Gamerentz went out of business in 2009--this review is kept as it was for posterity.
Gamerentz is a new site which works on an odd, Rent-to-Own basis, catering only to the three next gen consoles, the PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360. As it's so new, we're waiting a bit for feedback on customer service and such before we can recommend it highly.
The website design looks a bit retro and the colors are on the garish side--we have no problem with that, but there's some odd things about this service and some common things you'd expect are missing. For instance, there is Wii Games tab on top, but not one for the PS3 or Xbox 360, though you can select them in the Search By box on the right side. In fact, they seem to favor the Wii, with major tabs dedicated to selling Wii combo console systems as well as Wii accessesores. Oddly, their search engine only works on Wii games, not the other systems.
25% of your rental fees become Rent to Own Bucks (RTO Bucks) which can be used to purchase any used game of your choice, or to keep a game you are renting. The RTO Bucks can only be used to purchase used games, they cannot be redeemed for cash or come off your membership. In practice, if you were on the 1 game out plan at $14.95 per month, it would take about 13 months to afford to buy a $50 game--a useful feature, but not to be overestimated.
We are impressed that they have an online reference with all the game controller instructions for every game they rent, which can prove useful for games which lack tutorials. They offer 10 genres for delineating games. Each game has plenty of info, including the usual data like publisher, release date, etc., and including screenshots.
To be sure they'll have a suitable title in stock, Game Rentz recommends you have at least 15 titles in your "Que" (yes, they mispelled "queue"). Average mailing time, if a game is in stock, is one business day from the time you return your last game--two days if a game is not in stock. Shipping then adds another three days on average.
Game Rentz does have a customer service phone line, which is a plus. Their customer service hours are Mon-Fri 7:30am to 4 pm Pacific Coast Time. Their favored method of contact is email, which they claim to answer within one working day.
Prices: Prices are fairly standard for the industry; 1 game out for $14.95 per month, 2 games out for $21.95, and 3 games out for $28.95.
