Sorry, Weezle

My mother, much to my dismay, has always held the belief that video games are an addiction, hardly different from, shall we say, a narcotic. It’s an accusation that I’ve found intolerable. Gaming is no more of an addictive than is TV, or books, or music. In fact, I am of the tentative belief that video games can help prevent forays into drug usage, as well as other delinquencies (but this is an unrelated point). As far as I can see, the claim that video games cause addiction is about as substantial as the claim that they cause violence. Of course, the latter argument is still disputed, but thankfully my mom is no Jack Thompson.

But lo! for there are trials to endure nonetheless. Today I discovered the astonishingly sweet morsel that is HoloDek. To think that such a likeness of gamer heaven could appear in the northernmost Southern state is something that confounds and delights me. Located in an industrial warehouse, HoloDek is basically a place to go to game. They’ve got a huge LAN with Alienware HP-powered computers featuring an impressive list of games available to play for $6 an hour. This means multiplayer high-quality PC gaming with anyone sitting in the room with you, whether he’s your friend or a complete stranger. Online play is available too; in fact the company has their own WoW guild. Along with PCs, they’ve got a multitude of games for PS2, GC, Xbox, and the 360, both single and multiplayer. All using huge (I’m talking like three foot long) monitors and TVs and high-end sound systems. Christ is fucking metal.

So when I came home after having heard about this oasis of ecstasy, I mentioned it to my mother, beaming with childish glee. To which she responded with an accusation of addiction. My bubble drifted joyfully towards the clouds then suddenly burst into a small shower of disenchantment. And lo! thus was made the challenge.

To prove my mother that I am not addicted to video games, and hopefully to prove to her that one should not judge a medium that one has no firsthand experience with, I agreed to a gaming fast of the length of 14 days. I immediately packed up my PS2, Dreamcast, my GBA, and my GB Pocket, placed them gently in some bags, and stuffed them under a bureau. They will not again see the light of day (not that they ever did see the light of day in my dark and moldy room), until November 1st. And until that day, I will not play video games here, there, or anywhere.

Of course, my deepest concerns are the facts that 1) I was fucking pumped about checking out HoloDek this week, 2) fucking PSU is fucking coming out the fucking 24th, and 3) I fucking just fucking invited fucking Weezle to play some fucking Half-Life.

But I will gladly deny myself these privileges until I have proven myself both as a gamer and as a person. Which brings me to the title of this post. Sorry, man. I really should have checked to see if I was going to take on a two-week challenge on the spur of the moment before inviting you over. I don’t think I can forgive myself for misleading you. God, I’m a bastard.