Like an earthquake, 2001 introduced something to the Internet that up until then had seemed inconceivable. IGN actually wanted their readers to PAY for service. In the past pretty much everything on the internet had been free . but now even innocent sites devoted to games wanted people to help them out financially. To be fair, it wasn't all that unexpected. After the floor fell out from underneath pretty much everybody involved with the internet, most companies realized they had only two options: charge more or perish. Retail sites like Amazon struggled to stay alive as they watched their competition close up shop one by one. Once popular game sites like the Daily Radar and GameFan were forced off line due to sluggish business, and with the future looking even bleaker, pretty much everybody agreed that something had to change. So IGN struck forth with an ambitious pay-service. A year later GameSpot opted to provide a slightly different pay service. While I did not get a hold of any firm numbers on subscriptions to date, I did do the next best thing. I put them up against each other to see who would be the victor. And to make things even more interesting I brought along a few other sites to see how the free sites compared. What you're about to read is a 9 part feature that will clarify which web site is best suited for you. We'll take a look at everything from the non game information to the ads that run on the site (and where they run). We'll take a look at their game insight, and even their old school coverage. We'll pick them apart . and then leave it for them to put it all back together again.