All across the country, millions of people are addicted, but this kind of addiction doesn’t come as a pill or a powder. It comes in the form of a controller in your hand and a huge flat screen TV in your face. I’m talking video games, those interactive pieces of entertainment that have been a haven for social outcasts, nerds, geeks and 12 year olds to all meet and insult each other online.
Thanks to the rise of high-speed Internet, video games have reached a point where they are so immersive, competitive and social that they start to become more exciting than real life itself. This is where the addiction sets in. Games like "Call of Duty" and "Halo" have shattered sales records because people get sucked into their competitive multiplayer format. Hence the all-too-accurate stereotype we have all come to associate with gamers: the guy living in his mom’s basement, with Mountain Dew cans scattered across the floor, his fingers covered in Cool Ranch Doritos and no light, other than the glow of his TV.
Being a gamer is not a cheap vice either, with most new release games costing at least $60. Not to mention spending at least $400 or $500 on the new consoles and buying a nice HD TV to play them on.
If you ever do come out of your hole, wipe off the Dorito dust and check out GrandLAN (56 Division Ave., Grand Rapids), which offers a hangout for you and your gaming buds.
