It’s time to get your game on. GameFly is the first and most well-known video game rental service on the internet and earns a TopTenREVIEWS Gold Award as our highest ranked service in this category. They are the best online game rental service because they offer the most games, quick delivery times, and offer much more on its site than its competitors. Gamefly boasts more than 7000 games on nine major gaming consoles, including the largest selection for seventh-generation consoles like Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3. They also rent PSP movies.
For individual games, Gamefly provides descriptions, reviews, cheats, screenshots and videos. You can also purchase many games at a discounted price. The service offers a free trial membership, 2-4 day shipping times and parental controls for anxious parents. The site also offers a quick return option, enabling users to have their next game shipped before the previous game even arrives at the distribution center, allowing for quicker shipping. You won't find a better online video game rental service out there.
GameFly features some of the most comprehensive game pages in the industry. Each individual game's page includes, where available, a game summary, rating, user reviews, critic reviews, screenshots, videos, cheats, instructions, specs and additional game suggestions. The instructions and cheats are particularly helpful. The service also displays a game’s rental availability and new or used purchase price.
GameFly doesn't charge late fees or impose due dates as long as your membership is active. You also won't pay shipping fees. As soon as you are finished with your video game, you seal it up in the prepaid envelope and drop it in the mailbox. You are also able to cancel your membership at any time.
If you become attached to a game you're renting, you can usually choose to buy it at a discounted price. Just click the Keep button on your account management screen and your credit card will be billed for the game. Some games are also available to purchase brand new, still in the box.
GameFly also offers parental controls so parents can restrict their children's access to video games with suggestive or inappropriate content. Parents (credit card holders) can block the rental of games based on ESRB rating. They can also block the rental of PSP movies based on normal movie ratings. When the parental control feature is activated, the system blocks the addition of restricted games and movies to the account’s GameQ and the ability to read user reviews for restricted games. A password is required to change or alter the account settings and purchase games.
The GameFly Store is full of new and used games (the used games are discounted )-from all major platforms. All games are guaranteed to be scratch free and in perfect working condition. They are also mailed with the original case and manual. You don’t need to have a membership to purchase used games, but you will have to set up a partial account with a login and password.
GameFly also offers a few incentive programs including GameFly Rewards and referral rewards. With GameFly Rewards, the longer you are an active member, the more rewards you earn. Every three months you are a member you get five GameFly Dollars to use toward purchasing used games. Additionally, once you've been a member for three months you get 5% off all used game purchases, and after a year of continuous membership you get 10% off used games. However, GameFly Dollars will expire 90 days after being issued, so use them quickly.
With the referral program, you earn a $20 gift for every friend you refer who signs up and sticks with the service for at least one membership fee charge.
One of this service's most unique features is their Facebook application. It is designed to build a community of gamers by allowing users to review and rate games, share what they are playing now, what they’ve played in the past and create a wish list of games they’d like to play in the future. It’s a fun app that gets you and your friends involved in gaming. However, since it is not a direct initiative of GameFly, there is no integration into your membership account. In the future, we’d like to see the ability to display your queue and recently purchased games to your friends.
GameFly has four distribution centers located in each corner of the U.S. Locations include Los Angeles, CA; Pittsburgh, PA; Tampa, FL and Austin, TX. You can expect to receive your games about two to four days after placing them in your queue.
One of our favorite features is that GameFly has teamed up with the U.S. Postal service to make delivery and turnover easier than any other service. As soon as your game’s barcode is scanned by the USPS, the service sends out the next game in your queue before your old game has officially reached their warehouse.
GameFly has more than 7000 video game titles for all major consoles like Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube. They also have one of the largest selections of games for the newest platforms including PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii. There seems to be a fair selection of titles across the board. Each platform includes numerous pages of games and every search category includes multiple game options.
They also carry selections for all major handheld systems like Nintendo DS, GameBoy Advanced and PlayStation PSP. You can also buy or rent PSP movies.
One area where GameFly soars above the rest is their game reviews. Where other video game rental sites might have only a couple reviews for even the most popular games, this service has dozens of user reviews to help you decide which games will blow you out of the water and which ones lack firepower.
GameFly allows you to find the right video games easily. You select your platform from a tool bar at the top of the page. From there, you can narrow or organize your search by genre, popularity, release date, community rating or a game’s online capabilities. You can also search by specific titles using the search bar located in the upper right corner of your screen.
While the service has a good FAQ section and an email option to reach customer support, they don't provide a phone number in case you really want to talk to a representative. However, they do offer live chat everyday for members in the Account Activity section of the website.
GameFly has four different payment plans available including:
- $15.95 monthly for one video game at a time
- $22.95 monthly for two video games at a time
They also have three and four-game plans, both of which are only available once your account has been active for 60 days. GameFly and Gamerang are the only two services that offer a four-game plan, but since GameFly's is $20 cheaper per month, it is definitely the better option.
Once you qualify, these are the monthly prices:
- $29.95 monthly for three video games at a time
- $36.95 monthly for four video games at a time
GameFly’s huge game selection, easy navigation, attractive interface and fast turnaround times make it ideal for avid or casual gamers. GameFly is always ahead of the curve and continues to be a leader in the online video game rental industry. We found they are always looking for new and better ways to make their service stay at the top of the game rental business.
