fine to me).

 

[pioneerauthor]

It's usually nice renting games before buying them. Some people actually do these for reasons best known to them. Sometimes, the idea of renting games first before purchasing might be attributed to the fact that the particular game needed might be new and still need to be learnt first. So, once mastered through the renting, it becomes interesting to be purchased.

 

[JaiGuru]

I am from the "Blockbuster Generation" so those funny stores will always have a special place in my heart. But aside from services like Gamefly, where does one even rent a game these days? I do not like Gamefly because half of their disks are ruined beyond use, and yet not taken out of circulation. They are known to throttle power users so it takes longer to receive titles. And I find no convenience at all in the fact that I don't get to decide which title I receive this time.

Having said all of that, I have been an occasional subscriber to Gamefly and may again with my Switch since I expect these little cards will probably survive quite a bit more abuse than optical media did.

 

[OursIsTheFury]

My days of renting games are long gone, as I think the last time I rented a game was probably 15 years ago while my local video rental store was still open. However, my alternative to this has been Let's Play channels on YouTube. Instead of watching gameplay videos dished out by developers to make the game look polished as possible, I just watch regular people play them in a normal setting. This gives me an idea of what sort of gameplay and experience I can expect. If I like it, I buy the game. If I have my doubts, I wait until there is a price drop. If it looks dull, no deal.

Yup, and how do people rent stuff anymore? Is that a thing? The closest I have to "renting" a game is buying it on Steam and playing it for an hour. If I like what I see, I keep it, but if not, I ask for a refund. I've refunded a lot of games over the years, but at least I don't get buyer's remorse anymore now that I have that option. It's better than being burned because you bought a flopped game at full price.

 

[ZXD22]

I would check to see if they have a free demo available before possibly renting/buying to play the game. Free is always better than shelling out some bucks to check out the content.

 

[OursIsTheFury]

I am from the "Blockbuster Generation" so those funny stores will always have a special place in my heart. But aside from services like Gamefly, where does one even rent a game these days? I do not like Gamefly because half of their disks are ruined beyond use, and yet not taken out of circulation. They are known to throttle power users so it takes longer to receive titles. And I find no convenience at all in the fact that I don't get to decide which title I receive this time.

Having said all of that, I have been an occasional subscriber to Gamefly and may again with my Switch since I expect these little cards will probably survive quite a bit more abuse than optical media did.

I agree, looking at physical copies of games is great, and having a collection that doesn't just show up on a program is fun, but the lifespan of those physical discs can just be a pain sometimes. One wrong move and you have to buy the game all over again since the game disc was scratched a bit, and it made the entire thing unreadable. Most of the time having a physical copy, along with the other goodies the package may have like maps, drawings, posters, etc; is not as efficient as just buying the game online and having it there permanently.

 

[JaiGuru]

I agree, looking at physical copies of games is great, and having a collection that doesn't just show up on a program is fun, but the lifespan of those physical discs can just be a pain sometimes. One wrong move and you have to buy the game all over again since the game disc was scratched a bit, and it made the entire thing unreadable. Most of the time having a physical copy, along with the other goodies the package may have like maps, drawings, posters, etc; is not as efficient as just buying the game online and having it there permanently.

Oh I'm firmly in the physical media camp. I'm getting old, I guess, but I simply expect to have something to hold when I pay $60 for fun. Of course, I'm of the generation who got to have physical media, manuals, and box art as a standard part of the deal so it obviously has colored my perception. Digital distribution is fine, but I'm 100% uncomfortable with the fact that it doesn't routinely come cheaper. There is no warehousing, no transportation, no handling fees associated with it and yet we pay the same price for a digital copy as we do a hard copy. Making matters even worse is that data centers are among the cheapest and easiest businesses to expand in the history of commerce. For me, convenience doesn't compensate for that.

 

[OursIsTheFury]

Oh I'm firmly in the physical media camp. I'm getting old, I guess, but I simply expect to have something to hold when I pay $60 for fun. Of course, I'm of the generation who got to have physical media, manuals, and box art as a standard part of the deal so it obviously has colored my perception. Digital distribution is fine, but I'm 100% uncomfortable with the fact that it doesn't routinely come cheaper. There is no warehousing, no transportation, no handling fees associated with it and yet we pay the same price for a digital copy as we do a hard copy. Making matters even worse is that data centers are among the cheapest and easiest businesses to expand in the history of commerce. For me, convenience doesn't compensate for that.

Yup. It's the same price for hard and soft copies right? And the Witcher franchise at least tried to add freebies when you get the game like posters, comics, and music. Too bad I can't appreciate them much since they're just files I can open and close on the PC. Holding an actual map of the game, a handbook, some items from the game; still would be more awesome than mere files, but at least they tried though.