I've put together a Gamespot video and editorial staff ornament scavenger hunt this year, which a couple of you who used the site might recall being quite similar to the one I did at Quake3world.com back in 2000. The Quake3world ornament scavenger hunt briefly interviewed id Software staff, professional Quake 3 gamers, and Quake3world staff/mods. Mini ornaments were spread throughout the site that lead to each of these interviews. GameSpot's ornament scavenger hunt will be a bit different, but you get the idea! I have a festive activity for you to participate in this year!

GameSpot's ornament contest will be quite colorful because we'll share some of our holiday activities. The ornament template created back in 2000 was designed by an old Quake friend named Da5id (from Deathrow clan). The new 3d ornament template you'll see next Monday has been designed by Justin Porter from the video team. You might recognize his work for the intro animation for Today on the Spot, E3 and more! After getting the template design, Justin designed 8 ornaments to help with the scavenger hunt project and I designed the remainder 30 to make sure each ornament was a unique clue for each staff member.

You'll want to drop back on Monday for this scavenger hunt activity that will run for about 2 weeks. Please share your lists with people in your blogs once this activity begins because some of you don't track every GameSpot staff member, and you'll need to rely on each other during your hunt.

There will be a challenge for you to gather some of the video staff because you don't always see them in front of the camera. The good news? The ornaments will be a visual clue and I'll also have hints about videos that might have this person. I'll also add information in the comments for certain video pages if I believe it won't be easy to find the staff member's profile page. These minor tips will help guide you to the 38 GameSpot staff for some points and a festive emblem that will be granted on January 4 (after we get back from the holiday break). For some of you though, I think the ornaments you'll see next Monday will already give away the staff member.

Around Wednesday of next week I also planned on sharing a small version of the ornament template for any of you web designers who would like to edit Justin Porter's 3d ornament to give to friends or make for your profiles. Some of you could also make it smaller to have as an avatar.