Contest!
I've been writing a column for about three and a half years, believe it or not.About 250,000 words over at Gone Gold. Over 350,000 words here. Six hundred thousand words.
Here's something even hard for me to believe: some of you have read all of them.
So of course I have a second pre-order for an Xbox 360. And of course we're going to have a contest to give one away. Because you people have suffered.
I was kicking around possible ideas for the last week or so, trying to maximize the chances of those who have suffered most. And I think I've come up with a workable idea.
So, in short, here are the contest details.
At some point next week, I'll post three questions about my old columns. Each reader can enter once. The first sixteen people to answer all three questions correctly will qualify to go into a "Chase For the Cup," so to speak.
After that, I will post one question a day for five consecutive days (not including weekends). Only the sixteen qualifiers will be eligible at that point. Points will be awarded each day, with a maximum of 16 (first one to answer correctly) and a minimum of 0 (wrong answer). One answer per person per day.
I'll post standings each morning. The person with the most points at the end of the five days is the winner, and they'll win an Xbox 360 (the real one, not the budget crapware model). And I'll ship it to you next-day air.
Now, here are the caveats.
--I have two pre-orders, and if one doesn't work out on launch day, the winner will have to wait for the second shipment, because I'm a selfish bastard and I'm keeping the one that does come in.
--I can't be responsible for e-mail glitches and similar malfunctions. I'll do everything I can to be fair, but I have to base qualifying spots and points awarded based on the times I see in my inbox. In the same vein, if I have to make a "judge's decision" on an answer, I'll do the best I can.
--I never want to exclude international readers from contests, but unless you have a supplier for games from the U.S. region, this system would be a big paperweight to you. Canadians are still good to go, but European and Asian readers would have to import every game. I'll try to have an international-only contest in the future to make up for it, because some of the best e-mails come from our international readers.
The original round of qualification questions may include a question or two about old Gone Gold columns, but the "championship" rounds will consist only of questions about what I've written here.
Hopefully, that contest structure means that those of you who have been crazy enough to read everything for over three years have a significant advantage. It's not adequate compensation for the times you've had to read about my ass, certainly, but it's something.
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