The most entertaining whining can be find on online message boards, where your voice is free and the audience vast.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption earned an 8.5, which is really good, but already the masses are getting worked up into a frenzy. "Gamespot was bribed; they only care about graphics", etc.

I often wonder how many read a full review before typing up the forums. The reviewer makes some valid points that penalize the game, such as too much streamlining, taking away some of that core "Metroid" feel.

But the only thing that gets me: how so many feel an 8.5 is a bad score. The only values above that are 9.0, 9.5, and a perfect 10!

Don't get me started about the reaction to Twilight Princess' 8.8... You would have thought the sky was falling. And some of the personal remarks they made about the reviewer...

Stardock never ceases to amaze me.

I remember when Civilization IV came out. I discovered a weird community of gamers that enjoyed all the strategy and drama that's inherent to a turn-based strategy game. Many of these fan sites, however, included not only the Civilization series but also a title I had never heard of before - Galactic Civilizations.

The original title earned a solid 8.4. The sequel earned a coveted editor's choice, and now its expansion has earned another editor's choice award.

Since when do expansion packs score so high? The only one I can remember is Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, and that was years ago.

So congratulations, Stardock! May your sales be great and your fanbase extensive. It looks like you've earned it.

(I don't even use Gamespot as my blogging service, but I wanted at least one entry to show up so it would fill out my profile.)

It was quickly evident that something had changed in the Gamespot forums. Everyone's avatars were their same small size, but now big black boxes surrounded each one. That could only mean one thing: Gamespot had expanded the avatar dimensions.

What to choose, what to choose, what to choose... Giacomo's cool, right? I'll size him up and make him my new avatar. Represent! I was getting tired of little Dark Mage anyway...

If I'm going to switch avatars, might as well upload a new banner too. I took a Rise of Legends wallpaper and cropped it. It fits really nice - much better than I expected. Too bad the quality had to be lowered so much.