Why no PC game rentals?

[euphoryk]

Topic says it all.


How come no PC game rentals like they do for console systems?

Doesn't make much sense.

Piracy? Well, we can pirate SP2 and XboX games, and you can still rent them.

hell, downloading them off the net is even easier them renting them and trying to copy them.

so how come no pc game rentals?

[AllGamer]

There are PC games for rental here in Toronto? (MicroPlay and several others chains, and those mom/pa shops)

it has been since many years ago, i always rent it to try the game, if i like it usually i'll buy it, if not i just play it over and return it

obviously using Trainers and Cheats :D to get the complete story line out of the game.

or unless it's too boring and it makes me sick, like most First Person Shooter boring games :p

[delRhode]

Once upon a time, there were game rentals... but that was back when CD burners were pricey, at best.

It's still a piracy thing, really... the difference being that PC games are made for machines that likely could have the tools to do the piracy right there, while console games would have to be pirated using, at a minimum, a PC and the means to read/write whatever format the console game uses on its discs...

...plus, many games these days expect registration and game keys to be used to show you're a valid user... so those games couldn't be rented in the first place, without the say-so of the developer (and there's nothing in it for them that releasing a demo online won't accomplish).

[germanNiklas]

we have a video/dvd rental and also ps2, xbox, gamecube AND PC GAMES , all the new games too like brothers in arms etc so . . . .

[Rabbitrunner51]

One reason I find real viable is that CD-R discs can get scratched very easily and if you think about sevral hundred peopole putting the same disc into a miriad of differing machines... and CD-R players ,then I bet they would get ruined after just a few rentals if not sooner.

Also, even though it is against the law, realisticly speaking, gamers would copy them or find ways to and defeat the purpose entirely,not to mention the game makers could lose in the deal,unless a contract was signed for any reiembursments due if copy right laws were violated.
Since that is nearly impossible to enforce like so many ohter similar disputs , making the decision to not rent them is maybe best for all concerned...

Most games out or coming oout have enough info and demos for that I just do not see it being warranted.

[euphoryk]

gamers would copy them or find ways to and defeat the purpose entirely,

We do that already...


germanNiklas:

Your telling me you can go and RENT Brothers in Arms for the PC?


I think when it comes down to it, although i could be wrong, is that it is legal for an establishment to rent out PC games, if they have a valid license. (It must be another license exsclusively for PC media.)

And i'm sure most places that rent out pc games, do not have that valid license.

And i'm sure if i could download all my games off the net, and try before i buy, i would, because i do.

And i'm sure if i could go to the corner store and rent the latest release of XYZ for my pc, i would. And copy it. But i didn't.

I'm sure if 95% of the law abiding citizens out there would one day be blessed or shall i say forbidden with the knowledge of who what where when to download it off the net, 55% of them would do it. Because they will.

And i'm sure i'm not making much sense
at the moment, and for some reason firefox has me locked in an 80 column view which is very annoying.

johnny blaze. or is it johnnys blazed.

[germanNiklas]

Originally posted by euphoryk
We do that already...


germanNiklas:

Your telling me you can go and RENT Brothers in Arms for the PC?




yes!!

[Crashman]

After several disappointments, I won't buy a game I haven't tried first, and since people I know rarely own the games I'm interested in (and even then I'm rarely at their homes to play these games), I don't buy many games!

[Rabbitrunner51]

yeah..I totally agree about trying the game out first,,if you can.

What urks me is that alot of game makers wait till the game is well released to the public before coming out with a demo...and that is real cheesy if you ask me.

I just had to return a game just recently due to the fqct it would not play on my PC,and if the maker would have put out a demo of it first..then it sure would have saved me some heartache and time..not ot mention money lost.
As it turned out, I sent it back and got a full refund... but most of the places will only give a partial refund..and then you have to pay for postage ( I order all games online for me).;)

[bob05]

Originally posted by euphoryk
so how come no pc game rentals?

Because most big budget games come out with demos anyway. :D

[BadDriver]

One of the biggest reasons is it is very hard to protect a PC game. Keygens, no cd patches etc. Copy it, use a no cd and a keygen and you own the game.

I use no cd patches on all of my games that they will work on. I have 2 games where I have to use the CD. They are the least played games on my PC. I hate digging for the disk when I want to play a game.

I have ruined a game disk ( my BF1942 ) by dropping another cd in on top of it. It could have been worse it could have ruined by DVD rom.:p

I won't even buy a game anymore without checking to see if I can play it without the CD. If I can't it had better be darned good. :D

[Rabbitrunner51]

That brings up something similar that happened to me.

Of course i have the game FarCry...and somewhere along the line...the fifth install disc got a big scratch in it and it iwll not complete the install process because of this...( or so I am told by a friend I loaned the game to ). Doubt very seriously he did it as I would know and he is honest... I might have inevertently did this somehow by laying it on a surface that was less than sanitary. It happens..although I am extremely carefull most all the time.

I have a question. Is there any way to restore this? ( scratch too big to smooth out using cleaners and such) Is the game ruined now or is there anything I can do?
The game is already installed on my machine, but if and when I do a clean install someday...I will have to installl it again.;)

[BadDriver]

You could try a recovery program. I managed to save my 1942 using ISObuster. It is pretty good and the disk would have to be pretty damaged before it won't read it. I'd download it and see if it reads it. Google ISObuster and you'll find it quick.

[Rabbitrunner51]

Badriver... The disk has got a pretty good scratch on it..and doubt that any program could read it... but I might try it...

Only other thing is I gave it to a friend who isoed it for himself and he might be able to give me a copy of his..which I then have to use Daemon Tools to run.

Its a shame really, as this game is probably one of the three I value most.

[AllGamer]

there is a very hard to find CD/DVD formula you can use to repair that disk

is not the typical White Wax you find on Radio Shack / Walmart

this one is Pink, and it helped fix soooo many CDs/DVDs

and a whole bottle is only about $3

well worth it IMHO

the problem is, that thing is sooo **** hard to find. :rolleyes:

i'm glad i still have 90% of the bottom :)
and i purchased it about 8+ years ago :x

last time i saw it on sale was in ANOTHER TOWN!!! about 7 hours drive a couple or so weeks ago

locally is nowhere to be found )-|