Rent or Buy?

There are always new games coming out. When you get interested in playing one for the first time, who do you get it? Do you buy the game, rent it, borrow it from a friend, or test it out in some other way? How about those demos some stores put up where a game can be played briefly by customers?

Let's face it, new games can be pretty expensive at $50+ on those for the major consoles. Some of them can be finished in a single rental, which is considerably less expensive. So, how do you get the most bang for your gaming buck?

Depends on the game. Games I'm interested in, but not TOTALLY sure I'll like I try to rent it first, or borrow it from a friend, to give it a spin. If I'm confident I will like the game, I buy it right off if I can afford it. Otherwise, I'll borrow/rent it or get it later when the price comes down or people start returning used copies.

The last game I rented was Capcom vs. SNK 2 back in 2004 for PS2. Sure I own game now but usually rather than renting a game I would look it up on the net and read a few reviews etc...

For my part, I used to rent games all the time back in the 8-bit and 16-bit generations. Ever since the advent of the Playstation, I've cut back on renting a lot. Now I tend to wait for a lowered price or a game to get into the used market, then just buy it. I don't try out many games like in the old days.

Usually for me I actually just Youtube it for scenes, gameplay, ect, only cuz if I rent the game I'm not gonna want to give it back if I like it, or if I hate it I'll feel like I wasted my money.

It depends for me.

Some I know I want so just buy.

Some I'm not sure about so will rent first and then buy if I want to keep playing.

Right now I rent from GameFly. I don't make enough money to shell out 60 bucks for a AAA game every week. Hopefully, if my own website picks up, publishers will be sending me video games for me to review. Keep your fingers crossed lol

Googled it. I haven't been getting any games as of recent. The newest game I've purchased is Halo 3: ODST, and I'm so glad I did buy it.

Thoul wrote:

For my part, I used to rent games all the time back in the 8-bit and 16-bit generations. Ever since the advent of the Playstation, I've cut back on renting a lot. Now I tend to wait for a lowered price or a game to get into the used market, then just buy it. I don't try out many games like in the old days.

That actually sounds a LOT like me. I remember renting NES and Genesis games constantly, but a few years before I got the PSX, I just stopped. Anymore I don't rent games as there are no nearby renters to rent from here in rural West Virginia. In Charleston yes, but the drive isn't worth renting. Besides, if I am unhappy with a game, I can just return it.

The lack of good rental places is also a factor for me, too. There's actually like three places here (Blockbuster and two Movie Galleries), but they have horrible selections.

Back in the day, we had two locally owned stores - Rocket Video and Movie Shack. Rocket had a great selection up until the PSX came out. They only put out a handful of PSX games, so they lost the gamer crowd and went out of business. Movie Shack used to have an awesome stock too, but it sold out to become one of the Movie Gallery chain stores and now they stock mostly lousy games with one or two gems.