Nintendo (NTDOY), whose competitors include Microsoft (MSFT) and Sony (SNE), has had a couple of rough trading sessions. It has to do with disappointment surrounding the release date of the Nintendo 3DS hand-held system -- which will miss the holiday season -- as well a bad profit outlook (I'm presuming the latter issue was more responsible for the bearishness than the former one).

My colleague Gary Sattler gave his opinion on the situation the other day. The question is, should an investor buy the company's American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) on pullbacks? What kind of opportunity do they represent? Yesterday, they closed down 4.9% to $31.20. Volume was very heavy.

Electronic Arts (ERTS) was more than 2% higher Thursday morning, thanks mainly to news that the latest installation of its Medal of Honor franchise has set a presale record.

The newest game is based in Afghanistan and introduces players to a new class of warrior. Past iterations of the franchise have helped the company, and while specific sales data was not released, it seems that investors are assuming that sales of the game will be massive.

Bookstores disappearing, music stores almost gone, video stores all but done -- and GameStop Corp. (GME) is next. Yes, it's days are numbered, we just don't know what that number is yet.

I have been pondering this for a while, off and on, and did a very limited survey of two teenage boys -- mine -- asking them their thoughts about GameStop. The 17-year-old was playing a game on his Apple (AAPL) MacBook Pro at the time. He said he downloads free games or buys them, but all from the Web. He knew he could buy used games inexpensively at GameStop but had never done so and thought this business activity would fade.

The 14-year-old was also on his Mac, using FaceBook and YouTube. He said he had been to GameStop with friends in the past but never bought anything. Both boys use their cell phones to play games in the car.

Activision Blizzard Inc. (ATVI) is trading down this afternoon. At the time of this writing, the video-game publisher behind the Call of Duty series was off by over 4% to $10.82. Volume was heavy.

That's an interesting move for the stock, because it may be an opportunity for very short-term traders who are willing to take on extremely significant risk. I haven't felt comfortable about an Activision Blizzard trade for a long time. I would love for the shares to dip below $10 at some point; then, I might have reason to start a position.

I just read that Nintendo Co., Ltd. (NTDOY) has decided to make its higher-end handheld hardware a little cheaper for consumers. According to TheFly, the Nintendo DSi and the Nintendo DSiXL will sport a cost of $149.99 and $169.99 beginning September 12, respectively. That's $20 less than the old price.

Now, you would have thought that the Nintendo DS Lite would have seen its price reduced as well, but I'm sorry to say you'd be wrong. That unit will remain at $129.99. I guess Nintendo is sending a strong message: go for the higher-end models.

Activision Blizzard (ATVI) is under pressure this afternoon. At the time of this writing, a quote of $10.95 came by on the ticker. This was representative of a 6.8% decline in share price. And volume was very strong.

Second-quarter numbers were released yesterday after the bell. According to Reuters, adjusted net income of 6 cents per share came in a penny ahead of the estimate. Unfortunately, third-quarter guidance wasn't so hot: management predicts the business can make somewhere around 8 cents per share, also with adjustments, during that frame. This number was four pennies under Wall Street's expectations. Another problem for the publisher during the second quarter was the top line. It was relatively weak.

Activision Blizzard (ATVI) has had a rocky ride over the last year. The following chart illustrates the sideways motion of the video-game superstar's stock. The 52-week range has been a narrow one: the low is $9.93, and the high is $13. Lately, the shares have received a new burst of energy after falling to the $10 level in May. At the time of this writing (it's a little over one hour until the market closes up shop), a quote of $12.02 went by on my screen.

A catalyst currently exists for the publisher. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is set to be released on Tuesday. This is the highly-anticipated game from the Blizzard portion of the company. And when I say highly-anticipated, I mean it.