Button Masher

I'm a button masher.

There, I said it. When it comes to video games, let it be known that I am one of those hopeless guys who can't figure out what button to push when. That, paired with a stupendously average hand-eye coordination leads to video game mediocrity.

Therefore, when faced with a fast paced game and a half a dozen buttons, I just mash them until something cool happens; either that, or I pick one button for each thumb and just push those two no matter what. When I play fight games with my brother, I am a button masher. I have no idea what the moves are, but I'm sure as shootin' gonna mash a bunch of buttons.

The other downfall I have is that I grip the controller too hard which ends up making my fingers hurt. I have learned not to lean my body or wave the controller during racing games as if that would help me dodge and weave better.

The secret ace that other videocrities like me have is the sheer number of hours they are willing to put into practicing their game. After a few hundred hours, the muscle memory kicks in. I have never been willing to be that guy -- I have never actually enjoyed it quite enough to endure the training to get competent.

That is, until now. With a little bonus money, I decided to bite the bullet and get a Nintendo Wii. Now I am having a Wii bit of fun. The Wii was made for guys like me who are much more likely to wave the controller and jump about rather than push a complex set of buttons. It's addictive and fun, very different from your average "console", much more natural.

I'd also seen the game Rock Band played and had a blast remembering all those songs that I liked.

It's the music that did it; I bought the game and have started training my anemic video skills and rhythmically challenged self to play the Wii guitar and drums. I have improved in just two days and am loving it.

Don't ask me to play in front of you, but if you sneak over to my basement in the Wii hours, you'll see me mashing those buttons.