Our friends over at Kotaku are reporting troubling signs at Gamestop. Check out their analysis here, and of course be sure to read Max Steele's article A Marginal Business for a big-picture analysis of what's ailing the game retail industry.

As a side note: Don't buy 'MadCatz' hardware. The local EB was having a 2 for 1.5 sale on anything branded 'MadCatz' last week. I bought 2 wireless controllers for my Xbox, and some composite cables for my PS2. The wireless controllers were useless over 10ft away (with new batteries), and intermittent until I was about 4ft from the receiver with my arms outstretched. In sharp contrast, my Logitech wireless controller (PS2) is useable from anywhere in my apartment, through objects, facing the opposite direction.

The composite cables were a joke. I bought a set for my Xbox awhile ago (Xbox brand), and they showed a nice improvement in detail with DVDs, and slightly with some games. I figured a set for the PS2 wouldn't go amiss. Wrong. Apparently it's supposed to be an improvement when you have a washed out vertical bar going up the right side of your screen. In addition, the image was pincushioned inwards all over. It was crisper, but the problems negated the benefits.

So, moral? Don't buy 'MadCatz'. I told this to friends here at the office, and apparently it's pretty standard knowledge - but for someone recently exploring console gaming, it was news to me.