Life, Love, and Death at the Crossing

I consider myself a rather serious gamer, and as most serious gamers know the word "heartwarming" is that not easy to find in video games. And so it was therefore in my collective surprise that I stumbled upon an article in Penny Arcade about a heartwarming webcomic of the Animal Crossing video game. After much digging around (with the help of Google), I managed to find the offending (or should I say, heartwarming?) culprit and checked it out to see its worth.

And in my opinion, it was worth a few good words. Plus a few tears if you can afford to.

(please click to enlarge)

I don't play Animal Crossing (not by choice, but rather by lack of a Gamecube in which to play it), but it doesn't take one to play the game in order to understand the poignancy of this strip. Being a gamer myself, I know how difficult it is to find a middle ground for both children and parents to step on when it comes to video games. But this one just goes beyond that awkwardity and shows that despite the hoopla regarding in-game violence and immorality, video games can be a fun and touching way in which a family can connect to one another. This is especially true in this age where the devices that can keep us connected can also keep us apart.

And so, with a lack of a suitable phrase to end this post/pseudo-review, I shall quote the final words on the strip:

Show your parents as much love as you can, while you still can.