Blockbuster adds game rentals to their plan

I'd sign up for a new account, but is Blockbuster even going to survive for more than another month or two? Will this service just be shut down? The last I had heard, Blockbuster was going to declare full on bankruptcy and be a part of history. This would be unfortunate, because I have a store right around the street, and sometimes get blu rays or games from them.

joystiq

I just checked my account and they say nothing about the $5 activation. It simply says "No additional charge for game rentals". For the record, I'm on a very old grandfathered plan they don't offer anymore.

I took a Blockbuster survey in regards to this months ago, was hoping they'd do it. I'll get some use out of it for sure.

EDIT:
I dug even deeper and went through ALL the FAQ information, no mention of any $5 per month fee.

Q. Is there an extra charge for renting games with BLOCKBUSTER By Mail subscription?

There is no additional charge for renting video games with your BLOCKBUSTER By Mail subscription. Simply add the games to your queue to have them mailed to you just like movie rentals.

Game rentals will count toward the number of rentals you are allowed out under your BLOCKBUSTER By Mail subscription plan. You are allowed to have as many games out at a time as your BLOCKBUSTER By Mail plan permits. For example, if you are on a 3 discs out at-a-time plan, you can have 3 games out or 2 games and 1 movie out or 2 movies and 1 game out and so forth.

I love my Blockbuster online account. I also got grandfathered in so that I've been getting 2 free game coupons a month. Being able to get games at no additional cost is an excellent addition. One question I have is whether or not games or movies can be exchanged in store for games? From what I can tell, the in store exchanges have to be for movies.

That's the one I have, and it's why I haven't left. There's a B&M store very close to me, and it's really convenient to trade movies there and rent games or movies with the coupons. I am a Netflix subscriber too (at the $9 a month rate) mostly for movies I can't get from Blockbuster (they typically don't rent NC-17 rated movies and exclude some NR movies) and for streaming. I don't have cable/satellite/pay TV, so it's all either antenna TV, Hulu, Netflix, Blockbuster, and Internet TV (Via Windows MCE) for me. Totally worth it to me to have both services for $30 a month when I don't have any other pay TV, especially since I am not a sitcom/reality/other commercial TV watcher, I prefer movies, documentaries, etc.

I have one of the old accounts, 3 at a time + 1 free game rental for 19.99. I added a game to my queue and it should be here tomorrow. One thing, this is only for older games, the newest games can't be put in queue. I wanted Red Dead Redemption, but settled for Dragon Age: Origins.

Hopefully Netflix will follow suit (although I doubt it). I'm unwilling to switch to Blockbuster because they don't offer streaming to multiple devices which I use all the time.

This is ONLY for the "total access" plan when you return a game to a store. If you care nothing about returning movies/games to physical stores, then there is no extra charge.

As soon as I heard about this(today) I immediately canceled my Netflix subscription and signed up with BB. Netflix's streaming service is crap quality and I can barely stand watching it, optical media is where it's at.
I hope this brings blockbuster back from the dead.
This is just an amazing deal, even if you can't get new game releases for a couple months, there's plenty of back-catalog to play.

I had Netflix's 2 at a time plan which is 17/month, now I have blockbusters 3 at a time with games and earlier new releases for the same frikkin price! I hope netflix burns in hell!

I signed up for the Blockbuster trial. They shipped out my games today. I'm in Florida, and they say the estimated arrival is roughly 4-5 business days. If it takes that long, I'll be canceling before my trial is up. Their availability of games is worse than GameFly, and I get my GameFly rentals in 1 day.

That sucks, I'm in Alabama, hope it isn't that bad for me. I'll still keep it though because I gotta have my blu-rays and I'm paying the same price for 3 at a time BB as I was for my 2 at a time netflix. The streaming never attracted me much seeing the quality and the fact it won't output 24p.

Since you are new to Blockbuster, note that BluRay discs are no additional charge on BB. Make BluRay your default format!

Interestingly, I'm happy with Netflix's streaming.

is it just me or their game queue broken??? I can't delete or reorder games. I can do so with movies. I've tried on both IE and FF and at home and in the office.

I just added a game to the top of my queue, no problem.

I just signed up for a trial and don't see games listed, just movies. I'm on 2-disc plan. Does it need to be 3 disc?

I don't think it needs to be 3 disc.

BigBrad: My games+1 BD shipped friday and said it would be here Tuesday. I can live with that.

looks like a last ditch effort to stay afloat..i wouldn't get used to it.

Is there a diffrence between dvdsbymail and blockbuster sites? I subscribed via dvdsbymail and don't see the games listed. When I got my first movie, I took it to a BB store asking if I could exchange for a game. They said with a discount or get through the site, but I don't see games listed on the site.

Could be dunno.

My games got here a day early, return address is Pensacola.
Very pleased. Netflix gone for good

Don't get too comfy with this since BB is going to file bankruptcy in the next 6 months.

That rumor has been floating around for years.

Even if they did, don't forget we just saw Chrysler and GM file bankruptcy. And that was the SECOND time Chrysler has.

Doesn't mean it's over even if it's true.

Bearing in mind that the plan, if it comes down to BK (which seems all but inevitable), is a Chapter 11 reorg and not a Chapeter 7, so what.

Did you call the 1-866‑692‑2789 number


CS over the phone can remove or add the games

Difference is the feds won't be bailing out Blockbuster.

In the end all of this is just desperate 11th hour moves by BB to try to be more like their competitors that are driving them out of business. Adding game rentals doesn't really move the needle among enough of the demographic to matter to the bottom line.

You should read up on what Chapter 11 is. If it came to that, the government does have a hand in the reorg, and it's not a "liquidate and pay" type of bankruptcy. So although the feds won't be bailing them out, it's not a "close the doors" situation.

But, this is all speculation.

Do the math people...

The cheapest Netflix plan and cheapest Gamefly plan costs more then the most expensive Blockbuster online plan.

Netflix 1 out $8.99/month + Gamefly 1 out $15.95/month and if you want Bluray movies from Netflix add $2.00/month

Assuming you don't get blurays with Netflix and only get the by mail plan at Blockbuster you are saving almost $8.00 for both.

Hell I am thinking of just getting Netflix for streaming video and Blockbuster for games and blurays and I would have the best of both worlds

+1. But what doesn't add up for me is whether I'll have time to play enough games to make it worth my while instead of buying used or bargain bin (since BB only offers those older type games anyway.)

Splinter Cell Conviction isn't an older game and it is sitting right here. Red Dead Redemption should be here shortly since I just sent back a bluray today. I can't complain I have been happy with the service. They just need to include their video streaming in with their subscription at no extra charge and get rid of this pay to play VOD crap. Then they will again be on top.

That is exactly what I do. If Blockbuster were to offer streaming, I'd drop Netflix.

hhmm i might have to do this..

netflix and blockbuster and forget gamefly for now ...

and i get best of netflix and blockbuster movies ( blu-ray and games )

and worst comes to worse i go back to gamefly