Column by Humphrey Lee.

I love video games. I love lots of other media; comics, movies, music, books, etc. Just like anything I'm into, I've got quite the expansive library of titles and they're something that's been part of my geek lifestyle for longer than I can remember. And what I'm here to address, really, is that it's just starting to grate on me, really just plain irritate me, any time I find myself face to face with more commentary on how "video games are such a waste of time" or "there's so much more you could be doing with your life" or any of those other stereotypical utterances you'd expect from parents out of a 1980's Beastie Boys song.
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I've always been a huge fan of the Metal Gear Solid series. I've played them all, repeatedly. I've played the first game without killing a single guard. I've unlocked the bonus features. I've attempted to survive European Extreme mode. I've had serious, philosophical discussions about the games' plots. I've examined and researched even the most minor characters in the series. I'm deeply considering dressing up as Solid Snake for Halloween this year. It would be safe to say that I love these games. So what has me fed up with Kojima Productions?

Their growing insanity.
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Let's be like everyone else out there right now and turn our attention to the new hotness in viral trends.

The Swine Flu, Miss CDC H1N1 if you're nasty, is something I'm sure you're familiar with. If you've spent time near anything that's not porn in the last two weeks, it needs no introduction. Currently, somewhere around 200 people have died due in part to it with thousands more infected or possibly infected. Millions are, as they are with most things, scared and riveted by what the media is calling a pandemic. Indeed, if you read or watched the news in the last few days/weeks, you'd think there was nothing else going on.

It was with that in mind while poking around the net Friday, I revisited "Pandemic II" a virus-sim game by Dark Realm Studios. The gist of it as you might have guessed revolves around evolving a disease and watching it spread infection to the world, possibly to the point of humanity's extinction. It's a decent, somewhat short (usually around 1 or 2 hours) and bloodless (despite all the grisly things you can make your virus do, there is no graphic depictions of death, sickness or even of human beings whatsoever) game to play provided you have a dark sense of humor.
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Deal Hunting by Alysha McK
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