Wizards, Nintendo, and a Confession (or two)

I love video games. There, I said it. While they have long been the sweaty, myopic, dimly lit bedroom habit of many a Commodore 64 geek and have in recent years become mainstream, only now am I beginning to dust behind the computer (well, now a laptop) and actually have conversations about video games. With real people!

For years I secretly satisfied my habit by locking my doors (even though I live alone) and indulging in imaginary VGA bliss. All of this has of course been made easier via Super Nintendo during my fourth year in residence. Too many very loud and very public displays of Street Fighter 2 and NHL 95 (which is still arguably the greatest hockey game) have made playing video games more socially acceptable, even though my girlfriend makes fun of me.

Still, some things are hard to admit. For example, my favourite video game of all time is actually called Baldur’s Gate 2. Yes, it’s a sequel, which means I probably played the game that came before it. And yes, it involves wizards. But, you know what, it’s damn fun to play and can provide hours of mindless mental wandering when needed. Plus I get to be a wizard and shit.

While I’m at it, I may as well come clean about this whole wizard thing. Not only do I enjoy a video game set in a fantasy world, I also (gasp!) like reading fantasy. That’s right, I’m a snarky, thick-glassed, nerdy fan of epic fantasy. And while I don’t engage in intense arguments about who kicks more ass, Boromir or Aragorn, I do enjoy an epic fantasy series.

In fact the author, Robert Jordan, is so devoted to his fan base that, despite a life expectancy of not much beyond 2008 (it’ll be sad to lose such a powerful literary force), he intends to complete the final installment of his opus before it’s, well, too late.

In all nerdity, I do one day dream of writing an epic fantasy series where I can have wizards do some crazy shit and I can make up words like Fphizzledeeboop (which is obviously a breed of cattle, duh). Hey, I even found out exactly how from not one but two great sources. Wicked!