And now for the nerdy bit...

Well, one of the nerdy bits.  I'm thoroughly nerdy, and a bit OCD (see below) about it to boot.  I love video games.  My husband got me hooked on gaming when we were just starting to get hooked on one another.  Oh sure, at the beginning my interest was more in impressing him, and showing that I could love what he loved.  But as Igor says in Terry Pratchett's Making Money, "if you don't want the monthter you don't pull the lever."  The lever got pulled, and a monthter was created, game by bloody game.  

I know my monster is alive and well because today I caught myself thinking, "he's dead sexy, for a raccoon."  o_0  Mmmmmm-kaaaaaaaaaaaay...

I'm speaking of course about Sly Cooper.  For those of you who managed to avoid this just-as-addictive-and-way-more-expensive-than-crack habit, Sly is a dead sexy raccoon.  I should know, I've played all three of his games and have worn a oval into the floor pacing in antici...................pation of "Sly4".  I'm just as excited for the next "Okami" (a PS2 turned Wii masterpiece that I doubt more than a dozen people played worldwide,) called "Okamiden".  In these games, and countless other games, thoroughness is key to success.  In the Wii game, "World of Goo", OCD changes from the psychological malady to mean "Obsessive Completion Disorder", and man do I got it bad.  If it's something to complete, find or collect in a game, I will do it, and not regret the time it took.  In fact, what is an extra hour of gaming compared to the pride of finding every single clue bottle on every single level?  Mwa-ha.  Mwa-ha-ha-ha!  HA-HA-HA!!!

*Ahem*  You see it's not just about collecting everything within the game, but in every variation, adaptation and manipulation of the game franchise itself.  I not only have all three "Sly Cooper" games on PS2, I went out and bought the collection for the PS3 (it's in HD, y'all!)  I have "Okami", and the 6 disc soundtrack purchase from Japan, and a preorder of "Okamiden".  All the Professor Layton titles have made it into my collection, all the "Mario & Luigi" action RPG titles (yes, even the first hair pulling GBA version,) and all the "Paper Mario" titles (yes, even the N64 title)...and the list goes on.  OCD isn't just about having fun with time wasting, eyeball rotting games, it's about being able to go into game stores and hold one's own with the paid-to-be-nerds within.  It's about barely civil debates with the clerk at the game store who is staring down his nose that the plebeian not buying the right game.  It's that sneer of pride when he says, "ok, I see your point, Lego Batman was the best Lego title."  Take that basement dweller!

Like I said, dead sexy raccoon.