It always starts slowly. The cracks form, the walls splinter against the assault, the foundation is undermined. Then, in a rush, they come. Normal people, mundanes, crashing into our gaming world with a demographic fury that washes away all other marketable segments. Only casual games, cheap console ports of first-rank titles, and scattered boxes of last year’s sports offerings remain.

Why do I bring up this desolate image? Because Mad Catz, one of the more powerful of the second-party accessory makers, has licensed out Dale Earnhardt Jr. for their lineup of controllers, sheathes, covers, battery chargers, and god knows what else. Mr. Earnhardt claimed his fame in the world of NASCAR, known to our kind as the sport of “taking a left turn for two hours.” This means the precious shelf space at the local that used to be filled with overpowered memory cards, Game Sharks, and wireless controllers, will now be bloated and groaning with the image of brightly-coloured cars and mustache-men peeking out devilishly from under the rim of their baseball caps.

Think you’re safe over there, you PC gamer? Behold your doom! Mad Catz has a computer accessory brand under the name Saitek, and guess what? You’re coming to retail hell with the rest of us.

You can read the pronouncement of damnation right over here.