Blockbuster Muscles In On GameFly's Territory

[vansau]

Blockbuster Muscles In On GameFly's Territory

Blockbuster Video wants you to subscribe to its mail rental service, and it's adding videogames to its catalog in order to do so.

Undaunted by its failure to recapture the market it lost to Netflix, <a href=http://www.blockbuster.com>Blockbuster Video is now trying to sweeten its By Mail service by adding videogames to the package. As a result, subscribers to the service can now select from over 3,000 titles for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, as well as the original Xbox and PS2. Not only that, but the inclusion of videogames won't cause an increase in subscription fees.

The addition of games to Blockbuster By Mail is the result of a test program that ran earlier this year to see if videogame rentals would be viable. Blockbuster obviously feels that the test was a success, and it's clearly trying horn in on GameFly's customer base.

By keeping prices low (By Mail subscriptions start at $8.99, compared to $15.95 with GameFly) and providing customers with a wide selection of movies, TV shows, and games, Blockbuster might be able to attract some new customers who don't want to pay for two rental services. That said, having an inexpensive all-in-one rental service might not be enough to ensure its survival.

Blockbuster Inc. (Blockbuster Video's parent company) has struggled to make money for quite some time, but 2010 has been particularly ugly for the company. With nearly $1 billion of debt, getting de-listed from the New York Stock Exchange, and continuing to operate stores that are generally unprofitable, doubts about the company's future seem like pretty solid fiscal forecasting.

Source: <a href=http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20013149-17.html>CNET

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[Saucycarpdog]

I actually like this. I was tired of paying $15 just to wait a week or so for one game to finally arrive. Plus, it could be cool if they have games from overseas.

 

[ProfessorLayton]

Wow, that's not that bad... if only Netflix started doing this.

 

[Dioxide20]

Hopefully its better then Gamefly, I had terrible experiences with them. The games took weeks to ship, I was lucky if I got 2 games sent to me in a month.

 

[Fenring]

Until Blockbuster buys a pretty big gaming news outlet, I don't think they've made it in the games market.

 

[Jared]

Nothing better than a lil competition! Might make for better deals!

 

[MrSnugglesworth]

Hopefully its better then Gamefly, I had terrible experiences with them. The games took weeks to ship, I was lucky if I got 2 games sent to me in a month.

I know, its god damn terrible.


I'll wait a bit before I cancel my Gamefly, just check and make sure its up to par with Gamefly.


Which shouldn't be hard in the slightest.

 

[Mrsoupcup]

SWEET! God I love Block Buster... All the stores have pretty good prices, hopefully this keeps them from going under since alot of them have been going out of buisness.

 

[tehroc]

They would have to offer on demand movies like Netflix and deliver them to any of my media outlets in order to get me to switch to their service.

 

[HyenaThePirate]

This article is BS.

Blockbuster didn't make this "decision" after "testing" showed it to be viable.
They did it because they are freaking DESPERATE.
It was either THIS or start filing for bankruptcy.
The Brick and mortar store for game and movie rentals is dead and dying. It was only a matter of time, unfortunately Blockbuster tarried on a bit too long, refusing to progress or try any innovation.
This is what happens when you are a leader in a near monopoly for too long, you lose your edge to stay competitive and don't recognize up and coming threats as readily.

Blockbuster needs to take things to the next level.
Downloadable films and games in kiosks in a store... you just come in with a USB, pay for the movie you want and BAM, its downloaded right onto your USB or storage device with some sort of DRM that removes it or makes it inaccessible after a certain period of time.

Of course, I'm dreaming.. nobody is going to use that sort of idea, but its that sort of freshness they desperately desperately need, since they've allowed Netflix, Redbox, Gamefly, and even freaking On Demand come into their house and have an orgy on the carpet without putting plastic on the furniture.

 

[ranger19]

Ouch, got taken off the NYSE? Life's harsh...

Anyway, this seems like a pretty good deal. I'm worried about retail video game rentals closing - this means more and more that if you want to rent and not buy a game, you're going to have to go to one and only one place to do it. And that's scary. (As if digital distribution making it impossible to rent isn't bad enough!)

I'd look into this program if it were possible for me when it comes out, but I'm at school most of the time now, which means I'm not playing jobs. But if this is around when I'm not working so hard all the time.. then I'll give it a shot for sure.

 

[ItsAPaul]

So people still go to gamefly to get older games... not seeing the point to this.

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

Poor blockbuster, still at $9 a month that is kind of nice.

 

[vansau]

This article is BS.

Blockbuster didn't make this "decision" after "testing" showed it to be viable.
They did it because they are freaking DESPERATE.
It was either THIS or start filing for bankruptcy.

Here's the article talking about the pilot program. [http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10161470-2.html?tag=mncol;txt]

In the future, do a little research before you start saying that an article is BS, will you?

 

[FinalHeart95]

I used to get movie's using the blockbuster online service, and I would get two free game rentals a month with it. Although I had to go to the store to get the games. Then the only store close to us closed.

 

[BlumiereBleck]

Pssssh forget blockbuster, netflix, and gamefly. Family video is much better and cheaper.