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Gamerang vs Gamefly: Video Game Online Subscription Service Review
Don't want to get off of the couch to get the latest game? Have them come to you. If you're contemplating an online video game subscription service, Strat has some advice.
Gamerang
Vs Gamefly:Video
Game Online Subscription Service Reviewby Strat Blaster
Overall Winner
Gamerang
Live Score
N/A
Geezer Factor
N/A
If you’re a Geezer, you’ll remember the thrill of your family piling into the
station wagon and heading to the video store. At the time having the ability to
watch movies whenever you wanted seemed like a technological breakthrough
equivalent to penicillin. The trips to the video store only got better when they
started offering the ability to rent video games. There was nothing like waking
up on a Saturday morning and riding my bike to the local video store to rent a
couple of games for my Nintendo.
Of course, all good things must end. The mom-and-pop video stores eventually
were swallowed up by the bigger chain stores that jacked up the prices and
tacked on more late fees. DVDs came out replacing VHS and the prices went up
even more. On top of that everyone struggles with getting their movies back on
time plus the aggravation of driving to the store. That all changed for the
better when Netflix came around.
For $17.99 a month, Netflix will mail movies to me in a returnable envelope. I
watch the movie and drop it into the mail whenever I’m done with no late fees.
They allow me to have three movies out at a time, watch them whenever I want,
and I can watch as many movies in a month as possible depending on how fast I
can watch them and mail them back. Best of all, I don’t have to get out in the
rain or snow to return a movie that’s accidentally two weeks late and worry
about taking out a small loan to pay off the late fees.
One problem, though – Netflix doesn’t offer a service that most video stores
offer. They don’t rent video games. Does that mean you have to get off your butt
and go find a video store? No, several other services have popped up to meet
your needs. If you’ve ever wanted a Netflix type service for your video games
there are finally some options.
For this review I tried out two different services: Gamefly and Gamerang. I
would consider both of these services to be the top two major players currently
out there. I tried out both services for two months each at their standard
pricing structure including their free trial period.
Price
$21.95, unlimited games with two games out at a time. Other pricing tiers are
available. Free trial lasts 10 days.
Review
Gamefly started up in July 2002 and is currently the big dog. If you subscribe
to any game magazine or visit any video game website, you’ve more than likely
been subjected to a barrage of Gamefly ads.
A friend of mine, Gamertag: Fitawav, and I both tried out this service. I’m not
exactly sure how to begin this review without it coming across as a rant. Both
Fitawav and I were really disappointed with this service.
To start with the positive, Gamefly has a really great website. It’s easy to
find the games you’re looking for and to check your queue to see what’s been
shipped, what hasn’t been released yet, etc. They also have some really great
FAQs on their website if you have any questions about their service.
Here’s the problem – they only have one distribution center and it’s in Los
Angeles, CA. It’s probably a pretty fast service if you live in Southern
California, but if you’re here in St. Louis like I am or anywhere else east of
the Rockies, then it’s going to take a few extra days to get games. In fact, it
was extraordinarily slow. I’ve got friends in LA that I’ve sent mail to and it
always gets there in a couple of days. Not sure what part of LA their
distribution center is in, but it must be in the part that doesn’t get mail
regularly. I think my normal turnout for mailing a game back and receiving the
next one in my queue was typically two weeks.
Not only was the shipping slow, but so was the timely release of a new game.
Sometimes the date they had shown as the release date for the game was a week
after the game was out. If a game comes out on Tuesday and it’s in my queue I
sort of expect it to get mailed that week.
After a few weeks, Fitawav and I were pretty disappointed with the service and
ready to cancel. Then it got worse. Both Fitiwav and I would mail back games,
but Gamefly claimed it never received them. What was worse, after three of
Fitawav’s games “disappeared”, Gamefly cancelled his account. (I had two games
disappear, but my account stayed active until I cancelled it.)
About a month later, Fitawav did receive a response from Gamefly stating that
they had found his games and would reactivate his account. He declined. As for
my “missing” games, I never got a response, even when I emailed them about it.
Gamefly Pros
- Great Web site
- Great selection
Gamefly Cons
- Only one distribution center located in Los Angeles
- Shipping was sloooooow
- New releases weren’t shipped out on the release date, or even the week of the
release date
- It took over a week to receive games from them and sometimes it took over a
week for them to receive games from us.
- They lost games we had returned to them.
- Their customer service people were butt-monkeys!
Overview
For being the big dog with all the advertising, I really would have thought
their service would have been the best. I tried coming up with a longer overview
of my experience, but all I can say is that it was terrible.
Price:
$19.95, unlimited games with two games out at a time. Other pricing tiers are
available. Free trial period lasts 10 days.
Review
Gamerang began in 2003 and right off the bat they had two major advantages over
Gamefly: they’re $2 a month cheaper, and they had distribution centers in New
Jersey, Oklahoma, and California. This month they are opening another
distribution center in Minnesota, and later in 2005 they’ll be expanding to
North Carolina and Washington state. This means that they can ship out games a
lot faster than Gamefly – since they have more distribution centers spread
across the US, there’s going to be one closer to your part of the country.
My experience with Gamerang has been great. After two months, I’m still a
customer. Now, I have to say their website isn’t nearly as slick as Gamefly. The
games aren’t organized as well as they could be; however, I’m still able to find
what I want. Anytime I had a question their customer service team was always
quick to respond.
When a new title comes out, they typically ship it on its release date.
Occasionally you’ll get a title that is in high demand and you might have to
wait a few days for them to have a copy to send to you. The same thing happens
at Netflix with new movie releases, and it also happens if I drive to
Blockbuster to pick it up even if they have it “guaranteed in stock”. What
really impressed me, though, is the average shipping time. Whether it was a new
title or one that’s been around for awhile, I feel that Gamerang shipped it out
within a reasonable time.
Gamerang Pros
- Multiple distribution centers for faster shipping
- Their distribution centers seem more organized than Gamefly’s
- Lower price
- Customer service representatives are quick to answer any questions
- Good selection
Gamerang Cons
- Web site could be improved
Overview
Even though I was less impressed with their website, I was really impressed with
their service. If you want to ease up your pocket book and only pay $20 a month
for all the newest games instead of $50 per title, then Gamerang is the way to
go!
Overview
In my mind, Gamerang is the clear winner. They’re faster, provide better
customer service and they’re less expensive. I don’t care what kind of company
you are – if you can provide a service or product better and faster than your
competitor for a lower price, then you’ve got my business.
I should note that I’ve seen rumors that Netflix has entertained the idea of
also renting video games, and that may very well change which service I
currently use. For now, though, I’ll stick with Gamerang.
Posted on Wednesday, February 23 @ 09:21:51 EST by JameyT_admin
"Gamerang vs Gamefly: Video Game Online Subscription Service Review" | Login/Create an Account | 12 comments
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NetFlix (Score: 1) by ruger07 on Wednesday, February 23 @ 12:36:25 EST (User Info | Send a Message)
Thanks fo the great review. I have been considering this for some time and your comments were really helpful.
I was in the group of original Netflix customers and stayed with them a long time. I remember emailing them when I got my Sony Playstation and recommending they start stocking video games. I got a polite response that they had looked into but it was not feasible at the time. If they start now, I'll be first in line to sign up.
Thanks,
ruger07
Re: Gamerang vs Gamefly: Video Game Online Subscription Service Review (Score: 1) by Shaft333 on Thursday, February 24 @ 04:46:01 EST (User Info | Send a Message)
Re: Gamerang vs Gamefly: Video Game Online Subscription Service Review (Score: 1) by sickboy719(sickboy719@gmail.com) on Thursday, February 24 @ 15:06:58 EST (User Info | Send a Message)
I just may have to switch. Gamefly's shiptimes suck
Re: Gamerang vs Gamefly: Video Game Online Subscription Service Review (Score: 1) by Redlegparatrooper on Sunday, February 27 @ 08:25:03 EST (User Info | Send a Message)
I have just started Gamefly and have onky rented two games so far and haven't tried to turn them in yet. I wasn't aware of the other site so It's nice to know about other options if there is a problem with this one.
Re: Gamerang vs Gamefly: Video Game Online Subscription Service Review (Score: 1) by Aronion(Aronion@whahawponin.com) on Sunday, February 27 @ 14:09:08 EST (User Info | Send a Message)
Great review, Strat. I've entertained the idea of renting online for awhile now, but haven't heard from many that use those services. I am more inclined to try them out now that I have heard and read more on them.
Thanks again.
I screwed up my first comment by replying directly to a respose. My bad. :-(
Re: Gamerang vs Gamefly: Video Game Online Subscription Service Review (Score: 1) by poptate on Tuesday, March 15 @ 01:27:43 EST (User Info | Send a Message)
What about Blockbuster Online as an option? Has anyone tried this yet? True, it's primarily a DVD mail-in service, but you do get two free (in-store) game rentals a month, all for a nifty price. I don't know about the rest of you, but 2 game rentals a month is enough for me.
Re: Gamerang vs Gamefly: Video Game Online Subscription Service Review (Score: 1) by Medic1873 on Friday, March 17 @ 11:28:20 EST (User Info | Send a Message)
I have not yet tried gamerang.com, but I think I am going to try them for a trial period. My main issue with Gamefly is the same thing everybody else is saying "The ship time sucks", and I have the same concern as others. It take four days for a rental game to get from Gamefly to me, but only takes three days from the time I purchase a game until the time it gets here.
Now for the positives of Gamefly, their keep it prices are better then Gamerang.com. I purchased Gun for the Xbox from gamefly for $14.99, and Gamerang was going to charge me $21.00 plus shipping. Another thing is that gamefly has some membership perks. If you are a member for I think 3 months you get 5% off games, if you have been a member for a year you get 10% off all games and a $5 off coupon code every three months toward the purchase of games.
Re: Gamerang vs Gamefly: Video Game Online Subscription Service Review (Score: 1) by starjor on Tuesday, July 14 @ 21:22:53 EDT (User Info | Send a Message)
Re: Gamerang vs Gamefly: Video Game Online Subscription Service Review (Score: 1) by abd55 on Thursday, August 13 @ 21:18:31 EDT (User Info | Send a Message)
