Sitting down to play some GTA.... "I think not." said the red rings of death. Anyway, it's my 3rd time shipping the console back to Microsoft. I just don't have the balls to stop playing. Poor me :cry:

I recently came to a revelation in the way I stereotype people. It was all brought about because of a conversation four of my friends were having while attending a 4 week training course.

I and three of my friends have been locked away in a small room for the last two weeks in order to complete some airspace training. We are busy memorizing maps and trying to re draw them from memory. Boring right? Yes, of course it is. Several times during the day we will get to chating with each other to break the silence. Most often the topic turns to gaming. Three of the four of us are pretty hardcore gamers and the fourth doesn't play at all. Recently, the fourth, non-gamer started in on us for not spending our free time wisely. Repeated comments in mocking tones about our "nerd" status were becoming almost intolerable.

I've been comfortable with the fact that I am a socially adept nerd for years. But the other two guys were not so confidant in their assertions. During a conversation about the GTV IV multiplayer we were subject to harassment from the fourth. The other two gamers became embarrassed and wouldn't continue the conversation openly for fear of being marked as a nerd.

I encouraged them openly to embrace their hobby for what it is and don't be ashamed to be labeled as a "gamer." After all it is the un-named fourth that is the social outcast. He is the noob in the room of the pwnerers. I think back on the last few years and recall of the the gamers I have meet around the country and i realize we are everywhere ... and everywhere in force.

I was happy my cohorts downed the non-gamers ego by reminding him that he was the outcast here and he should feel lucky to hear our conversations or even sit in the same room with us. In a world of gamers the non-gamer is not an interesting person, because they have little common ground.

It may seem counter intuitive but one of the things that can really settle a hyperactive kid down is a video game with constant forward motion. I know for a fact that I'm a little hyper active and access to all of the media in my home really doesn't help. But I have always been able to focus for hours on gaming. But not just any game.... I feel more relaxed when I'm running my avatar at high speed for hours on end.

For example... Naruto: Rise of a ninja; this game has tons of fast moving platforming and running. 25% of the game is dedicated to racing or ramen delivery. Assasins Creed; run around on roof tops and make sure you stop breifly to stab some dudes. World of Warcraft; WSG capture the flag has always been my favorite place to relax in WoW. I have more flag caps than most people have total xp. All due to the fact that i can't sit still and running the flag is the best way to keep moving. Some other notables are; Spyro, GTA, and pretty much all racing games.