Blockbuster Movie + Games New Rental Policy

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filanime03

CAGiversary!
Blockbuster has finally done something right. Now if you have a monthly plan on their movies you can now rent games with it. Here is the breakdown

By Mail 1 Disc 2 Disc 3 Disc
Movie + Games 8.99 13.99 16.99

Total Access 11.99 16.99 19.99
Movies + Games
5 + instore exchanges

Here are the links:
50% off first month
2 week free trial

This deal is a lot better than what Gamefly is offering in which
1 game for 15.99
2 game for 22.95
 
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Got God of War III in the mail...cracked. Let's see how long it takes a replacement disc to arrive.

I honestly don't know how any restructuring is going to help the chain get out of its almost $1 billion in debt. They can't raise prices at their retail stores...they're already too high. And also read a story that said their online business is actually down compared to last year while Netflix is up over 100% from last year. Seems an impossible mountain to get over. Unfortunately for Blockbuster, whether backed by Carl Icahn or not, I think Chapter 7 will come. Even Icahn can't afford to continue to lose millions of dollars.
 
Blockbuster will still be around. You have to keep in mind that when their talking about going into Chapter 11 thats their stores that aren't franchised so even if they go completely under I'm not sure how that will affect those stores that are franchised. As for this online rental system I'm sure you have to give your credit card info when you sign up and if they did go completely under don't be suprised if every game you have out gets billed at 59.95 and no one at a 1-800 number to contact anymore.
 
This has to have been posted before but...blockbuster now has game rentals in their by mail service for no additional charge. 3 discs at a time for 16.99 with an unlimited mix of games and movies. Until recently it was an additional charge to rent games.
 
not only posted, but there was a huge thread about this, where everyone basically tore it apart because new releases take 2-3 months to be available, and the overall selection is skimpy.
 
I don't get why Netflix isn't doing games yet. They provide Netflix downloads on game consoles now, but you can't rent game discs from them? Doesn't make much sense.
 
Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy anyway, cant say that would spur their customer service much.

Id just assume get games through gamefly or something if renting via mail was my thing.
 
[quote name='Viper187']I don't get why Netflix isn't doing games yet. They provide Netflix downloads on game consoles now, but you can't rent game discs from them? Doesn't make much sense.[/QUOTE]

1) Movies by mail increasingly is not where their priority is. They specifically traded away having movies within the first 30 days with WB to get more online streaming.
2) Games by mail is expensive, potentially a lot more expensive to maintain than movies by mail where someone typically watches said movie, then ships it back. Games take considerably longer to use, are subject to more wear, and (except in the case of PS3 games) show quicker tendency to wear out.
3) Netflix already gets a lot of profit out of the system they have. Adding a lot more content and discs to manage would mean taxing the system they already have.
4) They already make a load of money. Why would they need to add another service when they've got all the business they could ever want right now?
5) Redbox ain't doin' it.
 
yeah what skeletor said, theres really no reason for them to do it, theyre killing every other video source (except the beautiful torrents) and games would be super expensive, if they get a few hundred 'lost discs' in the mail that are games, thats a LOT more money that a few hundred DVDs.
 
2) Games by mail is expensive, potentially a lot more expensive to maintain than movies by mail where someone typically watches said movie, then ships it back. Games take considerably longer to use, are subject to more wear, and (except in the case of PS3 games) show quicker tendency to wear out.

- Nonsense. Initial costs of game discs is more than films, but shipping, wear and tear, etc is the same. If someone holds a game longer than a movie, then Netflix saves on shipping costs, which MAKES money for them.


3) Netflix already gets a lot of profit out of the system they have. Adding a lot more content and discs to manage would mean taxing the system they already have.

- The number of games titles they would have to add would be small compared to the number of films they already have in their system. If they have 50,000 titles on dvd, an extra one or two thousand game titles would not tax that system significantly.


4) They already make a load of money. Why would they need to add another service when they've got all the business they could ever want right now?

- Netflix is a publically traded company. The goal of any public company is to increase shareholder revenue. This is done through constant growth. If they arent adding enough new users to grow the company, they would certainly consider adding additional services and revenue streams. Renting games is a no brainer growth idea.


5) Redbox ain't doin' it.[/QUOTE]

- This has nothing to do with anything.
 
"- Nonsense. Initial costs of game discs is more than films, but shipping, wear and tear, etc is the same. If someone holds a game longer than a movie, then Netflix saves on shipping costs, which MAKES money for them."

It is not the same because game is a lot more expensive. You have to rent out a game more times to make your money back.
 
[quote name='Puffa469']2) Games by mail is expensive, potentially a lot more expensive to maintain than movies by mail where someone typically watches said movie, then ships it back. Games take considerably longer to use, are subject to more wear, and (except in the case of PS3 games) show quicker tendency to wear out.

- Nonsense. Initial costs of game discs is more than films, but shipping, wear and tear, etc is the same. If someone holds a game longer than a movie, then Netflix saves on shipping costs, which MAKES money for them. [/QUOTE]

Does anyone here know what it costs to buy a "rental" game? Video stores pay hundreds for each movie copy, but I have no idea how much Blockbuster and the like pay for each game copy they rent. Probably hundreds more than the average movie, but again I have no idea and am too lazy to do the research right now.

Also, the longer each customer holds each game, the more copies Netflix would need to have in order to avoid customer frustration over waiting forever to get the game in the mail. This means they would need many more copies of "big" games because more people want them and each person keeps them for a long time.

[quote name='Puffa469']3) Netflix already gets a lot of profit out of the system they have. Adding a lot more content and discs to manage would mean taxing the system they already have.

- The number of games titles they would have to add would be small compared to the number of films they already have in their system. If they have 50,000 titles on dvd, an extra one or two thousand game titles would not tax that system significantly.

4) They already make a load of money. Why would they need to add another service when they've got all the business they could ever want right now?

- Netflix is a publically traded company. The goal of any public company is to increase shareholder revenue. This is done through constant growth. If they arent adding enough new users to grow the company, they would certainly consider adding additional services and revenue streams. Renting games is a no brainer growth idea.[/QUOTE]

Public corporations never actually have to share revenue with shareholders. It's true their mission is to increase the value of stock in the long run, but that doesn't always mean growing the company if it is not going to be fruitful. A wise board of directors may not approve of renting games by mail because they cannot see it making enough money to be worth the planning and investment it would take.

[quote name='Puffa469']5) Redbox ain't doin' it.

- This has nothing to do with anything.[/QUOTE]

Sure it does. Redbox is in direct competition with Netflix, despite the method of distribution. If Redbox deployed game rentals in their machines nationally, it would open up that market and maybe Netflix would try to compete in order to avoid losing its customers.

IMO though, game rentals will eventually be mostly digital just like movie rentals, so Netflix probably doesn't want to get into a dying business. Just my 2¢.
 
[quote name='62t']"- Nonsense. Initial costs of game discs is more than films, but shipping, wear and tear, etc is the same. If someone holds a game longer than a movie, then Netflix saves on shipping costs, which MAKES money for them."

It is not the same because game is a lot more expensive. You have to rent out a game more times to make your money back.[/QUOTE]

But you're forgetting that it takes longer to enjoy/beat/play a game than watching a movie. Unless you're in the game rental just for the "feel" of it, then yeah, you probably return it within a day.

For me, it takes two weeks to beat a game, so that means one less disc to ship during the billing cycle, but at the same time, I enjoyed 3 three movies in two weeks.
 
Last year, Redbox started testing video game rentals in some markets. It was $2 a night. I don't know how successful the testing was, though, or if it has spread.
 
[quote name='62t']"- Nonsense. Initial costs of game discs is more than films, but shipping, wear and tear, etc is the same. If someone holds a game longer than a movie, then Netflix saves on shipping costs, which MAKES money for them."

It is not the same because game is a lot more expensive. You have to rent out a game more times to make your money back.[/QUOTE]

Add also that each damaged or missing in the mail title would be replaced at a high value too.

Netflix isn't stupid. There isn't that much money to be made by renting games, especially when you consider how much more they make off movies.
 
[quote name='Serpentor']But you're forgetting that it takes longer to enjoy/beat/play a game than watching a movie. Unless you're in the game rental just for the "feel" of it, then yeah, you probably return it within a day.

For me, it takes two weeks to beat a game, so that means one less disc to ship during the billing cycle, but at the same time, I enjoyed 3 three movies in two weeks.[/QUOTE]

Which is a actually a bad thing because a single movie could reach 2-3 people when the game is still stuck with the same person. So if you need to order more copies to reach the same number of people. The higher cost of game and the longer time per user means a lot less profit
 
[quote name='62t']Which is a actually a bad thing because a single movie could reach 2-3 people when the game is still stuck with the same person. So if you need to order more copies to reach the same number of people. The higher cost of game and the longer time per user means a lot less profit[/QUOTE]

:lol: I think it depends how you look at it :) If you're charged for a month, it's actually more profitable to keep you busy with the fewest discs as possible. Hence, more discs available for other users...
 
Actually my Redbox rents out games. They only had Alan Wake and Red Dead Redemption the last time I checked, but nevertheless...they rent games out.
 
The major problem that game renting has over DVDs is that the game's industry is driven more by current releases than DVDs. Sure new releases are popular for DVDs, but look at Netflix's Hot 100 and it is all stuff in the 8-12 month old range. Games, esp. online multiplayer games, have short shelf lives and depreciate in value very quickly. Hard to balance the right number of copies of new releases to keep your customers happy with the old stuff that does not get rented.
 
I found a new problem with BB's mail service, I canceled and they keep sending stuff. I even emptied my queue and they still sent me a movie and game. I contacted cust. service, so we'll see how that goes.
 
[quote name='c4tp']Does anyone here know what it costs to buy a "rental" game? Video stores pay hundreds for each movie copy, but I have no idea how much Blockbuster and the like pay for each game copy they rent. Probably hundreds more than the average movie, but again I have no idea and am too lazy to do the research right now.

Also, the longer each customer holds each game, the more copies Netflix would need to have in order to avoid customer frustration over waiting forever to get the game in the mail. This means they would need many more copies of "big" games because more people want them and each person keeps them for a long time.

.[/QUOTE]

I'm fairly certain that there is no longer a premium price for 'rental' copies of dvds or games. I know for a fact that Redbox buys it's films at normal retail price. I doubt Gamefly pays more than retail for their games either.

I also am too lazt to research, but I believe that Netflix, Gamefly, Redbox, etc all pay normal retail for their films/games at most. I wouldn't be surprised if Netflix got volume discounts from their suppliers.

And I'm sure Netflix has studied the feasibility of renting games. I'm sure they could come up with a plan that they think could be profitable. For sure there would be an added monthly surcharge, just like there is for Bluray discs.
 
wow I've been a Netflix user for like 5 years now, but I just might cancel for this... Especially since I have a Blockbuster within a couple miles of my place.

Actually... I'll probably do a 1 disc thing with Netflix since I still watch a helluva lot of instant queue stuff on my xbox. 1 disc with netflix, 2 with Blockbuster. That seems like a good deal...

EDIT: I don't like the way their video game by mail rentals are set up... You have to wait like 4 months before you can get them by mail. Otherwise you HAVE to go to the store... I guess that's better than no games at all tho
 
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[quote name='MajorSmeg']I found a new problem with BB's mail service, I canceled and they keep sending stuff. I even emptied my queue and they still sent me a movie and game. I contacted cust. service, so we'll see how that goes.[/QUOTE]

LOL just keep them and all and sign up for a 1 game/ 2 a month max plan for $5 a month. They'll keep sending a new game every time you return something up to your 2 a month limit. :lol:

The same thing happened to me only I didn't cancel they just started sending and sending even though I had my max 1 game out already... I've posted this a couple times already but i'm still at the 3 games at home mark on a 1 out at a time plan. I've returned 3 games this month and received my limit of 2 back replacing them. This is honestly the only reason I don't plan on cancelling with the barrage of new releases coming.
 
[quote name='Darknuke']wow I've been a Netflix user for like 5 years now, but I just might cancel for this... Especially since I have a Blockbuster within a couple miles of my place.

Actually... I'll probably do a 1 disc thing with Netflix since I still watch a helluva lot of instant queue stuff on my xbox. 1 disc with netflix, 2 with Blockbuster. That seems like a good deal...

EDIT: I don't like the way their video game by mail rentals are set up... You have to wait like 4 months before you can get them by mail. Otherwise you HAVE to go to the store... I guess that's better than no games at all tho[/QUOTE]


Not sure how close you read it but you CAN NOT get free in-store game swaps, just dvds/blu. You get discounted game rentals for returning a disc.
 
IT gets better, after contacting customer service and them confirming my cancellation as of the 27th, I get another game shipped notice today! Running a business like this could drive it to bankruptcy...oh wait.
 
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