Scrolling through the hundreds of new and old releases with the touch screen, junior Daniel Pare finally stopped and swiped his credit card at Gamefly’s rental kiosk to purchase the newly released Halo: ODST, for a mere $2.49 per day.
Primarily located on college campuses on the east coast, Gamefly’s rental kiosk, also known as the “G-Box,” was installed Oct. 9 in the Memorial Union (MU) Games Area. Students can choose from a variety of video games available for rental without having to pay the full retail price.
“It’s beneficial for me because not only is it close to campus, but I can spend two dollars to try a game before actually purchasing it,” Pare said. “When you spend 50 bucks on a game and beat it in two sittings it’s not worth it. Now I can still get the same satisfaction without having to spend so much money.”
Gamefly kiosks originally spread their wings in college bookstores in Texas. Their G-Box recently landed in Calif. after Campus Unions Assistant Marketing Director Jason Ling discovered the rental program online. With its recent installation in the Games Area, UC Davis became the first university on the west coast to house a G-Box.
“Being the former assistant student manager for the MU games area, I’m always looking for ways to improve it and expand services for students,” Ling said. “From a gamer perspective, it’s ideal because you’re not locked in with late fees. You can keep it for as long as you want.”
Games are available for Wii, Playstation 3 and X-Box 360 platforms. Because the revenue generated goes directly to the MU games area, students can expect to see their money go towards implementing even more services within the games area.
“With the rental program, we can generate revenue to give back to the MU to offset costs of operation and also bring even more services to the games area,” said Games Area Director Jerry Nunes. “The money essentially goes back into the students’ pockets.”
REBECCA SHRAGGE can be reached at campus@theaggie.org.
