Lunchtime Discussion: Would You Rent A PS3 Game?
It's the next step, right?Published 04/01/2010 at 12:00 by Raen
Lunchtime Discussion: Digital Distribution [74]
Gamers Prefer Digital Copies Over Physical [36]
PopCap Price Cut [16]
Sure I may be posting it, but today’s topic of discussion come from nofi, our glorious leader. It’s a good one too.
The next step in digital distribution surely has to be actual game rentals. I don’t mean the ability to download a full game for £20 and keep it for as long as you want, or even get part of a game in weekly doses (like Blue Toad Murder Files) – no, I mean pay £5 to be able to download a full game and play it for two days, pretty much like you do at your local video rental store, but over the web.
Naturally all this is dependant on your bandwidth and remaining storage space but in principal, in theory, would this be something you would be interested in? When the country’s covered in snow and everybody’s either driving around at three miles per hour or sliding down the pavement on their backsides, surely the sensible thing would be to stay in and keep warm and let the internet do the rest?
So, what sort of price points would you be interested in? Would you be prepared to download the full game and then pay an extra £25 or so to purchase a further ‘unlock key’ to keep playing past the rental period? Or does all this just sound like Star Trek and you’d rather face the terrifying conditions of the last couple of weeks of Britain just to get your hands on a physical copy of FIFA 2010?
Comments
Please note that all comments are the opinion of the individual author and not TheSixthAxis.
cc_star | 04/01/2010 12:03
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I already rent all my games from LoveFilm…. the only games which I’ll buy this year are the unmissable ones I know I’ll be playing weeks or even months later like ModNation Racers, GoWIII and Heavy Rain
If I could do rentals via download and not have to wait for Postman Pat then all the better, bring it on! But the pricing would have to beat LoveFilm’s £15/month for about 5-6 games.
Kingsleyftw | 04/01/2010 12:05
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Agreed, the pricing would have to be competitive for me to consider it. But what I like about LoveFilm is that I can have the game as long as I like.
retroedward | 04/01/2010 13:23
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I’m with Lovefilm too – £10 a month and I get 2 games at once. £5 for a 2 day rental just doesn’t stand up.
The only time I could see this being used would be if you had a few mates round and wanted a particular party game.
MUKARKAR | 04/01/2010 16:37
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me too from lovefilm and pay £19 a month, its the best offer i get to take any game and keep it with me as long as i want, game that i kept for long was CoD4 7 months, GTA4 9 month and played once, uncharted 2 still got it.
hannes_truce | 04/01/2010 12:06
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I rent everything, games i bought last year were MW2 and eyepet. and rockband. Lovefilm is the way forward.
3shirts | 04/01/2010 16:03
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“I rent everything”
Including boys?
bunimomike | 04/01/2010 16:05
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How else do you dispose of the bodies? The service is very complete.
haz360 | 04/01/2010 12:10
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It sounds like a good idea, but at around £2 per night, you could rack up a serious bill. I currently rent from lovefilm, I can have as many games/films as I want, 3 at any one time, £20 a month. I’d generally want to keep a game longer than a couple of nights, usually at least a few weeks if I’m enjoying it, so at £2 a day for one month, that’d be around £60! And that’s just for one game! Whereas doing what I’m currently doing now, I could pay £20 and have as 3 games for a month or 20 games for a couple of days each. The only way I can see a Digital rental service working is if it charged a monthly subscription price, like £20 for 10 downloads of whatever, not a per game charge.
ScottW-1976 | 04/01/2010 12:27
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Alwas been interested in LoveFILM but have heard some shocking stories about their customer serviice/delivery times etc. How long have you been using them?
cc_star | 04/01/2010 12:35
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I’ve used them on & off since they started,
There are 2 month free trials around if you wanna give them a try – go to their website and click on start free trial then enter promotional code C6XWK4K7F it will change it from 2 weeks free to 2 months (you then need to look for the link to add games to your rental packages, and make sure you click it) then choose either 2 or 3 disks at a time
(the promo code only works if you’ve not already had a free trial, so you’ll either need to be a new customer or use a new email address
)
Their internal tunround time really effects how many you get through a month, but since I’ve set up 2 lists (one for Blu-rays and one for games) I don’t have a problem
Anthony72 | 04/01/2010 12:40
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@ScottW Ive been using them for nearly a year now and Ive had no problems. I sent back 2 films Tuesday morning and got another 2 on Thursday. The waiting time can be a pain sometimes but I put enough in my list to cover it. Ive also got 2 one for blu-ray and one for games. Does me fine and saves me some money in that games I wouldnt normally buy I rent.
ScottW-1976 | 04/01/2010 15:32
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Thanks a lot for the feedback guys, looks like I’ll have to give them a go. Having only had a PS3 for a few months (was waiting for the price drop and slim release) I have a load of older games to catch up on. Looks like it might be the perfect way to do it.
gazzagb | 04/01/2010 12:10
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I used Lovefilms free trail and thought it was brilliant. Generally, i get bored of games quickly, unless its got a good mulitplayer (e.g mw2) or has a brilliant story (e.g AC2, UC2) although it may take me a while to get round to completeing it.
If the price was reasonable, and the download didnt take forever, then yes i would rent games.
3shirts | 04/01/2010 12:16
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Like all these new methods of distribution, the sticking point is always price. I’d happily pay a fiver for a few days rental with an optional £25 to keep it forever but I don’t see those being realistic prices for such a service going by Sony’s usual trick of charging more for the download than a physical copy.
Also, bad weather in this country also seems to cripple the telecommunications networks anyway, lol
bunimomike | 04/01/2010 12:16
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I’ve never rented games before in my life, mainly due to my time being all over the place and I’ve not been able to commit to required amount of game-time on any given title. I could see myself going for something along the lines of LoveFilm or a PSN equivalent but as long as I can hang onto said titles for as long as I fancy as I might not touch a title for a couple of months (which kinda makes me think I shouldn’t anyway!).
Then again, I’ve recently finished my relationship and gaming is now back on the cards. I had inFamous for Christmas and tonight will have me finishing my first playthrough of it. Unheard of in the last two years as there’s no way I could plough that much time into gaming. You know what? I’m happy!
:):) Very happy. Also, bloody brilliant game. 8/10 definitely but still a great game.
double-o-dave | 04/01/2010 12:33
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Last year I think i only bought Uncharted 2, RES5, Assassins Creed 2 and Metallica Guitar Hero. Everything else I rented as I knew I wouldn’t play it for any longer than a week.
Oh and the new buzz game and controllers about a week before xmas so I could play it with the missuss ’til about 2 days before Xmas when we split. Prior to that I’d recommend it as we had a really good laugh playing it although I think I’ll now have to bin it as I’ve got my controller and profile in one hand and hers with her profile in the other… its doesn’t quite feel the same!!!
bunimomike | 04/01/2010 12:59
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Fair point, lol.
Co-op gaming gets lonely when you split-up. Have they got RealDolls to play PS3 games yet? 
double-o-dave | 04/01/2010 13:02
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More than likely ‘yes’ in Japan!
ScottW-1976 | 04/01/2010 12:25
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I reckon its a great way of deciding whether to purchase a title. You can read as many reviews as you like but if I don’t click with a game thats it for me. Personal circumstances also play a massive part. I managed to finish UC2 in a weekend because my wife was working away, but have had AC2 for a while now and am only just getting into the meat of the game. No matter, choice has always got to be a good thing.
Gamoc | 04/01/2010 12:38
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I already rent PS3/360 games when I feel like doing so. £5 for 2 days would cause me to tell them to fuck off, though.
double-o-dave | 04/01/2010 12:50
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I’ve got 2 ways of looking at this…
1: The fact that you can rent a game from blockbuster for a week for £6 gives me the same train of thought as you, although…
2: That works out at just £2.50 for a nights worth of entertainment, which in a way is a bargain, thats peanuts. It costs more than that for a pint so the F-Off statement seems a bit harsh
scavenga | 04/01/2010 12:52
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+1
cc_star | 04/01/2010 12:57
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Whilst harsh, you’ve said that Blockbuster will rent you game for £6 for a week this is less than a pound a day…that makes £2.50 a night extraordinarily expensive at the equivalent of £17.50 a week its nearly 300% more than one competitor
And Blockbuster is extraordinary expensive itself compared to online rental stores like LoveFilm
bunimomike | 04/01/2010 12:58
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Ah, right. Let me see. If PSN offered a service where you could rent something there and then (instead of going to the shops or waiting for the likes of LoveFilm), that sounds interesting. Most of us are prone to impulse purchases and the temptation to say “sod it, have my fiver and I’ll test the game out right now” assuming they can upload it to us at a reasonable speed, is quite tempting. Like a Fast Lane option to renting. If they do this (as well) then it’d give everyone choice.
My thinking that someone like cc_star could carry on his subscription with LF but see something on the PSN and think “ooo, I fancy playing that this evening and I know I won’t get it from LF very soon so will remove it from my list of games to rent over the coming months and go grab it on PSN right now”. You know? Those impulsive moments.
cc_star | 04/01/2010 13:11
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I agree Mr bunimomike
You can’t beat those crazy moment when you’ve just gotta have something, but later regret it for one reason or other (BF1943 or Fat Princess for being generally broken online, or games like Mortal Kombat 2 which you just buy for a bit of nostalgia but never play again)
Although if the 1hr free playing time is a feature of a new premium PSN service it will help me take care of impulse purchases
double-o-dave | 04/01/2010 13:11
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I think its all sounding a bit harsh…
Blockbuster isn’t expensive when you can rent a game for £6 a week its just you’re comparing it to some very very cheap competitors.
The £5 for 2 days isn’t expensive either. The fact you can get entertainment for just 1 or 2 nights there and then at your pleasure and you don’t have to leave the house for £2.50 a night is ridiculously cheap!
Can’t see why anyones moaning about the pricing, cut them some slack!
cc_star | 04/01/2010 13:18
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No, they’re not expensive
but when set in comparison to alternatives they’re hundreds of % dearer, so they are expensive ‘in comparison to…’
bunimomike | 04/01/2010 13:20
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If they all offered the same service and the PSN was double the price, it would be horrific. However, as delivery methods are different (and potentially close to instant with the likes of streaming video) then we’re looking at the “I want it now, now, NOW” costs.
I don’t usually buy a game on launch so when I get a hankering for a particular title I get quite impatient for it to be delivered from the likes of Play or Amazon. With that in mind, here we might have a service which says “well… for a few pound more you can have it right now”. It’s this convenience that costs and there are gazillions of us that’ll undoubtedly buckle from time-to-time. 
Gamoc | 04/01/2010 13:39
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I just considered bandwidth. I would definitely not rent a full game from PSN.
scavenga | 04/01/2010 12:51
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I would definately rent a game if I knew I had a couple of days off and had the time to finish it before rental expiration.
Downside could be that it could be too easy to every now and then cough up a few notes to rent games that I weren’t 100% enthusiastic about, and ending up in total spending more than the amount I could have used on buying something proper on release day.
shields_t | 04/01/2010 12:55
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Well I haven’t yet rented a film from psn due to the iffy pricing so I can’t imagine I’d see much value in a games rental service sadly.
teflon | 04/01/2010 12:56
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It’d have to be a lovefilm-esque unlimited subscription (or at least 4 games a month, 2 at a time) for me to bite.
Since games last at least 3 times as long, a 2 day rental wouldn’t be anywhere near enough. It’d have to be much longer…
But really, Im someone who likes to own my things. I only rent films im not really sure about, but there’s not many games like that. If I am unsure, though, I can always wait till the price has dropped… £10 for Dead Space or PoP isn’t half bad.
pvwradtke | 04/01/2010 13:10
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I usually avoid renting games, it’s better to buy the disc and sell it on eBay once I’m done with it. This way I have more time than if I rented it for 2-4 days and I can enjoy it without giving up my other daily activities (well, I do work full time, you know). As for downloadable game rents, I think we are far from them, thanks to download speeds. It may be reasonable to get Burnout Paradise (which fits on a DVD9 on the 360), but it would be a pain for MGS4. Also, when the rental starts? When I “rent it” at the online store (very bad), when the download completes 2 days later (reasonable) or when I start playing the game (better)? And why keep it to “2 days ren” instead of playing the game for 48 hours of actual gameplay? Depending on the answer for those 2 questions, I wouldn’t mind renting a downloadable game.
cc_star | 04/01/2010 13:14
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Burnout Paradise is 3gig, I don’t know how long it took me, but on my rural broadband connection of 4.5mbps it was done when I woke up in the morning.
Don’t forget Blu-ray games take up so much space on a Blu-ray because the space exists and not for any other reason – if the same games were being delivered to people through another medium they wouldn’t take up all that space, and even if the file sizes did get a bit on the large size they would simply go episodic like Siren: Blood Curse
Deathbrin | 04/01/2010 14:12
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Sure i would. Besides, there’s not always a demo to decide whether you should get a copy.
mark w. | 04/01/2010 14:13
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I would use download-rental, if the prices are competitive and I would suggest that the rental starts when I use the download for the first time. So I can for example decide on wednesday to rent a game for the comming weekend and already download it. On friday night I can start the rental period by using the rental for the first time. I’m not interested in an full-game-unlock-key because I much more like to buy the game on a fysical disk.
Paranoimia | 04/01/2010 14:35
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I rent movies from LoveFilm, but won’t rent games. Some of the DVDs I get are in a terrible condition – one even had what appeared to be jam on it. While I don’t mind the risk that I’ll have to replace a relatively cheap DVD player, if the game discs are in a similarly disgusting state, I wouldn’t put them anywhere near my PS3, let alone inside it.
So you’d think I’d jump at the chance of digital game rentals, but to be honest, I wouldn’t. At least, not rentals of major titles. PSN titles, PSP games and minis, maybe – but not full PS3 titles, simply because of the size of them and the time taken to download and the disc space they’d take up.
I’ve a fast (by UK standards, anyway) internet connection (20Mb) and a large HDD in my PS3 (320GB), but I’m still not particularly interested in downloading tens of gigabytes of data to play a game.
I won’t be particularly interested until internet connections are much faster, and ISPs have networks capable of providing those speeds to everyone, constantly, without imposing caps or traffic-shaping. Which probably isn’t going to happen any time soon.
cc_star | 04/01/2010 14:38
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Blu-rays (movies or games) are always in perfect condition for me – unlike DVDs.
Paranoimia | 04/01/2010 15:12
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Interesting. Would like to hear other people’s experiences with Blu-rays from LoveFilm, then. I know BD is scratch-resistant, but most of the DVDs I get are covered in fingerprints, dust, and other unknown substances.