As I rummaged through the shelves at Blockbuster, searching for that diamond in the rough among the shattered remains of a once-unstoppable renting conglomerate, a sadness seeped through me. It truly is the end of an era. A grave question rose up from the pile of 40 per cent off video games: where will I rent games from now on? There is a barrage of amazing games emerging in the next few months: Gears of War 3, Resistance 3, Modern Warfare 3, Batman: Arkham City, and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. To whom will I turn to rent such fine monuments to electronic artistry?
With Blockbuster closing shop by the end of the month, gamers are looking for a way to save the cost of buying new. A handful of Rogers Plus stores in the Edmonton area still can be found that rent games, but sadly there are none in St. Albert. One could turn to the smaller chains of rental stores, the sprinkled few remaining, but they won’t have the stock to meet the flood of demand during the upcoming holiday season. It seems a tasty twist of irony that the same small-chain, mom-and-pop franchises that were driven out by Blockbuster now have an open market, but it will still take some time for them to spring up on our fair streets.
As we wait for the game-renting industry to fill the void left in the vacuum of Blockbuster’s wake, many gamers will need to turn to online rental services. These are businesses that will send you up to four games at a time, depending on the monthly plan you choose. You keep the games as long as you want and send them back when you’re ready, sans late fines. Shipping is free both to and from your home; the game comes with a pre-addressed return sleeve. You also can pre-select upcoming new releases on a first-come, first-served basis. It’s a great system, depending on where you live.
South of the border, there are many online options, the most notable of which being Gamefly. But up here in the Great White North, there are only two choices for online game renting: DVDLink (www.dvdlink.ca) and Game Access (www.gameaccess.ca). Both sites offer the standard free shipping, games across multiple platforms, a free trial, and multiple monthly plans so you can cater your payments to match your needs. Also, both have offices based out of Vancouver so shipping times will only be a couple of days.
For hardcore gamers, Game Access is by far superior. While DVDLink boasts lower monthly plans, a longer free-trial period and the ability to send both movies and games, they are relatively new to the gaming side of the business. Having specialized in DVDs until recently, their stock of games is nowhere near that of Game Access.
Monthly plans with Game Access begin at $17.95, compared to plans starting at $9.95 through DVDlink, but this is misleading. You get what you pay for in game availability. With a library of over 2,600 titles and distribution centres in both eastern and western Canada, it’s more likely you'll get the game you want and get it faster through Game Access, especially as we enter the most anticipated gaming season of 2011.
A smoother online interface means you’ll find information faster with Game Access, and their new releases are actual new releases. DVDlink tends to be a bit behind the times in the games they categorize “new releases.” You won’t, for example, find the aforementioned killer titles such as Gears 3 or Elder Scrolls 5 in their “coming soon” section.
Is it worth paying an extra $8 a month for a dedicated gaming company? Absolutely, especially when Blockbuster charged $12 a game with $1 a day in late fines. Going with an online service like Game Access means you can get the games you want when you want them with no fear of racking up late fees — at least until a new Blockbuster-esque chain opens and the delicious cycle begins again.
When he’s not teaching junior high school, St. Albert Catholic High School alumnus Derek Mitchell can be found attached to a video game console.
