Contest: Win Uno, Robotron, and a Month Subscription to GameznFlix

The other day I received and email from Xbox.com letting me know that I was “smart enough to buy an Xbox 360 and register it.” As a result I was getting rewarded with a free copy of Robotron, Frogger, & Joust. A little searching around the usual forums and I found that these emails started going out to everyone who bought an Xbox 360 and registered it. I appreciate that I’m getting free games, but why do they have to be these games specifically? They are some of the oldest games and anyone who wanted to play them probably already bought them. In every forum where people were talking about getting this email at least half of them already had at least one of these games. Personally, if I had wanted any of these I would have picked them up months ago.

The Xbox Live Vision Camera Gold Pack Bundle has a similar issue. It comes with Uno and Robotron as well as 200 Marketplace points. However, by the time the camera was released the majority of people interested in Uno or Robotron had already purchased it.

Instead of giving out specific games like this why don’t they give out Marketplace Points that could then be used to buy whatever Arcade game was desired? The Vision Camera bundle already has 200 points in it. Why not just raise that and leave out Uno and Robotron? If someone wanted those games they could use the points to buy them, or they could use the points on any other game they wanted. It is not like I can take the points to another service and use them there. I have to use the points on the Xbox Live Marketplace. So, what harm would there be in giving points, instead of specific games, so I can pick whatever Arcade games I want?

Personally, I did not have Frogger or Joust, but I did have Uno and Robotron already. So, I propose a contest to give away my Uno and Robotron. To enter all you have to do is leave a comment letting me know what Xbox Live Arcade you are most looking forward to playing. To sweeten pot a little bit more I’ll also include a One Month Gift Certificate for GameznFlix.com. I received as a gift from my in-laws but I never used it since I switched to GameFly.com.

So, for those of you to lazy to read the whole post here are the contest details.
Entry: Leave a comment with what XBLA game you are most looking forward to.
Prizes: Uno, Robotron 2048, and one month Gift Certificate for GameznFlix.
Dates: The contest starts today and runs through March 31st.
Rules: Include your Gamertag in your comment so that I can contact you if you win.
Uno and Robotron will be awarded as Redemption Codes.
The Gift Certificate for GameznFlix will be awarded as a Gift Certificate Key that can be entered on the site.
The winner will be chosen by random drawing.

GameFly.com vs GameznFlix.com

The Battle For My Game Rental Dollar

Like my subtitle? I spent 40 minutes thinking that baby up :-)
Anyway, back on topic, I've been using GameznFlix for almost a year now. For the last 8 or 9 months their shipping times have been very streaky. When I fist signed up they would ship me new games within a day or two of returning the previous one. However, on a couple occasions it has been 4 weeks between game shipments. When they do eventually get around to shipping me something it generally takes 4 or 5 days to get to me even though they ship from here in California.

I think part of the problem is that I signed up the same time as they started a big marketing campaign that added a lot of new customers. With all these new members they do not have enough copies of each game to go around. I will admit I generally only have 3 or 4 games in my queue and most of them are fairly new; so that probably does not help. Frankly, that is not really my problem. I'm paying for a service and I expect it to be provided. I really like the price, but now that my queue is getting pretty small I'm thinking of switching to GameFly even though it costs a bit more. I have 0 games out with GameznFlix right now, but nothing has been shipped to me in over 6 weeks.

I signed up for the 10 day free trial from GameFly on Sunday a couple weeks back and Monday they shipped me Lost Planet and Tony Hawk Project 8; both arrived in two days. Both games have been in my queue with GameznFlix since their release with a Short Wait status while I have zero games out. It seems like GameznFlix just doesn't have enough copies of most games. So, I guess the question really comes down to “Am I really saving any money if it takes 3 or 4 times as long to get games from GameznFlix as it would from GameFly?”

I think the answer to that, at least for me, is No. What good is it to save 5 dollars a month if I never have any games to play?

So, I’m going to cancel my GameznFlix membership and continue with GameFly. In my experience GameFly has quicker shipping time frames and more of each game in stock. GameFly shipped me Lost Planet the day after it was released. Two weeks later GameznFlix still has not shipped it. GameFly also has a much nicer website/interface. It loads quicker, it lets me stay logged in between visits, and it has a very nice search feature. None of these things by themselves are really that noticeable, but when you see the difference as a whole it is really evident. Also, GameFly has partnered with the USPS so as soon as the Post Office scans a game you are returning GameFly is notified and begins the process of shipping you another game. This way you don't have to wait as long between games. In my experience this cuts 2 to 3 days of the shipping times.

Finally, GameFly will let you invite your friends to join and then give them a discount on the monthly cost if they do. That is pretty nice. If you’re thinking of signing up with GameFly you can get the discount as well by using this link: GameFly Invite.

So, here is a quick breakdown of how this weighs out for me.
GameFly.com Benefits
* Wider selection of games
* Games ship out faster
* Better website design
* Better queue management

GameznFlix.com Benefits
* Lower monthly cost
* Rents movies as well (which I never used)

So, back to my previous question, saving 5 dollars a month is not helping me when I'm sitting at home with no games to play. When I pay for a service I want it to work for me. GameFly may cost a little more but it works for me and that makes it worth the price.