I've been giving a lot of thought recently as to how I could improve the Scraps column. Don't get me wrong, I've always believed that it provides a valuable service to you in giving you bits of leftover news. There was always something missing, however.

And then it hit me. There's a ton of really great original content that finds its way onto the interwebs every day which would appeal to our audience. I mean, granted, none of it is as entertaining as the stuff you find on Destructoid, but it's still worth having a look over when you're not busy laughing at that wacky Jim Sterling.

So, from here on out, Scraps will be featuring some of that content after the jump. We'll start in the traditional manner, relaying news you might not have had a chance to read because the greatest gaming news site in the world didn't deem it worthy of a full post. Follow along afterwards for some primo material from our friends in the gaming press. 

• Now that Hilary Clinton is looking likely to be the next Secretary of State, she probably won't have time to fight videogames. Shucks. [Gamepolitics]
• SCi (parent company of Eidos) are in takeover talks once more. Word is that EA and Ubisoft might be biting. [MCV]
• The Entertainment Merchants Association is recommending a standard for point-of-sale activations of software. Oh, yeah, there's absolutely nothing that could go wrong for the consumer here. [Gamasutra]
• A gaming addiciton clinic in Amsterdam is claiming that 90% of their patients aren't clinically addicted. Don't you see? Society made me who I am! Society! [Game|Life]

And now for something a little meatier.

• Have you ever been obsessed with getting a high score? If so, you need to check out this editorial on the fall and rise of the scoreboard. [GameSetWatch]
• Here's an excellent interview with the creative team behind Pac-Man Championship Edition and Galaga Legions. [Gamasutra]
• If you wondered how Brash Entertainment, a company poised to generate money hand over fist with licensed content games, could possibly fail, here are eight blog posts offering a myriad of reasons documented from high-level sources. [Variety]
• What is the root appeal of The Sims? One man looks at his obsession. [VorpaBunnyRanch]
• The rise and fall of one of the largest virtual item trading companies ever to have existed is chock full of egos, cash and pedophilia charges? [Wired]