This weekend I went to the mall for a spell, and strolled casually into Gamestop/EBGames. During my high school years EBGames was the place to get games. Almost all of my PS/N64/PC game purchases were exclusive to EBgames, and most of those were pre-orders. Funcoland was a neat place to pick up some oldie for a cheap price, and occasionally get rid of a stinker someone bought me for Christmas and get a few bucks back. The staff weren’t exactly experts on what they were selling, but they were very helpful and courteous and never pushed anything on you, all relatively clean cut and pleasant. But times have changed. Anytime in the past few years I walked into EBgames/Gamestop/Funcoland, now all one company, I find myself retreating and feeling rather sordid, as if I have somehow been violated. (more…)