Last month, GameFly was nice enough to drop us a line that it had opened a new distribution center in Austin, Texas. The by-mail rental service's new site wasn't fully operational at the time, but the company tells us the warehouse is now ready to cover seven states. The Austin site will initially service Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and New Mexico. More Midwest states could be added in the future.

Jeff Kawasugi, VP of logistics at GameFly, says the Austin site will allow "the quickest shipping times" to the members in the aforementioned states. Over the years we've seen our GameFly shipment times drop dramatically. Turnaround of two weeks (or more) was normal when the service first started, and now it's down to about five business days. The main issue with the service seems to have shifted from turnaround time to availability of titles as the company has increased its customer base.

GameFly, the by-mail game rental service, is testing different waters with its new GamePie social networking application launching today for Facebook. GamePie is designed to become the gaming community's plebeian version of Metacritic, giving users the ability to rate, review and recommend titles to friends. OK, great, but why would GameFly develop this application, and more importantly, where's the cash in it for the company?

"We've done a really good job over the last six years of getting gamers the games they want. And we've done well on the content side, but we haven't done a good job on the community side. Whether its around the franchise or the platform, so this is a great way to take the lead," GameFly co-founder Sean Spector told us during a very Web 2.0 walkthough of the GamePie program. "We've got a good brand with GameFly, but this is about socialization of games, not about buying games or renting. So, currently we're just trying to make a killer social app."

GameFly has opened a new distribution center in Austin, Texas, and will begin sending out its first shipments tomorrow. Over the coming months, the new location will ramp up support for Texas and surrounding states slowly (just like other centers) while GameFly works out the kinks.

We first got word of the Austin site last summer, and a couple of months later we also got tipped off to the Tampa distribution center, which has since opened. With any luck, the opening of this fourth distribution center will cut down on the wait times for customers around the country.

Days after confirming plans to stock Grand Theft Auto IV alongside movies on its outer release wall, Blockbuster today announced that the recently released Wii flavor of Mario Kart will make the leap as well. The move is part of what the rental giant calls a plan to "significantly expand its game business," which includes a greater emphasis on selling retail games and hardware, as well as stocking a larger number and variety of games to rent.

Blockbuster specifically noted plans to offer a special $499.99 PS3 bundle in its corporate-owned stores, which will include a 40GB console, a copy of the movie Spiderman 3 on Blu-ray, Activision's video game adaptation of Transformers, and the opportunity to rent one free PS3 game or Blu-ray movie a week for 12 consecutive weeks. However, while we appreciate the added attention Blockbuster is giving our favorite hobby, we doubt even this will sway us into venturing out into the sunlight to rent anything.

Starting with Grand Theft Auto IV, Blockbuster Video will begin adding video games to the "sacred" outer new release wall. Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes tells Variety that the GTA IV launch is a "real springboard" for the company and it plans to use it as a centerpiece for moving games to where only the latest Hollywood releases used to tread.

Now, granted, if this were before the advent of Gamefly this news would be much more exciting -- although, we'd still have to worry about pesky late fees. Blockbuster has been hurting in recent years as if faces competition from many angles, not the least of which is Netflix. This move for video games in Blockbuster doesn't seem so much like a sign of respect for the growing games industry, but as another desperate move by a company that's struggling to survive.

Since announcing plans to bring Yakuza 2 stateside last September, Sega has been noticeably quiet concerning the sequel, which was first released in Japan in 2006 and will be making its European debut later this year. However, while Sega may be mum, online retailers Gamestop and Gamefly have given us reason to keep our imaginary ties to the Japanese mafia intact, with both listing Yakuza 2 for release this September.

As Siliconera points out, Gamestop's listing of the game at the criminally affordable price of $29.99 gives weight to suspicions that Yakuza 2 will not be getting the original's celebrity treatment, though if this means that the game could include the original Japanese voice overs, so much the better.

GameFly, the by-mail game rental service, is beginning to offer select members the option to trade in their used games for credit toward membership fees. We contacted GameFly and a company representative said, "We've been testing a trade-in program for a few months now. When we are convinced that there is sufficient consumer demand and the customer experience is highly robust, we expect to make it available to all our members. For now, it is still in beta form and we continue to monitor the results."

If the program is implemented we'll have to make it a mission to get a comparison chart between GameFly and GameStop trade-in values. If GameFly's exceptional store prices are any indication (and naturally assuming they don't resell games at a loss), we fear that trade-in values won't be that much better. But poking around the GameFly store it's quite clear why the company is testing this trade-in program, especially after its end-of-year sale -- the current console store selection is practically cleared out!

[Thanks Shoeshineboy]

To be honest, we're more fans of game trading services than buying used from a retailer (yeah, we're looking at you, Gamestop) but if you've going to buy used, you can't really beat GameFly's ongoing end-of-year sale. For the next week or so, you can get used games from the popular online gaming rental service at a steep discount with free shipping. Keep in mind, their used prices were already better than Gamestop's and these come with a case and manual (the luxury!). So if your more thoughtful family members thought to drop some cold, hard cash under the tree this year in lieu of lame gift cards, pick yourself up some treats.

[Thanks, Gregorious]

GameFly's Tampa, Florida distribution center finally became semi-official this week as subscribers received emails explaining their return mailer may now have a Tampa address. We contacted GameFly for a fuller explanation of states serviced, but the company stated it has no release at this time and will issue something later this month or January.

If the opening of the Tampa site is anything like the one in Pittsburgh, the company will have the center work out the kinks and then announce states served. Now we wait for GameFly's Austin, Texas center to become semi-official, which we actually knew about months before Tampa.

[Thanks to all who sent this in]

GameFly, in partnership with a company called Brandracket, will begin offering subscribers five free pre-selected songs to download per month beginning today. The feature is called GameFly Tunes and will highlight up-and-coming and established artists. Non-subscribers will have the option to download one featured track from the GameFly site. The first month will present music from artists RJD2, Thievery Corporation, Shadows Fall, Ok Go and Little Brother.

Although not earth-shattering news (some answers as to what is going on with the jammed-up availability queues would be nicer), some added value for the site and subscribers is always nice. We'll take five free legally downloaded songs -- free and legal we like. Who knows, there might even be a couple gems in the song choices we can listen to on our iPod while playing Phase.

CheapAssGamer points the way this week to two retailers that have consistently brought on the great gaming deals: Toys R Us and GameFly. Toys R Us apparently took their famous "Buy 2 get the 3rd game free" deal underground this week. It's going on right now without a flyer being produced for last Sunday's papers -- a first as far as we're aware. Maybe they're testing to see if the web does the work for them? The deal is both online and in the stores. We're just completely baffled why TRU said nothing about the event we're consistently excited for whenever it happens. Some are even rumoring that this could be a two-week deal and that it'll actually be advertised this Sunday, so get in now before the general populace finds out. They are also doing a "buy one, get one accessory 50% off deal." No word yet if you could work the Circuit City MS point angle on that.

If you don't know about GameFly's store, well let us inform you about another hidden gem of value on these intertubes. According to CAG, this week GameFly is offering free shipping to non-subscribers who purchase select used games. GameFly subscribers always get free shipping. The purchased used games are sent with the original case and manual practically untouched. Save as much money as you can while feeding the need for gaming. The storm is coming.

[Thanks Anonymous]

It's like the GameFly Austin, Texas post all over again, except now it's Tampa, FL. Heck, we'll just copy the first part of the post from last time with a few small edits: A very observant reader noticed while searching job listing website Monster.com that GameFly, the online game rental service, is looking for a manager in the Austin, Texas Tampa, Florida area. The job description clearly states: "GameFly, the leading subscription based video game rental company headquartered in Los Angeles, CA will be opening a satellite Distribution Center in Tampa. We have an outstanding opportunity for an OPERATIONS MANAGER." The listing looks completely legit and we're happy to see GameFly continuing to open distribution centers -- anything to cut down turnaround time is a good thing. We've contacted GameFly for confirmation.

If our strange deja vu keeps up and this plays out exactly like last time GameFly will respond saying, "GameFly is definitely looking at a variety of locations for an additional distribution center, but we don't have anything firm to announce just yet." The simple fact of the matter is the Ops. Manager is one of the first pieces of the distribution center puzzle. We're not expecting the Austin or Tampa announcements for a little bit, but we're glad they're happening. For those keeping track, when Austin and Tampa open, GameFly will have four distribution points in the US. We're also happy to report the East Coast center has cut down our turnaround to a week.

[Thanks Anonymous]

A very observant reader noticed while searching job listing website Monster.com that GameFly, the online game rental service, is looking for a manager in the Austin, Texas area. The job description clearly states: "We are the leading subscription based video game rental company headquartered in Los Angeles, CA. We will be opening a satellite Distribution Center in Austin and we have an outstanding opportunity for an OPERATIONS MANAGER." The listing looks completely legit and we're happy to see GameFly continuing to open distribution centers -- anything to cut down turnaround time is a good thing. We've contacted GameFly for confirmation.

This would mean the rental service will have two distribution centers beyond their original California location. They just recently opened and expanded service at their East Coast branch located in Pittsburgh. For many on the East Coast, they've seen their turnaround time go from two weeks to around one week. Sadly, GameFly's growth has caused Xbox 360 and Wii game availability to appear in short supply and there was a recent $1 increase (although Netflix recently did a $1 decrease, so for subscribers of both it balanced out). We're guessing the tech-friendly city of Austin's distribution center will service the middle of the country. Don't expect the distribution center to open for a couple months though, they're obviously still staffing the place.

[Thanks Raymond]

Subscribers of the online video game rental service NumbThumb received an e-mail yesterday with a very misleading subject line: Exciting News from NumbThumb.com. The four-year-old company is closing its doors, killing all accounts as of July 5th and requesting all games be returned by the 15th. The "exciting" news is subscribers were given a special link to sign up with Gamefly for a 44% discount on the first month of service and a free magazine subscription.

The competition is fierce in the online rental biz and NumbThumb has always had an uphill battle. It became one of our favorite services largely due to its speedy turnaround times. It never had the flash and features of Gamefly, but it felt worth it to support the little guy.

When GameFly's East Coast distribution center opened last month it was apparently still working out the kinks in the system. Readers pointed out that not all the states on the East Coast were served. GameFly sent us an updated list of states served by the new center (full list of states after the break). As time goes on we can probably expect to see a couple more states added to the list.

As GameFly told us before, the Pittsburgh, PA center is intended to "serve East Coast and midwest members." We've noticed a significant reduction in turnaround time compared to the week and a half that used to plague East Coast members and have been able to better order the queue since the availability listings were made clearer. Less than a week turnaround time is the mark and it looks like GameFly is on the path.

Update: GameFly contacted Joystiq and said NY will be added to the states serviced by the East Coast center. A GameFly representative says, "NY will be added to PA [distribution center] in the next 4-6 weeks. As we've mentioned previously, we would be adding states as soon as we had the inventory and operational capacity to do so."