GameFly Review

I first tried Gamefly, the video gamer's answer to Netflix, about 3 years ago.  At first I loved the service.  I could keep games out as long as I wanted, with no late fees to worry about.  I never had to leave the house (except to walk the 200 feet to the closest mailbox).  I didn't have to deal with Blockbuster's awful selection.  But whenever I got a crappy game, it took what seemed like forever to get a new one.

Gamefly originally only had one distribution center.  Hell, as recently as January they still only had one distribution center, as I rejoined to see if they had gotten any better.  I was disappointed in the fact that I still had to wait sometimes as long as a week to get a game that was being shipped from Los Angeles to me south of Boston.  They've only recently opened a distribution center on the east coast as well, which might alleviate some problems, but until they have at least 4 or 5, I imagine they'll be struggling to keep times shorter than 4-5 days.

Gamefly is more expensive than Netflix as well.  This probably should be expected given the high cost of new games (anywhere from $30-$60, depending on system and how hyped the game is), but at the same time, the slow delivery does not help.  New games can be difficult to acquire, as unlike with Netflix, it isn't easy to play the system, so to speak. 

Gamefly, like Netflix, is a terrific idea.  But without the funding to open more distribution centers and offer a faster turnaround time on their service, I can't see that many people sticking with them.  It is a nice alternative, but right now the potential far outlives the product.