Trial Offer: First Month For $9.95
Gamerang offers an online video game rental service covering all the major gaming systems, with no due dates and free shipping in both directions throughout the United States starting at just $14.95.
Range
Gamerang features games to rent from all the top game consoles including Microsoft XBox, XBox 360, Sony Playstation One, PS2 and PSP, Nintendo Gamecube, DS and Gameboy Advance. You can also already pre-reserve PS3 games for that console's projected launch date in November 2006. There are over 3,000 games in total available here for rental which doesn't make their's the largest selection around but it is on par with most other rental companies. The inclusion of Playstion 1 GBA and DS games is a plus point for owners of those consoles which are often over-looked by other online video game rental companies.
Features
The Gamerang website has a few beyond the call features such as customer ratings, game descriptions and some games come with screenshots and video trailers. Whilst there are links for Reviews and Game Guides we were presented with a blank screen in both cases so we assume this is a feature which will be added some time in the future.
We like how Gamerang is transparent with its game availability. Each game comes with a projected waiting time, either "Available", "Short Wait", "Long Wait" or "Upcoming Release" which gives you some idea of how likely you are to receive that game and whether it is worth adding to the top of your rental queue. This beats the guesswork at other sites although there is still no guarantee a short wait game isn't about to take 4 weeks to come back to base if the people holding it decide to keep it for that long.
If you like a game then there is often the option to buy it at a reduced price for used games. This allows you to keep the games you really like whilst quickly freeing up your rental queue for new rentals.
Unfortunately, as with many other game rental companies, games are not shipped with instructions and there is no information on the site, so you will have to use the in-game tutorials to find out the controls or head over to your favourite game faq site for that kind of information. Also, there are no parental controls set in place to help parents prevent their children renting potentially unsuitable games.
Search
The search system is a pretty basic game title finder but works accurately. Type in the name of the game and it pulls up all results. You can narrow this down to only include results for your specific game system as well if you choose. We did like the games menu category selection which allows you to browse through a category for say, RPG games and then sort the results by player ratings, release date, price etc. to get some recommendations. A few more genres would have made this better however.
Shipping
Shipping is free in both directions with no hidden charges. Just return the game in the pre-paid shipping envelope provided an they'll get your next game selection out to you when they receive it.
One of the things which should influence your choice of game rental company is the turn around time, or, basically how quickly your game rental choices reach you. Generally, you want to look for a company with a distribution center close to you unless you don't mind waiting. Gamerang is one of the few video game rental companies with multiple distribution centers which should cut down on shipping times whether you are located on the East or West coast. Gamerang ships from California, Oakland, Minnesota and New Jersey and aims to get your game rental titles to your within 2 to 4 days.
Rental Plans
Gamerang has a variety of game rental plans allowing you to choose from the budget game rental plan of taking just one game at a time for $14.95 up to 4 at a time for $39.95 a month with more available for an additional $9.95 monthly.
1 Game Out : $14.95 ($9.95 for first month)
2 Games Out : $21.95
3 Games Out : $29.95
4 Games Out : $39.95
5 Or More : Add an additional $9.95 per addition title.
What We Like About Gamerang
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Multiple shipping centers should ensure their projected 2 - 4 days shipping times. All major systems including some of the less well supported systems like PSX, Gameboy Advance and Nintendo DS games are covered. Prices are competitive and the option to buy used games at a discount is a bonus. We found browsing the site to be easy and the rental queue one of the more intuitive.
What We Dislike About Gamerang
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No free trial anymore so if you want to try out the service you have to take advantage of their reduced price first month option - which is only for the one at a time option. We were disappointed again to see a lack of game manuals or instruction sheets either in the delivered game disc or to download on the site. We would have liked to have seen some real game reviews, hints, cheatcodes etc. although that's a minor point as most gamers know where to look online for this kind of thing anyway.
Try The Gamerrang Trial Offer
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