Overly Positive

Obviously, I have friends who are not always so perpetually optimistic about games – especially when it comes to the console games. There’s just something about buying a console game that’s different about buying a PC game, and it might be the short term use of it all – after all, PC gaming, more and more is finding viable core market in online and multiplayer gaming, while consoles are still finding their wings.

Such as it is that I’ve had many a friend who was disappointed in a game purchase that they didn’t really expect to be “so terribly bad” or a popular game that “they just couldn’t get into”. The investment of cashola into the whole thing doesn’t really help matters, either. But my strategy has been to go all new-age and take advantage of rental services like Gamefly, which provide, for a flat fee, a listing of games you can rent and keep for as long as you like. It’s like Netflix for games.

Really, as long as you get one game a month and play it, as I have, the service really pays for itself. You get to try out any game that you would normally be inclined to buy but are not really gung-ho about, play it to completion, and send it back. Delivery times are a bit long-ish, but the alternative, spending 60 bucks on something that you might be disappointed in, is not really as appealing.

In the past few months I’ve tried Uncharted, The Last Remnant, Tales of Symphonia, Fire Emblem, Gears of War (both of them) and more – all at a little bit of a nominal fee. Some of these games I probably would have happily bought and played. Others – well, I probably would have had an enjoyable time, but perhaps not as much as some titles. Try before you buy takes on a better meaning with a service like this, so if you’re a console gamer with a penchant for games but perhaps the cautiousness of opening your wallet for them, give one of these places a try.