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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[quote name='gage006']The FAQ says you can't exchange your games for another game in-store. What are these coupons you're talking about? They let you do that? Is that only with the total access plan?[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I'm confused about this as well. My understanding was that you had to pony up 5 bucks to exchange games in-store, according to their FAQ.
 
[quote name='beard_of_zeus']So do the 5 in-store exchanges per month you get on this Total Access plan still have the the $4.99 fee you have to pay attached to them? This is the only part that is still confusing me. Basically, I'm trying to figure out if there is any way to exchange games mailed to you at the store without any sort of fee, to take advantage of the better selection there.[/QUOTE]

Same, I think that's what everyone wants, haha. I'm thinking it's not possible. Mayyyyyybe if you've got some sort of grandfathered plan but I doubt anything they currently offer lets you do this.
 
nope, you must pay the $5 to exchange for a game. they used to offer a single free game rental coupon per month, but i dont see that mentioned anywhere on the signup site, can someone confirm that signing up for total access will net you at least 1 free rental game coupon?



** anyone know where to get a 1 month code to use instead of the 2 weeks? ive googled a bit but couldnt find one. **
 
Well, there is a nice blockbuster right down the street, and my family already has a 3 out at a time with unlimited in-store exchange + 1 free coupon a month plan, so I will be taking serious advantage of this.
 
[quote name='gage006']The FAQ says you can't exchange your games for another game in-store. What are these coupons you're talking about? They let you do that? Is that only with the total access plan?[/QUOTE]

Okay, some confusing souls here....

The coupons are for people signing up the regular plan (aka the non-Total Access). There's unlimited movies plan and limited movies plan. Both of them have coupons per billing cycle, which is good for in-store rentals. You cannot use the movie sleeves to exchange, you must use the coupons. Scanning the movie sleeves will allow the next movie on your queue to be shipped.

The other one is Total Access, which has no coupons, but FIVE in-store exchange using the return sleeve.

What's really new is that, the Total Access monthly fee is same as that of movie rental before (i.e for $16.99 you're getting unlimited TWO discs at a time, but now you can also rent games).

As you can see, if you're in the $16.99 before (for movies only), now you have the freedom to rent games. So, in essence, nothing new really, they just added games to your movies plan.
 
Okay cool, well I signed up for 1 at a time non-total access. We'll see if I get these coupons. Best plan I found, if you have Comcast, is to sign up on dvdbymail.com and then log in on blockbuster.com to add games.
 
[quote name='gage006']Okay cool, well I signed up for 1 at a time non-total access. We'll see if I get these coupons. Best plan I found, if you have Comcast, is to sign up on dvdbymail.com and then log in on blockbuster.com to add games.[/QUOTE]
What I'm thinking about doing, can't beat $7.99/month for unlimited game rentals (one out a time though). dvdsbymail.com though, typo in your url in case somebody else was interested.
 
[quote name='Mizz Behavin']I just noticed this myself a few minutes ago. I was so excited. Then I took a look at their "new releases." Many games that have been out for months- blockbuster won't have in stock til mid november. Other games have no available date at all.

Eventually this might be a great deal. But right now, their stock of games is really poor.[/QUOTE]

haha Blockbuster is only going downhill, bro. I don't see their stock growing in the future.
 
Q. Can I exchange my BLOCKBUSTER By Mail game rentals in the store for games and movies?

BLOCKBUSTER Total Accessâ„¢ subscribers may exchange BLOCKBUSTER By Mail game rentals for in-store free movie rentals (up to plan limits) or discounted $4.99 game rentals at participating BLOCKBUSTER stores. However, BLOCKBUSTER By Mail game rentals cannot be exchanged for free in-store game rentals.
BLOCKBUSTER Mail Only subscribers may exchange BLOCKBUSTER By Mail game rentals for discounted in-store $1.99 movie or $4.99 game rentals at participating BLOCKBUSTER stores.
Click to expand...
TOTAL ACCESS subscribers... FIVE in-store exchange per billing cycle (movies only, games are $4.99 which is a pain).

What I will be doing is finishing the games up fast and grad as many trophies/achievements I can and make metal note on how much I enjoy the games so I can snatch a copy when they're cheap.

This is perfect for movie and game enthusiasts... Of course, to max out the plan, you'll need a well stocked BBV near you :)
 
[quote name='Svengoolie']haha Blockbuster is only going downhill, bro. I don't see their stock growing in the future.[/QUOTE]
This will generate them a lot of new subscribers, even if it's mostly a back catalog of games. Large number of subscribers = investor faith = blockbuster coming back out of the grave. They've got better brand recognition than Gamefly among the general populous and word of mouth will be great for them in this.

I see this extending their life a few more years, if not recovering them permanently.

Also, judging by how damn slow the site is, they're getting hammered. This is traffic they're definitely not used to.
 
My girlfriend just switched from Netflix to this.

Even though the game selection is delayed, the 2 disc plan at BB is $1 more than Netflix with 1 disc at a time(including blu ray)

So, an extra ~3.3 cents a day to have unlimited game rentals. Yeah, we'll live with the "outdated" selection(we'll mostly be using this to play games we never would have bought, anyway)

..and we still have *my* Netflix account for access to instant watch.

best of both worlds.
 
[quote name='Serpentor']TOTAL ACCESS subscribers... FIVE in-store exchange per billing cycle, which is more than enough for most gamers. I don't think I can platinum that many games in a month :lol:

What I will be doing is finishing the games up fast and grad as many trophies/achievements I can and make metal note on how much I enjoy the games so I can snatch a copy when they're cheap.

This is perfect for movie and game enthusiasts... Of course, to max out the plan, you'll need a well stocked BBV near you :)[/QUOTE]

Ah so no reason to get total access if you're not interested in exchanging for movies. You get the $5 price with either plan. $8 a month for a disc plus $5 whenever I'm too anxious to start on a new game. Damn good deal. I don't plan on even touching their movie section, I've got my Netflix streaming for that.
 
I emailed them about the 3 month delay, let's hope they answer. I'm praying it's only temporary while the service is new. If it's always going to be that way, I'll be getting rid of it once my backlog is all caught up.

" You should receive a response by email from our support department within 4-8 hours."
 
[quote name='gage006']Ah so no reason to get total access if you're not interested in exchanging for movies. You get the $5 price with either plan. $8 a month for a disc plus $5 whenever I'm too anxious to start on a new game. Damn good deal. I don't plan on even touching their movie section, I've got my Netflix streaming for that.[/QUOTE]

Blu-ray! I can't stand streamed movies...
 
[quote name='smoger']My girlfriend just switched from Netflix to this.

Even though the game selection is delayed, the 2 disc plan at BB is $1 more than Netflix with 1 disc at a time(including blu ray)

So, an extra ~3.3 cents a day to have unlimited game rentals. Yeah, we'll live with the "outdated" selection(we'll mostly be using this to play games we never would have bought, anyway)

..and we still have *my* Netflix account for access to instant watch.

best of both worlds.[/QUOTE]


That's my thinking exactly... Come on now, the popular games are what CAG site is for, deals and deals. Who haven't got SMG2 for cheap from CAG? It's hardly a decision maker... On the other hand, How to Train Your Dragon is something I want to play, but don't want to own.
 
It remains to be seen if the selection issues are permanent (3 month delays on new games), but if they get their act together on selection they could run Gamefly out of town. Just look at the pricing:

GF: 1 game $15.95 a month, 2 games $22.95 a month
BB: 1 game $8.99 a month, 2 games $13.99 a month, 3 games $16.99 a month

3 games at a time for $1 more than the 1 at a time Gamefly plan? Youch. Add in the fact that you can get Blu-Rays at no extra charge and that you can check-in your games at a Blockbuster for faster shipping (i.e. turn your game into a B&M instead of mailing it, thereby saving 1-2 days of mail time), I think Games by Mail could be a Gamefly killer if their selection is decent.
 
[quote name='kidu']It remains to be seen if the selection issues are permanent (3 month delays on new games), but if they get their act together on selection they could run Gamefly out of town. Just look at the pricing:

GF: 1 game $15.95 a month, 2 games $22.95 a month
BB: 1 game $8.99 a month, 2 games $13.99 a month, 3 games $16.99 a month

3 games at a time for $1 more than the 1 at a time Gamefly plan? Youch. Add in the fact that you can get Blu-Rays at no extra charge and that you can check-in your games at a Blockbuster for faster shipping (i.e. turn your game into a B&M instead of mailing it, thereby saving 1-2 days of mail time), I think Games by Mail could be a Gamefly killer if their selection is decent.[/QUOTE]


Gamefly was always incredibly expensive especially since you would only get a new release anywhere close to when it comes out if you had an empty space in your queue BEFORE the game comes out. A pain in the butt.
 
Quick question, since it's been mentioned.

Is the Netflix blu-ray extra charge $1 extra a month or $1 extra for each Blu-Ray you check out? $1 extra a month doesn't sound that outrageous.
 
$1 a month.

Exactly why I think this could be Blockbuster's saving grace. Now they just need to get the word out there and build up that site stability. It's been up and down all day.
 
I believe it's an extra $1 per month per disc plan, so if you have a 5 disc plan it's an extra $5 so I've heard. I do not subscribe so this is what I am guessing.
 
[quote name='kidu']It remains to be seen if the selection issues are permanent (3 month delays on new games), but if they get their act together on selection they could run Gamefly out of town. Just look at the pricing:

GF: 1 game $15.95 a month, 2 games $22.95 a month
BB: 1 game $8.99 a month, 2 games $13.99 a month, 3 games $16.99 a month

3 games at a time for $1 more than the 1 at a time Gamefly plan? Youch. Add in the fact that you can get Blu-Rays at no extra charge and that you can check-in your games at a Blockbuster for faster shipping (i.e. turn your game into a B&M instead of mailing it, thereby saving 1-2 days of mail time), I think Games by Mail could be a Gamefly killer if their selection is decent.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, that's pretty much the picture... Of course, BBV online's game selection is still weak. Other than that, there's no point of GF. In my area, BBV online's turnaround time is actually faster than Netflix.
 
[quote name='KaitouDark']I believe it's an extra $1 per month per disc plan, so if you have a 5 disc plan it's an extra $5 so I've heard. I do not subscribe so this is what I am guessing.[/QUOTE]
From my Netflix account:

# 1 DVD out at-a-time $8.99 a month $10.99 a month with Blu-ray
# 2 DVDs out at-a-time $13.99 a month $16.99 a month with Blu-ray
# 3 DVDs out at-a-time $16.99 a month $20.99 a month with Blu-ray
# 4 DVDs out at-a-time $23.99 a month $28.99 a month with Blu-ray
# 5 DVDs out at-a-time $29.99 a month $35.99 a month with Blu-ray
# 6 DVDs out at-a-time $35.99 a month $42.99 a month with Blu-ray
# 7 DVDs out at-a-time $41.99 a month $49.99 a month with Blu-ray
# 8 DVDs out at-a-time $47.99 a month $56.99 a month with Blu-ray

# 1 DVD out at-a-time $4.99 a month $5.99 a month with Blu-ray
(limit 2 rentals a month; 2 hours streaming)
 
[quote name='Dysheekie']This deal could have been good if you could exchange for in store games at no extra charge[/QUOTE]

They used to do that, but I guess it's costing them too much money (less rental income, duh). But I'm okay with the in store return so that you can have the next item shipped right away.
 
[quote name='Dysheekie']This deal could have been good if you could exchange for in store games at no extra charge[/QUOTE]

think an email to them would make a difference on how many people are on the fence about this just because of the $4.99 game return-be nice if they at least charged half $2.50 which would = more people signing up monthly and more frequent $2.50 per trade in at store from their customers which would boost their profits.


as i don't think they'd go for no return fee---$4.99 is just too much but $2.50 seems very decent
 
So it looks like the 3 month delay thing has the possibility of going away.

# @gage006 We may tweak the way it works in the future as we get feedback, etc. 10 minutes ago via TweetDeck in reply to gage006

* Reply
* Retweet

#

@gage006 I believe the delay ranges depending on the game. In order to add games at no cost, we have the delay for now. 10 minutes ago via TweetDeck in reply to gage006
Click to expand...
 
As much as I don't want to give my money to Blockbuster... it is better than Gamefly. I'm not really looking for any obscure titles so Blockbuster might be the winner here.
 
This is great, I've had the total access plan for more than a year and this really makes me happy I went with BB rather than Netflix. I'm confused on just one thing though, when we receive the games in the mail, do we have to return them within five days?
 
[quote name='karatebear']This is great, I've had the total access plan for more than a year and this really makes me happy I went with BB rather than Netflix. I'm confused on just one thing though, when we receive the games in the mail, do we have to return them within five days?[/QUOTE]

No, you can keep playing, there's no due date as long as your plan is active. Of course, they won't ship you another movie/game until you return one :)
 
This includes absolutely NO streaming service, right?

So Netflix will charge me $10.99 for one Bluray out at a time plus unlimited HD streaming

BBV will charge me $13.99 for 1 bluray and 1 game out at a time, but NO streaming video of any kind and only mail trades?

I don't have cable, so streaming video is sort of important to me
 
[quote name='BinaryTB']From my Netflix account:

# 1 DVD out at-a-time $10.99 a month with Blu-ray
# 2 DVDs out at-a-time $16.99 a month with Blu-ray
# 3 DVDs out at-a-time $20.99 a month with Blu-ray
[/QUOTE]


If you don't care about the "free" streaming, Blockbuster by Mail has been cheaper ever since NFLX jacked up the price for Blu-ray. Now with games BB by Mail plans work like this:

# 1 DVD out at-a-time $8.99 a month with Blu-ray and Games
# 2 DVDs out at-a-time $13.99 a month with Blu-ray and Games
# 3 DVDs out at-a-time $16.99 a month with Blu-ray and Games

I've never needed a store and neither has Netflix or Gamefly, so the cheaper BB option works just fine for me. I can't play games I own fast enough so I'm in no rush to have another the very next day after I finish one.

And Gamefly? They have to seriously reconsider their pricing structure with comparative rates like these.
 
[quote name='rusty']BBV will charge me $13.99 for 1 bluray and 1 game out at a time, but NO streaming video of any kind and only mail trades?[/QUOTE]

BB have streaming video on demand the only difference is that you pay per movie/episode. The advantage is they get new releases online day of.
 
[quote name='arkweld']BB have streaming video on demand the only difference is that you pay per movie/episode. The advantage is they get new releases online day of.[/QUOTE]

Hmmm, so for $3 more a month than Netflix, BBV will give me 1 game at a time but I lose streaming video. That doesn't sound like a deal, for me at least. Not to mention the delay in game releases on BBV. I'll probably stick with Netflix. It's golden on the 360 anyways :)

I guess the fact that games were included was tempting, but I just buy the games I really want anyways (5-10 per year)
 
BBV might have my money once again. I might give them a try after I cancel GF in September. Was going to cancel anyway.

EDIT: Their website is acting retarded at the moment...
 
Glad they finally released this thing nationwide and for no additional charge. I've got Darksiders and Aliens vs Predator on it's way to me.
 
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Streaming is a big deal. Netflix loses money on it, but they are constantly updating the service.

The only problem - Streaming, even in HD, looks bad on a 48+ inch TV. No way around it - the signal is not good enough.
 
If you want to keep Netflix streaming, wouldn't you downgrade your Netflix subscription to the 1 DVD at a time plan and then sign up for Blockbuster's 2 bluray/game plan? Doesn't that get you the best of both worlds for the lowest monthly cost?
 
[quote name='simpsonps121']Streaming is a big deal. Netflix loses money on it, but they are constantly updating the service.

The only problem - Streaming, even in HD, looks bad on a 48+ inch TV. No way around it - the signal is not good enough.[/QUOTE]


That's because NFLX uses the most basic description of HD to qualify it. It might be HD resolution but there's far more to a good image than just the number of pixels. Even if it is a good enough signal their bitrate and compression will always make it look comparatively poor compared to a good broadcast HD or Blu-ray.

It's only good enough for people who don't really care about the image quality or audio.
 
[quote name='simpsonps121']Streaming is a big deal. Netflix loses money on it, but they are constantly updating the service.

The only problem - Streaming, even in HD, looks bad on a 48+ inch TV. No way around it - the signal is not good enough.[/QUOTE]

Looks almost DVD quality on my 52'. Havent watched it on anything smaller and everyone in my house uses it.
 
[quote name='xraytd']If you want to keep Netflix streaming, wouldn't you downgrade your Netflix subscription to the 1 DVD at a time plan and then sign up for Blockbuster's 2 bluray/game plan? Doesn't that get you the best of both worlds for the lowest monthly cost?[/QUOTE]

I am already at the 1 dvd a month. :) Can't beat $8 for basically anything I want. :) DVD turnaround is basically 2 days in my area, so I could not even get through the movies that fast.
 
[quote name='CDiablo']Looks almost DVD quality on my 52'. Havent watched it on anything smaller and everyone in my house uses it.[/QUOTE]

No argument there. It is standard DVD quality at least.

The above poster is also correct - does not come anywhere close to HD-DVD or BD.
 
Now that I think about it 3 months isn't that bad as it takes 3+ month for gamefly to get a new game back in stock after release day.
 
[quote name='arkweld']That's because NFLX uses the most basic description of HD to qualify it. It might be HD resolution but there's far more to a good image than just the number of pixels. Even if it is a good enough signal their bitrate and compression will always make it look comparatively poor compared to a good broadcast HD or Blu-ray.

It's only good enough for people who don't really care about the image quality or audio.[/QUOTE]

Somebody's being a bit elitist...

My netflix runs great on a 42" lcd. It looks about as good as an upscaled dvd, though it does stutter occasionally. It has been more than sufficient, especially consider the cost when compared to cable and the like.
 
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