I never actively thought about this until this morning, when I was in the car with my fiancee driving to work. We pulled into a shopping center (which are in abundance out here in Vegas) so she could hop out of the car and grab us some coffee.

Still half asleep, my eyes lazily explored the surrounding storefronts. It was then that out of the corner of my eye, I notice a GameStop on the other side of the center amidst the generic signage. My mind began to wander (as it often does). I tried to recall the last time I had even stepped foot into a GameStop…I then began to reminiscence about my local EB Games store back home in California (which has been long gone for years now). For a moment I was saddened by the fact that I had A) Not stepped foot inside a gaming store since Modern Warfare 3 was released and B) The possibility that I may be looking at an industry that is beginning to fade away into oblivion.

I have done zero research on the actual success of gaming storefronts. I’m merely expressing my feelings and thoughts here, so take everything you read with a grain of salt…but if Video rental storefronts are losing revenue to instantaneous online streaming services like NetFlix and Hulu, then logically wouldn’t that mean that gaming storefronts will eventually suffer a similar fate? Especially considering that cloud gaming, and downloadable titles are starting to become the norm.

I don’t want to drone on about this…just a thought that crossed my mind today…to be honest it makes me a little sad…especially considering some of my best memories were made in game stores…saving up my allowance to skate down with my buddies to peruse shelf upon shelf of games…also bringing along trade ins so as to get the best deal, as well as pass on the fun I’ve had to another lucky gamer…midnight releases…or just chatting it up with the store clerks.

I hope I’m wrong in thinking that gaming storefronts are on the way out. I’ve been gaming since I could remember, and it would be a shame for such great memories to fade away…