@Crull: They already were #1 for a very long time back in the day when they killed all the mom & pa small business video stores in the late 80's. They perhaps known to be the first real nationwide commercial chain for video rentals.

Hollywood Video kind of had the right idea with Game Crazy, but every location has recently shut down in my state due to bad corporate management according to a few locations I spoke to. As long as Blockbuster has been around I don't think they would fail too hard on this to be honest.

TC

Lawl. Repainting the deck chairs on the Titanic.

In this day and age for a retail operation to be worth a shit you either have to have cutthroat pricing (i.e. walmart) or decent service (i.e...... okay, I can't think of a good example) or else you will get pwned by Amazon and NewEgg and Netflix.

But then, Blockbuster already knows that.

scarshapedstar

It's about time BB got into the game business. It seems like a no brainer and I wonder what took them so long to react. However, when you look at how long it took BB to develop an alternative to Netflix, it's not real surprising with how slow BB is to react.

As it currently stand, Gamestop really has no competition for used games. Why aren't more retail chains jumping on the resell band wagon? Sure DLC will eventually replace dvds and cds, but thats a good 5-10 years before becomes main stream and perhaps an additional 10-20 years before it becomes the standard where people no longer feel a need to have a physical copy.

To summarize, theres a mint to be made in used games and its surprising more retail chains aren't exploiting it.

TaggarT6

@CitizenTian: that's not the point. competition is competition which is good for us. No one is saying, "BLOCKBUSTER FUCK YEAH!" (ala Team America if you've seen it) but we are saying that alternatives are good for us and that is something to be happy/positive about.

jp182

Hey this will be tough, but I hate almost every gamestop I go to. Most don't know anything more then a blockbuster counterpart, and the attitude at most g.s. is st.louis is horrible!
I make it a point to go out of my way to go to the one Game Crazy left in St. Louis. Personally F-gamestop. They got where they are screwing the trader, not by being well informed, or well priced.

Y0URGOD78

To think, if blockbuster Big-Wigs had any foresight what-so-ever, they could have already been #1, for a very long time now.

Crull

blockbuster give the best store credit. while gamespot will give you at the most $20 dollars store credit. Blockbuster will give you $35

Romeloo

@exkon: Yes, not only does Blockbuster due trade-in's, but our trade in value is much higher then GameStop's, I just did a trade in the other day for Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 for Wii and the guy that traded it in got $23 worth for it. So check it our your might be surprised how much you can get.

Also, Blockbuster has way lower prices on used games then GameStop, for example Bioshock is only $30 used at Blockbuster, while it's $45 used at Gamestop.

-WPack911

WPack911

I'm still wondering when Blockbuster will lower rental prices on games. $7.99? Gimme a break. That's why I no longer rent games.

VicViper

@Winterbringer: It is.

@exkon: Gamestop gives more than Blockbuster.

AndrewDB

@Methusalah: I wholeheartedly agree with you there, I truly think this is our one drawback in our games expansion, even though I work there I think the price for game rentals is a bit crazy.

However the DS games that we have just started renting as stated in the article are only $4.99 as opposed to the $7.99 for PS3, Wii, 360 games. So that may be a test to see if a lower price point will rent more titles, hopefully that is the start of a new thinking on lowering the rental price for games.

-WPack911

WPack911

Blockbuster does trade-ins!?!?

Damn, I might have to compare the values...GS gives almost nothing, but if Blockbuster gives more..I might have to start going...

exkon

Let's hope that as the two giants struggle against each other, that they don't completely lay waste to everything else in the land. I love my local Hollywood Video, despite the fact that renting a game from the Blockbuster up the road basically allows you to hold on to it for about a month due to their "no late fee" policies. And my HV has just gotten their big gaming section expansion recently, too, meaning that their selection is close to, if not on par with, the BB.

Jazhuis

If they want me to turn to Blockbuster for my gaming needs they need to start by dropping the prices for video game rentals a lot. I will not pay $10 to rent a game. Ever.

Methusalah

@bobtheduck: Blockbuster has PSP games also, I work their so I know we have all current gen systems and we also sell select PS2 games as well, that guy must have just slipped up and forgot to mention PSP.

-WPack911

WPack911

sadly, the only blockbuster in my college town isn't corporate owned. :(

SofaKingHI

"Wii, Sony PS3, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS"

Not including the top selling system in Japan makes this an insta-fail.

But, meh... I thought they were BUYING Gamestop... They're just going to try harder with game... um... whatever their store is called.

bobtheduck

If you think that blockbuster is on it's last legs you don't follow business very well and you certainly don't work for them. Blockbuster is posting it's first positive earning quarter in 5 years and is going to post it's first positive year in even longer. I work at Blockbuster and every week we are sent a video from our CEO Jim Keyes which tell's us our earnings for the past week as well as other things we have to improve on and focus on, this and just general interest in business are why I know these numbers.

Plus, if you think pushing games and selling their consoles and accessories at all stores does anything but help us, you don't know anything about retail or how well the games business helps those who are in it.

For example just tonight when we do our midnight launch for GTA IV at my store we will make $3,000+ guaranteed just from our GTA Preorder sales, quite a boost to say the least.

I am happy to be working at Blockbuster at a time when the company as a whole is striking out to take down GameStop and grow as a company all at the same time. Make no mistake that is our goal right now, growth through becoming a premier games retailer, I have heard the CEO say it himself so you can be assured that is our mission, and it's a mission I am glad to take on everyday.

We have the resources and stores needed to take them down, so if you want to see Gamestop fall from grace you have a hope for that to become a reality in Blockbuster. :)

-WPack911

WPack911

Blockbuster also owned Rhino Video Games, the best video game chain store ever, which they sold to Gamestop 2 years and nearly ended my video game career. Why they would sell off the best to the worst and then try to buy the worst 2 years later? Large corporations make no sense to me.

BNC92781

"Hey guys, our core business is failing, we need to diversify!"

and so they are; thanks to Netflix and Gamefly

Rususeruru

If my local Blockbuster wants to be a player in gaming, then they are going to have to try a lot harder.

I went to pick up my Mario Kart pre-order yesterday and was told their shipment was damaged and they had to send them all back. All I got was a shrug of the shoulders and an apology.

I got my money back and also canceled my GTAIV preorder. Someone else will get my video game money.

Went to Target. They had plenty of MK on the shelf. Incidentally, they had quite a few Wiis in stock too.

Binx

@Winterbringer: Oh they certainly are, rental wise. People are buying movies or going for Netflix. They are trying to slide into another market here, and I think they could have a good chance at making a dent if they do it right.

@Lightbunny: They didn't quite try this. They had game stores integrated to select stores, but nothing this widespread. The closest Game Rush Blockbuster to me was 30 miles away, and that was with five stores within spitting distance.

Mike Fahey

I never really liked Blockbuster, mainly for their lack of older and obscure titles, but like it's been said, competition is good for the consumer.

ImBigBob

@xBBx:
You say that now, until they get your business, and then all of a sudden the trade-in values will drop even lower than Gamestop's, the selection will bottom out, the prices will increase dramatically, and you'll be stuck in a commited relationship with a corporation that, like the rest of them, doesn't give two fucks about you.

They did it with online mailed rentals, and they'll do it with games too if people care enough to make a concentrated effort to shop there.

Thankfully, that will probably not happen, as people don't associate BB with games. As Lightbunny pointed out, they already tried this with the GameRush concept and failed miserably.

I'm not cheerleading Gamestop, just reminding you that these guys aren't your friend either.

CitizenTian

@Winterbringer: Me too. The closest Blockbuster to me just closed up shop.

More power to them for trying, though.

Malthius

Haven't been into a Blockbuster in close to ten years, but it sounds good to me... if they become a video game store, then there will be two choices.

fuchikoma

hmm Blockbuster vs Gamestop. Hard to say which one is the lesser of two evils.

clintonskneecap

I find it so funny that now after all these years everyone is trying to jump on video games.. I guess video "games" aren't so childish now.. But anyway seriously this is cool.. more competition for the devil Gamestop lol I'll finally have a reason to visit my blockbuster after like 5 years lol

b1t0

All the rented games for sale at Blockbuster are always so damn expensive.

Salen

Awesome! I'd be more than happy to give Blockbuster my hard earned dollars. For that and the fact that there's a Blockbuster closer to my house than the GameStop.

xBBx

They tried this about 4 years ago. It failed then. It'll fail now.

Lightbunny

Please kill Gamestop.

Please.

Rondogg

@Winterbringer: Don't you think these is perfect evidence why they are, they are going away from their core business.

ghnvt

When there is competition the Consumers win, and Gamestop is kicking ass at this market. I'm glad to see blockbuster stepping up to the plate.

Schoolimangooli

Awesome now the old woman who work at my local Blockbuster will even more to be clueless about.

Halosucks3

I thought Blockbuster was on its last legs

Winterbringer

Way to be months behind Kotaku, they have been selling consoles since the new year began. They sell Rockband and Guitar Hero 3 for PS3 and 360 at my Blockbuster. The PS3 makes sense to sell there since it has Blu-ray movie playback (they're a movie store remember).

DevonTheDude

I have a Blockbuster store sharing the same building as our Gamestop, coincidently we used to be a Rhino Video before the change over and BB is right next door to their competition Gamestop. The funniest thing about it all is that when games go missing from BB inventory, gues where they come to ask if a huge list of games had been traded in without cases? You guessed it... They cant even get off their ass to stop used games from dissapearing from the shelf? WTH are they thinking? The police do nothing because if they dont catch them in the act of theft they can give a shit less. Oh, and the huge signs that are right next to Gamestop that say: BLOCKBUSTER TRADES GAMES!! Just gives us MORE business than ever.

GamestopPatron

@GamestopPatron: I did not mean to make you out to be an "idiot", that was not my intend, but I can see my post came off that way. I am sure I would feel very differently if I worked at Gamestop and I did not know the inter workings of things at BB like I do, I am sorry for that last line in my post.

Still like I said I agree that what the management did when the Rhino thing went down was handled about as badly as it could have been. I am almost 100% sure however, that would have never happened and things would have been very different if the current CEO was in place back then.

-WPack911

WPack911

Id rather have 2 evil corporations fighting it out rather than a single one jamming a stick up my ass (figuratively speaking of course)

smuckersisgood

@thoruen:
Not bad,that's basically why I went with gamefly.My turnaround on game is pretty high.It's easier to rent and buy the ones I really really love.

enewtabie

@WPack911:First of all, I love my job and I wouldnt trade it for the world as you know. They treat me right and I have never had a problem with anything they do. I see you feel the same way about the BB company and I admire your loyaly as well but don't make me out to be an idiot because of my username.

GamestopPatron

@GamestopPatron: Blockbuster was under a different much more stupid CEO's management when the whole Rhino Video Games thing went down, the new CEO Jim Keyes (Who took over in June 2007) has in under a year made Blockbuster profitable again for the first time in 5 years and is moving the company in the right, more profitable direction. You may think it's on the way down, but it's actually on the way up for the first time in years.

Not that would expect a commenter named 'GamestopPatron' to know or understand that.

-WPack911

WPack911

@WPack911: I can confirm this. Though Gamestop has a much wider selection of used games, BB and Hollywood video are always cheaper.

For example, Ninja Gaiden Used goes for 10-15 at Gamestop while BB and Hollywood have it for $5-$8.

TaggarT6

well, they're certainly doing a piss-poor job of being a leader in gaming over here in Fort Worth! i've been trying for weeks to locate a DualShock 3 at a BlockBuster, ever since the thing came out, with no luck at all.

and on top of that, i stopped by my local store yesterday in passing to see if i could pick up a copy of Mario Kart Wii and they only ordered enough to fill their pre-orders! when i got home i called one a little farther away and was told the same thing from that store!

they will never make any inroads on the gaming market with these "late to the party" efforts.

AgainstOne

Seriously, GameStop won't be taken down so easily.

foxwarrior88

@eugaet: thats exactly why BB is in the mess they are in because if they are selling a shitty used game for $45 and taking it in as trade for $30 chances are noone will buy it at all and if they do buy it and hate it, what then? Yup, it gets traded in at Gamestop where we sell it for $17.99 cuz it trades in at a low $6.

GamestopPatron

@Winterbringer:

jumping the shark

globones

competition! wo0t!

No more insane markup on GS used stuff? lol

mast3r_blast3r

@Lou3000: No, Blockbuster has not sold retail video games for years, it just started and they cost the same MSRP price that most all retailer's sell retail games for.

Blockbuster's used games are actually a lot cheaper then Gamestop's across the board, such as the Bioshock example I posted earlier up in this topic.

-WPack911

WPack911

Didnt Blockbuster just get married?
To yet another company that was going for broke? BTW, Rhino Video Games was owned by Lackluster (BlockBuster) and they sold their entire market TO Gamestop! Now the want to get back into the gaming market? Who is making their corporate decisions??? I think they are definately on the way out...

[a.abcnews.com]

GamestopPatron

It seems Blockbuster has always sold some games, but I always remember them being drastically overpriced.

I may be wrong, I don't think I've been in a Blockbuster in at least 7 years.

Netflix
XBox Live Video Downloads
Amazon Unbox via TiVo

Why would I drive anywhere?

Lou3000

@TaggarT6: Indeed, profits are most definitely gonna rise across the board with BB selling retail games and systems at all corporate stores so, buying stock now would probably be a great move for someone that likes to play the market.

Also, just so you all know it is very likely that Blockbuster will change it's name in the future from Blockbuster Video to Blockbuster Media, a much more modern name that I personally like a lot more.

-WPack911

WPack911

@VicViper:
@Methusalah:

$7.99 for renting a game from Blockbuster isn't bad.

Why you ask, because without the late fees you can keep the game for about a month before they call you and ask that you return it before they automatically charge your credit card for it's purchase.

That's $.26 a day.
If you compare that to an arcade when was the last time you spent 24 hours in an arcade and played a game the entire time on ONE quarter?

thoruen

i used to work for Blockbuster during summer of 2007 and they have been trying to push their video game sales like this since then. None of the stuff they're proposing is anything new and it hasn't been working. Let's face it, Blockbuster is on its way out.

PartTimeHero28

@WPack911:

The new CEO would explain the recent push for BB exclusives and in-store game selling.

It might actually be a good time to buy some BB stock if its low enough.

TaggarT6

@AndrewDB: Gamestop gives more than Blockbuster.

Totally incorrect. You might want to compare trade-in values.

BB/GR consistently beats GS/EB in TIVs by quite a margin. I'd rather get $30 credit at BB/GR instead of $6 at EB/GS...which is what I did earlier this year with a copy of Hour of Victory for the 360.

BB/GR is the first stop for me for trade-ins. Game Crazy is a close second...only because they'll match BB/GRs TIVs. GS/EB isn't even a consideration.

eugaet

@Crull: The former CEO of Blockbuster was a fool and he clung to old ideals and was driving it into the ground. However the new CEO Jim Keyes (Who took control in June 2007) is a forward thinker that has already made Blockbuster profitable again and is driving the company to a brighter future then ever before. That's why we are now jumping into retail game sales, something that I agree was long overdue.

-WPack911

WPack911

As much as we can all rip on how Blockbuster is a joke, I for one am glad theres at least some competition out there. Its better for us after all. Or at least its supposed to be.

AsWater

I have to say blockbusters is excellent for rentals for all formats, I mean in the uk there like £5.75 for a week brand new games so it's quite a good deal for any solid gamer although if you are one and you will probberly complete it within a week anyway. Also there have good offers for games as well 15.99 for 1game or 2 for £22.99. Their offers for xbox360 are better than any over retail store around my way I can get a xbox360 with a game for £149 and its either a premium.

Capt_Birdseye

@Salen: I agree. Selection was only part of the problem; price is a HUGE reason why I don't rent from Blockbuster. However, I like that they're trying to take a different approach.

psychobaka

@Foxstar Sixtail: This post is not really about Game Rush, even though that is owned by Blockbuster, this is about all of Blockbuster's corporate owned store's becoming committed retail game sales outlets, as well as a rental source.

-WPack911

WPack911

Game Rush is a joke. It's a nice try but with Netflixs killing Blockbuster, I can't see them taking on GameStop with any real effort, not without teaming up with someone far, far bigger.

The only people able to 'kill' GameStop is Wal-Mart and even now I'd say they are too late to the party to matter + they could care less about video games.

Foxstar Sixtail

@GamestopPatron: In a store the size of BB, it's tough to stop a thief there is a lot of cover with all the shelves and a lot of space to spread out, we do keep the higher priced used games behind the counter, but older games for PS2, Xbox, and GC are just not a big enough risk to take such protective action, and there is of course a lack of space for them too.

However I happy to say that the Blockbuster I work at has stopped several shoplifters in the past, so it's doable with some effort for sure.

-WPack911

WPack911

Blockbuster has saved my gaming life! I live in Covington, GA, which is pretty fucking far out there. The closest gamestop is 20 miles or so down i-20 and it's a BITCH driving there every Tuesday. Blockbuster is also where I'm going tonight to pick up GTA IV. My biggest attraction to Blockbuster is their GamePass. It's $20 a month and you can rent out one title at a time and keep it for as long as you want. To get a new game, just bring it in, drop it off, grab a new one. So simple! I don't mean to sound like a Blockbuster fanboy, but if they keep up the good values on gamepasses, trade-ins, and hours of operation (open till midnight, every day) I don't think they'll have any problem with Gamestop.

Alexander-The-Great

@enewtabie:
I always found it odd that BB started doing the DVD by mail like Netflix, but didn't do the game rental like Gamefly.

I always thought that Netflix should buy Gamefly and combine the services.

But since that wasn't going to happen I figured that BB had the infrastructure already in place to rent games & movies via mail

thoruen

Total Access has to have given BB life, its a great deal, I got it shortly after getting a BluRayStation3, since there is a BLOCKBUSTER MEDIA (Dallas, TX Prototype)store by my apt, I can only imagine Total Access expanding to include Video Games if this comes about, which would be great, no more seperate Netflix and Gamefly accounts, no more waiting for the mail hoping someone didnt steal the dvds, games you ordered

and lets be honest the reason Netflix started doing better than Blockbuster is cuz people were stupid and irresponsible with their late fees

"Hey lets rent 10 movies we know we arent gonna watch or remember we even rented and then be really surprised when I turn them in 3 days late and Im being charged $1xx"

rodsky

@GamestopPatron: I have considered before that BB/GR may not be around much longer w/ the high TIVs. The only reason I could see why they would give such high TIVs is that they make it back in rental fees whereas GS can't. So the most GS can hope to make from the game is the difference between the TIV and the used sale price. BB stands to make more money per copy after a handful of rentals. I don't know if there's any truth to this or not, it's just my theory.

Also, to everyone who is a GS employee: Please, please stop gutting new games. I might be more inclined to buy from GS/EB if it could be guaranteed that the new game I paid for hasn't been tampered with.

eugaet

As a GameStop employee, I hope BB's efforts do well. Competition is good for everyone, both the customers and the employees on both sides.

MuppetChrist

I am I the only one that sees this as bigger hit to the Movie industry than a boost for the gaming industy?

Metropolis

After what Blockbuster did with HD-DVD i'll never give them my buisness again.I've been buying my games either online or from EB/Gamestop for years and see no reason to stop doing so.

Blockbuster should stick to what it knows and rent movies instead of getting involved in something it knows next to nothing about.

Sugaray

Ironic they choose the Transformers game, since you cant get the movie on BR!

EnigmaNemesis

@Rondogg: Gamestop can not be killed. Gamestop can only be contained within a soul stone, one that will only slowly consume it's next victim over time.

StevenRafael

That PS3 bundle would be good if they let you choose which game you get, instead of making you get Transformers.

dawimp523

@thoruen:

1) It's $7.99 for 5 days, then a you might be able to keep late for extra week. After that, they charge you full price for the cost of the game. You can bring it back late and pay an additional stocking fee which I believe is only a couple bucks or so, but you run the risk of paying full price ON TOP of the rental price for the game if you keep it too long.

2) Gamefly is a way better deal if you rent a lot of games.

3) $4.99 for 5 days with late fees was a much better way for me to evaluate a game, if I wanted to buy it or just beat it. Most RPG's aside.

4) Now that people can keep a game for weeks on end, it's harder to get titles they only have 1 or 2 copies of.

VicViper

including Nintendo Wii, Sony PS3, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS,"

Wait... No PSP? ROFL

nintendog66

Finally! I've been saying BBV should do this for years! They need to do it financially, they can do it, and hopefully they will do it.

Gam3r

@GamestopPatron:
I already said that exactly like 15 posts ago. (wink wink) I have no idea how to be sarcastic in these posts.

BNC92781

Going to eb is bad enough,but you couldn't pay me to go stand in blockbusters line for a game,man they sell movies you can get for 20 beans at bestbuy or whereever for 35 beans,wonder if they'll try the price jack on games.

SlowDeath420

They've been doing this for years?
New Wii, DS, PSP, 360, PS3 games and consoles have always been sold/exchanged/cashed in since the systems were released.

Tcata

@WPack911:

It's very clear that you're blinded by your employer, even somewhat naive to think that Blockbuster is turning a profit off of -games-.

As far as game sales go, Blockbuster's dipping there feet a little deeper in the water, if they try and dive in, they're just going to drown. Just like Rhino.

And as far as their new CEO goes, so far he's only made mediocre decisions, and nothing that he's done has helped the company any more than the last CEO's did.

End Statement.

atowncalledparis

Blockbuster blows. They hardly ever have any of the good games in stock, most of their games get stolen, which pretty much means the good titles arent around at all. They also dont dedicate much shelf space to games.

Altima NEO

@atowncalledparis: Blockbuster just posted it's first profits in FIVE YEARS.
The new CEO has been in less than a year, I think that says something.

End Statement.

claming