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Review: RedOctane Game Rental Service
An anonymous reader writes "Are you thinking of subscribing to the RedOctane game rental service?
If so, you may wish to read this review before signing up.
Bottom line? Slow turnaound times make it uncompetitive with local rentals."
First post? I dunno.
The VARIETY can't be beat. The sheer number of import games ALONE makes it worth while. I'd like to see an import store that does rentals. or a rental store that does imports. Atleast in Las Vegas where I live.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
I don't game that much, so my local video store works fine for me. They'll give you 2 games for 7 days for $10. Taking into consideration the waiting time involved with RedOctane, the store in town's a better deal.
I imagine RedOctane's main draw will be for gamers who want to play imports or other hard-to-find titles. Their selection definately can't be beat.
Sony ha
Isnt it better to get a $20 or so /month games
freedom pass from blockbuster? Get as many
games as you wish for a month.
what about the DDR mats? =)
I personally want one, anyone know if the RedOctane pads are any good?
--j
It's ten times simpler to buy it at a local store. They worry about shipping charges, they worry about pickups of games, and they always get the games at the earliest possible date - sometimes before. You also have the convenience of walking home with the game, and also interaction with other gamers. I originally had no clue what Serious Sam was until I went into an EB and heard people talking about it. It's one of the best FPS games I've ever played, and it's only $20.
There are only two reasons to buy something online:
- It's so unbelievably rare that you'd likely never find it in a store
- It's significantly cheaper to buy it online (after shipping) and you don't mind when you get it.
This rental service is just proving that all over again.Netflix had a terrible turnaround time also. Only recently did they open a depot in New York City. Now, it only takes a day for my returned movie to reach them and the next video in my queue to arrive. I've sent back and received in less than 24 hours at one point. Location. Location. Location.
If this service was offered by someone like Netflix, who I subscribed to for two years before dropping it in favor of cablemodem access, I'd be buying an Xbox or PS2 rather quickly, where right now I have no reason to consider anything but my PC and Dreamcast (which hasn't been hooked up since my move three months ago) for gaming use.
Netflix has great service, in my opinion. With a games inventory, they'd do quite well considering the improvement they made in turnaround times a little bit before I had to cancel my subscription.
Console games are expensive, rarely "demoed" and limited in lifespan rather significantly for the most part. They're perfect for rentals, but not all that great to own if you have any kind of financial conservatism in you.
My own pointless vanity vintage computing page
As a former RedOctane member, i can attest to how their service has gone down over time. I'm virtually local to RedOctane's office, and up to a year ago, I was getting 2 day turnaround times from their service. On their G3 program, I was able to play almost 3 games a week, with 3-4 days to play each game.
However, this year, I found it increasingly hard to obtain *any* games from RedOctane. Any popular or new game would have a 2-4 week waiting period, or they would simply send you one of the games in lesser demand in your queue. Right before i cancelled my service, I would have only one, sometimes none of my 3 alloted games actually in my posession and playable.
I guess RedOctane was a victim of it's own success. As it started growing and getting more members, it did not expand it's inventory of necessary games and/or staff to keep up with demand.
.. pr0n. I'm too embarrased to go the back of the local video store to rent pr0n and the times I have, there was always some weird guy reading the boxes like they were Shakespeare sonnets.
I remember this one time I rented Boobie Babes or something like that and all my luck the 16 year old girl working the counter couldn't get it to scan so she had to call the manager. I'm not sure if minors are allowed to help you rent p0rn, but it should be illegal!
Anyways, nowadays I just download crappy videos from Kazza.
Live web cams
From the review:
Circus Maximus, a game I returned after one day, cost me a full month of waiting: 2 weeks for it to arrive and 2 weeks for the next game to arrive.
With those accounting skills, I wonder if the reviewer isn't a former Enron employee.
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
Unless you want to rent a recently released game, then it's 6 bucks for 2 days. What a rip off.
Live web cams
I've bought a couple of them for my three sons and myself. $19.95, two games out at a time, as many games as you can get in 30 days. It's a heck of a deal, there've even been times where we got a game in the morning, decided it sucked and returned it that afternoon for something new.
I usually get one game for the kids (T rating or lower and one game for me M rated). [I have to get something that only I can play cause my kids kick my butt on anything I play with them!].
Blockbuster doesn't necessarily have the best selection, but they've generally got enough to keep us interested.
Stand Fast,
tjg.
Actualy it is. As I understand it another game isnt shipped until one is returned thus each game has a delay at it's begginging and start, so there are two delays associated with one rental.
Having just acquired a new PS2, I'm wishing that Netflix rented games as well as movies. I think this model is perfect for games, because you could actually keep the game for a few weeks and play it leisurely, without penalty. Since I already have their subscription for movies, though, I'm not willing to shell out another $20 just for a games subscription. I'm not a big gamer, and I just want to play occasionally, so I just can't justify the expense.
Netflix certainly have the movie thing down, though. Since they opened a warehouse near Boston, I've been getting DVDs sometimes as soon as 2 days after I put the last one in the mail. 1 day for it to get to them, and another day for another movie to get back to me. That's impressive! And well worth the price tag, if you ask me.
From the review:
Now wake up to the sting and stench of reality that hits you like a sturgeon to the jaw.
Looks like Jon Katz could take some lessons from this guy....
I've been a G3 member of RedOctane since shortly after the PS2 came out. I never hesitate to recommend it to anyone who owns or is interested in buying a console. It's not a company for everyone, though.
/. won't let me post with "short lines"):
After looking at my last credit card statement, I see that I pay $23.76 per month to have 3 games for as long as I want. This, to me, equates to about $8 to rent a game for a month! I think the rates have gone up slightly but they haven't raised mine. I find this a nice touch.
I believe that the way that I use RedOctane's service may be significantly different than the person who wrote this review. In the early days of my membership I discussed, at some length, RedOctane's policy for the determination of the next customer to be sent a game when one is returned. They said that it's a first-come-first-served basis, meaning that from the moment you enqueue a game, you are on the list. Your place on the list is also not penalized if you are "passed over" for game shipment because you already have all of your allotted games.
The way to do best at this system is to immediately enqueue a game as soon as it becomes available. Many times you can enqueue games weeks before they are actually sold. If you do this then you ensure an early spot on the list and a copy will come to you soon enough.
I don't worry about these details anymore, though. Currently my queue consists of (please forgive the PS2 redundancy,
Parappa the Rapper 2 (Playstation 2)
Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance (Playstation 2)
Devil May Cry (Playstation 2)
Rez (Playstation 2)
Tony Hawk 3 (Playstation 2)
Final Fantasy X (Playstation 2)
Jak and Daxter (Playstation 2)
Deus Ex (Playstation 2)
Guilty Gear X (Playstation 2)
Mr. Mosquito (Playstation 2)
Virtua Fighter 4 (Playstation 2)
Red Faction (Playstation 2)
Ace Combat 4 (Playstation 2)
Test Drive (Playstation 2)
Way of the Samurai (Playstation 2)
Onimusha 2: Samurais Destiny (Playstation 2)
Tekken 4 (Playstation 2)
Akira Psychoball (Playstation 2)
Spiderman: The Movie (Playstation 2)
Spy Hunter (Playstation 2)
Supercar Street Challenge (Playstation 2)
Star Wars Bombad Racing (Playstation 2)
UFC Throwdown (Playstation 2)
MTV Music Generator 2 (Playstation 2)
Legend of Alon Dar (Playstation 2)
Wild Arms 3 (Playstation 2)
Summoner 2 (Playstation 2)
Kings Field: The Ancient City (Playstation 2)
Cookies and Cream (Playstation 2)
Yanya Caballista: City Skater (Playstation 2)
Smash Court Tennis (Playstation 2)
Tetris Worlds (Playstation 2)
SOCOM (Playstation 2)
Medal of Honor Frontline (Playstation 2)
Stuntman (Playstation 2)
I currently have Metal Gear, Harvest Moon, and Blood Omen 2 checked out. I've had Metal Gear since _June_ just because I kinda like playing it every once in a while but don't feel like buying it (in three more months I should have). I have two other "slots" that I've been burning through. Since I have so many games queued up, three days after I put a game in the mail I usually get two emails in the afternoon, one saying they received the returned game, and one saying they shipped a new one. Within a couple of days I'm playing a new game which I thought may have been interesting to play at some time or another.
So, what does this mean? The best way to use RedOctane is to queue up as many games as you think might be fun and kick back. Get the games you have to have for a party or for the weekend or whatever at your local rental. Otherwise, think of it as some person you know who just sends you games you yourself have said are intriguing and waits patiently to take them back whenever you feel like it.
I don't know how many games I've gone through with them, probably on the order of sixty or so, and I've only had one that was unplayable. They have twice neglected me (not shipping _anything_ for a week) and after inquiring about it they gave me a free month's membership both times. I figure that when all is said and done, if I would have rented those same games at Blockbuster or wherever I would have spent much more and not had that feeling of luxury that RedOctane gives.
I really like it. If you are not the kind of person who must have the latest game _immediately_ then it's well worth the money.
As my father lik@(munch munch)...
That's a summer only promotion. They no longer have it.
I don't mean local chain outlets, I mean local stores and rental places.
I go to a local place that'll rent 2 games for 7 days for $12 CDN. You can exchange games part way through the week, too. It is actually part of a chain, but it's a game store chain, not a rental store chain.
Dark Nexus
"Sanity is calming, but madness is more interesting."
If you can't find p0rn on the net... then I don't know how to help ya buddy!
After all, I own an X-box. There just aren't that many games to choose from. ;)
"Sometimes a woman is a kind of religion, she can save your soul & set you free from all your sins" - Bad Examples
I was a Red Octane customer for over a year when they first began, and I was very satisfied. Games would arrive within roughly one week. On the G1 program that was hardly enough, but when I upped to the G2 one would be played while the other one was sent back. I can see why they emphasise the G2 on their site.
Their selection of rare / old / out of print titles is to be commended. I never did get that copy of Dance Dance Revolution 4th mix I had queued for six months, but I did get a lot of obscure and not-so-obscure titles, from Pang Pang to Sillohette Mirage to Silent Hill. It really felt more like a classic of the month club, as my Q was maybe 15 titles long, and I was never entirely sure which new surprise would be waiting on my doorstep. This may turn off some people, but it really encouraged experimentation, especially with the backcatalog of Playstation games available at the time.
I never had a damaged game arrive. Once again, this could simply be good fortune, or the age of the program at the time. I mention it to balance the reviewer's bad experience. Likewise, turn around time was a quite reasonable one week. This may be because of the proximity of Orange County, CA, to their headquarters in Sunnyvale, CA, or it may just be, again, the age of the program when I signed up.
Red Octane may not be a best choice for X box owners right now. The benifit of going with a nationwide rental company is having a tremendous variety of games that you wouldn't find at a local shop. However, the XBox doesn't exactly have a tremendous variety of games one would want to play yet. A local shop might be more than adequate. Likewise, if you don't have a sense of the classics and an appreciation for what isn't the latest and greatest, you may be dissapointed that the waiting time on "hot" games can be a problem. As I said, I never did get that copy of DDR 4.
Still, though, my experiences with Red Octane have been nothing but positive, and I would be a customer to this day if a series of moves (which are ongoing) hadn't prevented me from keeping a steady mailbox. However, I did like the service enough to donate half of an hour writing this review. If you are curious about giving them a try, I advise you to do so. If you don't like it, you are only out the cost of a used copy of Madden 2001. And how much is that, really?
- C
This Sig is a mnemonic device designed to allow you to recognize this author in the future.
I wish I had mod points today..
4. Rental queue. I can't keep a running list at BB with the movies I want to rent. I can't walk into a store and say give me the next one on my list. With Netflix when they get one back they send you the next one in your list, that day. Netflix is doing 2 day turn around. The day they get it, they ship the next one. In 2 days you have a new movie.
It may not look like it, but this is a Big Deal (tm). Netflix is a step beyond the normal rental places because of this. Just think about it: you're bs'ing with some colleagues over lunch and someone mentions a movie you've never heard of and how great it was (e.g. Harold and Maude). After lunch, you go back to your desk, log on to Netflix, find the movie, add it to your queue, and forget about it. When that movie comes up in your queue, you get it in the mail, and watch it. Sure beats writing it down on a post-it note, shlepping down to the video store, and asking some frazzled video clerk about a movie whose title they've never heard of. Good luck finding it in stock too.
I won't even go into how much money Netflix has saved us in late fees at the store.
Don't believe me? Try it!
Please mod this post only if you think others should/n't read this. I have enough ego^H^H^Hkarma. Thanks!