When Madden hits stores every August, it unofficially marks the beginning of the holiday season for video games. And, if early reports by analyst Colin Sebastian at Lazard Capital Markets in New York indicate anything, it might be further evidence that Madden or video games in general are not as recession proof as industry pundits originally thought.

This analyst says copies of Madden 10 aren't exactly flying off the shelves at mainstream retailers.

"Checks suggest Madden is trending slightly below plan out of the gates," Sebastian says. "Our weekend and recent channel checks indicate sales of Madden NFL are trending flat to slightly up at specialty retail, but somewhat lower than expected in other channels."

Sebastian adds that while sales seem to be trending below EA's initial plan, that PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 price cuts and the inevitable back-to-school shopping sprees might give Madden 10 the boost it needs to meet pre-release predictions.

Madden generally dominates NPD sales charts in August (as it should, it's the first A-list game of the season), but last year's game was up 6% in August, which is positive, but a small gain considering the overall boom in game sales last year. We'll have to wait and see if Madden (with its coup de grace, a new 32-player online franchise mode) is compelling enough to make more people reach for their wallets when cash is tight.

It's also worth pointing out that this could also be a sign that football fans are fatigued after buying the same $60 game for years on end. We'll find out at the end of what's shaping up to be an unusual holiday season for video games.

Libe Goad is the Editor-in-Chief of AOL's GameDaily.com and Playsavvy.com, and has written about gaming and technology for the past decade. Follow her at twitter.com/libe_goad.