The Blockbuster Express kiosks haven’t really been released yet and they already have seen a price drop.

When the kiosks were announced, Blockbuster had said they planned to charge $1.99 for the first night, and $0.99 for additional nights. In an recent announcement, they have now said they will charge $1 per day. This obviously puts them in line with Redbox, e-Play, and others.

They will still charge $1.99 for the first night of a blu-ray rental, however, something I also think we will see Redbox adopt in the coming months.

So, it looks like Blockbuster is now getting serious in its competition with Redbox. Grab some popcorn, because the Entertainment Kiosk Wars are just getting started!

[via Home Media Magazine]

Coinstar (owner of Redbox) is running a sweepstakes now through July 13 called “Vacation on a Dime”. You can enter on Coinstar’s Facebook page, and prizes include $90 gift cards from Coinstar as well as free Redbox rentals for a year.

I am guessing they are doing this to get the word out about their Facebook page, as it seems Coinstar is starting to look at social media as a viable advertising method. I wonder where they got that idea from? :)

Enter the Sweepstakes here

I just added a new Inside Redbox Forum for discussion of items that may not fit anywhere else. I will be further integrating it into the site over the coming weeks.

I just barely installed it and haven’t done much testing yet, so there may be bugs, problems and/or errors. If you find any, let me know.

Check it out here: Inside Redbox Community Forums – or use the “Community” link at the top of each page.

If you are a registered user of this site, you already have access to the community. Simply log in. If you are not registered, you can create an account using the “Register” link on the right sidebar of this page.

Last month we reported on certain Walmart locations in the northeast getting e-Play kiosks, and now Best Buy is getting in on the action.

e-Play not only does $1-per-night DVD rentals like Redbox, but also rents video games (which Redbox is testing now). In addition to that, though, the e-Play kiosk will allow customers to “trade-in” their old DVDs and video games for store credit or money back on your credit card.

According to an article at VideoBusiness, Best Buy will begin testing these kiosks in Dallas and Austin, Texas locations in the near future.

e-Play is partially-owned by NCR, the same company that has partnered with Blockbuster on the Blockbuster Express kiosks being rolled out. NCR also recently bought TNR, owners of MovieCube kiosks, turning NCR into a major competitor for Redbox in the coming months and years.

Competition is always good, and will hopefully bring innovation to the kiosk space, which is currently dominated by Redbox and their 16,000+ kiosks. While I don’t think we will see prices being driven down below $1 per night, I do think we will see new features being added in an attempt to woo customers.

What are some things you would like to see kiosk companies add that would earn your business? (Not including the oft-requested “separate return slot”!) I think online rental, Blu-ray discs and video games are a good start, but everyone is already moving in that direction. What else would get you excited?

Redbox did another survey this past week, which means another promo code for you. It appears that this one is working at all locations, but check the codes page for more details.

Code: RBXTHXU6

According to reports, this code expires on Tuesday, June 23.

UPDATE: Many have reported this code is now dead on Tuesday. Perhaps Redbox is throttling the code, or made it so it could only be used a certain number of times.

Here are your new releases for this week. Remember, you can click on each title for more info and trailers, as well as leave comments and ratings.

Who said Monday codes were totally dead?

This week we have a special code that is not only working today (Monday), but also on Tuesday. This code works at all McDonald’s Redbox locations. (No McDonald’s nearby? Try another code from the Redbox Codes page.)

The code is: RBXMCD1

Enjoy it… and don’t forget to signup for your Inside Redbox Gold Membership to get even more out of this website, and be eligible for some giveaways we are doing soon.

With this post I am starting a new feature here on Inside Redbox called the “Redbox Code Recap”. Periodically as there are new, confirmed Redbox promo codes to post about, I will do a recap like this.

Today we have 3 confirmed codes from the last few days I want to share with you…

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