I'm a gamer from the early 80's. You know, back when records and cassettes were the way to listen to your music, you waited a year to get movies on VHS tapes and your video games were cartridges. It was always a huge deal too, on Fridays when you got home from school to run to the movie rental store before your friends to rent that game everyone wanted to play, before it was gone for the weekend. But with services like Gamefly and Redbox, those days are over. In my local area, being a retro gamer/collector isn't easy. There isn't a huge selection at the flea markets or yard sales around here. Also, there are only two Mom and Pop stores within 20 miles of my house. If you venture out about 100 miles or so, then it's a whole different world, but with the cost of gas it's not always worth the time to hunt down games. But if you love to play retro games that may be hard to get or there are ones you have always wanted to try, RetroScribe may just be for you.

RetroScribe is a subscription based rental service like Gamefly or Netflix, but for retro games. As of this writing, you can rent NES, SNES, N64 and Genesis games. They have about 30 to 40 games per console. Prices range from $12.99 per month for one game out at a time to $34.99 per month for four games out at one time. They do not charge late fees or shipping charges AND you can keep a game as long as you want, as long as your account is paid every month. One thing to keep in mind, is if you are a 2 or 4 game out member you must send all games back at the same time. What's even nicer is they offer a Top 3 Guarantee, which means when its time to ship you your next game it will be one of the top three games in your queue and if it isn't, you get a free month of service. This is one of the things that really turns me off Gamefly because most of the time I would get the number five or six on my list, even if one of the top three games were available to ship. I know what you're thinking, "I'm sure it's nothing but Sonic and Mario and nothing hard to find or cool to play". Not so! They have games like Contra 3, Super Castlevania IV and Final Fantasy 2 and 3 for SNES. Contra Hard Corps, Phantasy Star 2 and Mutant League Football for the Genesis, just to name a few. They even have consoles and accessories for sale on the website.

I signed up for the $12.99 plan on June 27th. My first game shipped on July 1st and it arrived on July 3rd. One positive right off the bat for me is shipping was faster than Gamefly. When I rented from Gamefly, it would take about a week to receive a game. RetroScribe and the Gamefly shipping center are in the same town for me. Once you get the package, inside will be your game and a prepaid mailing label. You can reuse the bubble mailer to return your game or use a new one. If you are like me, you have a few on hand from the dollar store. Just drop it in the mail. That's it. Simple, easy and a great way to play retro games you may not have in your collection or want to pay a high price for on eBay or at the Mom and Pop store.

Overall I'm happy with the service so far. This gives me a chance to play some retro games I didn't get to play back in the day and are hard to find in my area. I can try them out and see if it is a game that I might like to try to find and add to my collection. It's also perfect for the budget minded retro gamer that just wants to play games and not collect them. With the RetroN 5 finally out to the masses, a subscription would be the perfect thing to have to play games you want. Hopefully down the road, RetroScribe will expand the game selections to include Master System, Famicom, Super Famicom and even TubroGraphic 16, Saturn and Gameboy games. Right now, they are offering a free month trial with no commitment. If you're not happy with the service, just cancel. For a limited time, you will even get a free game to keep just for trying it out. If you're a retro gamer or someone who is wanting to dip your toe into retro gaming, this is a great service and well worth trying.

Be sure to catch our intreview with RetroScribe on Episode 22 and Retro Ep 3 of our podcasts. Be sure to subcribe on iTunes and Follow RetroScribe on Twitter for updates, as well as contests and more.

If You Are a Retro Gamer You Need to RetroScribe