Where There's a Wil...

One of my favorite weekly reads on the satire online newspaper The Onion is the Games of Our Lives column, which aims its wit at video games of yesteryear. It's a funny and nostalgic look at the good, the bad and the ugly video games, both coin-operated and console from author Wil Wheaton.

Yes, that Wil Wheaton. He earned cheers for his turn in the coming-of-age movie Stand By Me, but jeers from many Star Trek fans while serving as astro nerd Ensign Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Who can forget "121 Uses For a Dead Wesley Crusher"? But Wheaton has developed some blog cred through his Wil Wheaton.net.

This week, the Games Of Our Lives column looks at a favorite of mine from the early 1980s, Moon Patrol. As Wheaton explains, the point of the game: "The moon isn't very safe, and thanks to budget cuts, your buggy explodes as readily as a 1972 Pinto. Luckily, you've tricked it out with a dashboard Jesus, lasers, and hydraulic shocks, so you can blast the rocks and jump over the bottomless craters that get in your way."

It was a simple yet addicting game that had me feeding it quarters if for no other reason than hearing the catchy Moon Buggy-driving tune that I still can't get out of my head.

Games of Our Lives [The Onion]
WilWheaton.net