I thought Blockbuster was on its last legs

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

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.

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

Please kill Gamestop.

Please.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

More power to them for trying, though.

@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.

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.

@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.

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.

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

and so they are; thanks to Netflix and Gamefly

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.

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

"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.

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

@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

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.

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.

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...

@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

@Winterbringer: It is.

@exkon: Gamestop gives more than Blockbuster.

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.

@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

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

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

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.

@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.

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.

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.

@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.

@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

@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.

@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.

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.

@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?

@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

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?

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]

@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

competition! wo0t!

No more insane markup on GS used stuff? lol

@Winterb