Evil Avatar has a link to a story saying that stock in EA dropped 5.5% on news that Godfather was going to miss Christmas.

If nothing else changes in EA’s release schedule, he said “The Godfather” delay could cost it as much as $100 million in lost revenue.

While I like laughing at the Evil Empire’s misfortune as much as the next dev blogger, this is a little mindblowing. I mean, how many people do YOU know that are eagerly awaiting The Godfather? The movie is an American classic, but it was aimed at a fairly adult audience when it came out… back in 1972. The license’s primary fans are more concerned about whether or not social security will still be solvent in 15 years than whether or not the XBox 360’s going to have a hard drive.

Of course, I could have hardcore gamer myopia. I mean, you’re not going to find people on Evil Avatar talking about the joys of Diner Dash or Slingo. But really, the lukewarm ‘maybe I’ll consider buying it if nothing else good is on the shelves’ that’s represented in the Evil Avatar thread seems pretty indicative of the level of excitement I’ve seen about the title. It might do well once the EA marketing machine kicks in, but $100 million? That’s, like, Madden-level expectations. Not for the total sales, just for the MISSED SALES.