I've been playing a lot of video game baseball for work lately. In fact, I've been playing so much that I finally had to quit playing last night because my hands hurt from holding the controller; my eyes were tired from staring at the screen; and my shoulders were sore because I sort of lean towards the TV when I play. I guess I didn't quit soon enough, though-- my right hand hurt so bad I couldn't even fall asleep. I grabbed a bag of ice, took some Aleve, and as I lay in bed at 4am and iced my hand and wrist I had a vague recollection of doing this before. Yes, I've gone to some pretty extreme lengths to keep myself in the game.

Anyone who played games in the '80s or early '90s can tell you about "Nintendo thumb," which was basically when you had played so much Nintendo that the skin on your thumbs had been rubbed raw. I played a lot of games back then, so it didn't happen often, but Goal! for the NES was always able to bring the pain. My friend Bryan and I would play that game for hours on end, always trying to lead Argentina to glory. When our thumbs started hurting, or more accurately, when we couldn't stand the pain any longer, we'd go stick them in some ice until they felt better. That usually bought us one more game and then we'd do it again.

Thanks to Mario 64, things didn't get much better in college. The Nintendo 64's analog stick may have brought about a revolution in controller design but it didn't win any awards for comfort. After a few hours (Six? Eight?) my thumb would feel like it was on fire, a victim of being ripped to shreds by that stupid analog stick. But darn it, I wanted to keep playing! What did I do? Toughed it out during the platforming sections, but when it came time to toss a boss around, I pulled my shirt over the stick and used that as padding. It wasn't as pathetic as it sounds. Seriously! By the way, the great guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan used to Super Glue his calluses back onto his fingers after they had fallen off so that he could keep playing. Of course he allegedly used to nurse hangovers with cocaine and alcohol, but still, he was pretty hardcore when it came to playing the guitar.

I know I'm not the only person who has done something crazy so they could keep playing games; some of you guys must have some stories. Feel free to leave a comment or send an email to AaronT@GameSpot.com telling me all about your ability to play through pain. I'll put together the best submissions in an editorial that will be posted in the Soapbox sometime next week.

* Before anyone else says it: "Waaaaaaaa, I have to play too many games at my job. Poor me." I know. I'm a big baby.

**Because I'm up to my ears in baseball, you'll have to wait another week to get to know Brian Ekberg. That's good news for you baseball fans that want reviews, but bad news for the millions AND millions of The Ek's fans. To make up for the long wait I'll try and get him to do the robot or something in the video. Should be sweet.