As hinted at by a store manager back in the beginning of this month, Blockbuster Video is ramping up the video game side of their business big time, and they might just be gearing up to give GameStop a run for their money. Along with granting video games like Grand Theft Auto IV sacred space on the New Release wall, corporate-owned stores across the country should now be carrying retail games, consoles, and accessories for purchase, as well as kicking up their rental offerings with more titles and platforms, including DS games, which up til now my local store hadn’t carried at all. “We are committed to offering a full assortment of everything gamers want in our stores — hardware, accessories and retail and rental games across all platforms — including Nintendo Wii, Sony PS3, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS,” said Rod Murray, vice-president, games merchandising, Blockbuster Inc.

The company will also be offering a variety of exclusives, such as their exclusive Sony PS3 movie and game bundle, that features a 40GB PS3, Spiderman 3 on Blu-ray, Transformers the Movie the game, and a 12-week PS3/Blu-ray rental card entitling users to a free rental each week of for twelve weeks, all for $499.99.