Gamefly Reviewed

I recently decided to give Gamefly a shot. I joined Netflix quite a while back and like everyone else and really pleased with their service. Gamefly is the “Netflix” for video games. Again, I have been happy with the service, although I don’t think it is for all gamers.

THE GOOD: Ultimately, you get to play a ton of games that you may not otherwise play. Since having the Atari 2600 as a kid, I have bought games that ended up being horrible and have missed games that were awesome because I wasn’t sure. With Gamefly, you can try out all the games you are interested. If they are good, keep it as long as you are playing it. For me, some games no matter how good they are I may only play through once or twice. I currently have Bioshock 2 at home. It’s great and I am glad I could rent it. It’s a good game, but I don’t think I will play through it more than once. It’s very similar to the first. But I have it as long as I am playing and then it goes back. One the other hand, bad games like Stoked went back in the mail the next day. Or Dragon Age: Origins. I know people like that game, but I couldn’t get into it. It’s just didn’t hold me, so it also went in the mail.

To play a lot of games and different types of games, this is awesome and well worth the money. You will spend less then you would to buy the games and you can play many more than you would otherwise.

THE BAD: Now, I understand that games cost more than DVD’s, however, Gamefly is more expensive than I think it should be. 1 game plan is $16, where as with Netflix the 1 movie plan is $9.

The service for Gamefly is slow. With Netflix if you put a movie in the mail on Monday, you will receive the next in your queue by Wednesday. With Gamefly, it takes longer and sometimes much longer. For me, the turn around time has been at least a week. It will post in the account that a new one has been sent, but it is generally about 3 more days before it arrive at home.

You don’t always receive what’s next in your queue. You will receive something from your queue, you just don’t know what it is until it arrives. This is probably attributed to high price of games. The high price means that have a lower stock of all games, so you are sent whatever is next that they have in stock.

Finally, I am not able to sell games back to them. This has something to do with Florida. In other states you can sell games back to Gamefly much like you would with Gamestop. For some unknown reason, people in Florida are not allowed to do this. While this could be a good thing, for me it isn’t.

IS IT FOR YOU: If you tend to buy at least four games a year, then I think Gamefly is right for you and would recommend it, especially if you like a variety of games. There’s a 1 game, 2 games, 3 games, and 4 game plan. I can’t suggest anything more than the 2 game plan, though. The others just don’t make since. For me, I tend to play a game solely until it is complete. Any more than two games would just be overkill. With the slow turn around times and unpredictability in what you will receive, it just wouldn’t make since to have more than two at a time.

If you like to play a variety of games and will purchase 4 or more games in a year, this is definitely for you. If you only like one style of games, FPS’s for example, or solely play Modern Warfare, then don’t bother. It would be a waste of time and a waste of your money.

halo tournament and gaming

many people have different thoughts about hosting a halo tournament at a church. many of our youth play video games (there are 350 to start with), and it is a good way to connect with them. in fact at our tournament today, we have had quite a few register a team who have rarely come to any other program events. what a great thing it is, when we are willing to meet others where they are at to connect. we should be in the world, but not of it.

i personally have been playing games since i was about 5 years old. i remember my father coming home with an atari 2600 with one of the greatest games at the time, asteroids. i was hooked. we played asteroids,  missile command, and breakout for hours. since then i have owned the nes, super nintendo, nintendo 64, playstation, dreamcast,  gamecube, and for a few years now the xbox 360. yes, i prepaid for my 360 and picked it up on launch day. the 360  offers so much from game downloads, to movies, streaming from the pc, and windows live. it is on more often than just the tv in our house. i also play game on my pc. not as much since the 360. but loved battlefield vietnam and battlefield 2, command and conquer series, especially generals, and of course all the games from valve. this is something i have grown up with and enjoy doing. i would rather play than watch tv. it is interactive and entertaining. i am currently playing quite a bit of cod4 with a bunch of seminary students (friends of my brother in law)  from north carolina right now.

now, i do think as with anything, that we should be aware and careful about what we put into our heads, games, movies, books, music, etc. i don't think that nay of these forms of media cause bad to happen. people cause bad things to happen. however, parents should know what their children are playing and decide what is allowable. there are games that young children and even early teens should not play, but there are also great alternatives.

back to the tournament. today's setup is four man teams. all games will be played on original maps (pre-selected or random) and normal setup. the games will the best out of 3 and winner moves on. loser will move into the losers bracket. each 1st place team member will win a 3 month subscription to xbox live.

what they play

one of the ongoing questions i get in youth ministry is what do i think about "X" video game? is it safe? is it appropriate? i am glad to see that a web site has been developed to help parents figure out what the ESRB ratings mean, what certain warnings have been given to the game, and what the actual reference is. it appears as though this will be a great tool for parents to use when buying new games.

the site is whattheyplay.com. it distinguishes itself by having writers who have played through the game to explain exactly why a rating has been given. for instance cooking mama 2, for the DS, has an alcohol warning because she refers to cooking with it.

this is a great reference for parents who are looking to purchase a new video game but are unsure what is appropriate.

xbox 360 #4 & 5

as you may remember from my earlier posts that xbox #2 died back in february. well, to resolve that situation, i bought xbox #3 with the extended warranty plan at best buy. this would allow me to replace the xbox 360 on the same day that it breaks. notice i didn't say if it breaks. xbox #2 was sitting on a shelf in a closet still broken.

this summer microsoft, generously decided to extend their warranties on the hardware to two years. seemed reasonable and expected. with this news i called the service center and recieved a shipping box in the mail to have it repaired again. on the original machine that is the second repair. when i received it back, i was actually sent a new xbox completely. i discovered this by the manufacture date on the rear of the machine. we will call this one xbox #4.

now, yesterday, december 1st, 2007 xbox 360 #3 also died. this time, i took it back to best buy and it was replaced with no hassle, same day, for xbox #5.

i would definitely recommend buying the extended warranty on this product. it is highly likely that it will die at some point. the extended warrant cost $38 at best buy for two years and save you the convenience on sending it out to be sent back - about a 2 week process. eliminates the down time. to me, it was worth it.

here's what it looks like:

you can read about it through microsoft's support page. their support phone number is 1-800-4MY-XBOX.

so xbox #4 (the repair by microsoft) is now being used. how long will it last? no idea. however #5 is in waiting, sitting quietly in its box, prepared to fill in as soon as it is needed.

Mass Effect Video Preview

The video describes the story of what will be one of the greatest Xbox 360 games this year.

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14,000 points

i know this is pretty geeky, but i just reached 14000 point gamerscore playing halo. my xbox was even talking about it. it would have been my largest daily increase in gamerscore, but two achievements were logged in just after midnight. and yes, i could play halo 3 all night long.

halo 3 and the church

just read this post by Josh Griffin about Halo 3 and the church. he was referring to an article posted in the new york times regarding halo being used in youth ministry programs. it's an interesting read. after reading through the comments, i felt compelled to share, too. here's what i posted.

"for me. i have halo 3 and love it. i have some youth in our program who play regularly and i will meet up with them online to play. and the co-op is awesome. we sit, we talk, we hang out. and many of the kids are talking about it, their stats, and their achievements. a few want to help me beat legendary. i grew up with games. at 5 years old, my dad came home with an atari 2600 and together we played asteroids for hours.

anyways, i have always thought that if you are ok doing "X" anywhere else, then you should be ok doing it in the church. if that wouldn't be ok, then we should really think about what it is we are doing. maybe we shouldn't be doing it all.

the culture changes and will always change. just as soon as we think we have it figured out, it will change again. we need to be culturally relevant. in but not of the culture. i think games are ok.

for us in our church, i'm not sure it would fit with what we are currently doing. i wouldn't be opposed, but it doesn't fit our events and activities. for some it might be right and others it's not. i think that's ok. what i don't think is ok is that we miss the message of the gospel. jesus has called us to become more like him; full of love, grace, mercy and compassion. not matter what your are doing, if we leave this component out of what we are doing we have failed.

and for outreach, you need to be involved in that culture that you are reaching out to. i don't think we need to do an outreach expecting youth to know the words to the latest chris tomlin song. it may just not be an outreach if it is filled with youth ready to worship.

to sum it all up - go with God, sensing His presence, experiencing His love, and sharing with all that you come in contact with."

josh will be posting his thoughts tomorrow.

Samurai Sword in Halo 3

Several people down at the High Impact Halo Forums have noticed that there is a player online who has a samurai sword attached to his back as if it were a secondary...

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