As we get older there are more and more things that creep into our daily lives that interfere with gaming and we often need to spend our money on things more than gaming or general diversions. Instead of stocking up on each new release game, we’re often picking out baby slings with the wife. Gamefly markets itself as a service that allows you to play more games for less money…but does that hold up if you also have less time?
As mentioned, I opted for Gamefly because it looked to be the cheaper way to play games in my limited time. I still love the hobby, but I can’t dedicate hours a day to it anymore. I have the two games out at a time plan, which I’ve had for over a year now.
So you can see in the image that I’m paying about $23 a month to have two games out at a time. I load up my Game Q with everything that interests me, and Iwatch the mailbox for the games to come. There’s a problem, however. Most times (actually, almost always) I end up getting my 3rd or 4th option for preferred games. So what normally happens is that instead of getting that AAA game that I’ve had my eye on, I end up getting a game that interested me, but I was unsure of whether or not I would enjoy it. It’s the difference between receiving Batman: Arkham Asylum and Dirt 2, for example. What ends up happening is that since I’m rarely getting the AAA titles near launch, the games that do ship to me sit around as my interest in them is generally mild. I think I had Halo Wars on hand for about 3 weeks before finally putting it into my 360. Getting two second-tier games at a time only compounds the problem.
So what to do? Well, I just recently canceled my Gamefly plan in favor of renting locally at brick and mortar stores. Yeah, a single rental is going to run me $7, but that means I can rent three games per month for less than what I pay with Gamefly and I’m not just sent the first available game on the list. When I walk into a store, I either get the game I want or I save my money for another day. In theory I could be getting more games from Gamefly, but time contstraints and the fact that I rarely get my top choice just makes it the wrong service for me.
Now, if you’re not quite tied down as me and you find that you have more time to check out the games that mildly interest you or you just have more time to dedicate to gaming overall, Gamefly probably is a good service. If you are the type that can finish a game or two a week, don’t hesitate to get a Gamefly subscription. If you can’t handle more than a game or two completion per month, it’s probably much cheaper to just rent locally.
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Stephen
