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Zephyr Elvirion
Baron of the Court
Joined: 23 Mar 2003
Posts: 336
Location: New Zealand. |
| Game rental - a good thing or extortion? |
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I thought I'd share something with you that happened to me today.
I'd bought a Playstation 2 and it arrived today, so off I went to the video shop to hire a game to see if it worked. I saw one I wanted and took it up to the counter with the required $7 in my hand. "Ok," says the woman, "Summoner 2, for one night, that's $7" "WHAT! OverNIGHT! Not a WEEK! You're SURE?" Says I. "Yes, that's right." She replies, not even having the decency to look sheepish.
I mean, you know how long it takes to play a good RPG?!?! I loved Summoner 1 and that took me at least 2 weeks of 10 - 14 hours a day of play. How on EARTH could you get anywhere with any sort of game OVERNIGHT, especially an in-depth RPG?!?! <DEEP sigh> some people have a lot of gaul.
So, I ask you, is game rental a good thing, or is it a liscence to print money?
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There're 3 sorts of people who're good at maths - those that are and those that aren't. |
Sat Sep 20, 2003 11:41 am |
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Remus
Overgrown Cat
Joined: 03 Jul 2002
Posts: 1657
Location: Fish bowl |
$7 for overnight?, that make no sense. That cashier must be taking drug or something; maybe need to be slapped around to wake her up.  |
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Sat Sep 20, 2003 12:20 pm |
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Dhruin
Stranger In A Strange Land
Joined: 20 May 2002
Posts: 1825
Location: Sydney, Australia |
Not having a console I've not rented anything before but my young nephew rents games all the time. I think he pays ~$5-6 so NZ$7 makes sense. I guess it's good as a sort of trial before you buy the game! |
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Sat Sep 20, 2003 1:28 pm |
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Zephyr Elvirion
Baron of the Court
Joined: 23 Mar 2003
Posts: 336
Location: New Zealand. |
That's about all it would be good for. But then, if you read a few reviews, or download a demo, why pay extra to 'try' it?!
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There're 3 sorts of people who're good at maths - those that are and those that aren't. |
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Sat Sep 20, 2003 1:37 pm |
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~NOBODY~
The One And Only
Joined: 15 Sep 2003
Posts: 1824
Location: Vivec, Jobasha's Rare Books |
I think game rental isn't the right thing to do. I myself have never did this. If you like a game, just buy it and if not, download a demo or ask someone about it. |
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Sat Sep 20, 2003 7:34 pm |
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Davo
City Guard
Joined: 03 Sep 2002
Posts: 146
Location: Massachusetts, USA |
IMHO, renting depends on the price, how long you get the game, and whether you want to own the game. I think $7 for a single night's rental is outrageous. I live in the U.S. A game rental at my local Blockbuster costs about $6 U.S. for 7 days. I think that is a reasonable price for a rental.
By the way, Summoner 2, which is an outstanding game, retails for about $18 U.S. in my area. Can you buy it for a reasonable price?
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Apologize, v.i. To lay the foundation for a future offense.
Backbite, v.t. To speak of a man as you find him when he can't find you.
-- Ambrose Bierce, from The Devil's Dictionary. |
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Sun Sep 21, 2003 1:06 am |
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Zephyr Elvirion
Baron of the Court
Joined: 23 Mar 2003
Posts: 336
Location: New Zealand. |
Yes, I got one off eBay thanx. And therein lies another story.............
I loved Summoner 1 and was eagerly awaiting the release of Summoner 2, only to find out (On RPGdot) that Summoner 2 was released on Playstation 2 only. So...... I bought a PS2. I then browsed through eBay and found both Summoners so I purchased them - figuring that as I'd not used a PS2 before I'd use Summoner 1 as a 'trial' to familiarise myself with the controls.
While I was eagerly awaiting their arrival from the US a chance remark ruined my elation. The US uses the NTSC PS2 format - and I had a PAL format! So back to eBay I went - the UK and Australia this time.
So now I own what surely must be THE most expensive copies of Summoner 1 and 2. 
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There're 3 sorts of people who're good at maths - those that are and those that aren't. |
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Sun Sep 21, 2003 1:30 am |
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Sir Markus
Counselor of the King
Joined: 11 Jan 2002
Posts: 369
Location: Columbus, Ohio USA |
7 dollars for a one night rental is way to high, IMO.
I'd just buy it, try to find it used somewhere would be my advice, or just wait until the price drops. As far as getting some opinions before shelling out money for games, here are two resources I use every time I buy a game to see if I'm making a good decision.
http://gamerankings.com/itemrankings/default.asp
http://www.gamezone.com/
I want to play summoner 2 as well, but I'm just going to wait and buy a used PS2 when the price starts to drop. |
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Sun Sep 21, 2003 6:37 am |
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Guybrush Threepwood
High Emperor
Joined: 19 Jun 2002
Posts: 500
Location: Oklahoma |
heh...I remember when I used to rent classic Nintendo games for about a buck for around 3 or 4 days. I used to keep up with the console dealy-thingy but decided it wasn't worth it. By the time I could afford the system a new one was already out and the one I was saving for was obsolete. They used to have this neat special system set up through my cable company. It was a lot better version of renting. It was called the sega channel and you could play as much as you want and you payed a flat fee per month. They usually changed the slew of games each month so you got to play new stuff too. But eventually sega genesis became obsolete and they shut it down. It was good while it lasted.
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"What are you gonna do? Release the dogs?! Or the bees?! Or dogs with bees in their mouth so that when they bark they shoot bees at you?" - Homer Simpson |
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Fri Sep 26, 2003 2:11 am |
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hollaholla
Guards Lieutenant
Joined: 19 Aug 2003
Posts: 161
Location: at my computer desk!~ |
That is insance and not at all how it is where i rent at Hollywood vidoe if I do...it would be cool if Netflix went for video games soon though...
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**I just chose a new avatar because I just saw the characters for the new Final Fantasy and got ....excited!!! |
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Tue Sep 30, 2003 4:41 pm |
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xSamhainx
Paws of Doom
Joined: 11 Sep 2002
Posts: 2192
Location: San Diego |
renting games is the way to go, if only for the fact that it has saved me from buying a few bad games in the past. Also has turned me on to some that I never would have thought of buying prior to the rental. I dunno about the 7 dollar a day deal tho, thats a bit extreme even for a "fAt cAt" like me. Sounds like youre being taken for a ride there, try a "Mom and Pop" type store instead of a bigger chain. If'n i rent a game, its 7bucks for an entire week or id throw a huge fit right in the store 
==seperate rant===**i just have to get this off my chest, i hate it---
BUT- I do think over 5 bucks for a MOVIE for a week is pretty stupid. That's where i definitely tell Blockbuster Video or it's other Mega-Video malls to take a hike, unless I need a hard-to-find-item that only they have. I hit some "MOm n Pop's Video" place for 99 cents for 2 days and we generally go watch it right then and that's it. With very rare exception (Interview W/ the Vampire, House of 1000 Corpses) I never watch the movie more than once within a week. Who the heck needs "Lake Placid" for an effin week? Talk about a rip-offff! *snarls!
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“Then away out in the woods I heard that kind of a sound that a ghost makes when it wants to tell about something that's on its mind and can't make itself understood, and so can't rest easy in its grave, and has to go about that way every night grieving.”-Mark Twain |
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Wed Oct 01, 2003 4:14 am |
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Zephyr Elvirion
Baron of the Court
Joined: 23 Mar 2003
Posts: 336
Location: New Zealand. |
@ Samhain - actually it was a 'Mom & Pop store'!
I went to the next town yesterday and dropped in to a 'Chain Store' to compare prices and their 8 DAY rental is $5.00. BIG difference!
There are honest(er, lol) traders out there - obviously you just gotta travel a bit to find 'em.
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There're 3 sorts of people who're good at maths - those that are and those that aren't. |
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Wed Oct 01, 2003 4:44 am |
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Shin_Gouki
Village Dweller
Joined: 22 Oct 2003
Posts: 2
Location: New Zealand |
in defence of some video stores:
half price tuesday would make it $3.50 nz dollars ( $2.12 US dollars )
or full price $7 = $4.24 US dollars
i have been going to the same mom & pop ( United video paraparaumu beach ) store for years and i guess it does save you money in the long run, having rented lionheart is proof of that.
look at it this way i bet 90% of people with liteon/asus/plextor cd & dvd burners are just copying the games before they return them anyway 
you could say they are getting more than there moneys worth. 
dishonest retailers creating dishonest customers perhaps.
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"Shun Goku Satsu" |
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Wed Oct 22, 2003 9:30 pm |
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Hagen
Counselor of the King
Joined: 18 Jun 2003
Posts: 350
Location: England |
like renting anything, it ends up being 'dead' money
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"There are many questions which fools can ask that wise men cannot answer."
--George Polya (1887-1985) |
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Wed Oct 22, 2003 9:37 pm |
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