Reviewed: GameAccess.ca
Reviewed: GameAccess.ca - 10 Day Free Trial
If you’re like me you aren’t a fan of having to go compete with everyone at your local video store for the latest video game rental. You know what I’m talking about- the hordes of fanboys that camped out Blockbuster when Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime came out, or the parents that are fighting lineups to rent their kids the latest games (for some peace and quiet, no doubt).
Just as you can now rent movies online via Zip.ca (offering a two week trial), you can now rent video games online through GameAccess.ca. GameAccess.ca is based out of Montreal and claims a shipping time of 4 days to the western coast. Being born and raised in Alberta, I thought that I’d put GameAccess.ca to the test to see if they were everything that they claimed. After all, I like the idea of having my games mailed to me.
This is the perfect solution for people living in Canada and who like the idea of online video game rentals. The real question, however, is does it live up to the hype? Is renting video games online really a feasible solution for the average gamer, family of four, or a single person just looking to get their game on?
The Lowdown on GameAccess
GameAccess.ca is unique in that there are few competing services that will mail you video games to your door. Some related websites, such as Zip.ca, have a small selection of games but it’s certainly nothing worth getting excited over. GameAccess.ca, by comparison, has thousands of titles for all of the major systems (PS2, PS3, Wii, XBOX, XBOX 360, etc.) and even some systems that are less common (PSP, NintendoDS, etc.).
GameAccess.ca offers the following:
- 10 day free trial. I found this useful when writing this review, though I’ve decided to stay on as a GameAccess.ca member as I have all three of the major systems and love that I can rent games for all three online.
- Express shipping. Four days from Montreal to Calgary.
- No shipping charges. You never have to pay for shipping.
- No late fees. Keep the game as long as you want. Once you send it back they’ll mail you the next game in your que.
- Four different packages to choose from. The most common is their “two game out” package, though there are packages that are as a low as 1 game out and as high as 4 games out.
- Massive selection. I didn’t count them all, but there are literally thousands of games available for rent.
The GameAccess Experience
So, once I created my account and activated my 10 day trial I immediately picked out the games that I wanted to rent. Hmm, let’s see here… Rachet and Clank for the PS3, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles for the Wii, Mass Effect for the XBOX 360, and then Alien Syndrome for the Wii. I selected in what order that I wanted them and, my “renting” experience now essentially over for the day, I perused the site a bit. Apparantly you can buy games and hardware and stuff off of the site too- a good feature.
Three days later I had two games in the mail, complete with self-addressed and postage-paid return envelopes. Ratchet and Clank and Resident Evil, the top two of my list. Awesome.
That night I had a good gaming session and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Then it occurred to me to call customer service and say that one of the games didn’t work right (for the purposes of this review) as I wanted to see how they reacted and what they did. I wasn’t really enjoying Resident Evil as much as I was Ratchet and Clank, so I called customer service and told them that Resident Evil was wicked scratched and it won’t play on my Wii. Now, this is where I was pleasantly surprised: she apologized to me, told me to mail it back, and then explained that they’d mail me another copy of the game. If they didn’t have another copy they’d mail me another game from my list and mail me a copy as soon as it came back.
Awesome, pretty hard to argue with that eh?
Conclusion
So, I must admit that at the end of the day I was very happy with GameAccess.ca. In fact, I’ve gone well past the 10 day trial and have continued to use the service for nearly a month now. Each of my orders arrives in 4 days or less, they have all worked properly without any errors, and even then they took care of my fictitious error without any questions.
For around $25 a month you eliminate late fees and add a constantly revolving selection of games to your portfolio, and that’s only one plan. They have less expensive plans and more expensive plans that are designed to suit anyone’s tastes. This is perfect for someone who doesn’t want to have to run to a Blockbuster only to find the game out of stock or for someone who has kids and likes the idea of always having games without late fees.
Either way, regardless of what appeals to you, GameAccess.ca is an absolute steal and a wonderful service.
Overall: 9/10 - I absolutely love the convenience and simplicity of the service.
Value: With packages costing less than $10, anyone can afford it.
Speed: Games arrived in under 5 business days each and every time.
Selection: The latest games for most popular systems, though it would be awesome if they had some old-school systems out there.