| Euphoria14 said: Back when we had Blockbuster it was like $8 for 5-days. Today we have Redbox which is $2/day or $14 for 7-days. Now $8 for 7-days is bad? Where have people been living where they did not pay attention to rental prices? What did they want, $2 for a week rental? |
I used to own a video/game rental store. I also co-owned a skate-park where we rented out equipment. The overriding philosopy behind renting is that it's a cheaper short-term solution but a more expensive long-term solution than buying new. This balance of negatives and positives allows both industries to live. Unfortunately, most people think "what is best for me right now" is the only factor that should exist. This kind of self-centered entitlement is hard to deal with, as a surprising amount of people are immune to logic.
If I were in charge of pricing for Playstation Now, I'd probably go much the same route. Cheaper than new but an overall worse value. Also, anyone asking that it beat the very best used prices can just go out and buy used. These are the kinds of people who will never factor in time and travel expenses. Used games have too little related expenses to ever compete with directly.
However, I'd consider getting rid of the 4-hour option, solely for PR purposes. People have decided it's Evil, even though that's silly. It's a shame to deprive people of an option just for that but people will keep harping on it. Why they want to pay a full 7 day rental cost if they only need 2 more hours to beat a game, I don't understand, but that seems to be exactly the case.
