Confronting Your Digital Doppelganger Deranges and Disturbs

I've always figured that if you spent enough time on the internet, you could discover anything. And when I came across my apparent long lost twin earlier today, my theory proved eerily true.

I found him on Kotaku as part of what appears to be a promo shot for some Call of Duty title on the Wii. And I had to check the photo a few times through the morning, just to assure some nagging part of my brain that even though I've written for Kotaku and been behind the scenes with Activision, no, I've never posed for an Activision photo shoot.

Even now I'm just beginning to be convinced, and only due to my diligent study.

He has my hair (both the curly mop on my head and the Ben Affleck from Chasing Amy wannabe thing on my face), but there's something almost imperceptibly off. He has a stronger jaw that drives his visage to appear confident, fierce even. While you can see me on the right, tentatively trying Wii Music for the first time, you see other world me, confident me, attacking COD like I'm going to kill the TV.

Would this oddworld me win in a bar fight, a round of Wii Sports, or an IQ test? Would my wife find him attractive? None of these possibilities are all that fun to contemplate.

In the digital realm, you become accustomed to copies. Be it Bittorented MP3s or your Mona Lisa desktop wallpaper, a copy of almost anything is accessible in moments that's indistinguishable from the real thing. Seeing a copy of yourself doesn't feel nearly as convenient. It's startling, and it calls to question, just how original am I after all? Just how "me" is my me?

I also don't own red shoes, though after seeing this photo, that's a situation that I clearly must remedy.