Do You Miss Blockbuster?

Talk about music, movies, television, books, and other media. No religious or political discussion allowed.
djc
Posts: 279
Joined: September 24th, 2016, 3:42 pm

Re: Do You Miss Blockbuster?

Postby djc » June 25th, 2022, 10:35 pm

I used to rent games all the time at Blockbuster. In fact, many of the Sega CD titles I own now were purchased from Blockbuster as pre-owned titles.

To this day, I swear when I open my copy of FIFA for the Sega CD, the inside of the case smells like a Blockbuster.

User avatar
BlasteroidAli
Posts: 1594
Joined: April 9th, 2015, 7:50 pm

Re: Do You Miss Blockbuster?

Postby BlasteroidAli » June 26th, 2022, 8:51 am

Matchstick wrote:
VideoGameCritic wrote:LGBTQ category I'm talking to you!

To be fair, it is Pride Month, so they're probably promoting the category based on that alone.

Myself, I get annoyed by the obtuse amount of Anime on Netflix. There's a ton of it, and it all looks so cheap, and virtually indistinguishable from series to series. I honestly think a significant portion of Netflix subscribers are in it just for the Anime, so I write it off as them playing to their audience.

Do I think Netflix is a joke? Yes. Do I miss Blockbuster? Sometimes.


That job had its ups and downs, and it's definitely a remnant of a bygone era. I don't really miss it, though, simply because if I had to pick an exact moment where my childhood ended, taking that job at Video Castle would be it. I still shudder when I think about all the "adult" tapes I had to "sanitize" on their return...


Lol that is a funny story.

User avatar
VideoGameCritic
Site Admin
Posts: 18102
Joined: April 1st, 2015, 7:23 pm

Re: Do You Miss Blockbuster?

Postby VideoGameCritic » June 26th, 2022, 9:28 am

djc wrote:I used to rent games all the time at Blockbuster. In fact, many of the Sega CD titles I own now were purchased from Blockbuster as pre-owned titles.

To this day, I swear when I open my copy of FIFA for the Sega CD, the inside of the case smells like a Blockbuster.


What did a Blockbuster smell like exactly? That little detail escapes me.

Oh hear another one. Ever rent the same movie multiple times? My buddy Andy and I must have rented This is Spinal Tap VHS tape about five times in the 80's.

This was before the tapes got affordable, suddenly going from $100 each to about $20.

Zack Burner
Posts: 1209
Joined: May 3rd, 2019, 6:01 pm

Re: Do You Miss Blockbuster?

Postby Zack Burner » June 26th, 2022, 10:20 am

I recall once as a little kid, my Mom bought three VHS tapes from Blockbuster, only one of them I still have to this day as a memento: Ghostbusters II, the other two are Braingames from HBO (anyone remember watching those?). I later regretted getting rid of the latter two, but thanks to the Internet the pain is eliminated. I watched Ghostbusters II countless times growing up. Among other things that I rented from Blockbuster included: The Fly (1958), Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, The City of Lost Children (French), and the Invisible Man.

User avatar
Retro STrife
Posts: 2531
Joined: August 3rd, 2015, 7:40 pm

Re: Do You Miss Blockbuster?

Postby Retro STrife » June 26th, 2022, 11:40 am

If interested, check out the 2020 documentary "The Last Blockbuster". It's about the very last remaining Blockbuster store in Oregon, and its struggle to survive in today's market. It also goes a lot into the history and experience of video rental stores, and the nostalgia for them. I thought it was very well done. Funny enough, it's free to stream on Netflix, or you can rent it on Amazon Video.

I remember back when "rent or buy" was a common question you'd try to decide for a new game you wanted to play. I didn't have many games at home, so getting to rent one was always a big deal. BUT,, I can't say I miss these stores today. I rented from Blockbuster a lot in my early 20's, when I trying to catch up on tons of classic movies. The "New Release" walls annoyed me.. most people literally only looked at new releases.. they'd rather watch "Scream 4" because it was new rather than watch a classic like "Halloween" that they've never seen. That's human nature, but I'll never understand it. About 10-15 years ago, I had a Blockbuster that was literally next door to my apartment. It seemed cool at first, but in reality I almost never went. It closed while I lived there. It felt sad in the same way Toys R Us closing was sad -- I knew it sucked and had an unsustainable business model, but we still have that personal attachment to it anyway.

Image

Voor
Posts: 1555
Joined: April 14th, 2015, 8:08 pm

Re: Do You Miss Blockbuster?

Postby Voor » June 26th, 2022, 3:28 pm

Teddybear wrote:Blockbuster Video, Christopher Lee's Dracula Has Risen From the Grave AND Little Caesar's PIZZA PIZZA (two freshly made delicious pizzas placed on 3 feet of cardboard, not those nasty Hot N' Readys) all mentioned in a SINGLE thread........this may be the greatest VGC thread ever!

EVER!!!

I miss the experience of it........but let's be honest here fellas. There were plenty of times going to a video store with your girlfriend/wife that would result in some pretty heated disagreements on what to rent. Unlike the flat monthly Netflix fee structure, you were paying directly for "While You Were Sleeping" or "Bridget Jones Diary" whether or not you wanted to.


Yeah those old flat pizza things were super inconvenient but kind of charming. I will say that the quality of their pizza went down, but over the last year, I’ve started eating it again (hot and ready) and I think it pretty good again.

Somebody mentioned the amount of Anime on Netflix. I never ever see it, but I know if I watch an episode or two, the algorithm will start suggesting more with a vengeance. Just avoid them for a while and they’ll disappear.

The LGBTQ stuff doesn’t bother me. It literally takes 2 seconds to scroll past it (or any other promoted item). People getting their panties in such a wad for just being exposed to something. It’s funny.

bluenote
Posts: 290
Joined: August 14th, 2015, 5:16 pm

Re: Do You Miss Blockbuster?

Postby bluenote » June 27th, 2022, 9:53 am

I have to agree with most of the comments here. Mind you, I do like the convenience of streaming, and it also helps me watch stuff that I may not have if I was in a video store. It's just so easy to watch something outside of your comfort zone.

However, there was something special about going to the video store. I remember in the early 80s (when vcr's cost $1000 or so to buy). My family would go rent a vcr and a stack of movies and spend the weekend watching movies. It was great!

I also remember renting a NES system and some games (I had the Sega Master System, so I wanted to experience the NES because that is what most of my friends had). I did like the NES more, but didn't buy my own until about 20 years ago!

matmico399
Posts: 1419
Joined: November 25th, 2015, 6:11 pm

Re: Do You Miss Blockbuster?

Postby matmico399 » June 27th, 2022, 8:49 pm

A timely subject for me. I worked for Blockbuster Video for ten years. First as a rep about a year after HS. Then an assistant manager then as a store manager for the last five. If you have any questions just ask.

We had some consoles for rent, but not too many. We got five free rentals a week. Video games or movies. Employees couldn't rent new releases until after 30 days, that certainly made sense. And I would check in and check out rentals as much as I wanted. If the game I rented would be late that day and I still wanted to play it, I would just call someone at the store and get them to check it in/and check it out again for me. To those that got pissed off the game they wanted to play was never in, sorry that was me, I think I rented Goldeneye about six weeks straight. Hey being an employee had it's benefits, lol.

The main pleasure was working with my staff. I worked hard for them and they worked hard for me, they know I wouldn't ask any of them to do something that I wouldn't do first. That earned me respect and they were super loyal to me. We won several awards. I can't understand how so many bosses today don't understand the lead by example method. It's dumb how many managers never got that. Just before I left the PS2 and Dreamcast came out. We could not keep Crazy Taxi for the DC on the shelf. No matter how many additional copies we would purchase. No surprise I guess at it was a great game.

By the way an apology to you who grew up with BBV. The most popular candy in almost all stores was Twizzlers. We couldn't get them fast enough and were always running low. So many of us would put the expired ones out until we got the new shipments in. I'm not talking really old, but maybe 3-4 months past expiration. Lol. did you guys ever notice hey this doesn't taste fresh?

Good memories!

DocHix
Posts: 118
Joined: July 18th, 2020, 9:29 am

Re: Do You Miss Blockbuster?

Postby DocHix » June 27th, 2022, 9:53 pm

Great posts, everyone!

User avatar
pacman000
Posts: 1141
Joined: December 30th, 2015, 9:04 am

Re: Do You Miss Blockbuster?

Postby pacman000 » June 30th, 2022, 5:34 pm

We rarely went to Blockbuster, but I do miss Hastings.


Return to “Other Media”