e-Play rental kiosks removed from Best Buy, Wal-Mart

e-Play has officially suspended its used video game rental kiosk service in Best Buy and Wal-Mart stores across the U.S., as the kiosks designed for Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii gamers failed to gain traction.

"e-Play has suspended operations.  Thank you to all our customers," a statement on the e-Play web site reads.

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e-Play issued a statement last May that said 77 test-pilot "Video Game Buyback" kiosks would be placed in Wal-Mart stores, with Best Buy also signed on to test the kiosks.

Rather than provide cash for all games sold, a user had credit placed on their credit cards.  Popular game titles could be sold for up to $25 per game, with more than 4,000 games supported.

buybackkiosk

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"We have completed this initial phase of our kiosk test and are evaluating customer reaction," a Best Buy  spokesperson stated.  "Per our normal practice with pilots, we are unable to share specific details."

It's unknown why e-Play is pulling kiosks from Wal-Mart and Best Buy, but it's likely due to low usage of the service.

Although the DVD rental kiosk business has exploded in popularity, led by Redbox, the game rental business has not yet taken off in kiosk form.  GameFly, the top online video game rental subscription service and Blockbuster still lead the industry.

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Renting and watching a DVD takes just a few hours, but most video games take an extended period of time to play -- especially for gamers who like to unlock levels and find additional hidden content.

I can't say I'm surprised e-Play is leaving behind Wal-Mart and Best Buy, as analysts have said that the rental video game kiosks were often ignored by shoppers.  e-Play said last year that it was trying to find the right mix of video game purchases, rentals and sales, but apparently hasn't been able to do so at this time.

Redbox is currently testing video game rental trials, and should be happy to have one less competitor to deal with.

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