I like the redbox and visit the local kiosks quite frequently. When I heard about their new streaming service, redbox instant, I quickly signed up for the service to check out what they had to offer. At first glance it sounds like a good deal - for only $7.99 a month you get 4 free rentals at a kiosk plus access to streaming movies - so I added to my roku instead of just using the laptop. We picked out 4 DVDs from the kiosk and then went home to browse the channel on the roku to discover the rest of the story.
Unlike Crackle, Hulu Plus, and Netflix there is an additional charge - $2 to $5 - for many of the offerings. Basically, the crap or older stuff is free while the newer stuff costs extra in addition to the monthly charge. If I want to pay extra then I will go through Amazon Instant video and rent a movie; the cost will be the same or less and the quality of the video will be higher. Granted, there is crap on all of these streaming services but redbox instant seems to be weighted towards the crap. At this point in time I must give redbox instant and big thumbs down and I do not recommend it at all. If anyone has some recommendations for roku channels, I would like to hear about horror or science fiction offerings.
In game related news, I will most likely post the updated list of steampunk role-playing games in a few more days. I am still gathering some information.
