Why We Love Blood

I was reminiscing today about one of my favorite games of all time. Now, I know this is not an outlet for some of us direction-pad nerds, but hear me out.

The year was 1996, I believe. The platform was Playstation- not that crappy "de"volving POS they sell in stores now, but the old school gray box... Anyways, so here I was at my local Game Stop looking for the next latest and greatest when I see something that catches my eye.

I mean come on, there is a sword impaling a dragon... who wouldn't want this?! So I buy it, with my whole paycheck, unsure what to expect.

So here we are. Opening scene. Bandits. Fight about to happen. Fight is going to happen. Oh, them's fighting words! It's on!! It's my turn! Target... select attack... and then?

Mount Carotid erupted! I don't mean beads of blood implied to the left of the guy you just upper-cut, while some random face with an awkward smile zips to the front of the screen yelling "whoopie!" No, I mean the kind of red spray you could paint a barn with.

It was power. I was hooked. Moving characters here, slicing faces there, perhaps the occasional Salamander summon. And to each end was a character blasting a geyser load of blood into the air and back down to the ground (though I admit I would have rather seen Salamander victims resemble a peasant after a visit from Trogdor).

So what is it that drives this hunger? Why do we watch Spartacus? Why do we flock to Saw to see what new contraption Jigsaw has made for his next wave of victims? What is so addictive about mashing a sequence of keys to see your favorite icy warrior rip the head and spine out of a body?

I wish I had the answer. Maybe I do, but I'm not telling because the last time I did that they put that jacket on too tight and my walls weren't soft enough.

-Joel