What are the yay's and nay's of their service. There is an option to keep the game if you like it enough. If the price generally fair on that? better pricing than Gamestop used?

no its not worth it... i usually buy and sell on ebay... its almost the same thing

I was a long time GF member; however, I cancelled my service because even after opening a distribution center in my state it still took 4+ days to receive a title after it shipped and it was next to impossible to get newer releases; I typically had to settle for games that have been on the market 30 days or more. You need to be very lucky to get a zero day release.

Also, they changed the way their queues work. Previously I could queue up my games and they would try to ship the next title available [which they still do], but the change is that if they check my next title and it's not available in the morning they automatically ship the next available item, whereas they used to make 2-3 shipments daily so if something wasn't available in the AM, it was possible that it is returned later in the day by another member; and therefore could be shipped to me. Since they've stopped that process I ended up with a lot of games that I wanted to play [they were in my queue afterall] but not what I wanted to play right now which to me sort of defeated the purpose of ordering your titles since it usually ends up being a toss up anyways.

Then they raise their prices........

EDIT: I forgot to mention, the "Fast Returns" feature they have. It used to work awesomely; I'd drop a game at the post office and GF would receive notice it's on the way back to them and they'd ship my next game automatically so I could receive them quicker. Around the same time my other issues with them started, this service also went down hill. The last 15 games I sent back only 1 was scanned by the postal machine properly. Granted the issue could be on the PO side so I tried 2 other post offices same results. After a few emails I was told that there is nothing wrong with the system. With a 95% failure rate on my 'fast returns' someone should realize there was a problem.

//end rant

hmmmn. I'll avoid. Thanks guys.

I've been a long term gamefly member and have been pretty happy with the service. In terms of shipping / getting new games it's true that it's sometimes quite difficult to get a new release. I'm quite behind when it comes to game releases so this works out pretty well for me, however. It generally takes about a week (roundtrip) for me to get a new game once I drop it in the mail. Like others, fast return doesn't work at all for me. It's a complete flop IMO.

The keep it now option is pretty decent, and I've used it a few times over the years. The prices are generally pretty competitive I've found.

Overall it just depends on what you are looking for. I don't mind being a month or so behind on the newest games (and for games that I must have I just go buy). I think it's definitely worth it though. I get a lot more out of my $$ renting a few titles a month then dropping 60$ on a game that took me 8 hours to beat.

Ive been using GF for about a year. I couldnt be happier. I only play one game at a time and mostly sports games. So buying games IMO is dumb. I got sick of wasting $60 for every game with zero trade in value after 2 months. Not to mention if the game sucks your screwed.

GF is great. You can try any game before you buy. You can buy games used. You can trade games in. And you earn money and discounts the longer your a member.


I dont have a problem waiting a couple days for a game instead of wasting $60 to get it immeadiately. And I ALWAYS get new releases shipped to me the day they come out. All you got to do is make sure you have your current game returned prior to the new release date of the game you want. I have NEVER not had a new release game shipped to me on the release day. Juse use common sense and plan your Q accordingly.

I also get my games in 3 days or less. GF opened a new distribution center recently. So now the whole country is covered.

Why wouldnt you use GF? One rental at BB is over $8. A whole month of GF is around $16.

hmmmn. I'll avoid. Thanks guys.

Sign up for the 30 day trial; you've got nothing to lose and your experience may be completely different than mine. The only way to tell is to give it a try, and heck, it's a trial you have nothing to lose.


Ive been using GF for about a year. I couldnt be happier. I only play one game at a time and mostly sports games. So buying games IMO is dumb. I got sick of wasting $60 for every game with zero trade in value after 2 months. Not to mention if the game sucks your screwed.

GF is great. You can try any game before you buy. You can buy games used. You can trade games in. And you earn money and discounts the longer your a member.

I dont have a problem waiting a couple days for a game instead of wasting $60 to get it immeadiately. And I ALWAYS get new releases shipped to me the day they come out. All you got to do is make sure you have your current game returned prior to the new release date of the game you want. I have NEVER not had a new release game shipped to me on the release day. Juse use common sense and plan your Q accordingly.

I also get my games in 3 days or less. GF opened a new distribution center recently. So now the whole country is covered.

Why wouldnt you use GF? One rental at BB is over $8. A whole month of GF is around $16.

Sports games are a bit different than any other game on the market. With the exception of Madden they don't have nearly the people trying to get their hands on it like such games as GTA & COD. Also, I'll agree, no sports game, ever is worth $60; they hold no value and you can almost always assume it's going to be the same as last year with new players and very little polishing.

As far as the managing of the queue goes; I tried it. I tried 1 game plans, 2 game plans & 3 game plans. I've tried having a completely full queue, I've tried having an empty queue. I cannot get new releases until ~30+ days after release. Normally I don't mind waiting, and typically I buy my games on ebay for $20 or less but once in awhile there is the 'must have' game that I just have to play right away and GF was not delivering on that for me so I still ended up dropping $60 on the new title before ever playing it.

Like I said above; I still encourage everyone to try it for themselves; the service at one time was excellent for me; it just seems that after awhile they forgot about me and therefore I moved on, but individual results may vary and you could end up with a lifetime of excellent service. I don't want anyone to not sign up because of mine [and some others] experience. I can only provide my own opinion.

For getting new releases refer to what DaverJ posted on a different thread and what chitown is saying as well. I ship a game back on Monday of the week the new release is coming out. If that new game is available on Wed. it shows up as Now Available and I have gotten the new releases this way every time. I live in FL and they have a new dist. center in Tampa. If i send game back on a Monday, i will get a confirmation of them receiving the game and then what they are sending me on Wednesday. Typically, game is in mailbox on Thursday. When they have to ship game from Pennsylvania its in mailbox Fri or Sat.

It depends on how close you live to one of their shipping centers. I get my games in two days so it's worth it to me. I received BFBC and MGS4 the Friday after they were released. There's no issue with canceling (you don't have to call them) so if you're interested give it a try.

Signed up for the 30 day trial. Added GH3: Aerosmith edition (360) and BF:BC (360) along with Heavenly Sword (PS3). Let's see how it goes. I'm in East Bay, California so delivery *should* be quick.

RobertR1

let me know how you like it and how quick you get stuff. i too am in the eastbay. if its pretty decent, i will try it out myself.

So far I like GF. I have had good luck with getting new releases. What I typically do for a new release that I really want is empty my Que of all games but the one that is coming out. Then a few days before the game is due out I will either do the buy it now option for a game I currently have or send back one I have not been playing much lately.

For getting new releases refer to what DaverJ posted on a different thread...

Hey, thanks for the shout-out! :D

To sum:

1) If you have older, less desirable titles in your Q, those are what you'll probably get. Be sure that you would be happy to receive the least-desirable title in the Q.

2) If you are a new-release person, only have upcoming titles in your Q. New titles will ship on release date (often before!) if you time your return game so that GF receives it a day or two before the next release date. If you miss the release date shipment, you'll probably be waiting a while for returns for that title to come back to GF.

--

My most recent example:

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith was released on Sunday June 29th. I mailed back my previous rental the Tuesday before. GF shipped me Aerosmith game on Saturday, the day before release date, and I received it on Tuesday... 2 days after the retail stores first had them in stock. If I want to keep it, I'll pay a used price of $43.13 (instead of the retail price of $59.99) even though I'm the first person to play the disc. :cool: And if I blaze through the game or don't like it, I'll just ship it back with nothing lost.

I hated GameFly when I tried it last year. Their stock is too low. I remember looking through the new releases for Xbox 360 and like 80%-90% were Low Availability (Low = Not gonna get it). I signed up to play new games, but when I realized that if they couldn't stock marginal titles like Darkness and Overlord properly they aren't gonna stock Call of Duty, Bioshock, Orange Box, etc. Now I just use my 1 free Blockbuster rental a month and Goozex to thin out my old titles for new ones.

GameznFlix is 10x worse. I haven't recieved a game in 3.5 weeks.....at least they keep crediting my account. (I have 21 items queued up and at least 5 titles are "in stock")

Hey, thanks for the shout-out! :D

To sum:

1) If you have older, less desirable titles in your Q, those are what you'll probably get. Be sure that you would be happy to receive the least-desirable title in the Q.

2) If you are a new-release person, only have upcoming titles in your Q. New titles will ship on release date (often before!) if you time your return game so that GF receives it a day or two before the next release date. If you miss the release date shipment, you'll probably be waiting a while for returns for that title to come back to GF.

--

My most recent example:

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith was released on Sunday June 29th. I mailed back my previous rental the Tuesday before. GF shipped me Aerosmith game on Saturday, the day before release date, and I received it on Tuesday... 2 days after the retail stores first had them in stock. If I want to keep it, I'll pay a used price of $43.13 (instead of the retail price of $59.99) even though I'm the first person to play the disc. :cool: And if I blaze through the game or don't like it, I'll just ship it back with nothing lost.

This works. I typically only rent new releases from Gamefly - - consequently, my queue will only have the two games I specifically want to ensure that those are the games I get. They have a great system to make sure the customer will get a game shipped, but you have to be smart and plan to get what you want. Now that there is a distribution center in my state, I don't have to wait 6+ days for a game to ship from CA. Sometimes, they will still ship out a new release game from CA rather than the local distribution center, especially if it is not a high profile new release. I figure that it is because they don't order as many copies to rent out compared to something like GTAIV, which all of the distribution centers would get thousands of copies for to satisfy the no doubt high demand.

Ok, I just found this browsing the xbox dashboard.

For those of you on the fence you can sign up at a great introductory price.

For the first month you can get either of the following:

1 game at a time + 400 MS Points for $5.95
or
2 games at a time + 400 MS Points for $9.95

I think this is a pretty good deal considering the 400 points are worth $5 alone.

Visit https://www.gamefly.com/live/ for more info

Update:

So I signed up last week on 7/1 and added 3 games to the queue. Heavenly Sword (PS3), BF:BC and GH3:Aerosmith for the 360. On 7/3 they shipped out HS, which was #3 on my list, while the rating for the other 2 were set to "low"

It's been a week and the other 2 games are now at "very low" so I really doubt I'll be seeing them anytime this week even. My take is this, if you want to play through the back catalog of games, it's a good service but if you're like me and like to play the new games as they come out, avoid this. I have a 30 day trial which will let me see how long it takes them to ship out the these 2 new games but all signs have me cancelling their service post trail expiration.

Update:

So I signed up last week on 7/1 and added 3 games to the queue. Heavenly Sword (PS3), BF:BC and GH3:Aerosmith for the 360. On 7/3 they shipped out HS, which was #3 on my list, while the rating for the other 2 were set to "low"


Robert... how many out at a time in your plan?

Robert... how many out at a time in your plan?

2 and with HS returned, only 2 in queue.

Ok, I just found this browsing the xbox dashboard.

For those of you on the fence you can sign up at a great introductory price.

For the first month you can get either of the following:

1 game at a time + 400 MS Points for $5.95
or
2 games at a time + 400 MS Points for $9.95

I think this is a pretty good deal considering the 400 points are worth $5 alone.

Visit https://www.gamefly.com/live/ for more info


do you get the games and points every month? or after that you just get the game every month right? for that same price?

My take is this, if you want to play through the back catalog of games, it's a good service but if you're like me and like to play the new games as they come out, avoid this.

I have to disagree with this. Like other have said if you have a queue of only unreleased games, and make sure you return the ones you currently have a few days ahead, you will get the new games when they are released.

I've received the following games in my home mailbox only 1-2 days after their street release date: Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect, Lost Odyysey, GTA4, Ninja Gaiden 2, and others.

I love the service and have no complaints.

do you get the games and points every month? or after that you just get the game every month right? for that same price?

It's my understanding that you'll only get the points & the special $5.95 pricing as a teaser for the first month; which basically makes the service break even since 400MS = $5. After that it seems the plans go to the normal rate based on how many games you want out at a time but for those on the fence I think it's a good offer to get yourself a test run of the GF service.

Hey, thanks for the shout-out! :D

To sum:

1) If you have older, less desirable titles in your Q, those are what you'll probably get. Be sure that you would be happy to receive the least-desirable title in the Q.

2) If you are a new-release person, only have upcoming titles in your Q. New titles will ship on release date (often before!) if you time your return game so that GF receives it a day or two before the next release date. If you miss the release date shipment, you'll probably be waiting a while for returns for that title to come back to GF.

--

My most recent example:

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith was released on Sunday June 29th. I mailed back my previous rental the Tuesday before. GF shipped me Aerosmith game on Saturday, the day before release date, and I received it on Tuesday... 2 days after the retail stores first had them in stock. If I want to keep it, I'll pay a used price of $43.13 (instead of the retail price of $59.99) even though I'm the first person to play the disc. :cool: And if I blaze through the game or don't like it, I'll just ship it back with nothing lost.

Consistent with my experience entirely.

I cancelled my membership because of the long shipping times, but recently went back to them since there's no cheaper way to get games. Their service is improving, and Soul Caliber IV was shipped today even though it doesnt come out til midnight. I had 4 other games in the Q so I'm pretty psyched about that.

I figure it's like buying a game every 3 months, but instead I play about 2 dozen in that time period. You get picky though, I'll put the game back in under an hour if it's not fun rather then playing a game out to see if I get into it.

Its really hit or miss with these guys. I'd say that generally I've been happy with Gamefly, but lately I've thought more about getting out of it. Tired of trying to time new releases, missing the release date by a day or so, and having a game instantly go into "very low" availability.

Consistent with my experience entirely.

Same here. I'm new to Gamefly (just got my 360 a few weeks ago), and I first got a couple older games to try out, sent one back last week and dropped everything but Soul Calibur 4 from my list, and it shipped yesterday (should have it tomorrow). I was going to buy the game anyway, and this way I can try it out first, and if I like it(which I'm sure I will, but you never know) I can buy it for $47.99 instead of $60. Works for me, and since I just got my 360 there are plenty of older games I want to play anyway :)

I've said the same thing each time this question comes up:

1) GF is totally worth it if you don't expect new release titles. It's a great way to catch up on older releases you missed the first time around.

2) GF is totally worth it if you would rather "try before you buy." The prices are good on titles you want to keep, and the longer you're a member, the greater the discount you get (I just bought Metroid Prime 3 for 15 bucks).

3) GF is totally worth it if you don't expect to get a game in the mail as quickly as you would from Netflix. It takes GF a good 4-5 days turnaround time (it's probably a "throttling" effect since games are much more expensive than movies and they need to keep their business profitable).

If none of those things applies to you, then GF is not at all worth while and you should just shop for used games on amazon, half.com, or whatever.

I've said the same thing each time this question comes up:

1) GF is totally worth it if you don't expect new release titles. It's a great way to catch up on older releases you missed the first time around.

2) GF is totally worth it if you would rather "try before you buy." The prices are good on titles you want to keep, and the longer you're a member, the greater the discount you get (I just bought Metroid Prime 3 for 15 bucks).

3) GF is totally worth it if you don't expect to get a game in the mail as quickly as you would from Netflix. It takes GF a good 4-5 days turnaround time (it's probably a "throttling" effect since games are much more expensive than movies and they need to keep their business profitable).

If none of those things applies to you, then GF is not at all worth while and you should just shop for used games on amazon, half.com, or whatever.

Agreed. Getting new game right away is a crap shoot. Sometimes you get luckly, sometimes you don't! Right now I'm about 2 days from expiration but I'm debating leaving it open for one month to try out too human but TH is out at the middle of the month and if I don't get it right away, chances are I won't get it til the end of the money which will start up another billing cycle. :(

I managed to get Soul Caliber IV and only thing in my Que is Too Human. I just sent back a game so I should get Too Human. I am not planning on adding anything else to my Que until after I get that game. I already have Civ Revolution at home. Between these two and working on MGS4 I should be fine until Too Human.

Title - Availability

Soul Calibur - low

Civ Revolution - very low

Supreme Commander - high

Ninja Gaiden - medium

GRID - medium

C&C3 Kanes Wrath - high

Battlefield - Bad Company - low

.....Thats the top of my list. None of those games have been available since their release. So thats when you start wondering if its actually worth it, when the games you want to play now aren't available, and what is available is a game thats way down your priority list.

That is why I canceled Shao. I can understand SC4 being low priority right now but the fact is it will very likely be low* priority 2 months from now too.

*or medium, but medium is the same as low, it all means you're not getting the ****ing game.

I went ahead and decided to try it for a month. This will let me play Galaxy on the Wii and finish up Aerosmith. However, Too Human will be the test. If that shows up in the week of release, I'll keep the program, if not, see ya!

I went ahead and decided to try it for a month. This will let me play Galaxy on the Wii and finish up Aerosmith. However, Too Human will be the test. If that shows up in the week of release, I'll keep the program, if not, see ya!

To increase you odds, make sure:
1) Too Human is the only thing in your Q two days before release date 8/14 (future unreleased titles are fine)
2) GF owes you a game two days before release date 8/14

Good luck!

To increase you odds, make sure:
1) Too Human is the only thing in your Q two days before release date 8/14 (future unreleased titles are fine)
2) GF owes you a game two days before release date 8/14

Good luck!


This is exactly what we do. Get the disk returned at least 2-4 days before a new game release and have ONLY the new game we want in the Q.

This has recently worked very well. Gamefly is pretty cheap and there are tons of good games that are not new releases and are indeed available. I would not consider it a replacement for buying all games as if you miss out on the new release its going to take three months before you can get it but its certainly useful.

Yeah, I haven't tried Gamefly, but I did try GamezNFlix for a while, and it was horrendous. As stated earlier, they did finally start crediting my account because they weren't sending me anything, but that's not a solution!

I finally canceled that service and started using Blockbuster Online for my movie rentals. In addition I get a free game rental per month, and because of BB's late return policy, I can generally keep it for two weeks without penalty. I use that to rent games that I can finish in under two weeks or that I just want to play online a bit before I'm bored with it.

At this point I buy a few games a year in which I really invest time, e.g., GTA IV, Battlefield: Bad Company, etc., and I rent a game a month for free to fill the gaps. Between that and taking advantage of trade-in specials at Gamestop for 20-30% additional credit, I don't spend very much at all to keep a steady flow of games.

fyi, try this site:
http://video-game-rental-review.toptenreviews.com/

I just canceled my gameznflix last week - no games in over a month, even though they credited my account - I joined to play games.
So now I am going to try game fly. Then if that doesn't work, just going to work my way through the next one......

Good luck!

I went ahead and decided to try it for a month. This will let me play Galaxy on the Wii and finish up Aerosmith. However, Too Human will be the test. If that shows up in the week of release, I'll keep the program, if not, see ya!

How did the Too Human test work out for you Robert?

I sent back a game last Thursday, they received it on Tuesday and just shipped out Too Human today (Thursday), which was listed as their release date.

I'm not sure why it didn't ship a day or two ago because it was in stores, but a day is no biggie. My fingers are crossed it will arrive on Saturday.

I didn't return my 2 games in time so can't say :( I'm sending back GH:A today and still holding onto Super Mario Galaxy. If they ship out Too Human next week, I'll be happy.

I heard there are $5 coupouns if you wanted to keep a game? Know where I can find one?

I heard there are $5 coupouns if you wanted to keep a game? Know where I can find one?

Every 3 months they give you a $5 coupon toward any game.

Once you've been with them for 3 months, you'll get emails notifying you of a new coupon in your account. When you purchase a used game or keep one you have, there's an option to apply that coupon during checkout... it's very easy.

I need to clear my queue I guess. I've been waiting for Rock Band for well over a month.

I just signed up for gamefly also. Took 6 days for my first game to arrive. I have about 15 games in Q and they sent me one from the middle. I was ok with it because it was a cool game.

Finished the game and mailed it back on sat. I get a message on monday that the game has already been received and will be sending my next. At this point I'm quite happy until I see another email that the game they sent was in the last 2-3 spaces.

I had a few newer titles that all said available and some medium to high availability titles yet they send from the bottom of my Q. I found this a common complaint when researching gamefly.

I doubt I will be staying with them after everything I have read. If I want to play a newer game I will just wait a few months until its 40 bucks used online and then resell for about the same price.

Most of the games that are available you can get used for 20 bucks anyway. I just bought Earth Defense force and mass effect for about 20 bucks each. Thats just 4 dollars more than the 1 game out plan. Games that will cost you 40 bucks or more seem to all be unavailable so I don't really see how this service saves you that much money. Sure you might be able to do tricks with your q and get the game you want sometimes but is it really worth the effort?

I've also read that time between shipping and receiving can vary quite a bit. Sometimes they will get a scan confirmation for the game right away and if not you can wait up to 2 weeks for receiving another game.

2 out = 1 game per month
1 out = 1 game for 2 weeks

The complaint I've heard of more than anything is that they like to blame the users when they loose discs. Gamefly is no netflix and IMO sounds like a service to be boycotted.

I only keep the game I really want in my queue. They received my GH:A copy and now the only game in my queue is Too Human. So let's see how long the wait is.

I wish they had an option to put your account on hold for a period of time. I have no games I want to rent in sept and oct.

So to get a newer game you basically have to keep just a few in your Q while waiting for them to ship and still pay the monthly fee? What if everyone starts doing this? The more people that catch on will make it even less likely to get a new game.

So to get a newer game you basically have to keep just a few in your Q while waiting for them to ship and still pay the monthly fee? What if everyone starts doing this? The more people that catch on will make it even less likely to get a new game.

Doubt that will ever happen. There are too many people, including ones in this thread that don't fully understand how the queue works. I've been on gamefly for almost a year, and haven't had a single game not sent to me on release day. If this ever changes, I'd probably quit the service.

I would say I am a "binge" gamer where I play a ton of games in a month and don't play any newer titles till 5 or 6 months after release. I do my gamefly subscription based on school being in session. For example, I won't play any of the new games coming out (fable 2, fallout 3, Gh: world tour, Rock band 2, etc..) till Christmas break where I have around a month to catch up on titles. By then on Gamefly, their mostly all available. So the 3 out-at-a-time Gamefly service suits me.

To increase you odds, make sure:
1) Too Human is the only thing in your Q two days before release date 8/14 (future unreleased titles are fine)
2) GF owes you a game two days before release date 8/14

Good luck!


I dont think people are understanding what your telling them. I ALWAYS get new releases on release day. I even had Madden sent to me on the 11th !


I guess some people not being able to figure it out are why some of us have such great success. lol Stop telling everyone now. lol