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Each week, we present the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the gaming universe. This time:

The Winners--Game Set Watch, 1up, Games Radar
The Losers--GameSpot, IGN, Jaws

Like you, we browse scores of gaming-related stories every day. Some of them get our head nodding. Others get our blood boiling. Consequently, we decided to share those experiences with you, given that the Games.net mission of bringing you the very best and worst the gaming universe has to offer. Every Thursday, our hackneyed crew of web monkeys will mete out the sordid stories that made us laugh, cry, and blow snot bubbles in agony.

Our criteria for a winner: lasting effects of intellectual engagement, profound thoughtfulness, and funky humor. Everyone else: a loser. And then there's the pwned, which is another story entirely.

And now on with the W&L!

THE WINNERS

A Page Turner
Game Set Watch's regular columnist, Kevin Gifford, gets kudos for this insightful piece about game magazines currently on the newsstand. He gives a brief history about each publication, and then makes fair (albeit personal) assessments about the quality of the magazine. Gifford's past experiences as an editor and writer for some of the mentioned magazines give this story even more credibility. Now if only Game Set Watch created a regular column that covered gaming sites...

Testament of Time
Nadia Oxford at 1up offers a unique point of view about a story that's been done a million times over. Instead of from an expert editor's perspective, this story about "Time Tested Games" is shown through a gamer's view. The idea is great as it connects the site, the author, and the reader on a more personal level. The story itself could have used a bit more visuals and it'd been nice to have a mention of what the criteria was for choosing which gamers to interview. All in all, however, this story is a refreshing take about games that have truly made us happy over a couple virtual generations.

Lara Croft's Dressing Room
It's well worth getting past GamesRadar's shoddy navigation to find this video on Lara Croft. Not only does the video reveal the ending of Tomb Raider: Legend, but it also showcases heroine Lara Croft's many outfits that she can wear throughout the game. The video was edited seamlessly to showoff both--that is if you don't mind a spoiler. Bugger, are you still watching me?

THE LOSERS

(Not a) Scooooore!
Is GameSpot really hurting for editor love? Who in their right mind would want to watch a complete (or even partial) virtual soccer match between four editors? Fun? No friggin' way. Informative? Yeah, right. Engaging? Um, I don't think so. So why even do this crazy stunt? Probably because GameSpot knows key phrases like "World Cup Soccer" are hot on the search engines right now, and it wants to milk it for all that it's worth. By the way, I'm hoping one of the members on the U.S. team gets kicked in the groin.

A Racquet of Garbage
I shake my head in shame. Read above about GameSpot, and you'll have a good idea of why this IGN piece is such a loser. Is it really important for you to know who is winning the Table Tennis tournament between the IGN editors? Ah, wait...this is what we call an "advertorial" custom site--meaning, this is a paid advertising piece that has some sort of editorial content on it. So the question, then, is: who is to blame for this terrible showing, the not-so-athletic editors or the marketing monkeys?

Chomp On This Chum
GameSpot gave it a 38%. GameSpy, a 40%. GamePro was nice--55%. So when a general consensus from gamers is that Jaws Unleashed is an overall horrible game, why is it that IGN gives it a very passable 74% score? To the author, Jeremy Dunham: I've known you for a while, brother, but I didn't expect you to be a...er chum for what is considered a positively sinking (or already drowned) shark game. And after reading your two-page diatribe (ugh!), I actually think you did mean to give Jaws a low score but just forgot or mistyped at the end. Seriously, did you play through the entire game? Because a 74% review score says you probably didn't.

THE PWNED

Solitaire Confinement
The legal process can be such a bore. It can be long, tedious, and overly complex in detail. Now take a case against a well-known mobster, and you're sure to have many twists and turns that shouldn't be overlooked. Apparently, though, the judge presiding over the case against John "Junior" Gotti thought otherwise. Judge Shira Scheindlin has been accused of playing Solitaire on her computer during the trial, prompting a demand for the judge to step down or be fired. You've been PWNED, Federal Judge Scheindlin!

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