Kotaku: Rentals

Belgium Cracks Down On...Game Rentals (Update)

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:30:00 MDT

In June, the Belgian Entertainment Association (representing game publishers, of course) managed to convince Belgian authorities to outlaw game rentals. On the grounds that renting games made a sizeable dent in game sales. Part of that deal was that, from June, video stores couldn't buy any new games to rent out, but could keep on renting out the ones they had until December. Well, with December approaching, Belgian paper De Standaard has confirmed that, come December 1, Belgians won't be able to rent video games. At all. Bet the publishers are happy with that one! Pity about the, you know. Gamers.

Videogames verhuren plots verboden [De Standaard, thanks everyone!]

UPDATE - Seems the De Standaard report left a few things out. Namely that the root of the problem has been that rental stores have been buying retail copies of games then renting them, instead of paying publishers the licensing money for a rental copy. Cheeky. So that's what the BEA are cracking down on. If a rental store wants to pay for a rental copy (which we guess they never do), they're more than welcome to rent games to their heart's content.

Iron Man Game Rentals Beat Out GTA IV (Sorta)

Brian Crecente — Mon, 05 May 2008 14:00:00 MDT

Iron Man the movie wasn't the only Marvel enterprise to do well against GTA IV over the weekend, it looks like Iron Man the video game also held it's own, at least for rentals.

In GameFly's weekly run down of top releases they show that while Grand Theft Auto IV for the Xbox 360 took the top spot and Grand Theft Auto IV for the PS3 took the number three spot, Iron Man managed to wedge itself between the two, creating a crunchy GTA sandwich. The game based on the movie was also the top PSP and PS2 rental last week.

Not bad. Hit the jump to see the full list of cross-platform rentals for the week of GTA.

1 Grand Theft Auto IV Xbox 360 Action Adventure Take Two
2 Iron Man Xbox 360 Action Adventure Sega
3 Grand Theft Auto IV PlayStation 3 Action Adventure Take Two
4 Mario Kart Wii Wii Racing Nintendo
5 Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 Xbox 360 Shooter Ubisoft
6 Dark Sector Xbox 360 Shooter D3P
7 Iron Man PlayStation 3 Action Adventure Sega
8 Army of Two Xbox 360 Shooter Electronic Arts
9 Viking: Battle for Asgard Xbox 360 Action Adventure Sega
10 Ninja Gaiden 2 Xbox 360 Action Adventure Microsoft

GameFly Trying Out Trade-In Program

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:00:12 MDT

We got word from GameFly subscriber and Kotaku reader Jeremiah who informs that he's one of the few asked to participate in the company's new trade-in program. Inventively named the GameFly Trade-In Program, gamers can send in their used games—shipping cost footed by you—to get credit for their account.

Looks like the mail rental service is going after some of GameStop's business, hoping to pay bottom dollar for more of its library. I can't imagine there are too many publishers and developers who will be thrilled to learn of yet another game retailer who's tapping into the used market.

GameFly Expands To East Coast

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 18:40:37 MDT

Videogame rental company GameFly seems to be taking another step to addressing one of the more common complaints about its service, longer mailing times. GameFly is now testing a distribution center on the east coast in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to better serve their customers.

One of our readers tipped us today to let us know that the Los Angeles based company was informing its subscribers about the change which would be rolled out to a limited number of members while they get up to speed. While not much a renter myself—I prefer to buy, then let games collect dust unopened on my shelf—those looking for another rental option may want to check it out.

Thanks for the heads up, Justin! Michael McWhertor

GameFly's Top Ten Requests List

Brian Crecente — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 18:00:45 MDT

GameFly's latest top ten rental game requests list has a very distinct Xbox 360 flavor to it. Only two games on the list aren't for the Msoft next-gen console: NCAA Football 07 and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow both for the Playstation 2.

I can't believe Chromehounds is number two. Trust me, it won't be on the list next-week. The game's far too spotty. I just got a copy of Prey like five minutes ago. Far too late for me to review for the Rocky Mountain News, but I can still play the hell out of it. Anything missing from the list, do you think?

1 Prey Xbox 360 Shooter Take Two
2 Chromehounds Xbox 360 Shooter Sega
3 Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-Earth II Xbox 360 Sports Electronic Arts
4 NCAA Football 07 Xbox 360 Sports Electronic Arts
5 Dead Rising Xbox 360 Action Adventure Capcom
6 NCAA Football 07 PlayStation 2 Sports Electronic Arts
7 N3: Ninety-Nine Nights Xbox 360 RPG Microsoft
8 Gears of War Xbox 360 Shooter Microsoft
9 Over G Fighters Xbox 360 Strategy/Sim Ubisoft
10 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow PlayStation 2 Action Adventure Bethesda

Wii, PS3 Hits GameFly Rental Que

Brian Crecente — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 12:00:03 MDT

Game rental company GameFly just added the Nintendo Wii and Playstation 3 to their inventory. Right now both their PS3 and Wii listings show 27 games each coming to the consoles, and their company, for rental. The Wii listing shows a November release date, while the PS3 listing, of course, shows a Nov. 17 release date. GameFly members can already start adding PS3 and Wii games to their rental que. What's your first choice for a Wii or PS3 rental? Brian Crecente

Wii Game listings
PS3 listings