This Review is about the online Service Gamefly.com:

Gamefly.com is a website that allows US Resident to rent and buy video games online. Similar to Netflix a member builds up a queue of wanted titles and they are shipped out with the titles at the top having priority. It is an option that seems a lot cheaper than continually buying games, but it depends on your usage. I have been using the service for about a month now and can give a pretty good impression of what it is all about.

The biggest concern any perspective user might have about Gamefly is the cost and it is fairly reasonable. The price is 22.95 a month to have two games out at any one time. If that is too much there is a one game at a time plan for $15.95 per month. You can exchange your games as much as you want durring that month period. For that reason, the service is most valuable to a gamer if they are constantly wanting to try out different titles. This would be a problem if the games you wanted weren't availible, but Gamefly has a large selection of games on a variety of platforms. It shouldn't be hard for new members to build queues larger the 30 titles (see for yourself on their site). If you find yourself wanting to keep a title for over 3 months, you would still be better off buying it, but for rental addicts, it seems Gamefly has better pricing and better selection the any retail store I've been to.

For those who do like buying games Gamefly has you covered as well. If you find yourself with a rented game you just can't seem to part with, you can usually "Keep It". "Keep It" is availible on most titles, and for around $20-$25 Gamefly will ship out the next title on your queue along with the instructions and retail box for your rented title. You can also purchase a variety of games from the site, but the selection is limited to only titles they're clearing out. As a bonus every three months Gamefly adds $5 to your account which can be used towards game purchases. After 6 months as a member, you get 5% off game purchases. That gets bumped up to 10% after a year. The effort is probably to sell more title using "Keep It", but no one says you have to use it and you could, in theory, continue to save your rewards until you get a game for free.

While there is lot of good things about Gamefly the service isn't perfect. Shipping times is the biggest problem I've found. I will mail them back a game I have recieved and have to wait 3 days for them to send out the next game on my queue. Then, it is another 3-4 days before I recieve it. In total, thats a 6-7 day turn around. There needs to be a faster way of exchanging games, like Blockbuster's in store exchanges for movies. Another problem is the plan options. There are only the two choices. I don't know if it would be cost effective for most people, but I'm curious about how much they would chage for a 3 game at a time package. I share games with my family and although I spend all my time on the 360, they tend to prefer the Wii. If I could have a game out for them while still getting mine, I'd be pretty happy. The third problem I have is a limited selection on older titles. While Gamefly does pretty good at getting the new titles out to you, some of those you've always wanted to play and never got to might not be availible. For example, I've been wanting to get my hands on the easy achievements in NBA 2K6, but since the game continuously shows "low availibility" I'm pessimistic about recieving it any time soon (if at all).

So, Gamefly.com is a great option for gamers who are wanting a cheaper way to continually play a variety of games. If you're always dieing to get your hands on the latest title, Gamefly should serve you well. If you're a 360 points addict, Gamefly is essential. If you're just bored a lot, you owe it to yourself to try Gamefly. It will breath new life into your gaming hobby. However, the service isn't perfect with long turn around times and limited plans, but I really don't see very much competition for it. I'm going to keep my membership for the forseable future and hope for it to improve over time.

Final Grade:

B+

Edit_______________

Since I first wrote this blog Gamefly has improved their service. In some areas games are sent out faster. They haven't added new shipping centers but they have formed an arrangment with the United States Postal Service. When they recieve notice from the post office that a game is comming back to them they will send out the next game on your queue. For me this only betters the turn around time by one day, but others might see a greater improvement.

Also, Gamefly is now offering 3 and 4 game plans at 29.99 and 36.95. They are still offering the one and two game plans at the same price. I don't see how even the most active gamer would need more than 4 games out at a time and this addresses one of my original concerns.