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Game Rentals Even Bigger Business
Thanks to the VDSA (Video Software Dealers Association), who have released new information from its 2003 Annual Report, including the information that "Gamers spent $722 million renting video game software [in the US] in 2002." This is significantly up from the 2002 Annual Report, which gave a figure of $633.6 million for game rentals in 2001, and presents an interesting comparison to DVD rentals, which were $2.9 billion in 2002. The report also reveals that "65 million people own at least one game console", and, for what it's worth, that "the majority of console video game users prefer ultrarealism and sports competition." Now, if they could only invent an anti-scratch coating for game rental discs...
Thanks, I think I shall "rent" Quake 4 at Kazaa, they have great prices....
Those who can, do. Those who can't, consult.
With all the 2-3 hour games out there, would YOU want to spend 50 bucks on them? Hell no. Couple that with the fact that everyone I know with at least 1 current gen console owns another (in other words, most of us own PS2s and either GC or Xbox, or all three) PLUS a PC (which we use mostly for gaming), and it equals lots of hardware, but no software.
Now, we HAVE to buy the PC games because they dont rent those, but for a weekend of fun, 5 bucks is hard to beat (and since you blockbuster and hollywood video give about 5 or so days for 5 bucks, its not THAT bad a deal).
Also, in the days of the NES, many of us got burned with games that were 50+ bucks (catridges were expensive!) that royally sucked (deadly towers anyone? Sqoon?), why the heck would we want to get burned again? IF its a good game, you go out and buy it after the rental... if it sucks, well, you've only lost 5 bucks.
This is my sig. Its pathetic.
Gamefly I haven't tried them yet, but I like their rent-to-own policy. Anyone have any experience with them?
Well of course game rental profits are up. Have you rented a game lately? I rented Wario World last week and paid $7 for the opportunity. Then I beat the game - start to finish - with only five hours of play time. I remember back in the days of the NES paying $4 for a four day rental with extra days costing $0.50. The late fees now at more along the lines of $6 a day. High prices and short games leave a bad taste in my mouth when it comes to rentals.
hmmmm an ad for games rental, hmm yeah i can belive this one
I used to host rather big parties and would often rent a few Playstations and N64's (along with a bunch of games ^^). I would also always rent the console I was considering buying. All of the stores around me (yes, even Blockbuster) have stopped renting actual consoles, however. They claim the new CD based units wear out too quickly for them to make a profit renting them (which I have to agree with since I'm on my third playstation and have heard bad things about playstation 2...)
Anyway, it seems to me someone in the console industry/rental indistry is shooting themselves in the foot. I haven't bothered buying a new console since I can't get alone with one for a good week of testing and for parties I just have some friends bring game loaded PCs to parties...and everyong knows you don't rent PC games. ^^
I bet stores like Blockbuster have lots of frustrated customers who complain about how nearly all rented DVDs and video game discs don't work due to previous morons putting thier many thumbs all of over the data area. I would bet it is frustrating for Blockbuter, too, who are trying hard to ride the DVD wave.
Why can't they put some sort of automatic disc-washing machine into each store? I've already gotten into a habit of hand-washing each and every movie and game disc that I rent, lest the movie crap out a third of the way through.
Healthcare article at Kuro5hin
they didn't mention that half of that $722 million was me paying late fees on final fantasy x and kotor. ;|
http://cincyboys.blogspot.com/ Everything Cincinnati. Including the word 'Finnih'
Oh wait, that's been done already.
Gabriel Ricard
Currently I'm living in Germany and am using GamesforRent.com. It's a great service. I've used it for over 6 months and haven't had any problems.
"Armed forces abroad are of little value unless there is prudent counsel at home" - Cicero
"Now, if they could only invent an anti-scratch coating for game rental discs... "
there is one, its called "responsible renters."
if blockbuster gave away a free rental to customers who return five game rentals without a scratch (zero tolerance policy), i bet the amount of disk abuse would drop measurably.
"Thanks to the VDSA (Video Software Dealers Association)...."
Silly me, I would have thought the acronym for Video Software Dealers Association would have been VSDA. Great job, Slashdot editors!
This is my United States of whatever.
"Now, if they could only invent an anti-scratch coating for game rental discs..."
I haven't heard of one yet, but there's this...
No TiVo and no caffeine make me something something...
I rent games. Why? Because I don't like paying for them. If I want myself a copy of a brand new Playstation or Nintendo game, all I have to do is pay a few dollars to rent it, take it home, and rip it into a ROM. This can be done with any console game, provided of course you have the accomodating hardware to rip it with, and it's much cheaper than actually buying it. It's also much more reliable than searching for hours on Kazaa. Especially if it's one of those DVD games or multi CD games like Playstation 1 and 2.
You're right, I wouldn't steal a car. But if it were possible, I sure as hell would download one!
I've been renting games since the original NES. It's a great way of try before you buy. Then again, I worked through the games in a weekend, so I saved a ton of money by not buying all of them.
Now, it's no different. There are plenty of cool games out there. But most of them are not worthy of my $50.
What, me Tweet?
I don't want to start a filesharing type discussion about whether it's fair, legal, moral, or anything else for the rental store to profit from renting out the same game to multiple people. I'm just wondering from an economic standpoint whether in increase in rentals is good or bad for the game industry.
If the publisher/developer gets paid a small percentage of every rental, all is good. If not, then theoretically speaking, if half the people on the planet decided to rent most games rather than buy them the game industry could see gross profits decrease by a factor of ten or a hundred or even more.
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
...because of Enter The Matrix. Goddamn, that was a waste of $45. At least I was able to trade it for some older games (FIFA 2003, Eternal Darkness, and Pikmin). Wario World was a great rental, loads of fun for $6 - even if the game only took 6 or 7 hours. But 6 or 7 hours is definitely not enough to justify a $50 purchase. Now when WW hits the $20 mark, I'll gladly snatch it up.
The Kingdom of Retarsia