Question Of The Week [January 27th 2025]

Q: Would you rather buy a game at full price and own it, or rent it and play it for a set time (like GamePass)?

A: With most modern games now, I'd rather use a subscription service like GamePass. GamePass gives me access to a library of games that I can play at my convivence, and while some titles may come and go, the majority of games that I even want or have time to play will be on there without me having to worry.

Most modern "AAA" published games also have such a low bar of quality, that they really don't deserve to be purchased or owned. Instead, I reserve my purchasing power for games that deserve to be owned, ones that I'll return to at least twice and also to help the developer. I'd much rather give my money to a small developer that needs it, will appreciate me and my purchase and just to support someone making something they care about and aligned with my interests in gaming. If it's good quality and I'm going to replay it at some point, I have no problem using my hard earned money for that purchase.

Also, I view GamePass as a rental, like old school BlockBuster rentals. We had no problem with that back in the day, and why should we have a problem with it now? Most games aren't deserving of their full price to begin with (the quality/bugs/DLC being held off for after, while still including a full price). So I'm fine renting a game for 30 days (along with a catalog of several hundred as well) for $15 a month and having free reign over what I want to play and when.

GamePass (and others) are still a great deal for now. If you don't like the service or it doesn't offer what you want, you can end that subscription at any time, and pick it back up when you want. It really is the best deal in gaming right now, and if we had this subscription service as kids, we'd be so happy!