Kotaku 
Enter your username and password.
Denver, 12:59 AM
Sat Nov 28
42 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip us:
Editor-In-Chief:
Brian Crecente
| AIM | Twitter
Deputy Editor:
Stephen Totilo
| AIM | Twitter
Senior Editor:
Michael McWhertor
| AIM | Twitter
Senior Contributing Editor, Japan:
Brian Ashcraft
| AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, East Coast:
Michael Fahey
| AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, Oceania:
Luke Plunkett
| AIM | Twitter
Contributing Editor, Weekends:
Owen Good
| AIM | Twitter
Correspondent, San Francisco:
AJ Glasser
| AIM | Twitter
Columnist:
Leigh Alexander
Columnist:
Tim Rogers
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
09/17/09
09/17/09
[consumerist.com]
09/17/09
09/17/09
09/17/09
09/17/09
09/17/09
Haha, Best Block Buyster. You can find some good deals at Best Buy, but they are not the norm, that's for sure.
09/17/09
09/17/09
Every Friday I'd stand in the aisle and choose a game based solely on its box art (This was years before the internet). I remember renting Earthworm Jim, Booger Man, Clay Fighter, Yoshi's Island and other games multiple times. I distinctly remember not renting Earthbound because it had weird box art.
Games were way too expensive back in the day, if it weren't for gaming rentals I'd never get to play anything.
09/17/09
Renting games solely based on the box art was all the rave. I discovered Secret of Mana just because the boxart looked cool.
09/17/09
It's sad to see the old girl sink into obscurity, but it was bound to happen. Competition is good for everyone, and those of you who want BB to die... just think about what Netflix will do when that happens.
You think your $9.99/mo plan will stay that price? (Good plan by the way, I love the online streaming) Unforutunately, it will not. While we were pushing really hard to start our online program we actually caused membership of Netflix to shrink for the first time (probably a year and a half ago) in their companies history. Their response? Drop prices! Image when they inherit the millions (!) of customers BB has after they eventualy fold. They'll greet them with open arms, and gradually ratchet up the price... while blaming it on rising gas costs, or something to the like.
BB was also one of the first companies who pushed BluRay in-store and online. Netflix was late to the draw there, and their response? Carry BR in a sufficient capacity, natch.
It also goes both ways. Why do you think BB ended the 'late fees'? It was Netflix's subsription based program that was killing us in public perception. Also all rentals being 7 days, and in-store/online subsriptions were all in response to the 'value' that Netflix was offerinng.
I really hope BB pulls through, and that's not just cause I am one of the alumni. It's because I want healthy competition in a market (movies or games, take your pick) that I really do love.
Best of luck, BB. And more importantly, I hope that all employees who are affected land on their feet.
09/17/09
I totally agree, though, netflix having totally control is a scary thing. Even in blockbuster's prime, at least there was competition like hollywood to make it think twice.
09/17/09
That said, one good turn deserves another; Blockbuster used the exact same tactics against Mom & Pop video stores before achieving a monopoly of the home video rental market. The only places that could survive before the internet age were places like VisArt that carried the strange and eccentric films that Blockbuster's conservative management refused to carry.
With regard to the latter, I never really appreciated Blockbuster censoring the films I rented as a young adult or restricting access to films from off the beaten path.
I mean no disrespect here, but sometimes companies go out of business for good reasons.
09/17/09
So, I can only turn in movies directly to Blockbuster 5 times per month with a $3 additional fee tacked on? You're charging me Netflix pricing but do not offer movie streaming? The company had all the infrastructure already in place to be a leader in the digital age, but the company has just be lax in its forecasting for the future business model.
Blockbuster is like Sears, Radioshack, and other rotting businesses, a languishing giant clinging on for life, but it's only a matter of time before it collapses.
09/17/09
09/17/09
While I have been out of those 4 walls for over 9 months, there are some things I think should be mentioned. I don't blame you for the innacuracies, but solely on the lack of education BB has given its' employees and customers both.
There are many tiers of online plans for BB Online, just like Netflix. I don't see how you can compare the in store exchange portion of their program with Netflix. How many can you exchange with Netflix again? Oh right, you can't. They don't have stores.
BB Online also has streaming, and download purchasing. As a matter of fact, they purchased a company (the name escapes me at the moment) that has more studio backing and offers more digital content than Netflix.
But I don't subscribe to BBO. I Subscribe to Netflix. Mainly because of the convienience of streaming on my Xbox. If BBO offered streaming through my Playstation than I would have to look closely to figure out which subscription I would stay with.
It would be a hard decision, I'm sure.
09/17/09
BB doesn't have a good streaming service as well since it's limited to TiVo type devices and has no PC option (that I'm aware of, at least). BB seemed to want to turn digital distribution into a Pay-Per-View system and was probably caught off guard by Netflix's instant unlimited streaming system without any additional hardware required. Suddenly BB finds itself losing potential forecasted revenues by having the anticipated sales of PPV movies and standalone custom hardware largely obliterated by Netflix.
Personally, if BB wants to save itself, it needs to drop the per rental charge as the default business mode and go subscription based. Keep the chains as both showrooms and as distribution centers. Emphasize speed and lower the pricing scheme for the service. Unfortunately, BB may have eaten too many losses to make that path an easy sell to the owners, but if the company wants to exist in five years time it'll have to do something drastic other than just skinning itself to stay afloat until nothing is left.
09/17/09
Before that change, the online was the same price... but *also* included unlimited in store exchanges. So you got both deals for the same price. IMO, that was an unbeatable advantage.
But as Keyes arrived, and slowly shifted the focus from online back to the corner store the value proposition of BBO vs NF was eroded at a quick pace in order to 'protect' the brick and mortar business. I can see the reasoning with all the investment in property the 20 year old company had... but it's not the right way to go.
While I don't believe that going subscription only is the way to save the giant, I do absolutely agree with the rest of your last statement. BB needs to really shift its' thinking in order to survive. It's one of the reasons that I left in the first place. For years the writing was on the wall, and as much as I tried to keep on truckin'... there was no denying the inevitability of the situation.
Oh, and heartclick for the good discussion. :)
09/17/09
1. It's super close so you can just pop down to Blockies and check out the games.
2. It sells used and new games - something no other place in town does (I live in lowland Scotland in a smallish town).
3. Not only does it sell games - sometimes the prices and deals are really decent - very competitive to what I can find online and no waiting (though sometimes they miss the mark a little).
4. It's great just to decide "Hey, I wanna go to Blockbuster to check out the newest games and movies". They'll have it all on display and it's much easier to shift through shelves than to browse online. Online is great if you know what you want - but it's a hassle and not very easy to browse online.
5. The staff in my local Blockbuster are really nice people - and it's the only place I can get movies/games AND snacks - all at the same place and - most importantly - locally!
I really hope mine doesn't close down. LOVEfilm (UK equivalent) just don't cut it when it comes to renting for me.
09/17/09
Oh, how I wish for my youth, when you could rent games for friday/saturday night and that was it. I hate paying for services I won't utilize, like rental month by month, and once the week hits, my gaming usually comes to a standstill.
I also prefer physical locations to doing everything digitally.
09/17/09
09/17/09
Now that I'm older, games are longer, life is shorter, none of that is possible. :(
09/17/09
That's a LOT of jobs people are going to lose.
09/17/09
I also got a few free strategy guides from them that they were just going to throw away, including the strategy guide for Pokemon Diamond/Pearl. One person's trash is another man's treasure, indeed.
09/17/09
09/17/09
09/17/09
09/17/09
09/17/09
09/17/09
09/17/09
I don't know about everyone else, but I don't/can't plan all my DVD viewing. Most of the time I think "hey, I think I'd like to watch movie/tv-show x", and then I go get it from Blockbuster. I think that makes sense, call me crazy. I found it hard to depend on Netflix to get me the movie I want to watch, when I wanted to, so I'd have to use a slot for a backup movie.
Also, the whole '1 day' to get a movie in the mail thing is being a bit generous. It plays out like this: 1stday it's in the mailbox (so you don't really have that DVD) and goes to the post office. 2nd day, it gets there(Netflix location) and maaaybe that day they ship out the next one, 3rd day(afternoon) is the Earliest it will arrive.
*I get the fact that on the 1st day you have the DVD and the 3rd day you(maybe) have it, but it is hard for me to call that a day, or 'pretty much the next day' as I've heard so often.
As far as games go, I usually play then by myself, and timing isn't as big of a deal for me so I use Gamefly. Even though often-times I yell at my Q, waiting for one of my games to ship.
Ok, shut up time.
09/17/09
I love you?
This is the exact reason I got blockbuster in the mail service instead of netflix. Actually, I can grab a mailed disc and walk to blockbuster (yes convenient for me) to pick up any movie I want without waiting. Plus I can get Blu-rays for no extra charge. I hope the one close to me doesn't shut down!
09/17/09
09/17/09