A skilled 10-year-old might well be able to complete Crash Bandicoot 3 before their parents could read the manual (how ironic that as you get older, you read the instructions before you play), but they wouldn't get the same satisfaction as an adult gamer when twatting someone in the back during a Quake II deathmatch.

This maturity has been reflected in a number of areas, such as the integration between videogames and club culture through music licensing and clever product placement. The lack of film tie-ins is also another indicator. However, it has taken effect most notably in our reading.

Videogame sites are everywhere on the Internet, and reviews are invariably tucked in the back pages of film, science fiction, and lifestyle magazines. This is a good thing. If you want to read about games, but don't want the daglo artwork or the countless images of Lara Croft, facts, a bit of humour, and swearing where it's relevant, then you can find it. What some gamers don't want is the technical vibe that PC magazines emit.

So, the whole industry has matured, and videogames have finally become an established medium in their own right? They always were, it's simply taken a long time to convince everybody else. But now, instead of cowering in the shadows, they're pushing other cultures aside as they fit into our pattern of life.

Later this year, Terry Christian will be fronting a new series on Channel 4 entitled The Best of The Word, a show featuring the very best of the original series.

Good luck, Terry.