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a game is like taking it for a test drive. You are able to analyze the quality of the game and see if it fits you. Are you into the whole role-playing scene? Do the new Madden controls for kicking frustrate you as well? Renting is indeed useful, but I really do not recommend relying on rentals to play video games it is too risky and time-consuming to be worth it, no matter how fun it is.

But one of these has to be right, right? There's got to be a solution to the debate that can easily take up twenty minutes of a gamer's time! Yes, there are pros and cons to renting and buying games, and it is very difficult in this day and age to get the best of both worlds (unless you're Miley Cyrus). If you plan to play games such as The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion that take up a lot of time and character-building, then you will be inclined to buy it because of all the time that you envision yourself putting into that single game. If you enjoy making friends playing Halo 3 online, then you will want to have access to that game at all times as well, so that you can continue to play with your friends every weekend and have free reign over when you get to play. Yet, some games, such as sports games, do not require such a vigorous commitment. I have never really made much progress with an MLB 2K6 franchise it really is just a bunch of baseball games and many other gamers run into similar problems. So, it is perfectly logical that they would want to rent the game, play it for a weekend with their friends, and return it after proving that the Atlanta Braves are and always will be the best team in the NL. East. Games such as Super Smash Bros. Brawl can be rented (though I really love it and recommend you to buy it so you can play it for the rest of your life) because they are arcade-style games that are more fun to play with a bunch of friends and that do not require characters to build up high stats or anything. I know many good players of fighting games who do not in fact own them. You can pay less, but for less time with the game however, this can also mean avoiding making a serious mistake in buying a game you will not like.

So, what do you do?

Rent, and decide whether or not to buy. I rented Jak III for the Playstation 2 a long time ago in a galaxy not so far away, and really enjoyed it. After my two-day trial was up, I ran to Blockbuster, returned the game, and went across the street to GameStop to purchase it. It was that easy for four dollars, I could test the game and decide whether or not I wanted to play it. Had I not liked Jak III, I would have just returned it and not gone out to buy it. This way, you can play it safe when it comes to dealing in video games. It's better to spend four extra dollars to find out if the sixty dollars that you will be spending is well worth it. Remember, rent, return, buy (or don't!).

Learn more about this author, David Aaron White.
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