But wasn't that always the case? What about the countless Saturdays when you'd invite your mates around for a quick game of International Karate? They were simply a mechanism to demonstrate how good you were at playing games, how much you'd practised - on your own - during the week.

It's becoming easier to see how our generation, the first teenagers to embrace computer and console games with an unprecedented passion, have matured to arrive at this juncture. We're the first ever 20 and 30-somethings to go through this transition, writing the rule book as we go along, which is why it's potentially so easy to miss what is happening.

The modern cult of the videogame is a product of many contributory factors. Thanks in no small part to the PlayStation, consoles have carved themselves a niche in mainstream 'yoof' culture and the general populous now understands what games are actually about - always a key factor in a mass acceptance of any trend.

Consider this though: 10 years ago, if you asked a girl in a pub to come back to your house and play on your Commodore 64, chances are she'd have legged it the moment your back was turned. FG would stress that while the world hasn't changed that much, it's possible to suggest coffee, tunes, and a quick blast on the PlayStation after hours, without disgracing yourself publicly.