FEB. 10, 2009 • During the second quarter Blockbuster Video will launch a major revamp to its game rental program. The pilot program will offer the retailer’s Total Access customers easy online access to games in the same way they can queue movies in one integrated subscription setting. Total Access plan customers will get the option of renting PS3 and Xbox 360 titles.

Impact: Blockbuster needs to add some growth to its bottom line. U.S. DVD and Blu-ray sales fell six percent to $29 billion during 2008. The retailer has already focused on increasing its game footprint during the last year, and executives cite the change as helping Blockbuster bolster its revenue in tough economic times. Making it easier for customers to secure their games is a logical next step. If Blockbuster is to continue down this road, it would mean beefing up its used games business. The retailer currently has a reputation with gamers for having a poor selection of used titles – mostly as a result of selling off much older games to make room for more recently released stock. If gamers uniformly found more used titles available closer to their release dates, Blockbuster would see a positive bump in revenue.