'Portal' trailer and EA pay-per-view

If you haven't seen it yet, check out Valve's trailer for "Portal"/ via GameSpot. I think this game could make a lot of people throw up. I used to have a roommate that got sick watching me play "Tomb Raider." If he saw me playing this, I would seriously have to worry about his life coming to an end. I'll say this -- it's definitely innovative. Part of me wonders if this'll be one of those instances where it's SO innovative that no one can actually play it effectively. Such is the dark side of creativity.

Moving on, in the "what the ... really?'' department, I got a press release from EA announcing "Inside Madden NFL 07," a one-hour show about every waking detail of the newest incarnation of the monstrous football franchise. There are interviews with Madden ballers, NFL players (including Marshall Faulk, which is interesting considering all the retirement talk) and designers.

It sounds like an interesting show -- and to see it, you can buy it on http://www.espn.com for $19.95. It will be available Aug. 4.

Yep, that's the fun part.

Really? I have to pay to see a SHOW about one game? I'm sorry -- if I'm already going to be dropping $50-$60 for a product, why would anyone but the hopelessly hardcore want to pay $20 for a behind-the-scenes look. What information is possibly worth that much? Twenty bucks can buy me a few gallons of gas, a movie ticket, or a used copy of "God of War." (Or as a friend of mine said, "it could also get you the 2K game that was BETTER") That's a total of $70-$80 bucks for the total "Madden" experience. I think I'll pass.