GameFly is really lucky Netflix decided to not get into the game rental business. It remains one of the only standalone videogame rental companies on the web. It doesn’t seem like GameFly will be receiving any serious competition anytime soon, so it makes sense to take advantage of its new promotion.

There is a slight sense of joy on the internet this morning following Netflix’s announcement to kill Qwikster. Qwikster was going to be the company that would handle the DVD side of the Netflix empire. Netflix canceled that plan due to customer complaints and shareholder angst. While many may be happy to learn of Qwikster’s demise, Netflix may dismiss everything associated with Qwikster including game rentals.

GameFly is expanding its services. We already know the company is famous for allowing people to rent 3DS, DS, GameCube, GBA, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360 through the mail and buy games. Next, it’s heading into digital distribution and rentals. The new service is going to be called Unlimited PC Play, with a beta beginning September 8, 2011. This news comes three months after GameFly’s acquisition of the Direct2Drive direct download retailer.

The basic Unlimited Play client will be free, allowing users to purchase Windows and Mac games and interact with other GameFly Unlimited Play users. If someone is a GameFly member, that’s when more options come into play…

One of the best things about the holiday season, besides the togetherness and free stuff, are the movies. This is the time of year where we enjoy holiday movies no matter how good or bad they are. I can’t imagine a Christmas season without Home Alone, Jingle all the Way and Die Hard. I’d imagine you can’t either, and would like to know about the free movies and sales the PlayStation video store is having this week.

The PlayStation Network is celebrating Halloween in a special way. In addition to offering discounts on some horror movies, PSN is also giving away a free rental. If you’re not doing anything this Saturday night (October 16, 2010), join the PlayStation Network for a free Midnight Movie.

We are entering the end of an era. The age where going to the video store to rent movies or games is steadily coming to an end. You’ve heard the news of Blockbuster filing bankruptcy earlier this week. Last month marked the closing of all Movie Gallery properties including Hollywood Video and Game Crazy. Like it or not, video stores are dying. Before the bell tolls for the last ones standing, I will look back on what impact video stores had on my life.

The Associated Press is reporting that Blockbuster has announced that it will begin a test program beginning Q2 2009 to allow Total Access subscribers to rent video games.

From the article: “Customers of Blockbuster’s Total Access can rent DVDs online and exchange them in Blockbuster stores as well as by mail. The plans start at $10 a month and the company says its $20 plan is the most popular. Renting games will cost an extra 5 dollars a month, but people will only be charged if they…

Nintendo has just announced that it is teaming up with the purse rental site From Bags to Riches to promote the DS. From Bags to Riches customers visiting the site to rent a Coach, Gucci, Juicy Couture, Louis Vuitton, Prada or Tory Burch bag may take advantage of a free, 30-day DS rental. Once the rental period is done, you return the purse and bag to From Bags to Riches. The promotion has just begun, and will run until the end of 2008.

There are some limitations. The company isn’t going to allow you to choose any DS and any purse. You first visit the promotion page to look over the DS combination packages – metallic silver and New Super Mario Bros, metallic rose and Mystery Case Files: MillionHeir, crimson and black and Brain Age 1 & 2 or Crosswords DS, cobalt and black and Nintendogs or onyx and Mario Kart DS. You then go down and click on one of the six purse brands featured below. When you choose a purse, there will be an option to select your DS rental…

With console games costing $40 or more, rental services are becoming a popular option for gamers. While rental services, such as Gamefly and Blockbuster, are reliable options, many people also can’t afford monthly services fees (dern gas prices). This is where public libraries can come in quite handy.

On a whim, after purchasing a new console, I decided to check the online library search engine for my local library. After all, free is always the way to go. To my surprise, I found 78 Wii games, 53 Xbox 360 games and 35 PS3 games. Among the games were recent titles including Order Up (Wii), Soul Calibur IV (PS3) and Zoids Assault (Xbox 360). After checking out a title, I learned the lending period was 14 days, allowing enough time to really enjoy the game.

So with many libraries now catering to gamers, it is worth finding out the best way to search for and find games. You never know what kind of treasure you’ll find…

Home Media Magazine, which covers primarily home movie and videogame news, had an interesting lede for an article posted on August 9, 2007, about 300 DVD sales:

It looked like a video game and felt like a video game, so it isn’t surprising that Warner Home Video would score big with the simultaneous DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc release of 300.

The article, by Thomas K. Arnold, so blatantly credits the movie as being like a videogame, yet videogame movies rarely do well (or a are usually not very good). Arnold seems to have missed that the movie actually – and intentionally – looks like the graphic novel by Frank Miller on which it was based. We gamers wish a videogame-based movie would be at least as good as 300.