Today I walked into my neighbourhood LaserFlair, knowing exactly what I wanted to look for.

And there it was… Nicely packaged in a relatively non-descript casing… The Godfather Collection, on DVD. The trilogy, plus a forth disc with “Bonus Material”. It was finally here, uncut, thanks to the new laws surrounding censorship in the country.

I balked at the price - $99.90, of course, but not for long. For the second time in my life (since discovering that Star Trek: The Next Generation was on DVD) I wanted to take something off the shelf and pay an exorbitant amount (in my opinion) for it. My mind was clear, the decision all but made. I had to watch the top rated movie on iMDb.com, or my life wouldn’t be complete.

But I exaggerate, of course.

What makes “La Cosa Nostra” so appealing? Why does organised crime than began in 20’s USA have such a mainstream appeal even today? What is it about the world of the Mafioso?

I remember first reading about Al Capone in “Tintin in America”. Boy reporter Tintin arrives in Chicago, apprehends Capone within the first ten pages of the story, and then gets entangled in an adventure which sees him take down one crime-boss and eventually the whole operation. Go figure. If anything, I believe that piss poor image of Capone just prevented me from giving the guy any respect.

But things have changed recently. Playing the PC game Grand Theft Auto 3. Playing “Family Business” when over at Jack’s. And most of all, playing this text-based RP type game called Mafia.org.

There’s just something about all this that appeals to my darker side.