I did something last week that I swore to myself would never happen. I signed up for a Twitter account.

The whole thing always struck me as being horribly self-indulgent and egotistical. Who the hell could possibly care about what I'm doing minute-to-minute? Hell, I don't have much of an active interest in my daily activities and I'm in the best position to do so.

But, damn if it isn't addictive. And ever-present. And why the hell does everyone have a more interesting life than mine? At any rate, if you're interested in following me, feel free to do so. Lord knows, I have to have my self-esteem validated by legions of people who I can assume are obssessed with what color socks I'm wearing.

Now, on with the scraps. Remember, after the jump is a selection of original content from our friends on the internets. And there just might be an adorable photo of a hedgehog in there too. No promises, but I guarantee it won't be as horrifying as the one Grim posted below. 

• Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick believes that console cycles are going to be a part of this business until we can achieve live-action realism with hardware. This generation may go on longer than five years, but there will be new systems. Duh. [Edge]
• Warner Bros. Interactive has developed a game intended to educate people in Kenya on the risks of AIDS. Between this and the game Capcom is releasing to educate us about the threat of the T-Virus in Africa, I think the continent is looking safer every day. [GamePolitics]
• The MMO developer NCSoft adds itself to the growing list of companies ditching the ESA industry group. [GamesIndustry]
• Expecting a 50% reduction in sales for November, industry analyst Jesse Divinich believes that the Guitar Hero franchise has hit its peak. Knowing Activision, they probably won't notice for another five games, though. [Edge]
• Nintendo has launched the official website for the North American version of Club Nintendo. Hopefully, I'll be able to get my hands on some sweet swag to make up for having bought a Wii. [1Up]

More great stuff:

• Mega Man 9 is a difficult game. Life is difficult too. EA designer Brice Morrison explains how the two are similar and what we can learn from the game and apply the lessons to our real lives. [GameSetWatch]
• Elika's role in Prince of Persia as companion and savior changes the narrative dynamic of death in videogames. But does it solve the problem or does it cause more issues than it fixes? [The CutScene]
• Here's a little bit of levity to soften up all the serious business above. Left For Dead's Tank is very upset, but it might not merely be his hunger for human flesh that drives him to throw slabs of concrete. I'd be mad too if I was watching my 401k dwindle away in this economy (lucky for me, I'm a blogger, and have none). [Hardcasual]
• Gamasutra is taking a look at the second-hand market and its effect on publishers and developers. A good read and brings up a few issues that I hadn't considered before. [Gamasutra]

Hey! Would you look at that? It's a hedgehog. Good night everybody!