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Redbox Brings Video Game Rentals To Vending Machines

Posted by Soulskill on from the now-your-eight-year-old-can-play-duke-nukem-forever dept.

For several years, Redbox has been in the business of renting movies through vending machines. Now, they've expanded the service to include video games for the Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. "Redbox vending machines are situated in over 21,000 different places across the US, and games will now be available for rent for $2 a day via these machines. Users are also able to reserve games online via the Redbox website, and then pick titles up from a machine later on. Although the catalog is currently limited, a number of newly released titles are available from the machines, including LA Noire, Infamous 2 and Red Faction: Armageddon."

5 of 71 comments (clear)

  1. I thought this was old news? by Toonol · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It's not a bad service. All the local machines seem to be stock about 75% PS3 games, though; I'm not sure if that's because they stock a lot of them because of high demand, or that they're left in stock because of low demand.

    At $2 per day, though, you don't want to rent it for more than a few days. That's fine for some games, insufficient for others. I wouldn't mind spending $2 just to play a little bit of Duke Nukem Forever, for instance. I wouldn't rent a long RPG or sandbox game, though.

    1. Re:I thought this was old news? by Scutter · · Score: 5, Insightful

      At $2 per day, though, you don't want to rent it for more than a few days. That's fine for some games, insufficient for others. I wouldn't mind spending $2 just to play a little bit of Duke Nukem Forever, for instance. I wouldn't rent a long RPG or sandbox game, though.

      No, but it's a fantastic way to try-before-you-buy. I am sick to death of buying $50-$60 games only to get burned on them. I'll happily pay two bucks to see if it's worth buying my own copy.

      --

      "Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
    2. Re:I thought this was old news? by Nationless · · Score: 2

      A reviewer isn't me.

      Some may argue that reviewers are prone to bribes, ignore that concept for now.

      I love many games most people don't and hate certain "popular" games. Not to mention playing something yourself is guaranteed to give you a much much better impression of what a game is like than reading someone elses opinion on it..

  2. Re:But for the love of Jesus Christ.... by kamapuaa · · Score: 2

    Not really. The game costs $60 new. If you're going to beat the game in less than a month, and never play it again, it makes more sense to rent it.

    Alternatively, perhaps you play it for one day and decide it's not your thing. It certainly makes more sense than paying $60 for a game where there's a 50% chance you won't like it.

    --
    Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
  3. I quit using Red Box. by tazan · · Score: 2

    I rented a lame dvd for the kids. I went back to McD's to return it and the machine wouldn't take it because the box was full. Drove across town to two other boxes with the same result. Same thing the next day, and the next. So I payed for 3 days, and drove all over town 3 times for a movie I could have bought at the cutout bin for 99c. Their website says I'm responsible for charges until it's returned. I don't know if this is some kind of freak lightning strike miracle or happens all the time, either way, I'm done.