Tips For Online Video Game Rentals

Nov. 1 (KGO) -- If your kids love videogames, but you hate the $50 price tags, there's a new game in town that is kinder to your wallet. Several web sites are now doing what Netflix and Blockbuster have for movies - videogame rentals by mail. There are five key things you need to know before you point, click, and play.

Instead of buying video games they quickly tire of, Patrick Hush saves money by renting games.

Patrick Hush, rents his videogames: "I think it's great. With this, you rent the game. You don't like it, you send it back. You get a different one."

About a dozen web companies currently offer monthly subscriptions ranging from $15 to $35. You choose games from an online catalogue and they're shipped to your home. The number you can receive at one time depends on your plan. Play as long as you like, then return the games in a prepaid envelope.

TopTenReviews.com recently ranked the rental sites. CEO Jerry Ropelato says there are five things you should look for before choosing a service.

Number one is features.

Jerry Ropelato, Toptenreviews.com: "Do they charge you late fees? Do they offer free shipping each way? Do they have ratings for their mature and age-related titles?"

Second: do the plans fit your family's needs?

Jerry Ropelato, Toptenreviews.com: "You don't want to pick a plan that you've got one videogame, and you've got seven children - all different ages - fighting over different videogames."

Third is game selection.

Jerry Ropelato, Toptenreviews.com: "Some sites will offer 500 games. Others may have five-, six-, seven-thousand different titles in stock."

Finally, check out delivery time, and the search capabilities on the site.

Jerry Ropelato, Toptenreviews.com: "We believe the best one out there is Gamelender.com."

The Hush family agrees, saying they save money and sample more games by renting online.

Patrick Hush, rents his videogames: "It's very convenient, so there's no reason for me to ever stop."

And to top it off, most sites offer trial memberships for free.

While toptenreview.com's gold rating went to San Jose-based gamelender.com, the silver went to another Bay Area-based company, gplay.com. The bronze went to gamerang.com based in Utah.

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