Such a geek, i'm in the newspaper

Just thought i would share this with my friends and fam.



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Video gaming not just for nerds anymore
By CASSAUNDRA BABERfusioncbaber@utica.gannett.com

You might call Marlena Marron a junkie. She'll do just about anything to get her fix of Mario, Luigi and the Princess. That's game speak for the Super Mario Bros. characters Nintendo made famous in the 1980s that remain popular today. Marron has had - and sometimes mastered - every Nintendo system from the original to the Wii. But don't let that fool you. She's not the geeky, sleep-deprived, Dungeons and Dragons-type gamer you might imagine. This 26-year-old works full-time, attends school part-time and hosts all-night gaming parties - alcohol included - on the weekends. "We end up playing from 9 p.m. 'til 1 or 2 a.m.," said Marron of Marcy. "We have the drinks and everything. We don't even need a D.D."Marron's drug - er game - of choice? Most recently, the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo's newest gaming system. Marron waited at the North Utica Wal-Mart for more than 15 hours to purchase the $250 system. Marron made the best of the long wait - and of course it involved Nintendo. She and a friend brought their portable Nintendo DS, laptops and even had a pizza delivered, in order to make the time pass more quickly."It was actually a lot of fun," she said. So what's the big deal? What is it about these systems that have people waiting hours, and sometimes days, to buy these games? From text messaging to downloading movies and games, modern game systems can do everything, if not more, than a computer is capable of, said Anthony Brienza, Best Buy store manager in New Hartford. But it's the interaction that he thinks keeps people gaming. 'It's a challenge'Chuck Carr, 28, of Utica isn't willing to stand in line for the year's hot system, but still finds something compelling about the games. "For me, it's a challenge," said Chuck Carr, 28, of Utica. PlayStation 2 is his system of choice. Carr appreciates the graphics the game boasts. "I come from an art background, and the graphics are just phenomenal," he said. Carr could spend as many as 8 hours every other night gaming. He has a good excuse, however. Carr works the night shift at Vernon Downs. Gaming keeps him up when the rest of the world is sleeping."I have to stay up so I stay awake by playing," he said. "If I read a book, I would fall asleep."For all agesBrienza said gaming reaches all ages, but generally is most popular among men and women in their 20s and 30s.He pointed to the PlayStation Portable as the hot thing among 30-year-old professionals. "We'll sell more (of them) to business guys and girls because it's small," he said. "It fits into a coat pocket, and you can play movies on it."