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."

Comments

However...

[RyuuzakiTetsuya]

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.

Nothing new

[Wind_Walker]

This is the exact same thing as with buying games online. For about a year, I bought all my games online and had them shipped to me. I thought, "Hey, I don't have to pick up my games at the store, they're right on my doorstep!" But eventually, I got tired of waiting for terrible shipping delays, having my shipments sent back because nobody was available to pick up at 10:00 in the morning (does UPS realize that people work during the day and can't pick up packages at home?)

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.

Former RedOctane member

[MooRogue]

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.

If only netflix would rent games and..

[Frank of Earth]

.. 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.

Re:NetFlix was just as bad...

[Frank of Earth]

I must have joined after the depot opened in NYC because I have great turn around time. In face, the only lag I have found is with myself making time to watch the movies.

I thought I would actually run out of videos to rent after a few months but I still have 15+ in my rental queue.

A lot of people compare Netflix to the BallBuster monthly plans but the beauty of Netflix is that you don't have to go the video store with all the other morons and walk around like an idiot trying to find a video to rent. I can just sit back and relax on my laptop, read reviews and pick the videos I want to see. Since I always have three videos in my possession, I never have to worry about getting movies for a rainy day.

Not to totally bash BallBusters, but check this out:

Q: Does BLOCKBUSTER edit the movies in the store?
A: No, Blockbuster does not edit the content of its films. But whenever able, Blockbuster will order 'edited for content' versions from the studios that go light on displays of violent or sexual nature.

There is no mention of this tactic anywhere on their website, and the worst part is that most of the rentals don't mention anywhere on the packaging that the consumer is about to rent a lighter version than the one playing nationwide in theaters. We waited until movie night and tested these findings. An agent of ours rented "The Wonder Boys". This one actually said right before the movie "this film has been edited for content." Boy did we feel jilted. Naturally, we would have never rented the thing if it said on the box "edited for content." We marched back to Blockbuster and politely but firmly asked for our money back, which we received without a problem.

Re:addict?

[Frank of Earth]

Unless you want to rent a recently released game, then it's 6 bucks for 2 days. What a rip off.

Blockbuster's Freedom Pass...

[tjgrant]

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.