 (Source: yorkblog.com)
Video games likely to rent for $2 per day
Many movie fans have learned that the
cheapest way to get films is to rent them from kiosks like the ones
Redbox operates. These kiosks are popping up in all sorts of
locations and many locations offer more than one kiosk in stores
because of the high demand.
Reuters reports that
Redbox, one of the leading
DVD rental kiosks, is in talks with video game providers to add
video gamer rentals to its kiosks. Redbox has had some friction with
movie publishers due to the low cost price that it rents its DVDs –
$1 per night (although coupons are readily available to make the overnight rentals free). Both Twentieth Century Fox and NBC Universal won’t
allow Redbox to buy their films directly because the movie publishers
say the $1 rental price undervalues the potential sale of
movies.
With some movie producers not allowing Redbox direct
access to films, Redbox has to buy the movies at retail outlets and
then package them for rental in their kiosks. That means some films
are slow making it to the kiosks and when they arrive the films are
in short supply. Redbox has stated that it is in
talks with game publishers, though it is not saying what
developers it is in talks with. Games will likely rent for $2 per
day. Game rental trials are already underway in Reno, Nevada and
Wilmington, NC.
Redbox president Mitch Lowe said, "We are
talking early and often with the content providers of games so that
we start out with a much better understanding of what we're
doing."
Reuters reports that THQ CEO Brian Farrell
has said that he would consider allowing Redbox to rent THQ video
games. He said, "If you look at movies and music in some ways,
resisting new business models has not been a great formula for
success, so one of the things I like about our industry is we tend to
think, 'We have to adapt to this change.' So it's part of our
DNA."
Warner, Fox, and Universal may be keeping Redbox
from buying their films directly now, but Redbox intends to fight.
The rental company has filed suit against the movie firms on
antitrust grounds. Currently, Redbox has 17,500 locations around the
country with a total of 20,600 kiosks installed.
"So, I think the same thing of the music industry. They can't say that they're losing money, you know what I'm saying. They just probably don't have the same surplus that they had." -- Wu-Tang Clan founder RZA
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