New Comic Thread for 05/30/2011

Centipede Damascus

Endaro

I noticed a new comic, and came here to see the community commentary. To my surprise, there was no thread! It seemed impossible, so I refreshed, and here we are!

Also, I completely agree with this comic. Haven't been to a Blockbuster in years. Picked up Netflix and never looked back. Most of the Blockbusters around here have closed by now.

Tox

I was an avid Blockbuster shopper until all the ones anywhere near me closed. Mainly because a friend was a GM at one. Also because Blockbuster gets releases sooner than Redbox, we didn't have a "BlueBox" nearby, and I didn't have internet.

Now, I have internet, we have both Red- and BlueBoxes nearby, and all the Blockbusters are gone!

Abracadaniel

When I've been up in Altamonte Springs for work I notice there's a 'Blockbuster Shopping Plaza' named after the Blockbuster store in there, and the sign is basically a big version of their logo.


I wonder what they'll call it after...

Graves

I actually was pretty sure Blockbuster was already not a thing.

#pipe

The video store right near my place was amazing until they got booted out bytheir landlord a few months ago.

They'd have video games on the shelves the day they came out, 10 bucks would buy you a week with the game.
If you went on Monday or Tuesday you could get any movie for a buck.

We don't have netflix, so video stores are still a good thing.

Tox

Also...faces...

Tox

Man, remember before Blockbuster?

It's like, movie rentals were this weird sort of ordeal you had to go through, and game rentals were nearly unheard of. Then Blockbuster showed up, then other, similar chains showed up, then Blockbuster ruthlessly put them all out of business, and now Blockbuster is crumbling under it's own weight.

SabreMau

We didn't have Blockbuster so much as Hollywood Video, a local-based chain that had stores all over the area.

Also, frowning because my thread was post #19401379 and this thread is post #19401384 but everybody came here to party instead. Oops.

Tox

In the past year alone, at least three in my city have closed up.

It's crazy to think that in the past three years we've lost Circuit City, Blockbuster, Saturn.

I've also heard that Palm, Sun, Radio Shack, and Motorola are all on their way out, as well.

Borders seems to be in its death throes.

Tox

SabreMau wrote: »

We didn't have Blockbuster so much as Hollywood Video, a local-based chain that had stores all over the area.

Also, frowning because my thread was post #19401379 and this thread is post #19401384 but everybody came here to party instead. Oops.

Pretty sure Hollywood Video was a national chain. We had them here. Also Movie Gallery.

Campion

In this comic:

The rich White Man hassling the poor Irish.

SabreMau

National, but headquartered in Beaverton, OR and then Wilsonville, OR.

I suppose you could think of Nike as a local-based company that way, but I at least knew they were global but had no idea what the extent of Hollywood Video was. Haven't really traveled that often out of the region.

Balefuego

Hollywood Video was totally national



also I worked at Blockbuster during my highschool years. What a shit job.

#pipe

This is thread 142666

Sabre's is 142665

as close as can be.

Gatsby

My local Blockbuster got replaced by a large, successful pet store a few years ago.

I didn't even notice until last month.

Tox

Balefuego wrote: »

Hollywood Video was totally national



also I worked at Blockbuster during my highschool years. What a shit job.

The closest one to me was shut down because they weren't getting enough pre-orders for games.

Like, no lie, that's what made corporate shut them down. Their actual sales from rentals were up, their loss was virtually nil, and their profit was second highest in the region.

But they missed all their pre-order quotas for a year straight, so corporate axed them.

#pipe

Preorders are the worst

Marth

The blockbuster where I go to college closed this year, I was muy triste because I don't rent enough to justify gamefly.

Macro9

I still go to a movie store. There's this one that rents out kids movies for free and their video games are only like $6.50 for a week and $2 for three days. They don't make me pay late fees either.

Last game I rented from a blockbuster was FFXIII and it was like $9 for 5 days. Fuck that horseshit.

Macro9

Also, I think they even rent out game consoles.

Rehab

Macro9 wrote: »

I still go to a movie store. There's this one that rents out kids movies for free and their video games are only like $6.50 for a week and $2 for three days. They don't make me pay late fees either.

Last game I rented from a blockbuster was FFXIII and it was like $9 for 5 days. Fuck that horseshit.

Sounds like . . . Family Video? Thats the best rental place that I've ever come across.

They shower you with a ridiculous amount of deals when you first sign up too.

Macro9

Rehab wrote: »

Macro9 wrote: »

I still go to a movie store. There's this one that rents out kids movies for free and their video games are only like $6.50 for a week and $2 for three days. They don't make me pay late fees either.

Last game I rented from a blockbuster was FFXIII and it was like $9 for 5 days. Fuck that horseshit.

Sounds like . . . Family Video? Thats the best rental place that I've ever come across.

They shower you with a ridiculous amount of deals when you first sign up too.

Yeah, it's Family Video.

They do great business and all the Blockbusters and Hollywood videos near them all closed down.

Macro9

I think when I joined them they gave all rentals like half off or some shit, plus a bunch of other discounts and freebies. I'm really surprised in this day and age that a video store like that is packed nearly everyday with customers. Everyone loves the free kids movies deal they have.

Rehab

Yeah, it was half off all rentals including games and new releases for the first month of membership plus various other deals and a free rental if you did a short survey.

I went to them all the time just a little while ago but I've since moved to an area devoid of them, so I think that I'll be getting Netflix soon. Awesome store though.

Rehab

The thing about Family Video for me is that they actually have a really good selection, their own section for games, and as an added bonus, they don't treat their customers like shit!

Its just the kind of place you actually want to actively support because they treat their customers well. I always went to Blockbuster and Hollywood Video reluctantly because they charged way too fucking much and the people behind the counters always tried to push crap on you. Not unlike GameStop actually.

DJ Eebs

yeah, family video looks cheap as hell, aesthetically, but they're like, the last shop standing, at least around here

redbox was pretty much the final nail in the blockbuster coffin

TrippyJing

I only rented one thing ever from a Blockbuster.

It was Tenchi Muyo.

Tox

Maybe not. They're closing a lot of storefronts, but they're also putting up a lot of their own vending machines. They may be able to survive, as unlikely as it is, it's possible.

Marth

The Blockbuster vending machines aren't actually run by Blockbuster, I think.

Yeah, this confirms it:

BLOCKBUSTER Express kiosks are owned and operated by The New Release LP, a subsidiary of NCR Corporation, and can be found in some of the top grocery, convenience and drug stores in the U.S.

Kabitzy

our blockbuster closed down last year. anytime i pass by it I think "man i miss blockbuster" even though my experiences with it were my family having a mad rent spree and then accumulating hundred(s) of dollars of late fees which meant we wouldn't be back for another year. made it a special kind of thing, i guess.

Penguin Incarnate

Yeah, I. . . hmmmm. I don't know that I care for this joke. Oh well. I liked last Friday's plenty. . . but this isn't full much at all.

Rehab

I don't think there is a lot of goodwill out there for Blockbuster anymore though. Basically everyone I know who had a membership there came to dislike their experience over time. Whether it was getting hammered by late fees, spending too much there just renting new releases every now and then, or feeling somewhat cheated upon finding a much better video rental option that they could have been using the whole time.

Anymore unless you are without internet, a vehicle, and the only place within walking distance is a Blockbuster, there are better options for renting at every conceivable turn.

Penguin Incarnate

I saw a lot of good movies that I wouldn't have without the aid of Blockbuster, so if only for that, good for them.

All told I'd rather waste money at Netflix.

Tox

My girlfriend and I used to hit up Blockbuster mostly for the favorites. We usually didn't rent new releases because for, like, a dollar more we could have just gone and seen it at the cheap theatre across town.

Selection dwindled, though, and then they started closing, and we kept having to go further. Then we found a Redbox, and just started doing that.

Romanian My Escutcheon

I rented a shitload of games from Blockbuster back during elementary school, but that fell off once one of the smaller chains opened up in the strip mall by my house.

Then that shut down, and I got Xbox Live, so I pretty much quit renting altogether.

Hank_Scorpio

There aren't any blockbusters left in Carlsbad, and only one I know of in Encinitas. Maybe one or two in Oceanside. But they'll all be gone in a year or two. The only thing I used them for was game rentals, really.

End

There's actually a Blockbuster that is like a block away from where I live

But I had to look at google maps to remember it was there, even though I drive right by it sometimes, just because it's Blockbuster, who cares, they're a dying breed.

DarkPrimus

I rented games I just wanted to play a little but not purchase from Blockbuster. Then they closed. Maybe I'll go to a different video rental store. I don't want to sign up for Gamefly, because if I got that then I'd end up with an even bigger backlog.

Ringo

I exchange my Blockbuster Online DVDs at the store for something new all the time. It's the only reason I go there though, as renting is expensive as compared to Redbox.

If only Blockbuster had streaming video!

RoyceSraphim

Campion wrote: »

In this comic:

The rich White Man hassling the poor Irish.

Why did you have to say this, now I can't stop seeing it!