Minecraft?

It is been an incredibly busy week. A protest/riot on campus Tuesday, a group of religious persecutors from Tuesday still hounding around on Wednesday, and today, well, I got slammed with a paper on a 300-page scientific theory novel due Monday (with no clear topic or thesis), the realization of some deadlines I am nowhere near completing with the dates quickly approaching, two exams next week which I have yet to start reviewing for, and there is the no-sleep factor, as I tossed and turned all night last night. To make things worse, my Saturday is eaten up by a conference that lasts from 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM that I am giving a 10-minute presentation at and required to attend. Lovely. That effectively cuts down my sleep catchup and productivity by seven hours.

Nevertheless, I needed to get some kind of blog out. I would like to start by saying that for those of you in rage over my, um, rage in my last rant blog, I sort of apologize. I obviously don't want to alienate anyone from my blogs, but I also have the need to spew out anger like Charlie Sheen vomits after ODing on his daily crack use.

So, I will find time before Monday or Tuesday(-ish) to get out a very pleasant review of Dragon Age 2, Killzone 3, and a nice feature that is happy and charming like a new Glade plug in.

Until then, here is a short discussion I want to start to bridge the gap. I see people are really into Minecraft. I understand that it is apparently fun and addictive, too. My experience is limited. I played for ten minutes, doing nothing but digging straight downwards until I ended up in a pit of lava and died. After watching YouTube videos, though, I was intrigued by these monster things that look more like Charles Barkley woke up without his coffee rather than scary beasts.

I want to know why people love it so damn much. I'm not saying it's bad. I am sure any game in which you can build a 100-foot tall penis is actually quite fun. But what makes it addictive? I see people playing it more than World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, or Halo. Is there ever a point where you get sick of it?

I leave you all with not just a Minecraft question, but this to think about, as well.