Swap Game Rental

WITH a glowing reputation for its superb games rental service since 2002, SwapGame is one of the very few games rental sites you really can rely on, with a site and service that leaves just about all of its competitors in the dust.

Over 6,800 games to rent

SwapGame boasts without a doubt the biggest games rental catalogues out there - some 6,800 games titles and counting - with every major game platforms supported: XBox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP, DS, GBA and even Gamecube.

The large array of platforms however does spread the catalogue out a bit though, so keep this in mind if you're blown away by the 6,800+ figure when compared to the three-figure totals of some of the other games rental services that only support, say, new gen platforms.

But 6,800 games titles sure is a lot, and Swapgame are confident they now stock practically every single games title release in the UK! Indeed, a few spot checks of obscure titles reveals that the Swapgame catalogue is pretty comprehensive.

As well as easy browsing and a great looking site, SwapGame has built in some nifty extra features like gift subscriptions, star ratings and the option to buy games with as much as 50% off the retail prices from their new online store.

Half-price for the first month

Swapgame used to have a 10 day free trial but they've now replaced this with a half-price offer.

We're big advocates of free trials and we wish that Swapgame would make one available. However, 10 days isn't really long enough to accurately ascertain just how well the service functions in any case so half-price may be more realistically useful.

The half-price deals are available on the unlimited one (£4.99 for the first month) and two (£7.49 for the first month) packages but not their 1 game a month limited deal, CP 1.

Light use

Swap Game have now added a third subscription package option - Light Use - which offers 1 games out at a time, limited to 1 rental each month.

This is an innovative package which offers a unique deal for gamers who tend towards the play-obsessively-and-let-gather-dust school of gaming.

Excellent customer service

SwapGame's customer services reports seem to remain pretty good, with easy-to-access email support that is dealt with swiftly as well as a geographical contact telephone number.

When you rely on the postal service to prop up a large part of your business, slow turnaround of titles can sometimes be an issue for any online rental site. How the games rental company deals with these problems, however, is what sorts the wheat from the chaff.

Swap Game have recently introduced a dedicated customer support team, with a telephone line open Monday to Friday between 9am and 6.30pm if you want to get a response faster than the 24 hours quoted for online queries.

SwapGame get two-thumbs up for:

SwapGame's beautifully designed, easy-to-use website and their excellent customer support. Also, they deserve credit for their support of so many different gaming consoles with a staggering number of titles to rent.