Brickbreaker -- the latest obsessive game built into the Blackberry

[steven johnson]

There is a reason the Blackberry is often called "the crackberry". It features a number of addictively useful applications: Pandora radio, Brickbreaker, even G-Chat. Now Brickbreaker is taking on a life of its own. Barack Obama is not only addicted to his BlackBerry, but possibly "BrickBreaker" since he plays it to unwind and before bed with a high score is around 15,000, according to reports. This is considered pretty wimpy by serious players.

The Jesus Christ of PDAs

Barack Obama's Favorite Videogame: BlackBerry BrickBreaker?

She was playing BrickBreaker, the profoundly unsophisticated ball-and-paddle game bundled with every BlackBerry.

But as BlackBerrys become more popular — they account for more than 20 percent of the smart-phone market, according to a 2009 study by Forrester Research — there are signs BrickBreaker has grown into a global time suck.

The first-ever BrickBreaker tournament is being held next month on Long Island (Dina, Ali and Cody Lohan teamed up for the announcement at a news conference in July). On social networking sites, including Twitter, there is a steady stream of often delirious chatter in a variety of languages about the game.

The game has long been the secret shame among executives, the original users of the BlackBerry. Joel I. Klein, chancellor of New York City schools, told The New York Times in March that he was a recovering BrickBreaker addict who once scored close to five million points.

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