Posted September 19, 2003

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Promise of a better rental future? |
I started off by clicking through Gamefly's banner at Penny Arcade. Say what you will about them, but the hours unitdaisy and I have spent laughing over the turtle are well worth more than the .02 cents click-through profit they'll receive. After clicking on the sign-up option I was notified that if you continue with the subscription you receive a free subscription to Electronic Gaming Monthly. Yeah, say what you will about them too, but I like print gaming mags. You'll find out why in a few weeks. So, the deal just got sweeter. Signing up was relatively painless and quick and within no time I was able to add games to my queue. I quickly added two games that I was sure weren't worth buying, but I still wanted to see them: P.N. 03 (based off D. Riley's review) and Futurama (possible drek, but I'm a fan of the series). I clicked through 'Rent it!' and received a relatively sparse page in Opera, my browser of choice and clicked on 'Continue Browsing' and BOOM - window gone. While I appreciate Gamefly's pop-up sniffing (I didn't have to change my preferences and allow pop-ups) I don't appreciate my damn main window being shut down. My tip? Don't have any pop-ups on a commerce site.
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Spam ahoy? |
And that brings me to my next point - I'm so used to Netflix that I expect the same out of any similar service. When I first signed up for Netflix I spent hours rating films - yes, I tried to teach Netflix what I liked so I could get recommendations. The result was basically that I've seen too much for Netflix to suggest anything worthwhile, but it showcases a glaring omission on Gamefly's account - there are no ratings. There's no community. You cannot write reviews, you can't click a star system. There's no visible feedback whatsoever. I know that more people on Gamefly are going to be hardcore, and have a rough idea what most games are like but really - they're blanketing people with their new advertising campaign. And a lot of people interested aren't going to be hardcore and don't know their Ikaragu from Gungrave. A ratings, review and recommendation system would severely help - not only with other customers, but for those that like giving input and trying new games out.
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Oh boy. Thanks Gabe. |
So now we play the waiting game.
...
To quote Homer Simpson, "The waiting game sucks."