Revenge of the Nerds...

At some point in every boy's life, there is some computer game that can take over every aspect of their life. For the original gamers it was Space Invaders. For some in my generation it was the Legend of Zelda, or later on Street Fighter and Halo. Each seems to inspire devotion from each player, bringing out their inner "gamer."

A documentary I just watched called, The King of Kong brought back a whole lot of those fond memories of nerdy adolescence. It follows the model of perpetual loser in all of us, unemployed former Boeing-employee, Steve Wiebe, in his quest to attain the highest score in the original Donkey Kong game. Even more complicated then the actual task of getting the high score are the hurdles placed before him by the devoted followers of self-proclaimed 20th Century gaming king and Yanni-impersonator, Billy Mitchell.

The shit makes you embrace your inner nerd, but it can be killer on your personal life. I have been playing much damned Command and Conquer lately. Now I am checking to see when the re-release of Blade Runner is going to come to L.A. You can't escape it.