Dr. Neil Hair

Gamefly has caught my eye. A dangerously attractive prospect that for $22 a month will see you with as many games as you want for as long as you want. Really interesting business model that's probably as attractive to investors in the company as it is avid gamers. The company has been around for a while suggesting mediocre marketing activities. What's interesting is that it's watched and learnt from the big players (netflix) and introduced a number of innovations to bring about better customer service (such as fast returns which sees local post offices scan your return for an instantly registered return). As it gets stronger it adds more titles and supports more platforms. Begs the question, why hasn't netflix moved into this market space with its publicity engine (the back of those annoying sheets you rip off before returning your dvd)? Thankfully Gamefly doesn't support the PC (I made a strategic decision several years ago that I would not buy a specific gaming machine for several reasons which paid off handsomely in terms of productivity). Probably only a matter of time before they do but will have to find a way around the thorny issue of registering the games on propriety networks (the preferred means of preventing piracy these days).