The 2007 holiday season saw GameStop sales up 35% over the previous year. In 2008, they were up 22%. This year, however, things remained relatively flat as far as GameStop's year-over-year holiday sales went, with numbers failing to surpass 2008's by a small margin. Indeed, the company reports sales of $2.86 billion for the 9-week period ending on January 2nd, while last year's figure was $2,856.0 million. I'm assuming they rounded up.

GameStop CEO Daniel DeMatteo brings on the excuses. "Despite a kick start to this year's holiday selling season with several major title launches, sales momentum was impacted in December by economic weakness in all global operating segments, winter storms at peak shopping periods in December, and unexpected shortages of key products such as New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Nintendo Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3 consoles."

We don't want excuses, sir. We want results! *slams fist on desk*

Apologies. Always wanted to say that.

Hardware sales decline 8% during the period, which GameStop blames on recent price drops and the normal decline in year over year unit sales.

New software sales jumped 4%, with Modern Warfare 2, Assassin's Creed II, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Left 4 Dead 2, and Dragon Age: Origins the top five sellers during the holiday period.

I suppose they had to lose steam at some point. Now that all three consoles are firmly established, it's time for the software to shine. With many of the holiday season 2009 games coming out in early 2010, I expect GameStop will be making up for the low figures in the coming months.

The Army of Two: The 40th Day trailers continue to come fast and furious as EA gets the most out of its CGI budget in placing fake Salem and Rios in various humorous situations. As a former GameStop employee, I can see the funny here. I'm just glad that they never let us show up for work armed, as many Atlanta-area teens would have found themselves orphaned as a result.

The expansion, called "Awakening", will allow players to import (and edit!) their characters from the main game, and should run for around 15 hours. For the best explanation of what's going down, the pack's GameStop page is the best place to go.

For centuries, the Grey Wardens-the ancient order of guardians, sworn to unite and defend the lands-have been battling the darkspawn forces. Legend spoke that slaying the Archdemon would have put an end to the darkspawn threat for centuries to come, but somehow they remain. You are the Grey Warden Commander and have been entrusted with the duty of rebuilding the order of Grey Wardens and uncovering the secrets of the darkspawn and how they managed to remain. How you choose to rebuild your order, how you resolve the conflict with "The Architect", and how you determine the fate of the darkspawn will be but some of the many complex choices that await and shape your journey as you venture to the new land of Amaranthine.

You know, when you haven't finished the game - like I haven't - that paragraph is some funny reading.

Seizing upon a rare moment's peace, a bored GameStop employee came up with this. Which is not only an amazingly life-like portrait of the band circa 2010, but also has a blurb Activision should just copy, paste and run with on every future Guitar Hero game.

Amazing custom ‘Guitar Hero: Van Halen' game case spotted at Game Stop [Albotas]

Instead, according to Electronic Entertainment Design and Research, the number of games released this year increased. In 2008, 1092 titles reached a retail shelf in the United States. In 2009? 1099. Not much of an increase, then, but an increase all the same.

In assessing this data, EEDAR's Jesse Divnich raises an interesting point; 1099 new games means there are 55% more titles available to the public in a bricks-and-mortar store. Yet those stores aren't expanding their game sections. Meaning space is at a premium, and with each year that passes, more games earn "permanent" shelf spots (Call of Duty, GTA), further reducing the amount of space for new titles.

Game releases hold steady in 2009 [GameSpot]

Shortly after opening this morning an armed man entered the store, held the employee and a customer at gunpoint while waiting for a security timer on the store's safe to expire, stole a Wii and several games then shot the clerk in the leg as he made his escape.

Thankfully the employee - who was fully cooperative during the ordeal and did not in any way resist - was not seriously hurt.

Clerk Shot During Game Stop Robbery [WFTV]

I first heard about the push to give customers back their unused $5 deposits a few weeks back, when a GameStop manager mentioned that calls would be going out urging customers to head into their local store and get back their money. The manager in question was none too happy, as a reserve cancelled is one less reserve registered for the day, and reserves are a key statistic used to track a GameStop store's success.

Now Kotakuite and former GameStop employee (aren't we all?) TheMadjai drops us a line to inform us that GameStop's automated service is calling customers, urging them to visit a website where they can enter in their phone number and last name in order to receive their money back in printable gift certificate form. You'll have to wait for the call, however, or else your unused reserves won't be on file.

I spoke to a GameStop manager about the phone calls, who verified that they are indeed going out. As for the day customers were called en masse to come cancel their unused reserves, the manager confirmed that quite a few people showed up, though a request for specifics was greeted with a heavy sigh and a "no comment."

Of course, the game itself will get a debut trailer at tonight's Video Game Awards on Spike. But other than the gameplay, you now have the big news it will deliver.

GameStop Weekly Ad [Thanks Philip]

See, this is what everyone said those folks in Switzerland were gonna do, create a bunch of Junior Mint black holes that will tear up this dimension. Apparently, in the year 2185, they have figured out how to safely create beachball-sized singularities. Well, they're not safe for the bad guys who get caught up in it, but that's their problem.

Mass Effect 2 Gamestop PreOrder Trailer [Gaming Today]

According to the Rockstar announcement, fans will vote for one of three sets of cowboy gear, with the winning set made available exclusively to GameStop preorder customers. Once the game is released, players will unlock the special outfit via a series of challenges, and once unlocked the clothing will uniquely affect how the citizens of the game world treat the hero, John Marston.

"We're privileged to have fans that are just as passionate about our games as we are," said Alex Moulle-Berteaux, head of marketing for Rockstar Games. "Having fans choose their own pre-order bonus is a unique way to let them be a part of Red Dead Redemption."

Generally an announcement of this sort would come complete with pictures of the various costumes you have to choose from, but Rockstar works in mysterious ways. They are not like us. Stay tuned for more on the clothing choices and their effects in January.

But that's exactly what happened to reader Steven this past week, a casual conversation with some friends at a local GameStop leading to a search of the nationwide retailers database for, of all things, a Neo Geo Pocket Color. Turns out it pays to search for obscure consoles, because instead of being told there were "0" in stock, as you'd expect, the search actually discovered there was "1" in stock (pre-owned, of course). And not just "1", but five games to boot.

So orders were placed, and whaddya know, the system wasn't lying; Steven swung by the GameStop on Saturday to pick up his order, which consisted not only of a working Neo Geo Pocket Color, but Pac-Man, Fatal Fury: First Contact, Samurai Shodown 2, Metal Slug: 1st Mission, and Neo Turf Masters.

All for $48. Nice work, Steven.

The fancy case is only the beginning for Star Trek fans willing to spend $79.99 instead of the normal retail price of $49.99 on Star Trek Online, but it sure is lovely. It features magnetic closures and nested storage for the rest of the premium items included in the deal. Items like a combination hardbound instruction guide, art book, and disc container, or the cast metal communicator badge, styled after the one used in the game. The package also includes three credit card style buddy passes for you to share with your friends. Swanky!

The collector's edition also comes with the requisite in-game items, with a red matter capacitor for your ship and Deep Space Nine and Next Generation uniforms for your crew.

The Star Trek Online Collector's Edition will be severely limited, so if you want it, I'd highly suggest preordering as soon as possible. GameStop has an exclusive in-game Constitution Class Starship waiting for those that do.

Star Trek Online Collector's Edition [GameStop via Big Download]

Come on, say it with me now, kids: "Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories? Used? For $14.99? OH MY GODDDDDD!!!!!! THANK YOU MOMMY!!!!"

GameStop Holiday [Site]

Four cops in a Detroit suburb overpowered a 43-year-old man who tried to return an Xbox without a receipt and, once rebuffed, got so PO'd he threatened to kill someone.

These days, "I'm gonna kill someone," are the magic words for a bigtime police response. When the dissatisfied customer left - to get something from his vehicle he said - police answered a 911 call and did something called "active shooter response," which means getting people the f—- out of the way and putting the perp up on the f—-ing wall. Which they did. After cuffing the guy, they only found a stun gun on him, whose possession is illegal in Michigan (at least, under these circumstances it was).

Dude faces a felony for the stun gun, plus a discon misdemeanor for, I guess, raising the ruckus and requiring cops to slam him over a counter.
Armed Cops Subdue Angry Shopper Denied Refund at Oakland Mall [Detroit Free Press, thanks Paul W.]

GameStop was trading for $21.73 around 1 p.m. U.S. Eastern time, $2.11 off its opening price of $23.84 and a decline of 8.8 percent. It had hit as low as $21.36 earlier in the day.

Bloomberg News reported that an analyst advised clients that GameStop, whose stores have been located in close proximity to Walmart to capitalize on the retail giant's foot traffic, may have to drop its prices to remain competitive. Walmart's price cuts affect 25 games, including Left 4 Dead 2, and Uncharted 2, and take as much as 20 percent off their MSRP through Dec. 24. Walmart is also offering a $50 gift card with the purchase of a Wii.

GameStop Falls Most in S&P 500 After Walmart Cuts Game Prices [Bloomberg]

St. Louis news service KMOX News reports that two mean armed with a handgun held up the Maplewood GameStop in Maplewood Commons at about 10:30 this morning. Nobody was hurt and the robbers took only money from the store.

I'm trying to decide if the robbers were using a strategy or not. On the one hand, it's Cyber Monday — so there won't be as many people in the store to potentially foil the robbery. But on the other hand, all the money from Black Friday is probably gone from the store and safely in GameStop's bank account... so how much could they really make off with?

Either way, that's two people getting coal in their stockings this Christmas...

Masked men rob Maplewood video store [KMOX News - thanks, Jason!]

We'll wait 'til the numbers come in before declaring it a tame Black Friday, though, and maybe blame it on the Bay Area rain. Feel free to share any of your own Black Friday shopping photos in the comments — especially if it was a madhouse in your area.

Amazon.com: The Black Friday video game deals are in full swing, with more game discounts being revealed all day long. Right now you can get bargain prices on Forza 3 and Halo 3: O.D.S.T.

On the console side of things, Amazon has a 120GB PlayStation 3 bundle that comes with inFamous and Killzone 2, with a $10 Amazon promotional credit included.

Best Buy: While most of Best Buy's Black Friday goodness is sold out online, there are several great deals in stores, including a $299 120GB PlayStation 3 bundle with LittleBigPlanet and Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time; an Xbox 360 Elite bundle for $399 that includes Pure, LEGO Batman, and a bundle of Wall-E, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, Sonic the Hedgehog and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2; and the two limited-edition Nintendo DSi systems, each with bundled software and a $20 gift card.

Brutal Legend: The Brutal Legend blog has posted a deal tracker so you can find the best possible price on Brutal Legend on Black Friday. Check it out here.

Capcom: The Capcom store is dicounting PC titles from 20-75% off for Black Friday, with free shipping on $25 worth of toys, books, and other fine Capcom-related products.

Dell Direct: Dell Direct is selling a Nintendo Wii bundled with New Super Mario Bros. Wii and an additional Wii remote for $249.99, which saves you the price of that additional remote.

EA: The EA Store has downloadable PC titles on sale for 30% off, including the latest releases like Dragon Age: Origins.

EA Mobile: More than 30 EA iPhone and iPod Touch titles have been discounted by up to 50% for the holiday weekend. From casual titles like Littlest Pet Shop and Sudoku to big-name games like Command & Conquer: Red Alert and Rock Band, now would be a great time to download some EA to your Apple device.

Futureshop: Canadians can have Black Friday deals too! Futureshop has popular EA console games on sale for $39.99 apiece, including Dragon Age: Origins, Brutal Legend, and Left 4 Dead 2.

Gameloft: Gameloft has reduced prices on a bunch of iPhone games to $.99 for the day. Terminator Salvation, Shrek Kart, Blades of Fury, Real Tennis 2009, Brothers in Arms: Hour of Heroes, Castle of Magic, and Hero of Sparta for less than a buck could certainly help you pass the time waiting in line today.

GameStop: For those of you living where it's not hit 11AM yet, you've still got time to partake of GameStop's doorbuster bundles, which include a $299 PlayStation 3 with LittleBigPlanet Game of the Year Edition and God of War I & II and an Xbox 360 Elite with Pure, LEGO Batman, and your choice of either Call of Duty: World at War or Bakugan.

Steam Sale: The Steam 5-Day 1-Day Sale continues today, with Left 4 Dead 2 at $37.49, Mini-Ninjas at $14.99, Dead Space for $14.99, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic for a measly $2.49. Plus, keep in mind that Steam also has LucasArts and THQ bundles on sale for $49.99, so if you've got a fan of either developer in your family, you've got them covered.

Be sure to check out our Black Friday tag page for all of the deals we've been posting over the past couple of months.

Remember, this is by no means a complete list. This is a starting point. A place for our friends in the comment section to share their own deals with each other, giving their fellow gamers a hand in finding the best deals going on during the busiest shopping day of the year. Sharing is caring!

GameStop is donating $1 from every gift card purchased this holiday season to the Make-A-Wish foundation (up to $100,000), and they've gotten wish recipient Emily Adkins to pitch in with her own original artwork.

"During the holidays, we have a lot of parents and grandparents who want to buy games as gifts, but they aren't quite sure which title would be the right one," said Dan DeMatteo, chief executive officer for GameStop. "By selecting a gift card, gift givers can be assured the gamers on their lists will be thrilled, and they have the added bonus of helping a worthy charity like the Make-A-Wish Foundation."

Nice work Emily. I'd say I could do better, but that would be a) cruel and b) likely untrue.

GameStop announced today that it would hold the "world's largest" Modern Warfare 2 tournament kicking off Nov. 20 both online and at 2,900+ US GameStop locations that might be near you. I wonder if the fact that it's the world's only Modern Warfare 2 tournament makes it the world's largest...?

There are actually three different tourneys. The first is the US-only Xbox 360 one on one tourney where Round I takes place in-store, Round II takes it to Xbox Live and the finals go down in some as-yet undecided location — grand prize is $5,000. Then there are the International four on four tourneys for Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, which you can find at gamebattles.com/gamestop. The top four teams from each platform will go to the finals to duke it out for a $10,000 grand prize.

Get more details here.

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