Mad Dash

So, picture this scene.

It's 2AM, and already a massive horde is forming outside of the local Target and Wal-Mart stores, fighting to be first in line before the doors open at 7:00 am.

What seems to be the attraction? Is a celebrity coming to visit, or is there a mad frenzy over the latest fashion design? Maybe they heard there was a “blue light” special and thought something was awry since they are not at K-mart.

No the attraction is the rumor these stores are receiving a limited shipment of the new Nintendo Wii.

These individuals are enthralled with everything that has been written, posted and fantasized about for the last few months.

They are addicted to gaming or have someone in line that is enabling an addiction.

Is it healthy for our society to become addicted to gaming?

Where are our priorities?

How is gaming hurting relationships and interpersonal skills?

The worst incidents reported during these rushes into stores include people being shot waiting in line as seen in the following post. Thugs shoot man in Playstation 3 waiting line in Connecticut - Boston.com

But the injuries don’t end while waiting in line either.

In recent weeks, the Web has been inundated with reports of excited gamers losing their grip on the Wii's controller or smacking their arms into nearby objects.

Nintendo has responded by issuing a general "calm down" to its customers and by beefing up the controller's fabric wrist strap.

The lawsuits, offbeat stories, and repeated injuries certainly haven't hurt sales. The market research company NPD Group estimates that U.S. consumers bought 476,000 Wiis in the two weeks following its Nov. 17 launch. That beat Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 console, which sold just fewer than 200,000 units in roughly the same period amid widespread shortages.

Because of the nature of the Internet, one or two occurrences becomes 2,200 experiences that are easily read about on the “net”

The company is hoping that some initial information showing that gamers seem to be blaming each others' klutziness more than they're criticizing Nintendo's design will help prevent too many lawsuits.

**Source of cartoon found on the web. Author unknown