“Date Night,” “The Last Song,” “Kick-Ass” &mdash new and popular movie titles are now available to rent on the Mississippi State University campus at the Colvard Student Union through the Evideo Box vending system.
Thomas Sellers, Student Association President, said the SA had started looking into bringing a movie rental box to campus last year, but it was put on waiting lists for larger companies but did not make much headway.
Raymond Brooks, Associate Director of the Colvard Student Union, said former MSU quarterback Wayne Madkin approached him about bringing a movie box to the Union.
Madkin said he saw DVD vending machines at his local grocery stores and saw a business opportunity and began to look into bringing one to MSU.
The machine is located in the back stairwell at the southern entrance of the Union, Brooks said.
“I was looking for somewhere different to put the machine and I asked if one was on campus,” Madkin said. “I thought it would be a really neat idea for students to have a machine on campus instead of going somewhere else to rent a movie.”
“Wayne is making this a great service for the students,” he said. “He’s really excited for the opportunity to give back to the university, and we’re really excited to have him.”
Brooks said the movie machine will not only benefit students, but the entire community.
“At this point, I can’t say enough positive things about it,” he said. “I hope the students, staff and faculty will get a lot of use out of it. I’m excited for everyone.”
Sellers said SA thought bringing the movie box to campus was a great idea and hopes MSU residents will find it useful.
“At the end of the spring semester, Movie Gallery closed. Movie rental places are becoming a thing of the past. The new Eview Box is going to be great to have on campus,” he said.
The machine contains DVDs, Blu-rays and video games, Brooks said. A typical rental price for a movie is a $1.99 for the first night.
There are also unlimited monthly subscription packages. The package expires after a month and the renter must renew it, Brooks said, which prevents the package from rolling over during holiday months.
The website for the box is eviewbox.com and allows one to sign-up for a free account.
Members can use the website as a social network to tell other users their opinions about the movies they have watched.
By using the site, members can earn points to receive free rentals.
He said the Evideo Box is different than most of the larger companies.
“The biggest difference between the [machine in the Union] and the [kiosk franchises] is that our machine allows consumers to get new releases as soon as they are available, while the larger companies have signed deals with the studios to not new releases for 28 days,” he said. “People are also given the option to purchase it as opposed to [other machines], and it comes in the original packaging.”
Madkin said he plans to offer a 99 cent night once a week soon and expand the Evideo Boxes on campus in the future.
“This [venture] is strictly based on supply and demand,” he said. “If all goes well, I hope to add more boxes on campus to add convenience.”