EA Sports: Addiction 2009

Here's an idea for a video game, free of charge - EA Sports: Addiction 2009. Take it and run with it. I expect no part of the profits or any recognition, whatsoever. This is how it should work: the premise of the game would be to effectively manage your addiction while maintaining the facade of a normal life. The game should allow you to make your own character and to choose which addiction you wish to live with. It could be your typical cocaine, heroin, or prescription pain meds. It could be alcohol or gambling. You can also throw in a few wild cards like crystal meth or porn, although you may want to consider making people buy a special "add-on" package for the porn option. Kind of similar to the R-rated Sims extension pack (which happens to be a complete waste of money).

The overall goal of the game is to feed your addiction without getting caught. So, you score points every time you buy drugs, swizzle some whiskey while at work, or sneak off to a casino by yourself to gamble your tax return before your wife can piss it away at Filene's Basement. You lose points if you fail to feed your addiction or if you go extended periods without getting your fix. Obviously, you also lose points if you get nabbed by an undercover cop or get reported by a co-worker who smells a toxic mixture of cheap scotch and cherry binaca every time you speak.

The game should make you (the video game you) live out your life in real-time. So, you have to get up, eat breakfast, commute to work, exchange meaningless banter at the water cooler, pick the kids up at school, etc. Therefore, the game should be realistic. Getting fired from your job because you consistently start your happy hour at 11AM may score you some points because you will have more time to spend at the bar. But when your last paycheck runs out, you have to start searching for other sources of income. Get a new job, sell the car, pawn your great-grandmother's wedding ring, whatever it takes.

There are lots of other options that could be discussed. For instance, I think you should be able to choose where you live and in what time period. Managing your addiction in the the deep south of the 1950s would certainly be different than NYC 2009. Or would it? It's tough to say. You could also have different levels based on degree of difficulty. Anyway, I'm sure you get the idea by now. The possibilities are endless. I even thought one of the addictions could be an addiction to video games, but the thought of this quickly gave me a headache.

Good luck. I hope this idea works out for you.