Posted on 02/17/2007 9:18:57 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
When Richard Fuld, chief executive of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., couldn't control his addiction, he took drastic measures. In October, he had the game BrickBreaker taken off his BlackBerry.
"I was playing so much," says Mr. Fuld, who had used it to relax on the plane or in the car. He missed it so much he had it reinstalled, but it's no longer on the main menu. That removes the temptation, he says, "for the most part."
In this era of startlingly realistic video games, BrickBreaker is straight out of the Stone Age. Yet it has developed a cult following, not among the young Gameboy set, but with executives chained to their email. Players swap strategies in chat rooms, brag about their prowess and pay homage to BrickBreaker superstars -- a few with top scores of over one million.
BrickBreaker's premise: Move a paddle left and right with your thumb to bounce a ball so it demolishes "bricks" atop the screen. Most bricks earn 10 points. Clear a screen of bricks, and move on to the next level. Drop the ball too many times, and the game is over. Occasionally, "pills" appear containing bonuses such as a gun or laser, or an extra "life." There's also the deeply hated "flip pill."
Richard Handler, a former bond trader and now CEO of brokerage company Jefferies Group Inc., says he is constantly trying to beat his high score. He plays in elevators and on the way to meetings, or even in meetings.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
please, BrickBreaker is a boring piece of crap game!
These tetris games are addicting. I'm going to tell you about one right now. If you're of an addictive nature, SKIP THIS EMAIL. It is the best tetris game EVER. You can even play it competitivel online: JEWEL QUEST II. It was just released last week. You can test it out on www.iwin.com. It's only $9.99 this week. I play it all the time. Freepering and playing games...what a life! OK...go check it out!
By the way, it has the best graphics ever on a tetris game.
I had the data services removed from my Sidekick for similar reasons.
It sounds like the old arcade game "Breakout".
Have it on mine and play occasionally. Hard to get past single digit levels so I get frustrated and stop playing. Much like my golf game. If I was better it could become addicting. But at my level it's just "a good walk spoiled".
Two pans; one full of peas, one empty; transfer peas, switch pans, repeat as needed...
Solitaire.
I prefer instant messaging on a laptop during boring sessions....
trading jokes with friends in the room or watching via webmeeting - double points if you can get somebody to choke on his coffee
how did office drones ever keep busy before computers and networks?
My mom and dad (70's) got so addicted to this (Breakout) that they managed a "repetitive motion" ailment... LOL...
Myself, I stick to my addictions: Sherlock, Civilization, and Empire...
My daughter's addictions are Goldrunner, Enigma, and SuperTux.
There's a video game addiction for everyone... whether your soft spot is strategy and tactics, arcade, or logic...
We've renamed them to 'CrackBerry'.
spot on. word games during logn meetings. robust, paradigm, synergy, vapor ware, etc.
Two ball in the side pocket?
In my college days, we had the arcade version called Arkanoid.
The original game is called Arkanoid, a popular arcade game.
I guess this is why they call them "crackberrys"
To me the best puzzle game is, especially with 2 players:
Super Puzzle Fighter 2 Turbo, bar none.
These things are MUCH worse than the guy who might blow .08.
my crackberry brickbreaker addict amused himself with
his lil toy during a low moment just last month at an
event for our boys. ;)
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