Pac It Up and Head to School

Maybe it's boredom, or maybe it's a part of being born into the digital age, but I've got a soft spot for anything in 2D with a joystick and two buttons. Despite my best efforts I've never been able to kick the habit of stomping goombas or shooting hundreds of digital ducks out of the air. The best place to do it too is the vintage Arcade on the corner of Granville and Smithe.

They've got whatever you'd want (and a coffee joint on one side with a burger pitt on the other). My personal favorite though has got to be Mrs. Pacman. I still haven't figured out why the high scores keep changing, probably because they unplug it every night. It just gives me the incentive to break that 35,000 mark.

I really shouldn't be too shy about having such dexterous thumbs. Afterall, the demographics, they are a changin. According to some one-third of male adults own some sort of video game console, and most of them even have children.

I only found out recently that such an addiction is actually supported, and by the government no less. The Great Northern Way Campus is a soon to be opening post-secondary institution, sponsored by the BC government. The Masters of Digital Media will earn eventual grads accreditation from all four of Vancouver's major institutions, UBC, SFU, Emily Carr and BCIT. If that doesn't work out there's always Vanarts who've been doing it even longer.

Loving video games really does seem to lead somewhere then. And here I thought all I was building was great hand-eye coordination. But I'm still not giving up on Mrs. Pacman. She's a tough one, I won't lie, but I'm smitten. At least until I break 35,000.