I am not a gamer. I've never touched a Wii. I'm not committed to having the latest consoles and if I don't beat the game, that's just fine by me most of the time.

Don't get me wrong -- I've been a fan of different games throughout the video game revolution. Frogger was entertaining, Duck Hunt was euphorically diverting, Mortal Kombat introduced me a whole new world and I actually remember the exact time and place I first played Madden NFL. None of that, friends, compares to the first time I got behind the controller and did my first lap on Need for Speed: Underground.

I love cars -- and while I've never been a fan of over-zealous paint jobs and seizure inducing decals (carbage, as it's called) -- I must admit the satisfaction of customizing your virtual car until it is virtually unrecognizable and, without a doubt, no longer street legal. And the racing... Like I've said, I'm not a gamer and most times I didn't care if I placed. I just like making the car go. True gamers may be wincing but, hey, that just means I'm one less person you have to worry about beating your score.

Need for Speed:Carbon -- which I played for the first time earlier this evening -- was no exception to any of the other NfS games I've played over the years now. I sucked. But the graphics and the cars and the...well...it was just a great looking game. Heck, even as I gloriously mangled my Murcielago (again) it looked great grinding into a sparking nub of Lambo.

I'll admit the roads were a little wonky -- not exactly what I had come to expect from the NfS crowd. But, hey, I'm just going to crash anyway.

Anyway, all that to say all this...
I don't think violent television or movies or video games make people go out and do bad things.
But, I do finally see the wisdom in a quote from "Smartbomb" by Chaplin and Ruby:

"Show me your children’s games, and I will show you the next hundred years."

Labels: cars, video games, wisdom