Topic: Rent Star Fox Assault Early

[Jonnyboy117]

Try before you buy.

Blockbuster, the largest rental chain in North America, has announced on its website that Nintendo's Star Fox Assault will be available for rent beginning Feb. 1st, two full weeks before the game is set to be released in retail stores.  Company-owned Blockbuster stores recently adopted a new "no late fees" policy in which you can rent a movie or game and keep it indefinitely; after a few weeks, the remainder of its value is automatically charged to your credit card.  This means that fans may be able to find brand new (not yet rented) copies of Star Fox Assault on Tuesday and effectively buy it two weeks early by simply not returning it to the store.

Rival chain Hollywood Video is also participating in the early rental promotion, according to a Nintendo email newsletter.

PGC will have much more coverage of Star Fox Assault in the very near future.

Karlie Yeung contributed to this report.

[Jdub03]

haha, I have a blockbuster pass.  I might try and snag one early before everyone takes them indefinitely.

[VideoGamerJ]

Lame. Lame. LAME! I hate renting, and I want to pick this up. This is seriously retarded. What ever happened to Nintendo hating Blockbuster (lawsuit) for copying their manuals? Hmmm. I suppose that was 20 years ago, but still.

[Avinash_Tyagi]

Why not rent it and keep it, then BB will charge your card and voila!  you'll own it.

[foolish03]

If you have a monthly pass you can own it without them charging your card(except for the subscription fee that is.  I really would just rent it for a month.  I dont think id enjoy it enough to keep it for longer then that.

[Myxtika1 Azn]

Renting it and keeping it would result in you not getting the following things:

1. The manual
2. The case
3. The case cover art
4. The PIN


I'd rather just buy it since I'm a huge Star Fox fan.  I still have the original as well as the n64 version.  Dammit but the graphics were good back then.  

[Hostile Creation]

This is cool, but really, it is just another two weeks of waiting.  I'll be buying this when it's released in stores.

[Grant10k]

My roommate works at hollywood video, so I'll probably be playing it (but not keeping it, unfortunately) later tonight

[Ian Sane]

If they're going to do something like this it better be good.  Those who rent it will be sharing their opinion all over the net two weeks before release and if they don't like it that could hurt sales.  On the flip side if they like it it could spark sales but I imagine those that rent it and those that care about what the renters think already are considering buying this.  So bad impressions could turn them away and good impressions will just confirm their decision.

Doesn't Blockbuster now have this stupid new no late fee policy where someone could just hog this game for like a month with no consequences?  I have a feeling that these are all going to be rented out on the first day and won't be returned until well after the game has been released.

I think it would greatly benefit Nintendo if they allowed Blockbuster to have a pre-release rental period for the Revolution and its launch titles.  Rental store apathy really hurt the Cube because if rental stores don't have a good selection it gives the public the idea that the console doesn't have a good selection.  By doing something like this Star Fox thing but with the whole system itself it would create interest in the Revolution rental scene and thus would encourage Blockbuster and others to stock Rev games.  That whole "we don't rent Cube games because nobody rents them" BS wouldn't apply.

[Hostile Creation]

I also expect a review on February first or second now, rather than when it comes out, you know

[odifiend]

"Doesn't Blockbuster now have this stupid new no late fee policy where someone could just hog this game for like a month with no consequences? I have a feeling that these are all going to be rented out on the first day and won't be returned until well after the game has been released."

That is what they advertise but not exactly.  I asked a worker and he said that after a grace period (i think 3 days or so), Blockbuster will charge the credit card you used to open your account.  So they charge you what ever that game or movie is worth to them.  So there won't be any major hogging going on as long as people know the consequences.
When I heard this news, I was a little disappointed just because I want this game for sure.  I wish they'd do this with something quirky like Killer 7.

[Ian Sane]

"When I heard this news, I was a little disappointed just because I want this game for sure. I wish they'd do this with something quirky like Killer 7."

I imagine very few videostores will rent Killer 7.  For some reason the only Cube games rental stores get are the ones that are total must buys.  I guess Blockbuster sees game rentals less as a "try before you buy" thing and more of an alternative for kids and broke losers to play the major games without having to buy them.  When I was a kid I rented Donkey Kong Country.  If I was an adult with any sort of income back in 1994 I would have just bought the game.  It's likely that as adults we want something different from a rental store then we did as a kids but the stores haven't changed or adapted.

[VideoGamerJ]

If stores get this game early, i hope they break street date. This is so stupid. I can't emphasize that enough.

[ruby_onix]

Video stores pay extra when they get movies early. Sometimes $60-100 more than usual. The "street date" on a movie is more accurately it's "price drop" date.

I've known some people who have kept rented movies they liked, been asked to pay for the "lost" movie, got all cocky and said "sure, no problem". Then they get shown a receipt that says the video store paid $80 for the movie.

I have no idea how much an "early" version of StarFox Assault would cost.

BTW, the last time Nintendo did this (that I remember) was with StarFox 64. I remember because it came bundled with the Rumble Pak, but the early rental versions came bundled with a Japanese Rumble Pak.

[JonLeung]

Quote
Originally posted by: VideoGamerJ
Lame. Lame. LAME! I hate renting, and I want to pick this up. This is seriously retarded. What ever happened to Nintendo hating Blockbuster (lawsuit) for copying their manuals? Hmmm. I suppose that was 20 years ago, but still.

o_0

I ALWAYS rent.  Well, about every other weekend.  With so many games 100% completeable in three days or less, I really don't see the point in paying more than $4.27 (Canadian) on most games.  Some games like RPGs require a second rental, but that still leaves my collection of actually bought games minimal.  I'm sure some of you would want me to pay full price to support good games, but in another sense I'm only supporting games that take more more than three days to complete.

Ooops.  I probably sound like either a braggart or a cheapskate when I bring this up.

Anyway, as a heavy renter, Blockbuster's new policies are awesome.  I hated how they thought I returned things late when I put them in the slot like five minutes before the due time.  However, this new thing doesn't apply to Canada until like March or April, I hear.  So does Star Fox Assualt come out in this manner for Canadians too, or no?  Not that it would matter if it was completeable in three days or less...  >_>

Blockbuster has had other exclusives in the past, like Final Fight Guy on the Super NES.  It was just Final Fight, but with Guy, who had been taken out for the first Super NES port of the arcade game.  Who knows why that was.  Kind of a weird promotion, that.

 

[Caillan]

Quote
BTW, the last time Nintendo did this (that I remember) was with StarFox 64.

Diddy Kong Racing was available in the UK from rental stores before it was available from retailers. IIRC, the game was ready for sale but delayed becuase Nintendo wanted to push it as a new release in the winter holidays. Somehow a few rental stores got copies early, so they beat the retailers by a few weeks.  

[Hostile Creation]

So obviously renting it out early isn't going to hurt sales.  I didn't pay much attention then (to sales and all), but Star Fox 64 was a good game, and I think it did very well.

[Djunknown]

Quote
Rental store apathy really hurt the Cube because if rental stores don't have a good selection it gives the public the idea that the console doesn't have a good selection

Exactly. I thought after I got my 'Cube, my trips to rental stores would increase, but its the complete opposite.  Nearly everytime a game that was pretty good but not a headliner like Mario came out, my local blockbuster didn't have it, and  never even heard of it. Pretty much all my purchases came from good faith from reviews, and personal interest despite reviews. I won't even start about Nintendo had more demos, that's another story...

But at least something's being done about this. I like the move because its the big N not playing it safe; they're letting the public decide firsthand whether its good or not. Pretty much most impressions were either negative, or tepid at best (Including PGC). Only recently did the gaming press say something marginally positive.

Does blockbuster still do "Guranteed in Stock' or is that phased out? It would be far too convienient though, to not only have virtually no late fees, but everyone is guranteed a copy. Oh well, a man can dream....

[foolish03]

Quote
Originally posted by: odifiend
"Doesn't Blockbuster now have this stupid new no late fee policy where someone could just hog this game for like a month with no consequences? I have a feeling that these are all going to be rented out on the first day and won't be returned until well after the game has been released."

That is what they advertise but not exactly.  I asked a worker and he said that after a grace period (i think 3 days or so), Blockbuster will charge the credit card you used to open your account.  So they charge you what ever that game or movie is worth to them.  So there won't be any major hogging going on as long as people know the consequences.
When I heard this news, I was a little disappointed just because I want this game for sure.  I wish they'd do this with something quirky like Killer 7.

Thats only after a full 30 days though.  Your subscrition is $20(u.s.) a month for a game pass(24 for movie).  All rentals must be returned on the anniversary of the day you opened the account.  So yeah someone could keep it for a month with no consequences, return it in a month then rent it again.

[odifiend]

The impression I got from the Blockbuster clerk was that they charge you pretty fast for the game/movie (regular account) and then before 30 days there is a nonrefundable fee but after 30 days your stuck with it.