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Back in October of 2006, I made a decision. I was tired of spending $60 on a game, playing it for 3 weeks, finishing it, and then trading it in or selling it for 40% of its value (if even that). I decided that it would just be smarter, from a financial standpoint, to rent my games. For $22 a month, I can play all the games I would normally buy, for as long as I want, and then just send them back and get a new game. This is an incredible value for someone like myself, who places absolutely no sentimental or collection value on my games. I play games, I don't put them on a shelf to show them off and stroke my gamer ego.

I am currently in school, and I have started to think to myself, that when I land my first big full time job, would I still rent games? I don't really have any other hobbies aside from gaming, so really, what would I spend my money on? It WOULD be nice to not have to wait until the Monday after a game comes out to play it, and I would have enough discretionary spending to not always have to trade in or sell my games to come up with enough money to buy the new ones.

Does anyone else share my situation, in that, you got tired of the cycle of buying a game, beating it, and selling it/trading it in?

its not a bad option if you are not into collecting videogames...

I only collect my favorites (games I still play once in a while).

The best option (unless you need the newest titles) is to use Half.com and eBay to pick up games 6-12 months after they release.

You'll get a new game for half price or less, plus you can sell it back if you dislike it while only taking a small loss (via Half.com).

Gamefly is good though if you want to stay on top of things, you can also buy your favorites for a discounted price.

I see your point on that, but I don't remember the last time i paid $60 for a game. I hardly ever buy games new, and when I buy used, i usually find good deals using CAG. I also usually play my games multiple times, or try to pick up games that have a good online multiplayer (like Halo 3, probably the game that I have gotten the most for my money on).

I'd debated it, but the cost is a bit high. $22* 12 = $264. I'm not sure I spend that much on games in a year period. And definitely not since starting to use Goozex etc.

I buy very few games at $60, just something like Gears 2 that I'm dying to play day 1, don't want to get behind online, etc. Combine that with not buying a ton of games and I just don't spend that much.

If I had a rental subscription I'd probably be wasting money just having one game for 2-3 months until I finish it. I'd seldom get through enough games a month to make the fee worthwile.

Well I do pretty much the same thing (though I don't buy at full retail and usually do better than 40%). Sometimes I think it would be better to just rent games, but as it is right now sometimes I'll finish a game quickly and other times it takes me quite a while or I decide I want to keep it, etc. I think eventually I'll start buying some games and renting others (on a subscription plan like gamefly).

I don't beat games fast enough to do that, , but it isn't a bad option for shorter games

not for me, but if you don't care about keeping games then go for it!

I've actually had more success getting games on the cheap like the $5-$10 range keeping them for years and then making a profit when I'm done with them. It doesn't work for new releases but at this point it seems silly to me to spend $60 for a new game unless its something I really want right away. Even then I usually use some sort of credit I've made by trading in clearance games that I've made a nice profit on. If you only want to play the latest greatest stuff you are probably on the right track though.

I actually can't remember the last time I bought a new game or even paid $60 for a game. I've always been pretty frugal with my money and scour the bargain bins to find that one gem that no one saw.

Also after joining GameTZ, Goozex and having a Gamefly account...I really don't need to go out and buy a new game. Goozex is sending me Call Of Duty 4 now, I bought Burnout Paradise from Gamefly for $17 bucks and I traded my completed Bioshock for Mass Effect on GameTZ. I'm sure i'll be able to get GTA 4 on Goozex or somewhere for a good trade or really cheap sometime soon but i'm pretty patient.

I agree wholeheartedly, except on the point of renting, be it a monthly or each time fee.

I prefer to purchase games outright, but as used through other members of CAG and Goozex (I refuse to enter a GameStop), and never trade a game of mine for cash, always another game.

I like it, I've amassed over 25 xbox 360 games over the past year and did it on a budget of about $400-500. When I completely finish one, I trade it for another.

Even after I land an Aerospace Engineering job (starts around $50k/year), I'll still be using CAG/Goozex as my trading grounds, simply to keep my library healthy with only games I really want to play (i.e. willing to wait for in trading), and not filled with $60 games I picked up on a whim and only played a few times.

~HotShotX

Since I rent, it allows me to take chances on games I normally would never buy, not even used. Games like The Red Star, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, etc.

it does help too to learn how to be more picky and enjoy your games more. I've been doing it for years and my wallet with gaming has been nice to me.

either way youre going to spend money. like someone else mentioned i only buy the games i really have to have at full price. games like gta 4 or gow 2 the kinds of games you cant wait for a price drop to play. anything else i either buy used at wherehouse or ebgames or at a discount with cag deals.

This isn't spam its just how I now get my games. Last game I bought for retail price was Gears of War when it first came out. Since than I've been using sites such as yourfree360games.com to fufill my gaming needs. On average a new game will cost me $8 and once I'm done with the game I either sell it on ebay and use that money to buy another game or put it up on Goozex. Either way that originally $8 investment gives me access to alot of gaming.

On a side note, I usually refuse to give GS my business, as I can usually find a better deal else where. But, I just got a Wii and was dying to try Boom Blox. So I traded in GTA4(it was scratched and was getting disc errors ) and another game for a new retail copy of Boom Blox. They had 1 copy left and it was the display model, i.e not shrink wrapped and I still got charged full price! What a shitty policy.

Originally Posted by VanillaGorilla I play games, I don't put them on a shelf to show them off and stroke my gamer ego.

Good job being a dick. I like to keep games I love.

I've never thought of going down that road (rentals) but I have recently decided I don't need the latest releases for the most part. If I can't even start the games I've purchased already, I can wait for prices to drop significantly. I can see me having problems with even starting up a game I rented.

I just wait till games are old, buy them, and then sell them without that big of a loss. Lately on "new" games I've just been getting them for free. Either way since I'm really picky about my games I only buy the ones I know I'll keep playing like RSV2. I don't really expect to finish them though.

I'd much rather play a demo than rent. Renting isn't worth it either way if I hate it or if I want to keep it and have to buy it later on.

Buy what you want and rent what you want. I think its good that you've rented regularly, its saved you a lot of money on games, and if you can continue to do that... I say why not. Me personally, I own a lot of games, and most of them I don't finish until months, or years later. hell I just finished God of War, earlier this year, and I had that since it first went 20 dollars. I like to own my games because I play at my own pace and I play one game here, and one game here, and I don't usually stick to a game and finish it, in 2 or 3 weeks. On CAG saving money is the golden rule!

I only buy games when I know I'll be playing the Multiplayer a lot(Gears 2/Halo 3) or if the single player is a challenging one and I know it will take me longer than 1 week.

Hmm let's see when I was doing all those game reviews it made sense to rent. It also made sense to rent games I wouldn't normally buy like Condemned 2 or Gran Turismo Prolouge.

But since getting a job 44 hrs a week, and planning a wedding gaming has taken a back seat. If I don't play it or don't plan to play it it goes to Goozex, CAG, or Hastings.

For example Psi-Ops, great game, I just don't have the time to finish it. Same with Sid Meier's Pirates. Timesplitters FP, The Simpsons game, Katamari Damancy, Shenmue II, all games I've gotten in the last year that's I'm less then a 3rd through and I'll trade them most likey. Shenmue II was gotten for sentimental reasons and I'll never play through it. If I want the game again I can get them cheap. (Timesplitters and Shenmue II may grace Goozex soon the other 2 are already listed)

And even through I have Resident Evil 1, 2, and 3 in my backlog I'll keep those cause one day I'll have the time and dedication to get through them. It's sad to say this but me gaming has started to become less and less of a hooby.

Final note last year, 2006-2007 I spent $1600 on gaming but after selling/trading I got it down to $600 and this year 2008-2009, $173 and after selling/trading stuff $-89. Big difference