Anyone else got a Gamefly account?

[Felon]

I've had my subscription about a month now, and I'm pretty disappointed. They've been referred to as "Netflix for games", but they come up way short of Netflix's standards i my brief experience. Availability of games is pitiful, be it an old game like Fable or Elder Scrolls, or a new one like Crackdown. I've also had two games go missing in the mail (one coming, one going), and I've had a game that I played for a while, and then it froze up during a load screen and when I tried it again it was deemed "unplayable". I have no idea how a game goes from being playable for several to irrevocably damaged the next, but so it goes.

Shipping times are pretty terrible as well. They supposedly have opened up an east coast office to improve shipping, so I'm trying to e a little patient with them, but then again my games are still showing a return address of California. These guys have been around three or four years now I believe, so I don't think I can attribute this service to growing pains.

Anybody out there have their own experiences with Gamefly?

 

[TwistedBishop]

I've used Gamefly off and on since 2003. Game availability has never been a big issue. If a game is checked out, I leave it at the top of my queue and usually it's shipped within a day. And I have yet to receive an unplayable game, or even a badly scratched one. They also have very good prices on used games (using the Keep It option they send you the mint packaging at no cost) and a nice Rewards program where you earn credits towards and percentages off those used games.

The two big problems with their service comes via the shipping. I've lost about 4 games over maybe 12 months of service scattered over the years, versus 1 via Netflix in 5 years of non-stop service. That bright orange envelope must attract a lot of thieves.

The bigger problem, and really the dealbreaker more often than not, is the turnaround time. I live in New Hampshire and it takes a week for games to reach me, and a week for them to receive the game back. Their Fast Return program (where the envelope gets scanned at the post office and informs them of the return, allowing your next game to be cross shipped) is very hit or miss. And the newly opened distribution center doesn't serve all the eastern states -- far from it. It's currently limited to CT, DC, DE, IL, IN, KY, MD, MI,
NC, NJ, OH, PA, RI, TN, VA, and WV.

 

[DonTadow]

I've had my subscription about a month now, and I'm pretty disappointed. They've been referred to as "Netflix for games", but they come up way short of Netflix's standards i my brief experience. Availability of games is pitiful, be it an old game like Fable or Elder Scrolls, or a new one like Crackdown. I've also had two games go missing in the mail (one coming, one going), and I've had a game that I played for a while, and then it froze up during a load screen and when I tried it again it was deemed "unplayable". I have no idea how a game goes from being playable for several to irrevocably damaged the next, but so it goes.

Shipping times are pretty terrible as well. They supposedly have opened up an east coast office to improve shipping, so I'm trying to e a little patient with them, but then again my games are still showing a return address of California. These guys have been around three or four years now I believe, so I don't think I can attribute this service to growing pains.

Anybody out there have their own experiences with Gamefly?

I've had it for two years and have never had a problem with new or old games. They've also been p retty fast shipping which was the only fault i had. I had sent a game back and before i could change my que because i didn't want the next game they had already shipped. it.

 

[Vigilance]

I had one for a time, eventually cancelled it because there werent really enough games that A) they had B) I wanted to play and C) didnt have long wait times.

I ended up getting games I had little interest in while the games I really wanted were all checked out.

Still, it introduced me to a couple of games I wouldnt have tried otherwise, like Romance of the Three Kingdoms X (I had played earlier games in the series on different consoles, but this was a GREAT game).

Actually, what I liked better about the service was renting a game and keeping it, paying to buy the good ones.

But ultimately, there werent enough games I was truly interested in.

That said, now that I have a DS, and only one game for it, Ive been considering signing on again...

 

[Felon]

I've used Gamefly off and on since 2003. Game availability has never been a big issue. If a game is checked out, I leave it at the top of my queue and usually it's shipped within a day.

I've had it for two years and have never had a problem with new or old games.

OK, lemme give a quick rundown of titles in my queue and their corresponding availability:

1) Elder Scrolls Oblivion--Very Low
2) Fable--Very Low
3) Crackdown--Low
4) Star Wars: Knights of the Old Repbublic--Now
5) Gears of War--Now
6) Hitman: Blood Money--Now
7) Shadowrun--Low

Maybe it's just me, but that seems like pretty bad availability all-in-all. But even, worse the game they wound up shipping to me was ninth on the list. They jumped all those other titles, regardless of whether their availability was high, low, or now.

And it shipped on the 21st of last month and hasn't arrived. I sent them an email on the 28th saying the game hadn't arrived and they told me to wait until after the 29th.

As to buying used games from them, I dunno. The prices are low, but I'm not sure I'm crazy about buying a game that's been in the hands of countless other slobs before me. I've already had one game go belly-up.

 

[Vigilance]

I just re-upped since I just got my DS. Between DS games, GBA games (man there are a TON of games for that system) and the Wii, my queue is loaded with games with High and Now availability.

I just wish more DS games had "keep it" prices lol.

Chuck

 

[TwistedBishop]

Maybe it's just me, but that seems like pretty bad availability all-in-all. But even, worse the game they wound up shipping to me was ninth on the list. They jumped all those other titles, regardless of whether their availability was high, low, or now.

Yeah, I wouldn't leave an actual queue on their site. At least I never have. I'll keep one or two games that I really want and change them as the mood strikes me. Like I said before, I've never had to wait more than a couple days to get those games, regardless of what their new availability ratings indicate. Even Crackdown, after the Halo 3 beta had started, only took a couple days.

 

[Willowisp]

Gamefly

My boyfriend and I have a Gamefly account and it's fine. The game turnaround is never more than a few days and I/we always get our games in a reasonable amount of time. We tend to hang on to stuff for a while so we don't really have issues with stuff in the queue being a long wait but I know for a fact we've never waited more than a week for anything.

 

[Felon]

Yeah, I wouldn't leave an actual queue on their site. At least I never have. I'll keep one or two games that I really want and change them as the mood strikes me. Like I said before, I've never had to wait more than a couple days to get those games, regardless of what their new availability ratings indicate. Even Crackdown, after the Halo 3 beta had started, only took a couple days.

My boyfriend and I have a Gamefly account and it's fine. The game turnaround is never more than a few days and I/we always get our games in a reasonable amount of time. We tend to hang on to stuff for a while so we don't really have issues with stuff in the queue being a long wait but I know for a fact we've never waited more than a week for anything.

What do you mean when you speak of "game turnaround" and waiting for a week? I guess by maintaining a queue, it works against me since they try to ship the next available game rather than exhaustively check to see if the game at the top of my list is available.

Because, boy, either you guys are doing something different than or you're full of baloney. We're receiving drastically different experiences, that's for sure.

Heck, they still haven't replied back to me about the Thief game that never arrived, and I emailed them again two last Saturday.

I did, however, just get an email from them about them jacking up their prices by a buck. Based on what I"m hearing here, I'll give them another month to see if their act changes to match the glowing reviews.

 

[DonTadow]

OK, lemme give a quick rundown of titles in my queue and their corresponding availability:

1) Elder Scrolls Oblivion--Very Low
2) Fable--Very Low
3) Crackdown--Low
4) Star Wars: Knights of the Old Repbublic--Now
5) Gears of War--Now
6) Hitman: Blood Money--Now
7) Shadowrun--Low

Maybe it's just me, but that seems like pretty bad availability all-in-all. But even, worse the game they wound up shipping to me was ninth on the list. They jumped all those other titles, regardless of whether their availability was high, low, or now.

And it shipped on the 21st of last month and hasn't arrived. I sent them an email on the 28th saying the game hadn't arrived and they told me to wait until after the 29th.

As to buying used games from them, I dunno. The prices are low, but I'm not sure I'm crazy about buying a game that's been in the hands of countless other slobs before me. I've already had one game go belly-up.

I should probably say that i only rent obscure console rpgs and strategy games.