Should You Rent Games Online? What Are the Benefits of Renting Video Games Vs Buying Video Games?

Should You Rent Games Online? What Are the Benefits of Renting Video Games Vs Buying Video Games?

By Jay Cooper


I've been renting movies online for several years now, but I had never thought to rent games online. Not until I took a good look at all my console games and realized that I waste a lot of money on games that have barely been played and will probably never be played again. The idea of using an online video game rental service was now starting to make sense. So I setup up trial accounts with the top 3 online video game rental companies and gave it a try. I wish I had done this years ago, as I found out there are several benefits to renting video games online.

My favorite benefit of renting video games is having the option of trying out a game to see if I like it before buying it. With so many games to choose from, it can sometimes be difficult to decide on what game to buy. Some games might look and sound great on the box cover, but when you plug it into your console, it's a major disappointment. By renting the games first, you'll be able to find out if it's worthy of being added to your gaming library. If you buy a lot of games, this can be a real money saver.

There are some video gamers that like to take a new game and play it from start to finish over several days. Once they're done with the game, it just sits on the shelf collecting dust as they move on to the next game. For these type of players, renting video games can save them a ton of money. You could knock out 3 or 4 games a month for less than $20, compared to spending $150 to $200 or more buying the games. Even if you only rented and played one game a month, it is still cheaper to rent than to buy.

Game selection is another big advantage with online video game rental companies. The largest game rental service has over 6,000 titles available to rent for Xbox, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, Nintendo DS, GameCube, and Game Boy Advance. You won't find a selection anywhere close to that size in rental stores like Blockbuster. New releases are available as well as all the older games.

Having the games delivered right to your mailbox is another plus. No more driving back and forth to rent and return video games. This might not be a problem if you have a rental store around the corner, but for many gamers, the closest place to rent video games is a 30 minute drive or longer.

You can also forget about having to worry about returning the game on time to avoid getting hit for late fees. Most online video game rental companies allow you to keep the game as long as you like. It doesn't matter if you go through the game in a couple of days, or a couple of weeks. Return it when you are ready and they will send out your next game.

If you go through a lot of games, or are just tired of paying the high cost of buying games, renting games might be a great option for you to consider. If you would like more information, I've written a detailed review of my experience with the top 3 online video game rental services here.
If you are thinking about using an online video game rental service, then you need to read my reviews here: Rent Games Online.
Also, make sure you check out our video games review blog.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jay_Cooper

God of War 3 didn't make my jaw drop

Now that VGA has finally come and gone it's time we all take a critical l@@k at some of the most hyped games of the year that were featured on the show. For me it is going to be God of War 3.

Looking back down the road--E3 2008, a very salivating CGI trailer was showed which showed Kratos on one of the roof tops on mount Olympus holding a blazing sword and promising nothing but chaos.

That video did wonders for me, it raised my expectations so high I couldn't think of anything else that will deliver as much as God of War 3. But after watching the game play video that was showed on VGA on Youtube yesterday it became obvious to me that God of War 3 was not going to be my god of all games in this time frame of console gaming, Killzone 2 will do just fine for me.

For one I didn't like the way Kratos looked in this latest trailer; he looked too skinny and too pale for my liking. I mean with all the hype about the game looking like "a painting come to life" and all those talk about it looking like nothing we have ever seen before I was expecting to see something more but it didn't happen for me. Sony, take my advice: lower the console price now! And do some serious advertising before the launch of Killzone 2. That's the only way we can get close to winning this 'war'.

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GEARS OF WAR 2: THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WORST--A BLOGGER'S VIEW

With the game fully launched and the hype dying down the critics have done their job and trully GEARS OF WAR 2 is really a great game. But is it going to last on that gory? Oh! i mean glory. I bet it wont last that long. Why? Because the best games are just warming up for their own glorious release--Think Killzone 2, yes the game is currently at the stage where all and every one who bashed Sony for showing a preredered game demo in 2005 and calling it in-game are now whispering in their closet saying: so the Guerilla game guys are actually going to pull it off!!! Over a million copies of Gears of War 2 games have been sold across the globe and played by its fans but over all the needling feeling of some thing more creeps in after playing a game like this. For one every successful Horde match completed, there are Matchmaking sessions so painful, that they make the gamer so restless they feel like watching a TV Soap. And for a game coming from a well respected Game engine designer and game developer as EPIC GAMES it's sad to say that the Character animation of Gears 2 didn't do much to showcase the strenght of the Unreal Engine--remerber there was so much talk about the engine working with Natural motion early this year. Obviously, the Guerilla guys have done a better job with the Killzone 2 character animation system.

Graphic wise: the graphic is bleedingly cool--I love it!!!

Gameplay wise: I think the game was cool, but I believe can be done to improve the next instalment.

Story wise : I think it was better than Gears one. And I think many will agree with me on that.

Color: the colors were not too bad the grays, browns and combinations of the same, Yes I liked it but I will like to see something better come the next instalment. So that is all from me for now-- with this little criticism of mine I hope the all combined voice of every one who loved to play the game enough to write something about it will help shape the way the game will look like and play like come the next instalment--GEARS OF WAR 3.

MICROSOFT DIRECT X 11-WHAT IT HAS COMING FOR US ALL

In the not too distant years ago when DirectX 10 just launched ( some time in the late 2006 with the release of Windows Vista), things were looking like nothing better than this API could come out of Microsoft until another five years but lo an behold at Seattle-based Gamefest 2008 on Tuesday, Microsoft was touting the latest addition to its API suite.

DX11 will introduce new shader technology "that lays the groundwork for the GPU to be used for more than just 3D graphics, so that developers can take advantage of the graphics card as a parallel processor."The Microsoft spokesman said during one of their session in Gamefest 2008.

The Microsoft spokesman also said that DX11 will be compatible with DX10 and DX10.1 hardware (as well as new DX11 hardware), so gamers won't have to toss current hardware to play newer games.

When Microsoft made the last Direct3D transition, DX10 was not compatible with DX9 hardware.

Microsoft also said DX11 will also handle multi-threaded resource handling to allow for the exploitation of multi-core machines, support for tessellation and full Vista support.

An exact release date for DX11 is to be determined.

The last time Direct3D transition, DX10 was not compatible with DX9 hardware.