Gamerang Impressions?

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I heard a few people talking about Gamerang earlier, as it's one of the few online Game rental services with distibution centers on the east coast. So, has anybody been using it?

With the Christmas gaming flood starting, I think now would be a great time to start up with one of these, it may save me money in the long run.

I've had Gamerang for about three or four months, I think. Maybe less, I can't remember. At any rate, I've had about a dozen rental games shipped to me so far, two of which I've purchased. My initial impressions: they rock.

I went for Gamerang after an absolutely miserable experience with GameFly. More often than not, GameFly games took a week or more to ship, and when I sent them back, it sometimes took up to two weeks for them to show as returned. They also screwed up my billing, lost my credit card number, etc. With Gamerang, I've had none of that.

Gamerang's rental system is almost identical to GameFly's - you maintain a queue of games you're interested in, listed in order of priority (set by you). The first available game at the top of your queue is sent whenever you've got a rental available. The number of rentals you can have out at one time depends on how much you want to pay per month: prices are about $15 for 1 game, $20 for 2, $28 for 3, and $36 for four. You keep each game as long as you like, with the option to buy it at a used game price (for most titles - older games are often not for sale).

It looks like they've got six U.S. distribution centers. They tell you when they've shipped a game and when you can expect to receive it in your mailbox. In my case, I usually get the games within 2-3 days of the listed ship date. They've accurately predicted the arrival date on every game they shipped for me, except for one, which was only a day late.

The game selection is pretty huge - all the major current-gen consoles are represented, plus the PSOne, GBA, DS, and PSP. They've got most of the upcoming 360 games available as well. So far I've rented mostly new releases, which seem to ship within a day or two of the retail release date in most cases. I've rented a couple of older titles that showed as available after a "short wait" in my rental queue, but they shipped after only 2-3 days.

Gamerang's interface isn't as polished as GameFly's - it's a little more difficult to search for games, or find the info you need. Once you've figured out how it works, though, it's a snap. They don't have links to reviews and screenshots. For games not due out for several weeks, the release dates are often screwed up, but the info for anything coming out within a month is usually accurate.

Though I miss some of GameFly's site features, I'm more than happy to go without them for reliable, prompt service, which is what Gamerang's delivered so far. I'm anxious to see whether they keep up with the requests for 360 titles. I'll have four at the top of my queue, ready to ship on launch day so long as they're available.

Sounds like they may be getting a new customer soon then

I wish we had something like this in Canada. I can't seem to find anything though.

Sounds like they may be getting a new customer soon then

Same here. Gamefly's screwed me over twice in the past 2 months already and I'm a bit sick of 10 day turnarounds.

Fly you're review pretty much clinched it for me, is there a Gamerang referal program that I can submit you for?

Certis wrote:

I wish we had something like this in Canada. I can't seem to find anything though.

Was about to ask, but with this going on at Blockbuster it costs even less. You have to go outside though, and there are bears.

Hmmm....adding to the chorus, Gamefly service has been pretty poor for me too, and the fact that Gamerang has PSX games is a plus for me too, since I still have a lot of catching up to do.

Hmmmmmm... I was thinking of firing Gamefly back up once the 360 hit, but you may indeed have swayed me over to Gamerang. Thanks for the info!

Mr.Green wrote:

Was about to ask, but with this going on at Blockbuster it costs even less. You have to go outside though, and there are bears.

I don't know how it is up in your freak country, but where I am, Blockbuster is TEH SUK. Why? Well, the games selection in their stores is sparse, and new titles take forever to hit shelves. Once they do hit shelves, they're so understocked that it's impossible to rent a game until it's in the bargain bin at EBGames anyway. Stack on top of the that the eight dollar cost to rent a game, and you can see why I don't even bother with them anymore. That said, I'm so cheap I don't want to pay a monthly fee for something I may or may not use enough. if I could do any combination of movies/games with a mail-based service, I'd be a customer yesterday. For some reason, no decent mail-based company is willing to combine the two under one offer umbrella. Screw them.

LockAndLoad wrote:

Fly you're review pretty much clinched it for me, is there a Gamerang referal program that I can submit you for?

Hmmm, let's see...I can't see anything official, but no worries - anyone who signs up and likes it can just PayPal me some cash.

From Geezer Gamers:

Gamerang began in 2003 and right off the bat they had two major advantages over Gamefly: they're $2 a month cheaper, and they had distribution centers in New Jersey, Oklahoma, and California. This month they are opening another distribution center in Minnesota, and later in 2005 they'll be expanding to North Carolina and Washington state.

HAHAHAHAHAH! North Carolina, Female Doggoes! I am so in!

baggachipz wrote:
Mr.Green wrote:

Was about to ask, but with this going on at Blockbuster it costs even less. You have to go outside though, and there are bears.

I don't know how it is up in your freak country, but where I am, Blockbuster is TEH SUK. Why? Well, the games selection in their stores is sparse, and new titles take forever to hit shelves. Once they do hit shelves, they're so understocked that it's impossible to rent a game until it's in the bargain bin at EBGames anyway. Stack on top of the that the eight dollar cost to rent a game, and you can see why I don't even bother with them anymore. That said, I'm so cheap I don't want to pay a monthly fee for something I may or may not use enough. if I could do any combination of movies/games with a mail-based service, I'd be a customer yesterday. For some reason, no decent mail-based company is willing to combine the two under one offer umbrella. Screw them.

It's not that bad and it costs between 3 and 5 bucks depending what and when. Gee, Canada > USA, or something.

The Fly wrote:
LockAndLoad wrote:

Fly you're review pretty much clinched it for me, is there a Gamerang referal program that I can submit you for?

Hmmm, let's see...I can't see anything official, but no worries - anyone who signs up and likes it can just PayPal me some cash.

They have an affiliate program.

ColdForged wrote:
The Fly wrote:
LockAndLoad wrote:

Fly you're review pretty much clinched it for me, is there a Gamerang referal program that I can submit you for?

Hmmm, let's see...I can't see anything official, but no worries - anyone who signs up and likes it can just PayPal me some cash.

They have an affiliate program.

If I've increased a single GWJer's gaming joy by my comments, I am complete.

If a few more of you have good experiences with them, I may sign GWJ up as an affiliate.

Does anyone know where their California distribution center is? Access to their website has been blocked by the network demons who haunt my place of business.

ACCH!! I MADE DUBBLE POASTINGS!

Duttybrew wrote:

Does anyone know where their California distribution center is? Access to their website has been blocked by the network demons who haunt my place of business.

GAMERANG
PO BOX 27479
SANTA ANA CA 92799-9628

I LOVE MY CAPS LOCK.

Minnesota? Sweet. I had problems with how long it took for Gamefly. Perhaps I'll sign up for this. I'll wait for an affiliate program with GWJ so you guys get some cash out of the deal. Ching ching.

Well, supposedly Gamefly has instituted this FastReturn program, but I haven't noticed any increase in the speed of their turnaround. If anything, they have been slower for me recently.

necroyeti wrote:

Well, supposedly Gamefly has instituted this FastReturn program, but I haven't noticed any increase in the speed of their turnaround. If anything, they have been slower for me recently.

Yeah, I got this snazzy email from them explaining how much faster they'd register my returns under their new system, but a few days later I sent two games back and they didn't show them as received for a week and half. That's about when I quit.

North Carolina emerges clearly as a new gaming powerhouse.

necroyeti wrote:
Well, supposedly Gamefly has instituted this FastReturn program, but I haven't noticed any increase in the speed of their turnaround. If anything, they have been slower for me recently.
Yeah, I got this snazzy email from them explaining how much faster they'd register my returns under their new system, but a few days later I sent two games back and they didn't show them as received for a week and half. That's about when I quit.

I sent a game back to them back in August and they were going to send me Star Wars: Republic Commando right away using FastReturn... well, two weeks went by and I never received it. I sent them an email and it took another week for them to process it and send me a replacement disc that took 6 business days to reach me. I finally just received it. Once I finish it and XMen Legends 2 my subscription should be just about ready to renew so I can switch over to Gamerang with no hassles.

I guess one month's fee wouldn't break me or anything, and there are games I would like to play but don't know if I want to buy.

You know, I think I'm actually going to give this a shot.

*edit*

I'm all signed up. If it's cool I'll keep it after the first month. If not.. it's cheap. Oh well.

If GWJ ends up an affiliate, I will join and pad Certis and Elysium's pockets a bit. Until then, I'll stick with impulse buying.

I hope they meant Washington state and not DC.

Minase wrote:

I hope they meant Washington state and not DC.

Pretty sure they did. Here, from their support page:

We plan on opening 3 more center in 2005. Minnesota, North Carolina, and Washington State.

Washington State. Nice, may have to jump onboard. Will definitely if GWJ becomes an affiliate.

I'm definitely interested if the Washington State service center is open. I'll hold out to see if GWJ joins the affiliates, though.

I've signed up to be an affiliate since people seem to like the service, but it takes them some time to clear you.

Certis wrote:

I've signed up to be an affiliate since people seem to like the service, but it takes them some time to clear you.

What will affiliatism do, exactly? If I signed up yesterday, am I going to miss something fun, or will I just not help get GWJ get money?

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