Rhino Video Games, a chain of video game retail stores mainly located in the southeastern portion of the USA, has official been bought out by GameStop. There are over 70 Rhino Video Game stores open, and they were all previously owned by Blockbuster. GameStop previously merged with the other major video game retailer in the USA, EB Games. Now, they own nearly all of the video game speciality shops in the United States. Considering your take on GameStop, this is either great news, or really bad news. Press release after the jump.

Blockbuster Reaches Agreement to Sell Rhino Video Games to GameStop

DALLAS, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Blockbuster Inc. (NYSE: BBI – News, BBI.B – News) today announced it has reached a definitive agreement for the sale of its Rhino Video Games chain to GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME – News, GME.B – News) for an undisclosed price. The sale is expected to close by the end of January.

Rhino Video Games is a regional retail chain specializing in buying, selling and trading video games. Rhino currently has 72 stores located in the Southeastern U.S. including Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

John Antioco, Blockbuster Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, “Today’s announcement is in line with our goal to maintain focus on our Blockbuster-branded assets. We wish the Rhino concept ongoing success under its new ownership, and while games remain an integral part of our Blockbuster business, we will continue to focus on growing our overall share of the video rental market both through our stores and through BLOCKBUSTER Total Access(TM), which gives our online subscribers the option of returning their DVDs through the mail or exchanging them at a participating BLOCKBUSTER® store for free in-store movie rentals.”

R. Richard Fontaine, GameStop Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, “The integration of the Rhino group into the growing portfolio of GameStop stores will result in operating synergies while being accretive to earnings. The location of most Rhino stores do not overlap existing GameStop sites, and primarily serve secondary and tertiary markets where we have been very successful. Furthermore, the Rhino business model, and a very game oriented management team, will fit seamlessly into the GameStop culture.”