I know about the uproar generated by some over Fat Princess, the new downloadable capture-the-flag game for the PlayStation Network. I've even given this uproar a thought or two, too.

You see, I'm a fat guy. I've been a fat guy for years. And while I still have some of those strong muscles of my younger days, days when it took six guys to hold me down, my girth is by far more flab than flex. And considering that I generally regain some, if not all, of the weight that I do lose when I decide it's time to shed some pounds, I suspect that I'll be a fat guy in my future, too.

As a fat guy, does one of Fat Princess's key game mechanics -- feeding little princesses cake until they start looking like The Blob -- bother me?

Some have labeled Fat Princess as offensive. Others have called it mean. Some point out that fat folks are one of the last groups that are safe to ridicule. Hell, I even laughed at fat jokes -- while a 3X shirt hangs in my closet.

People who know me have never heard me whine about being fat, get upset about fat jokes, or complain about how today's food industry crams ungodly portions of empty calories down America's pie hole. I may not care what others think about my weight. But I care what I think about it.

And I hate it.

I've hated it for years, and yet, I can never seem to get past that unproductive, pathetic self-loathing. Sure, I've had times where I've been able to drop weight -- most recently, I lost 50 pounds after starting work at my former job as the copy chief of Ziff Davis Media in 2006. But I've gained almost 20 of those pounds back, and at this rate, the other 30 will join them.

You see, like the princesses in Fat Princess, I comfort eat. I know that feeding the princesses cake is a game mechanic, but I see their desire for cake as a response to the struggle around them. And I understand that. If someone was trying to kidnap me, I'd eat, too! When I'm dealing with negative emotions, I eat, using food (frequently cake!) to bury those emotions down my gullet.

My weight is a lifetime's accumulation of anger, despair, guilt, pain, sadness, and stress.

Now that I've finally admitted this to others -- and myself -- can I continue to cram cake down the poor princesses' throats? I'm not sure. Maybe I can change the goal, rescuing the princess as quickly as possible before other players make them too fat. Maybe I can even stop other players from making the princesses fat.

Or since the princesses are just pixels on a screen, maybe I shouldn't worry about them and focus that worry into making myself thin and have fun with the game. After all, it's my responsibility, not the gamemaker's, to lose my weight and feel better about myself.