Video game rentals experienced a sizable increase during Thanksgiving week according to a report by Rentek Corporation, a company dedicated to tracking home video and video game statistics. Though it may be no surprise to many, the increase was largely due to the release of Microsoft's Xbox 360 console on November 22, 2005.
The projected spending of American dollars on game rentals rose approximately 44 percent between November 20 and November 27, 2005. According to Brad Hackley, Vice President of Home Video Essentials at Rentrak, Xbox 360 owners contributed 3 percent to the weekly game revenue. Considering there were 18 games available at launch, this is a significant contribution says Mr Hackley.
Despite the droves of people who were denied their Xbox 360 units due to shortages, there were still a significant amount who actually did get their consoles. In terms of which rentals were most popular there was Call of Duty 2 in first, followed by Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Madden NFL 06. Beyond that it broke down to Perfect Dark Zero in fourth, Kameo: Elements of Power in fifth followed by NBA Live 06, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06, GUN, Project Gotham Racing 3 and finally Peter Jackson's King Kong in tenth.
