The only reward for a life of ceaseless toil seems a summary execution by predator or human boot. Those wishing to do some serious research before committing themselves to their next life will find on the shelf today a number of useful CD-ROMs. Savage simulates the trials you must undergo to grow up as a lion in the Serengeti. The Dorling Kindersley Virtual Reality series plunges us into the lives of cats and birds. But, strangely, it is the insect option which receives most attention.
Insects keep appearing on the small screen.
In Peter Gabriel's pioneering CD-ROM Explora , the cursor is a fly buzzing around the singer's face. SimAnt is one of many Maxis titles which grants the player responsibility for managing insects. Worms gives you command of wriggling colonies, and in Entomorph you deal with an island of tourists who have been transformed into hideous insects. Your assigned proxy in Bad Mojo takes some getting used to. In crafting his surreal tale of alienation, it is no wonder that Kafka choose a cockroach as the outcome of Gregor Samsa's Metamorphosis .