I was thinking over the weekend while playing Halo Wars, which I rented, that this game is no where near good enough to buy. Now, I have purchased Halo 2, and Halo 3 at midnight and even though neither of them were able to be compared to the greatness of Combat Evolved they were still good games and I support Bungie and the Halo series.

However, I was wondering then how many people due to their loyalty to the Halo series purchased this game without previously playing it, and even though it is a completely different game format, were completely disappointed like myself.
With so many different developers out there, and so many different games coming to every system, with the ability to rent a game before you buy it, are people now hesitant to put their trust in their favorite video game developers knowing there are now specific niches for every genre and game?
How many people no longer trust their favorite game developer to put out a quality game and will now rent a game before a purchase? What does it take for a developer to be considered successful? and what does it take for someone now to trust the quality of a game? Does it take another addition to your already popular series to purchase the game? Gears of War 1 & 2, COD Modern Warefare:1 & 2?
Here's my take, I am a buyer... I own over 400+ DVDs, 50+ TV seasons, 30+ Blu-Rays, and probably 6 games for each of my systems. So I tend to buy things even if I haven't played them; but 2 games I did have to rent before a purchase were: Resident Evil: 5, totally warrented a purchase, and Halo Wars; which didn't deserve the rental.
disclaimer: I love the Halo series, and I love strategy games (Dark reign, Star Craft) I just feel that Halo Wars is too limited. I know you can expand a base and upgrade to have over 40 groups of units... but come on 40? that is not an army