During my childhood, my parents gave me a $10 weekly allowance just as long as I accomplished several daily chores throughout the week. Those chores consisted of taking out the trash, vaccumming the living room and dining room, and feeding the dog and the cat. Every Friday when I received that allowance, nine out of ten times I would beg my mother to take me to the video store to rent a video game. I would use that allowance money to rent a couple of video games or a couple of movies to keep me busy during the weekend. The home gaming console was a baby sitter to me so-to-speak, because my folks would rent me a couple of games and sit me in front of the television and I would be out of their hair the whole weekend. I remember being excited to arrive to the video store and check out the selection of games and look for something new that I haven't played before. Whenever I received a new console, I always remember being excited the most about how I got to browse the new console's selection at the video store and being able to actually go home with one and play it, thus opening up my gaming choices greatly.
All of these fond memories of visiting the video store has me thinking a lot recently about the current situation with video rental stores. Blockbuster Video has been quickly going extinct due to the dominance of Netflix, Redbox, and digital distribution of movies via iTunes and Amazon. Competing with cheaper and more convenient alternatives to movie renting has made Blockbuster Video go the way of the dodo. Hollywood Video and Movie Gallery, two large video rental chains that formed into one company in 2005, lost their battle several years ago and closed down all remaining locations in July of 2010. Honestly, in 2012 and with all of the technology currently at our fingertips, who wants to drive to the video store, pay double to sometimes triple the amount to rent a movie or game, and also have the uncertainty of that particular item you want will even be in stock? I highly suspect nobody, unless your grandmother who doesn't know how to operate a computer wants to rent a copy of Singing in the Rain.
Even though I have very fond memories of going to the video store with my parents, I also cannot forget about all of the hard times I had as well. When I got older and started to appreciate film as an art form instead of a quick entertainment alternative, going to the local Blockbuster Video was more of a hassle than anything. While browsing through the shelves, I would find whole sections of shelving dedicated to some poorly reviewed, idiotic action movie starring Tom Berenger and one copy of whatever highly reviewed coming-of-age indie movie I was looking for, which was always rented out. Since I grew up in a town where there was literally nothing for kids to do, renting a hot new video game was nearly impossible due to people fighting over the two copies Blockbuster had. Most new games I would end up waiting several months to rent due to waiting for people to forget about it and begin fighting over a new game that just released instead. When I got old enough to join the work force, I forgot about even trying to rent a new game and would just buy it so I wouldn't have to deal with the hassle.
Blockbuster Video had some terrible prices as well. I remember during their last couple of years, it cost slightly over $10 to rent a game for 5 nights; when I was a kid I could rent two or three Sega Genesis games for that! As I got older, game renting became more of a 'try before you buy' scenario for games I was uncertain I would like, so paying $10 to rent a game for 5 nights even though I only wanted to test it out for one or two nights tops stopped becoming an option for me. As soon as Family Video opened up in my town and I could chose how many nights I wanted to rent a game for much cheaper prices, and rent a new release movie for over $3 less than Blockbuster (who last I checked charged $5 or more for a new release), why go back? Netflix and Redbox came in, making it even cheaper and easier to rent content, thus making Family Video not an option for me either.
Most of the Blockbuster Video stores have closed down in my area, but one sole location in Kettering, Ohio kept chugging along. I drove past that particular Blockbuster Video the other day and noticed a going out of business sign hanging on the window. The Blockbuster Video that refused to close finally gave in to the Netflix and Redbox dominance I assumed.Blockbuster Video's fall doesn't come to much of a surprise to me, seeing as their prices, cloning of competing services like Netflix, and constant changes in policies to attempt to stay afloat were making their selves sink to the bottom. Although, I really do feel bad for all of the Blockbuster Video employees out there who are currently hitting the unemployment line. I've been laid off several times in my day and each layoff was some of the worst times in my life, so I genuinely feel for those folks losing their jobs.
As we say goodbye to Blockbuster Video, I can't help but think about all of the good times as a child I had spending my weekly allowance in there and running home to play video games all weekend. All of this Blockbuster business makes me wonder if other video store chains like Family Video and the mom & pop stores around the country are hurting to the point of obscurity as well. I guess we'll find out in the coming year.
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