Today, for the first timesince I've been able to resume my gaming hobby, I stopped into a local gamestop. I simply wanted to turn in some of my old outdated games that were taking up space on my shelf, and grab another DS Lite stylus or two. I was greeted with a enthusiastic "hello," and after telling the cashier I was wanting to turn in some games, was informed that I'd recieve an extra 25% on all trade-ins if the money went to the purchase of Halo3 ODST or the preorder of Modern Warfare 2. It sounded like a good deal, so Itold them I'd look around andget back to them on that.

So I went tocheck it out, and decidedI wasn't gonna have enough trade-in value to be worth grabbing ODST. (I was also a bit shocked that it was full price.I think i knew that beforehand, but isn't 60$ a bit much for a three hour campaign and recycled multiplayer content?)It was here, in front of the shelves thatI realized. WOW. Gaming is expensive. This notion was further displayed whenI was told that my Edge card had expired, and that it was going to cost $14.99 just to renew it. Really? I gave theclerk a wide-eyed stare and politely declined. 15$ for a little bit off used games and a little extra trade in value? Maybe in the long run that's reasonable, especially if you trade in games all the time, but I don't. If I know im not going to keep a game very long,I go rent it instead of blowing 60$. Anyways I ended up leaving the store with $5.20(from the gamesI traded in) and no DS stylus (they only came in packages with a bunch of other useless crap that ran the price up to like eightbucks, shocker there).

I left a bit discouraged. How have we been swindled into paying so much for what really is, when you think about it, so little? I realize they keep us entertained, but do avid movie viewers pay 60$ for each new DVD they buy? I don't think so. To me video games just seem expensive. Maybe I'm just cheap. But honestly, being a junior in highschool, with a girlfriend, parents that don't hand you everything you want, and no time for a real job, its a tad excessive don't you think?

However, this incident did bring to mind a growing idea that had been forming in the back of my head. I had heard about netflix, and I knew i had seen a commercialfor something similar with video games instead of movies. So I googled it with fairly low expectations, expecting it to be ridiculously overpriced as well. I was pleasantly shocked. I found this online game rental service by the name of Gamefly. This, on the other hand, sounded extremely low priced. Barring any inconvenient arrivals of annoying small print nuances, this service only costs 16$ a month for unlimitedgame rentals. Of courseyou can only rent one game at a time, but they apparetnly have over 7000 titles over everyconsole, and you may play any game for as long as you want before sending it back in a prepaid package, at which point they automatically send you the next game you want from your wish list.

Now maybe many of you have heard of this. I'm sure the majority of you have. But think for a minute. Isn't this WAY cheaper and more efficient than haunting the shelves of gamestop?? There are several different advantages.

1. How often do you buy a game that comes out just to beat it and turn right around and sell it back to gamestop? Your simply taking 20$ out of your pocket and handing it straight to them. I could understand paying full price for a game with great online multiplayer, but ifyou're just going to race through the single player campaign and waste twenty dollars, why not just rent it?Using an online rental service you could do the same thing with as many different games as you want for under 20$ a month. That seems pretty crazy awesome to me...
2. Its all managed right in your computer and delivered right to your mailbox within one to four days (supposedly), sono more running out to several different locations to look for one hotgame. I guess this also saves gas.

So, in conclusion, I think I'm going to give this a shot. It sounds like an amazing deal to me, and I'm done blowing my money on games i don't have a whole lot of time to play anyways. And I thought I'd share my revelation with you all on gamespot as well :)

God bless!!

3pic9

As a new gamespot user for the second time, I'm not expecting a warm welcome into the gamespot society. I learned that lesson the first time, but now, having grown up a little bit, I decided to come back and make a new profile just for the heck of it., and also because I'm considering going into business, and the video games obviously make a lot of money. We'll see what happens. Video games intrigue me. They always have, from the time I watched my cousins play shoot'em up games on the PSone as little fella to present day. I'll be the first to admit, I'm not much of a gamer nowadays, I'll explain that later. But they've always fascinated me. They're a form of entertainment that's interactive, something that's always grabbed my mind's eye. One isn't simply just sitting back watching something unfold on a screen, watching characters interact and move through the world without any control as to what happens, like in a movie. As a gamer you are IN the experience. Either you are a character watching an epic story unfold around you, or you are the one that actually controls the events. This is obviously why games are the most gripping, moving form of entertainment, although a form undiscovered to many out there. I believe it will take time untill games climb the ladder from a toy for children and the immature to a recognized art form. However, I find it frustrating when even "hardcore" gamers twist what video games really are. They are treated as simply fun. True, video games are fun. Entertainment as a whole is for fun. But it can get to a point where games become consuming, someone's whole life, where they find their worth. For instance, consider Xbox Live ratings. How many people brag about how high they're ranked on the Halo 3 leaderboards? No doubt a business savvy move by the makers, as it draws people in and keeps them hooked, but as people we need to keep things in perspective. Video games are GAMES. Entertainment. They don't get you anywhere in life unless you are proffessional (a feat few have achieved) or you are in the industry, either making games or selling them. I got into this as well, I will admit, until it hit me that video games are in fact just games. I was the kid that EV trained his Pokemon, and the guy that spent many late nights up on XBL pwning noobs at GoW. Hence the jargin. So anyways. I'm not bashing any gamers here. I'm just stating my views on video games, something i found appropriate for my first post. So! Basically I'm on gamespot to keep track of the industry. What's happening, what new games are coming out, ect. If one catches my eye I'll definitely try it out, but I've given up buying games just to write a review or say I've played them. So don't be suprised if i never write reviews. If i have something to say about a game I'll post here, on the blog. Anywho thanks for reading, if anyone does actually read this. I'd appreciate it if you'd track me, I love to see what other people think about the gaming industry, and I'll help anyone to the extent of my abilities. Or if you want to talk music I'm in. I'm also a Christian, so I'd love to answer any questions about that as well :) God Bless- 3pic9