Blockbuster Video is filing for bankruptcy!

LWK

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I didnt read the blockbuster article for personal reasons. I frequent blockbuster, and for some time didnt set foot in. Then when I did, I got a 30 day free rental for being a customer, which showed me they are starving for business. Lets be realistic though, people pirate everything except for theatrical releases, which make good revenue while being pirated.

I naturally assumed it was totally true, because it makes sense. I actually think blockbuster won't survive 2011.
 
genjiglove

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I think any local Blockbusters near me won't survive because no one goes to them. On at least three separate occasions I went to one of them to rent a newly released game the weekend after it came out and it was always in despite them only having like two copies. You'd think in a college town popular new games would be hard to get right at their release.
 
S

smkdan

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I've read that this doesn't directly affect our own Blockbuster financially, but we aren't doing much better anyway. The one I go past most mornings had their closing down sale a few months back. Last thing I did there was returning Bart's Nightmare for the SNES

Somehow there's a bunch of mom and pop stores still running nearby though.
 
topher

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Redbox started hitting them hard here. Whoever has the Redbox route where I'm at is a smart dude. He/She put 2 to 4 redboxes within sight of every Blockbuster and hit all the grocery stores and quikie marts in the area.

The thing that's killing me is that every Blockbuster around here that closes is getting reopened as a 24/7 ghetto ass "internet sweepstakes" gaming center. Brilliant.

Apparently now that the cash advance bullshit craze is over, this is the one that is taking it's place.
 
Kristian Meller

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I love Blockbuster here in Denmark. I never rent, but they are my store of choice for domestic releases. Recently they started selling used/ex-rentails, so now you can pick up some fairly recent releases at decent prices. They also have a good games section, where I've also caught some pretty good deals.

Thankfully, the Danish chain is a separate corporate entity, that has turned a profit throughout the economic crisis. I believe it's now been put up for sale.
 
Kristian Meller

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topher said:
The thing that's killing me is that every Blockbuster around here that closes is getting reopened as a 24/7 ghetto ass "internet sweepstakes" gaming center. Brilliant.
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What's this then? I've heard of the scam that was payday loans, but this is new to me.
 
alphagamer

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nruva said:
Years and years ago I got tons of great Genesis/SegaCD and SNES games when my local Blockbuster Music stopped dealing in games. Most people didn't even know the store rented movies/games so everything was new or pretty darn near it. I got stuff like MK3 on Genesis, Final Fight Guy for SNES, Splatter House and tons of others for like $2-$3 each. Each with perfect manuals and cases ;) Sure, this was like 1997 or so, but it was sweet. It'll be worth going through the stores for gems, at the very least.
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Final Fight Guy for around THREE BUCKS? You lucky... guy. :D
 
abasuto

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Neo Ash said:
cable TV is next unless they change how they deliver content, provide more customization for subscribers.
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I actually canceled my cable (Comcast) service last month, but kept their internet.

There was only 2 or 3 channels I really cared about and was sick of paying for 60+ other channels I never watch just to get them.

I'll give them $1 for each of those 3 channels and they can stream it via the internet to me. Short of that, they'll never get me paying again.
 
lithy

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Does this void the few dollars I have remaining on a gift card?

I hope so, then I have an excuse to finally toss it, I haven't been in a Blockbuster in many moons.
 
FrizzleFried

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Blockbuster sucks. Redbox sucks. Anyone who hasn't gotten hip to Netflix is wasting their time.
 
Metal Slugnuts

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FrizzleFried said:
Blockbuster sucks. Redbox sucks. Anyone who hasn't gotten hip to Netflix is wasting their time.
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Redbox is good for new releases that are backlogged on Netflix and for instant gratification rentals. Sometimes I just don't want to wait the 3-5 business days to watch my movie. Since I live in a biggish city there are terminals everywhere so it's not hard to rent/return them. Netflix is definitely better but Redbox serves its purpose.

Has anyone tried Hulu Plus yet? Is it worth the $10/month? I use Hulu all the time but unless there's some magical feature beyond less ads I'm leaning towards pass.
 
Arcademan

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Not too many Blockbusters around my neck of the woods though I noticed many of the stores are starting to get the self-serve machines to try and go against Redbox. Too little...too late.
 
cum_drops

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Once they pulled that recent shit with removing then adding back late fees I was done with them, switched over to netflix. Enough people tired of their bullshit pricing and policies, they are now forced to restructure.

There are just too many better options now. I still prefer netflix, but I can see how redbox is useful if you dont rent much but want to pick up a newer big name release once in a while. They have blurays now but the selection is pretty small, you can only fit so many discs in one of those machines.
 
Hidden Character

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Surprisingly enough, Blockbuster is still around in South Florida, but when I went to Tallahassee several weeks ago, many of them were either vacant or became huge-ass beauty supply stores.
 
Maury V.

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I remember back in the 90s, Blockbuster wouldn't let me and my homeboy rent anime because the one by our houses was (and still are) very conservative. The Hollywood Video across the street however didn't care. Because of that store, I was able to enjoy all the anime and video games that were very non-mainstream! HW > BB

BB was only beneficial when I worked there. I was there when they had the no late fees so I had a lot of shit out and the customers had to wait for shit because of me. :)

Bottom line is this, Blockbuster made their money through late fees and people were pretty much tired of dealing with that shit. If they keep their service strictly online and kiosks, I think they'll be just fine.
 
Metal Slugnuts

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The local video store in my hometown had to close down because no one was paying their late fees...I guess it got so bad that the owner was going door-to-door asking people to pay them. Such a waste...that store was great for game rentals and had a ton of other niche stuff for sale.

Probably the coolest thing they ever did was buy some space next door and make a full blown arcade. I have many fond memories of playing After Burner II and UMK3 in there. Unfortunately all of the ghetto-ass wigger douchebags kept getting the police over there and the owner converted the space into tanning beds. :hammer::(
 
GregN

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Redbox is good for new releases that are backlogged on Netflix and for instant gratification rentals. Sometimes I just don't want to wait the 3-5 business days to watch my movie. Since I live in a biggish city there are terminals everywhere so it's not hard to rent/return them. Netflix is definitely better but Redbox serves its purpose.

Has anyone tried Hulu Plus yet? Is it worth the $10/month? I use Hulu all the time but unless there's some magical feature beyond less ads I'm leaning towards pass.
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Redbox is worthless in my area. Even in my town, there's one of them, but the new shit is always rented out.

Netflix is impossible to get brand spankin' new movies, but I don't mind waiting.

I don't think I've been to a BB since I lived in my apt. 7 years ago.
 
Jedah Doma

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Yea, not surprised. Blockbuster has been behind the times. Ever since Netflix came out, Blockbuster dismissed it outright until recently (and too late at that point). At $9 with Netflix, I'm not bothered by Blockbuster going under.
 
abasuto

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Netflix is even a joke.

I pirate my movies in HD before they even hit the theater screen.
 
abasuto

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The Yugo said:
Too much hassle. All I have to do is power on my PS3/Wii, put it the netflix disc, and pick my movie.
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Yeah, but you'll have to walk out to the mailbox to get it and walk out to it again to return it.

That's a lot of extra effort you could trim off your robust schedule.
 
topher

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Kristian Meller said:
What's this then? I've heard of the scam that was payday loans, but this is new to me.
Click to expand...


http://hamptonroads.com/2010/08/internet-gaming-cafes-booming-while-legality-debated


They were recently banned in N. Carolina (I think ban goes into place in Dec) so they have been moving north. Like 7'11, almost one on every corner.

Poker Halls were big for a minute in Porstmouth but the DA or AG or someone decided to start going after them so that dried up pretty quick.
 
GregN

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topher said:
http://hamptonroads.com/2010/08/internet-gaming-cafes-booming-while-legality-debated


They were recently banned in N. Carolina (I think ban goes into place in Dec) so they have been moving north. Like 7'11, almost one on every corner.

Poker Halls were big for a minute in Porstmouth but the DA or AG or someone decided to start going after them so that dried up pretty quick.
Click to expand...

Must be a southern thing. They don't have anything like that (to my knowledge) in MN.

I don't quite get what they are? Aren't they basically an Internet Cafe that does online gambling? Yet the article tries to make them sound like a sweepstakes..
 
subcons

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Harriet Tubman said:
Too much hassle. All I have to do is power on my PS3/Wii, put it the netflix disc, and pick my movie.
Click to expand...

I love this argument of torrents being too much hassle. Seriously people?

I could understand if you have qualms with downloading movies and TV shows via torrents for ethical reasons... maybe even fear of being caught doing it in some way. But saying it's a hassle to put a query into a search and clicking a link? If you define that as a hassle, you're lazy.
 
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