As I don’t fancy the idea of forking out £40 for a game that will probably give me a migraine within about 4 seconds, I decided to give a few of those game rental companies a go. Well, just the free trials!

First off was lovefilm - I made use of one of their 21 days movie and game trials. It was quite good, apart from the fact they sent me just random games off my playlist, the filler I had just put in because you have to put in 10 games to your playlist. They (2dvd 1game) took 3 days to arrive, and although they weren’t what I really wanted ( I wanted Project Gotham 4), I did get a good go at Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix. No trouble with canceling as thankfully, Royal Mail played their part and the returns envelopes couldn’t have been easier to use. Overall, 6/10.

Next was Boomerang. Now when I say awful, they were awful. Firstly, I was only able to have one game at a time, despite filling up my ‘Pipeline’. When the Golden Compass arrived, it came in a strange CD case, for the whole world to see, and steal if they wanted throughout the postal process. I didn’t trust this method, so when I sent the game back, I put it in a jiffy bag and sent it to Boomerang on the day they had suggested I return it ( so as not to be delayed by the Christmas rush). I then went online and canceled my subscription. Or at least I thought I had….as you can’t cancel until they have received, and then processed the game.

Thankfully I got proof of purchase and had canceled the card I signed up with despite their 5 emails a day(!!) telling me to update my card details, so they could bill me! When I went to contact them at the site telling them the game was returned, all the numbers and emails were gone until I updated my card details! It wasn’t my fault, I had returned the games in time 5 days before my trial ended, with proof of purchase and they had taken too long to process the return. I held out and didn’t update my card, but kept replying to their emails with “I sent the game back on time and have proof of posting”. Finally they reneged and canceled my account without charging me. Awful experience. 0/10.

I have just signed up with GameTart and so far so good, apart from the fact they didn’t have The Golden Compass, so I couldn’t finish where I had started off with Boomerang lol. So far the best bit is the trial doesn’t start until the game is sent out, so I wont lose a day waiting for it. We’ll see! Got Call Of Duty 4 coming and a load of games for the Nintendo DS.