Space Filler.

Here I am in a class called eMarketing.

The lecturer is cool and pretty laidback. He basically just talks for 15 minutes, and then let's us do whatever we want for the entire two hours. Last week I sat here talking about EVE Online with a classmate and had various discussions regarding Mods for Sins Of A Solar Empire, based on both Star Trek and Star Wars.

What you'll notice is that I have a certain affinity for space. Space in general, and science fiction in particular (which more often than not, happens in Space). As I write this though, the PC is currently the only outlet for me to fulfill my space addiction. Be it through documentaries (James May : On The Moon, The NASA Missions : Why We Left Earth, History Channel : The Universe), movies, and video games (Sins of A Solar Empire, Galactic Civilisations II).

This has been more evident since I suffered the misfortune of having all 4 of my gaming consoles cease to exist within the span of a few months. The PS3 packed it in with a YLOD (yellow light of death), the Xbox360 RROD'ed (Red Ring of Death), the PS2 died after 8 years of service, and the PSP got stolen after a house break-in. A total outlay of 900 US dollars would be required to get everything back, which is as unlikely as having Scarlett Johansson pull up at my house and asking me if I would marry her and give her babies.

Why space? Because, as canned as it might sound, and as hackneyed it will indeed seem, it is indeed the final frontier. The last great bastion of the Unknown which mankind is yet to comprehend, let alone conquer. There is something deeply seductive about the idea of leaving this ball of rock 93 million miles from the Sun, and going out into the infinite blackness of eternity. If only for the view.

The only way I would conceivably be able to do so, is through the wonderful medium of gaming, which has provided me with countless hours of space escapism, as I battle the Borg, destory the Empire, slay Helghast warriors, or just fly around as an interstellar trader.

Then again, perhaps space is just an outlet for me to forget the mundane realities of Earth, and the harsh practicality of having to deal with life. However, going into space for mankind, as a whole, has made us view life in an entirely new context, and has changed how the world sees itself, in relation to the rest of the universe. But there are pitfalls to that, aren't there? Because our first few steps into space have shown us that Earth is basically a tiny subatomic particle floating around a speck of dust (the sun), in an ocean trillions of times larger than the pacific. As James May said, it's not that we're small, or insignifcant; it could very well be that we don't matter at all.

Maybe that's why so few of us share this deep fascination, nay, love, of space and the adventure that it would undoubtedly turn out to be. Because we choose to ignore the possibility that we are nothing in the cosmic scale of things. Maybe Bruce was right, when he said that we are merely God's playthings, and that God is a kid with a magnifiying glass, and we're all merely ants to be burnt to death. Or even worse, the bacteria on the ants themselves.

Me? I don't care that we don't matter in the giant scheme of cosmic happenings. I just want my videogames back.