I could probably have Jess pick the names and mail them. I think it’d be more fun to snail mail the names to each participant also.

As low tech as this might sound, you take 5 different colored index cards and write each person’s shipping info on the left hand side and the e-mail address on the right hand side. Cut them all in half and have said person draw a pair at a time. If the colors match, back they go for a redraw. At the end of the picks, the shipping info is e-mailed off and nobody involved is the wiser.

I think the next question is price capping. While I think it would be hilarious to inflict not only mental anguish but also eye strain and scoliosis by sending someone a whole Virtual Boy, the sadism should probably be restricted to a $10.00 or less price point. However…if we want to make sure that nothing but utter crap is found (and make the hunt just as frustrating as the gameplay) we could push that down to $5.00.

Just some thoughts.

I think we should stay away from the emulators as everyone already has every game ever made for them. It’s much more fun to find some gem you’ve never heard of in a bargain bin somewhere and mail it to the victim.

As for the name selection, I thought Jeff or I could just put the names in a hat, pick for everybody, and then email each person with their victim’s name. One of us would know who got our name, but it’d be a secret to everyone else. Beyond someone coming up with an online name selection program, this seems like the easiest solution.