I know that I've only been subscribed to GameFly for a couple weeks (I haven't even gotten out of the free trial period yet), but I'm starting to have my doubts about the service. My biggest issue with it is the speed of delivery. I put my first two games in the mail on Monday and Tuesday, expecting to get my next two games by Thursday. I didn't get another game until Saturday; I still haven't gotten my second game yet. When I switch to the one-game-at-a-time plan, I'll be lucky to manage four games a month, and that is if I rush to play them on the weekend and put them in the mail by Monday.
Perhaps I am spoiled by having had a NetFlix subscription for several years. With NetFlix, I can put a DVD in the mail on Monday and have the next DVD by Wednesday or Thursday. That's because NetFlix has 58 distribution centers all over the country, as opposed to GameFly's four centers. I'm on the three-at-a-time plan with NetFlix, so it isn't unusual for us to go through 12 DVDs in some months. All this for $16.99. You can see why I might feel that I am not getting my money's worth paying $15.99 for the one-game plan at GameFly.
Outside of the speed, I think the service is pretty good. I enjoy the convenience of having games delivered to my door, and the selection is bigger than that of the video store down the road that rents games. I imagine that if I lived closer to Austin, TX or Tampa, FL (the two GameFly distribution centers closest to me) then I would get quicker delivery. I'm sure that my speedy service from NetFlix has something to do with the fact that they have a hub in Greensboro, which is only a few hours' away from me. So here's hoping that GameFly gets as popular as NetFlix and opens up a few more centers soon!
3 comments:
I definitely feel being spoiled by Netflix.
I have GameFly but I think I might discontinue it… I signed up being ok with knowing that I wouldn’t be able to get the latest games (because they’re in such high demand) but I found that I ended up still buying a few of the latest titles (Dragon Age, Heavy Rain) because I got a excited about what was current.
With too little gaming time, my GameFly game has just sat on my Xbox while I eke out the last bits from my purchases.
While $12 a month means that I could rent a GameFly game for several months before it becomes more expensive than buying the game, GameFly’s pokey delivery and uncertain availability poison the experience enough to make it worth paying a bit more to get exactly what I want, when I want it.
I like your blog, btw! I found it when figuring out what search rank my blog was for “Friendly Local Gaming Store.” It turns out I’m #2 and you’re #3.
Pete, I've lived with GameFly a couple more months since I wrote this post, and I still think the slow delivery is the main flaw that keeps me from recommending the service to anyone else. Many of my IRL friends don't care about having the latest and greatest games, but waiting over a week for your next game to arrive is a pain. I actually went to a local store to rent a game while waiting for a GameFly delivery, and I signed up for the service to avoid that!
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