As we have reported previously, Blockbuster has been testing video game rentals by mail just like GameFly. They have tested it in a few markets and now they are apparently ready to turn up the service nationwide.

The video game rentals by mail will require all subscribers to mix and match between games and movie titles; the company claims to have over 3,000 titles, but we suspect that this number is a combination of both games as well as movies.

The base plan starts at $8.95 per month for one game or movie out at a time, which is the same pricing offered by GameFly for the first month; and then GameFly shifts to a $15.95 per month model for one title out at a time. Movies by mail competitor Netflix does not offer game titles, but does offer free streaming for the same money.

While the future of Blockbuster these days does appear to be a bit murky as the company has struggled at retail, it has been putting a lot of effort into its mail rentals as well as its new rental kiosk strategy that it is deploying in conjunction with partner, NCR. It is unknown how much the move to offer video game rentals by mail will actually help the company’s bottom line. We will have to wait and see how successful this actually is, and whether they can make a dent in the already large subscriber base that GameFly currently has.