The video game market has always been a hot industry. And it will only get hotter. Just looking at statistics from 2001, you can see there is a definite want and need for video game renting. Look at this statistic.

*"U.S. consumers spent $633.6 million renting video games localization company for video game in 2001, and a record-breaking $6 billion buying video game software (including PC software)."

But why are people renting video games instead of buying? I guess I can't say gamers are not buying video games. Gamers are buying game after game. This is evident with the recent release of PS3 and XBOX 360. But there is also an upswing in game rentals.

Here is another statistic. "The U.S. computer and video game software sales grew four percent in 2004 to $7.3 billion -- a more than doubling of industry software."

But why rent? I would estimate that people rent for 3 basic reasons.

1. The convenience

2. It’s cheaper

3. Able to test games

4. Time sensitive

Convenience is key in this day and age. People are looking for ways to save time and effort. And online video game rental companies provide that and much more. First of all and most important they deliver the game right to your front door. No more wasting your gas going to your favorite rental store. Gas is too expensive anyway. Who wants to spend all that money driving to a video store when you can rent everything from your home computer?

Second of all it is cheaper. The average video store charges from $3.00 to $5.00 dollars per video game rental. That could get expensive, especially if you're renting multiple titles per week. But most of the well-known video game rental companies like gamefly, intelliflix, and gotaplay only charge $12.95 to $19.95 per month for unlimited video game rentals. So let's say you rent 2 games per localization company for video game week at the local video store. That could come up to be around $30.00 dollars a month compared to $12 to $13 dollars per month. That is a great savings.

Now here is the best part. Have you ever brought a game and hated it. But you can't just return the game. That is not possible. So you just have to suck it up and move on to the next game. Online video game rental companies give you the chance to test the game first before you purchase. And the companies will even allow you to purchase the games at discount rates and just keep the game.

Last but not least. You can keep the games as long at you like. Just pay the monthly fee. If you want to play 6 to 7 games a month or more you can just pay the one time monthly fee and be done with it. You don't even have to pay for postage fees. What a great deal.