Given how little libraries advertise, this is something that I found recently. Like many, I missed being able to easily/quickly rent games via Blockbuster. But, it turns out many librarians keep up with modern preferences and keep quite a few games for checkout. Even when the one closest library doesn’t have something I want, it’s often available in the others on the network.
Especially as Nintendo lifts their prices to $80, this may be something to seriously consider for people that have felt burned just two days into playing a game that isn’t as fun as it looked in trailers.
Me! They have a decent collection of Switch games and my wife will try out the games she’s seen reviews of at the library to see if she wants to add them to her wishlist.
Our library network is rather large so there’s often an available copy of whatever we’re looking for (unless it’s new).
Mine used to, but they stopped.
I asked why, and they said in the worst case some people would steal them. Maybe they just kept them or “lost” them, or they returned the cases without the game. With something like the Nintendo chips the theft would be obvious, but a couple of disk style ones had labels forged too. A stupid crime, given the last borrower would simply be fined.
On average though, there were a lot of difficulties keeping them in working order. Apparently they were reported non-functional more than DVDs, and despite a contract with a cleaning and restoration company still had a high failure rate requiring frequent replacement. Which is really kinda funny given how 90% of the time the disk is just a DRM token for an online download, shouldn’t be that susceptible to failure from minor damage…
Anyway between these costs and an analysis that physical game media was on the way out the door(probably mostly the costs), the program was discontinued and you can’t borrow games around here anymore.
It sounds like Nintendo games would really be the preference for librarians.
- They stay at high price so many patrons will want them
- They’re often kid friendly; and part of a library’s goal is giving kids a destination
- The console they’re designed for can be carried to the library
- The media is resilient to damage or being faked
Yeah some of the libraries near me have a selection of video games on the shelves. At least one even has board games.
I love libraries.
Mine has Switch games and a few Wii games, but that’s it.
Mine does, yes, and it has a great inter-library loan system, too. As long as it hasn’t come out recently, I have access to a big chunk of the Switch library.
Unfortunately, it looks like going forward that it’s not software costs that are going to be the biggest problem, it’s hardware. Adjusting for inflation, hardware has never been this expensive this late in a generation in my country. Not even the PS3.
Mine does, but I haven’t checked its contents in a while
Mine does. Some games are non stop booked. Others, mostly the sports games titles, are always available on the shelves.
My library has kids and mature gaming sections. I think it’s a trick to get us to walk through more books to check both sections.
So many of the discs are scratched to hell, though
My local library has a collection of Nintendo Switch Games
My local libraries have a huge selection that people use all the time. It’s awesome.
There are multiple library networks in my area. I’m sure at least one of them does.
It’s sad to think that with physical copies going away, libraries won’t be able to loan them any more.
I’ll have to check with mine. I know they have a ton of DVDs and Blu-Rays. It’s pretty much the only reason I keep my PS4 around at this point.
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