Blockbuster Extends Its Evil Reach (1 Viewer)

[Andrew_Sch]

Well, it seems as though our friends have done it again. Although this is nothing new for them, they've now spread the evil of rental pricing to the video game world. As you may know, Capcom's highly anticipated Maximo is now available exclusively for rent at Blockbuster, a month before its sellthrough date. I can't really say anything about this situation because I'm so dumbfounded at Capcom's decision right now. And to think, I had just taken Blockbuster off my shit list after they sorta announced support my widescreen!

 

[Andrew_Sch]

http://www.psera.com/bin/shownews.cgi?id=175
So now Capcom plans on doing this often. A petition needs to be organized now to stop Capcom from spreading this scourge to other companies and to stop them from doing it again themselves. Unfortunately, I'm a moron and I have no idea how to start a petition, so some help in that area would be greatly appreciated.

 

[BrianB]

And of course, this is nothing new... Sega did it with the Dreamcast & Sonic Adventure - it was available for rent before the machine was available for sale... 3D0 & Activision have given Blockbuster 'exclusive' N64 games...

 

[George Monroy]

Just be the first on your block to rent it and just keep it.

Then just pay them the price of the game which will be what they will charge you.

A friend of mine did this to get a PS2 when none could be found at launch. He had to pay $299.99.

 

[Kelley_B]

Lucasarts did this with Indy Jones 64.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

But that was because they couldn't find a publisher. They decided to do it themselves in a limited number and sell it through their website and to Blockbuster.

 

[Camp]

Hmm...Maximo must suck. Really, this makes no sense unless the final game ended up being a disaster.

Maximo missed the important Christmas selling season and now it's "direct to video"? Yea, it's gonna suck.

 

[Eric Alderson]

I've heard nothing but great things regarding this game. Here is a review.
Link Removed

 

[Morgan Jolley]

They're doing this because its supposedly a longer game than you would think, so either people rent it twice or rent it then buy it or buy it. Either way, Capcom is making money.

 

[Camp]

I don't know...something odd here. Blockbuster has had declining revenues for the past few years. Their market share has plumeted (in a market that is plumeting). I just don't see this as an intelligent move.

Maybe they hope to spread word-of-mouth...hope it works for them.

 

[JasonKrol]

please forgive me, but I dont understand what the big deal is with the decision of Capcom? It seems to me like this would be a good marketing campaign? Allow the game to be rented before it is released..to increase hype? Or, it could drastically hurt sales..by allowing the game to be rented and determined that it sucks..and further hurt sales..

im confused!

 

[Sean Moon]

Look at it this way...you get to play the game early. The game wasnt supposed to street until Feb anyways, so now you can rent it ahead of time, and it still comes out when it was planned to.