What do you get when you stick a FPS PC gamer in a tent filled with over 80 consoles, LOADS of games, and no PC in sight? ... You get a PC gamer named Femme Fatale who's actually forced to sit down and try something other than casual games and RPG's that she's used to playing on the console...
Attending the Pepsi AMP Your Game National Gaming Tour last Thursday may have been the best antidote for my anti-FPS console syndrome (A.F.C.S)...

After trying Socom: U.S. Navy Seals, I'd never since bothered picking up another FPS game on the console. My brain couldn't handle inverted controls, and no, I had no idea I had the option to change them (NOOB, I know). I had no patience for figuring it all out either. I think I spent a total of 30 minutes playing, and ditched it just like that, and up until last Thursday I stuck my nose up high in the air at pretty much any console game with guns involved, and happily stuck with gun-toting pwnage on my computer...

Now to make my experience sound way cooler, and less boring; I've made it into story form:

So last Thursday, since Rock Band and Wii Sports were in use, I walked around looking for something else. I stopped abruptly when I came across an open PS3 station equipped with Call of Duty 4 just sitting there all alone, inviting me to play. (I played CoD 2 for a while on my comp and I really liked it, 3 skipped the PC, and I never bothered to get 4 because my computer can't run it.) I eyed it, skeptically, fighting the urge to pick up the controller, knowing I'd just cause a scene when I'm thrown into an all-too-expected-of-me Game Rage tantrum!
But I took the bait and step toward it... I cautiously looked left and right as to make sure no unfortunate passer-by was about to lay their eyes upon my embarrassing attempt... Good. Coast is clear.

I quickly figured out the main controls, but as I'm one second shooting at the sky - and the next - sticking my nose into the pixelated earth, memories of my inverted control nightmares come flooding back to me.
After nading myself, blowing my comrades to smithereens, a few un-ladylike curses, and some more dying, I'd had about enough! I slam the controller back into the stations holster, and hastily march off, feeling like a spoiled little girl who didn't get her way... But then, determination kicks in and I soon find myself slowly inching back towards the glowing screen, like a moth drawn to light. My hands are back on the sleek black controller. "I'm no noob." I reassure myself. "Control the game, don't let it control you... Pwn it."

So caught up in mastering the game and getting quite into it was I, that not until about 15 minutes later did I notice the guy standing next to me, watching me... Probably laughing in his head. Turning - what I assume was a rather unattractive shade of red, I tell him
"Um, seriously you don't want to watch this, it's painful on the eyes, or do you want to play or something?"
"Nah, you're better than me, I play this on PC. Just watching."
"I hear ya, PC ftw. It's these damn controls! My puny brain can't seem to grasp pressing down to look up, and up to look down!"
He didn't say anything right away after that, which caused me to peel my eyes away from the screen for a second to see what he was doing. He was staring at me, eyes wide, he finally said
"Um, you know you can change that right. You can press up to look up, and down to look down..."
He showed me how to change it, and I'd realized since I was getting used to inverted, I now had to get used to the new changes. I did eventually, and I was loving every second of the game. My friends had to drag me away from the system, since the event was shutting down for the evening.

...Driving home, all I could think about was Call of Duty 4...

FIN.

Are you sleeping yet? WAKE UP! The moral of the story is... Have patience! Don't be prude, and quick to judge a game if you are having troubles playing it. Stick to it! Practice makes perfect. You could really be missing out on something extremely enjoyable if you don't try it.
Could that evening have been an important event in my gaming timeline? I really wanted to buy CoD 4 for my much-to-often rejected 360. Not having the money to drop on a game, I was quick to borrow it from a friend, and have been playing non stop. Will I turn to console for my FPS desires? Will I convert? These new PC games take a juggernaut to run them, and I can't afford to upgrade right now. Will my PC rot? Who knows! All I know is that I've been away from CoD too long, and I must get back! (New addiction since World of Warcraft?)

Do you have a specific platform you prefer to play certain genres on? Are you hardcore PC, or hardcore Console? Both? Why? Was that story lame, and a waste of mine, and your time? Commence with the discussions in comments please.