It’s nothing too spectacular but, Blockbuster announced today that it will start allowing members of their movie in the mail subscription to begin checking out games, much like ultra game renting site Gamefly. Subscribers with a membership of $8.95 and higher will be allowed to rent either movies or games through this service.
How will this effect heavyweights Netflix and Gamefly? We don’t think it will affect them much, but might find Blockbuster a nice niche in the industry, especially in households that currently like to rent both games and movies. However, Blockbusters still lacking streaming services is what truly holds them back. Until they move away from the box stores and into a more modern model of media delivery, we don’t think anything will really save them.
Although Blockbuster machines to compete with Redbox have been popping up in stores more frequently. Which is a smart move for the company. We think that Blockbuster will probably always have a spot in the market, although it will be much reduced as older generations move away from going to the video store. Still, being able to get a new release on the release date at a Blockbuster store is still nice sometimes, instead of having to wait the 28 days that Netflix users have to. Really, there are upsides to both companies, it just depends on preference.
By the way, Gamefly.com offers a free 10-day trial on their 2 game out at a time plan. If you like to play, but hate to shell out 60 dollars for games, this site is great for the average gamer that can wait a few weeks or months to get a title to play. We use it here at the WGUB to try games from time to time. You should too.
