Late last year, our very own Davis Freeberg lamented the lack of a Redbox video game rental kiosk. Hope was renewed this spring when Redbox announced they’d begin testing combo DVD+gaming kiosks and postal mail game rental-co Gamefly launched a self-service machine at Texas Tech University. Now, as the Inside Redbox blog learned, Redbox’s long awaited video game inventory rollout has begun. And it looks like Reno is one of the first markets to offer video games.
PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, and PS2 rentals run $2/nt which isn’t super competitive with Blockbuster’s rental fees – which is about $9 for 5 nights. And inventory seems limited (13 Xbox 360 games listed). However, the convenience factor could be huge. Not to mention, some (me) often use game rentals as a trial to determine which titles I’m going to need to purchase. However, I’m not yet convinced this model will fly. While games and movies utilize the same flat optical media, usage patterns and demographics differ.
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