In the back corner of a darkened apartment, a cigarette burns away in the ashtray. Next to the ashtray, two hands are working overtime, flexing and relaxing in an almost involuntary dance. Above, a face glows with the flickering light of a television, expressionless.

The 20-year-old student hasn't slept for almost 20 hours. No crack pipe is in the room. No blood-stained syringes. Not a trace of marijuana. Only a Sony PlayStation and an empty video game case that reads "Final Fantasy VII."

This person isn't addicted to controlled substances. This person is a video game junkie.

Over the last 15 years, home video games have quickly become an integral part of America's culture. Allowing kids of all ages to bring to life many different worlds of fantasy, these games bring countless hours of pleasure for many people. But like any mind-altering substance, these games also have a darker side.

Even at Kent State, there are those who have let these virtual worlds get the best of them, causing problems at work, school and home. They are hopelessly addicted to the sense of accomplishment that comes along with solving the secrets of computer-generated lands.

Charlie DeMarco doesn't own his own home video game system, but there's a reason why. The 19-year-old radio/TV major already spends enough, maybe too much, time with a controller in his hand.

"I already play for two or three hours a day, at least six days a week," he says. "I'm almost afraid to buy my own system because I'd play it too much."

DeMarco first noticed he was hooked on video games about two years ago. It was then that he first played a fighting game for Sega Genesis called "Mortal Kombat II" at a friend's house. From that point on, the addiction increased.

"The hard thing about playing video games is that they're like books - you get into it, you want to finish it, and even if you're not playing the game, you still think about it all the time."

"FIFA Soccer 1997" is his latest object of addiction."I've spent close to 125 hours a week either playing FIFA or watching someone else play it," he says.

DeMarco once became so enthralled by a game called "Resident Evil" that he spent three days at his friend's house playing the video game for a total of 42 hours.

"My parents, who I live with, got really worried because they hadn't seen me for days," he recounts. "They ended up calling all of my friends trying to track me down."

DeMarco admits video games have hurt his grades and attendance in college. On one occasion, DeMarco and a friend decided to play one last game for the night, after five full hours of playing "Madden NFL '97."

"It's about 2 o'clock in the morning, and it's the fourth quarter," he says. "My team was the Raiders. Suddenly, 'Rocket' Ismael breaks down the left side of the field. Jim Harbaugh drops back in the pocket and just unleashes 60 yards of pigskin fury. It catches 'Rocket' at the 30 yard line and he strolls into the end zone for the lead. I end up winning and my friend was all mad so we had to play again."

By the end of the game, it was 4 a.m. "So, I went home knowing I had an 'Art of Theatre' test at 10 o'clock the next morning," he says. "I slept right through my alarm and missed the test ... I ended up dropping the class."

Theresa Kish received her first real dose of video games in 1991 when she lived in Terrace Hall. "There were about eight guys crammed in a dorm room playing 'Road Rash' on Genesis and they refused to let me play, saying it was because I was a girl," the 23-year-old says. "For the next week, I would practice when no one was around. The next time there was a big group of people playing, I asked to play one game. I beat them all."

Then she was hooked.

"The next thing I knew, I had solved nearly every 'Sonic the Hedgehog' game, and realized that I needed my own system," she says.

When Kish finally bought her first system, a 3DO platform that plays CDs, video game technology had improved immensely with incredibly detailed graphics. "The summer that I bought the 3DO, I would lock myself in my house for days and just play 'Star Control' all night," she says. "I even called off work a few times because I didn't want to stop playing."

Video games have become a sort of therapy for Kish, helping her though depressing times with incessant fun. "It's escapism - 100 percent," she explains. "Games give you a sense of accomplishment when you haven't done a damn thing at all."

Tony Meda doesn't fit the profile of a typical video game junkie. At 22, the English major is addicted to Atari 2600, the late 1970s predecessor to newer systems like Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation.

"I'm an Atari junkie," he says. "I've got Pac-Man sheets and curtains, I go to flea markets to find games. I live for Atari."

Owning more than 60 games for his system, from "Pitfall II" to "Burgertime," Meda says he tends to go overboard with his Atari playing. "I have fetishes. I usually don't just like something, instead I get obsessed. Atari's no different - it's an addiction," he says.

Although Meda's retro video game obsession has yet to interfere with his work or school life, he says Atari has a major impact on his social life."It's actually increased my social life," he says. "I mean, the guy who has an Atari - now that's the guy you want to visit."

Justin Harvey, a 22-year-old radio/TV major, admits he plays video games more than anyone he knows. "There was a time that I'd play the PlayStation game "X-Com" for nearly 20 hours a day," he says. "I'd tell myself that it was time to eat and when I finally would get up to eat, six hours had passed. When I wasn't playing, I'd find myself humming songs from the game and talking endlessly about how far I had gotten in the game. I wouldn't want to sleep, and when I finally did, I'd dream about the game."

Harvey says he even missed several job interviews because he didn't want to stop playing "X-Com.""When your friends refuse to come over because you're playing a video game, you definitely have a problem," he says. "I had a problem."

But Harvey, with a laugh, says he doesn't need to be rehabilitated. "I'd say that if I played video games in the real world - with a family and a real job, I would need help ... I would definitely like to find a job where I'll still be able to play my video games."

"Right now, I'd say that I play video games too much," he says. "I'll stay up late at night and then have to come up with an excuse why my homework isn't in on time. Maybe video games are the reason why I'm still a freshman after four years."

1. Two words: Pac-Man fever.

2. You still take your report card to Chuck E. Cheese for free tokens.

3. The last time you went to the video store, you rented "Double Dragon - The Movie."

4. You have "Atari Thumb," the loss of several layers of skin between the thumb and forefinger, resulting from hours of working a joystick.

5. You have a lifetime subscription to Nintendo Power magazine.

6. You own every volume of the "Mortal Kombat" video game soundtrack CD collection.

7. A beautiful, sunny day is wasted indoors on a car-driving game like "Andretti Racing," while your own car sits in the driveway.

8. The thought of "Doin' the Frogger" excites you.

9. The whole staff of Video Game Exchange knows you by name.

10. You're still writing hate letters to General Mills for discontinuing its Pac-Man cereal.