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I've Decided on a Game Tattoo

If I ever gather up the metaphorical balls to get a tattoo, that is.

If you carefully cast your eyes to the right, you'll see the design I have in mind. Now I'm going to make you sit and listen as I slowly explain my choice. You may be tempted to flee, but pretend I'm an intimidating prison inmate showing off his tapestry. You wouldn't run from your cellmate, right? He makes you happy at night.

See, I think there is a very fine line between classy and trashy video game tattoos. When I say "fine" I mean this line is as thin as the silk belched out of a spider's bum. Personally, I believe that if you're going to get the summation of your beliefs and feelings scratched onto your skin, you may as well have something to say that both you and the whole world can appreciate.

You can get away with tattooing Super Mario on your forehead because pretty much everyone in the civilised world knows who Mario is and understands his contributions to modern culture. Chances are good--though by no means secure--that Mario will endure for a while longer. On the other hand, there was a time when Sonic the Hedgehog was the coolest mascot ever and it was inconceivable that he would become the fantasy husband of 12-year-old fangirls. The people who got Sonic tattoos in the '90s have some 'splainin' to do (or some big-ass gauze bandages to buy).

Flynn DeMarco over at Kotaku got Jack's chains from Bioshock drawn on his wrists. This, in my opinion, is an example of an awesome game tattoo. Fans of the game recognise it immediately and everyone else can apply their own meaning to it. Nice conversation starter.

Burn Your Skin for Pac-Man

I'm always interested in video game-based body modification. Though I sport no video game tattoos of my own or indeed, any tattoos at all (am I a chicken? You'll never know), I like to know what kinds of choices people made before they went ahead and got Mario stamped upside-down on their foreheads.

I'd especially like to know what the motivation is for the latest fad going around: burning images, particularly of game characters, into the skin with industrial strength lasers. For one thing, I'm not sure about the intended use of these lasers under circumstances when the Stupid virus isn't rampant, but I'm pretty sure body art isn't it. Health regulations? Risk of post-procedure infection? Ahhh, big deal!

about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Hooksexup, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.

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