In Cleveland, Ohio, an idea is brewing. This isn’t the first time – Craig Michaels has been posting innovative dispatches from his blog for months now – but this is an idea that may rock the very foundations of the games industry. Because in a few days, after his work schedule clears up a bit, Mr. Michaels is going to post the article that’s been brewing in his head for weeks now – “When will there be a Mad Men of videogames?”

Mr. Michaels said of the article, “Everybody keeps going on and on about a Citizen Kane of videogames. I say, what’s that? Is there a Banana Republic line of Citizen Kane clothes? Does Citizen Kane make it cool for me to smoke profusely? Did Citizen Kane introduce me to the Manhattan, rocks, one cherry? No. And that’s why we need an article like mine in the gamesblogosphere – to ask the question everyone knows they should be thinking.”

The groundbreaking writer provided us with an exclusive excerpt from the piece: “Everybody is, like, talking about Mad Men. All the time. Like it’s the most important thing that’s happened since… since… well, since as far back as The Wire. But everyone knows there’s a The Wire of videogames (GTA: San Andreas, for its nuanced portrayal of every side of the drug war), so when will games meet this new standard for brilliance in media?”

When asked what inspired him to write the article, Mr. Michaels told us, “Those damn Citizen Kane articles keep getting all these links and hits and shit. I mean, what the fuck is Citizen Kane? I tried to watch it once – but I already knew from Animaniacs that Rosebud was his sleigh. So, like, that’s over with, why do I have to watch a movie about it? Why do we want a Citizen Kane of videogames, if it’s just a movie about a stupid sleigh?”

NYU games studies professor Gertrude Lawler told us, “Mr. Michaels is clearly grappling with a number of media questions we’re all currently working to answer – such as, what is a video game? Why do you need a controller to play them? What would it be like if everyone had to play a video game for one hour at the same time every week? What is the TiVo era’s answer to video games? Why doesn’t anyone ever feel any ill effects from drinking all day on Mad Men?”

The article, scheduled to post “when I get a free couple of days from my job at the restaurant,” has already sent several media professionals into a frenzy. “Oh shit, Mad Men? I’m linking to that,” said Jason Kottke of prominent culture blog kottke.org. “That is a show that I watch, and I have many feelings about. Many of them.” Another prominent cultural figure, Andy Baio of Waxy.org, said, “I just turned my blog over to a RSS spider a few months ago. If he mentions indy games and crowdsourcing in addition to Mad Men, it might just post six or seven times.”

When asked what the lasting cultural impact of his article might be, Mr. Michaels told us, “I’d just like some hits. Maybe some people could click a Google ad… Or maybe I could get a Kotaku link. That would be fuckin’ sweet.”