But Taubman goes on to say that the game does have its high points.

"I think it makes me focus and gather my thoughts," Taubman says.

But do more involved games like "Descent" and "Marathon" serve the same purpose?

"It depends on your personal taste," Harvard Computer Society (HCS) President Justin T. Lin '97 says.

"You have to be careful, because the games are addictive. You get so into the team playing, it's almost like going out and playing football except you don't actually have to go out," Lin says, lending new meaning to the term "computer jock."

But if "Doom" makes you shiver and run for cover, never fear. Just as Wesley Snipes showed his softer side in "To Wong Foo," game manufacturers have increasingly cultivated user-friendly products.

"There's just as much demand for either type of game," says Jeremy P. Condit '00, a writer for the CD ROM magazine "Inside Mac Games."

"As technology progresses you get new games, but the older ones are just as entertaining and addictive."

In fact, Condit says he is especially wary of the simpler mainstream games.

"Smaller games like 'Tetris' are challenging and a lot more addictive in the long run," Condit says, nothing that the sheer number of "Tetris" clone games are evidence of the game's staying power and irresistible charm.

But beyond the sheer addictiveness of "Jewelbox" or even "Doom", wherein lies the key to video game success? Where any Vegas showgirl would tell you: looking pretty, taking it easy and letting everybody think they're winning.

"The key is to have some kind of simple yet deceptively difficult task," Condit says.

While computer games may be addictive, violent--and even dare I say it--a grand waste of time, it is heartening to realize that in a world where College-issue sweats and pocket-protectors signify a continental divide, computer games provide a sense of common ground.

Just think: somewhere on campus tonight students--from Applied Math to Folk and Myth concentrators--are playing "Jewelbox"; ditching their studies for the same magic diamonds, for the thrill of eliminating emeralds and the elusive rush of getting three black boxes on the bottom row.