Where can you shoot someone without penalty? What about playing professional
football anytime you want? Give up?

The video game world, as prosperous as ever with sales leaping 43.4 percent in
2007 and over $12.5 billion generated in 2006 according to National Purchase Diary (NBP), is taking the U.S. by storm. Everyone from kids to adults is caught
up in the craze, some being only occasional gamers, some playing every possible second of the day. The explanation for this is quite simple.

“Video games allow you to do things that in real life would never be possible. I mean, where else can you kill and rob people be rewarded for it?” said first-year City College English major Trevor Paschal jokingly of the controversial series Grand Theft Auto.

Video games allow you to live out almost any fantasy. From Navy Seal to Madden NFL, video games you can experience it all.

Some enjoy the competition, which allows them to play for hours on end.

“For me, I can stay up all day and all night playing the same game,” said City College business major Larry Curtis. “I get so into it, so competitive, you don’t ever get tired of it. There is just something about it that keeps me coming back.”

Ask any gamer, the common denominator is fun. Isn’t that the objective of any hobby?

With games like Rock Band and The Sims, the video game world is expanding to fit all ages and genders.

Will Fields, a 20-year-old, City College English major and gaming veteran said it best: “Video games aren’t just for nerdy teenage boys anymore. There’s stuff out there for everyone. Everyone should try some sort of video game out before they go and write it off as a waste of time.”