Right. So let’s explain my organization system. There are ten Microsoft Word documents and a single text file resting compfortably on my desktop. When I decide to update this site, I first pick a Word document at random, and then type my update there to be grammar checked and spell checked prior to being posting. The text file, called The List, is a running list of ideas, kind of like a virtual ten-mile sticky note. Except not yellow. Or sticky. The word files, for those of you who care, are named MMORPG, New Microsoft Word Document (2), Nugget, New Microsoft Word Document, Warcraft, Transformers, Strangelove, MMORPG2, and New Microsoft Word Document (3). And yes, that’s the order they appear on my desktop.

Tonight I really didn’t feel like writing something new for an update (that plan seems to have failed), and was searching through my archives for something I could use. You see, for every update you read here, chances are I have two or three you’ll never see. That’s right, there’s stuff so bad I won’t even post it here. And here you were thinking I had no standards. While searching through Nugget, I came across the following letter I submitted to Gameforms a month or two ago which they didn’t feel was worth posting. That’s why my site’s here, to serve as a garbage dump for content not fit for any other site. We’re the island of misfit toys! Right. Maybe Ian Samuel will even read this update and respond to my “letter.” Maybe.

When it comes to online gaming, one choice is clear. The pay-for-play system, as pioneered by Microsoft’s XBox Live, is undoubtedly the best of the three proposed online models. Companies like Blizzard Entertainment continually produce low budget games like Warcraft 3 and Diablo 2 which require free online support if they hope to turn any form of profit. After all, these games are not going to sell on their franchise name alone. Sony and Nintendo’s method of leaving everything up to the game developers themselves is also bound to fail as neither company has sold enough consoles, nor has enough third party support for said consoles, to warrant the use of this system. Such a system requires a massive user base for any third party companies to even think about turning a profit. Besides, who is willing to shell out for the third party games announced for both systems? Games by sub-standard developers such as Sega and Squaresoft do not stand a chance in the fiercely competitive industry of console gaming. Luckily, Microsoft had the consumer in mind when creating their pay-for-play system. This way, users pay a single, all-inclusive, price in order to play any XBox game which supports online play. If developers know that an online network is already in place and do not have to worry about establishing one themselves, they will be more likely to include online content in their games. This means less focus on things like “playability” and “polish” and more focus on hip online mini-games. If there’s one thing this industry needs, its hip online mini-games. I just hope Nintendo manages to incorporate online play into their XBox port of Super Mario Sunshine.

Wedge55, who likes presenting his thoughts in a single, unorganized, paragraph.

On an unrelated note, it’s nice LeadPipe takes the time to write for sites where he isn’t a staff member.