Dear Future Gamer

Many magazines use the phrase 'post-pub' to describe when and where games should be played. Post-pub? When was the last time a 30/40-year-old came back from the pub/club in the small hours, spent ages pissing in the toilet and then played a bit of Diddy Kong Racing or Crash 4 before retiring? Just doesn't happen. But it would no doubt apply if it were a 10-year-old child instead, with all references to 'pub/club' and 'pissing in the toilet' having been removed beforehand, I'd imagine. These are the hi-tech generation of kids who have grown up with computers and know how to use them.

So, am I right in assuming that a whole new range of people play videogames? The pub generation in my family are entirely uninterested in videogames. Our consoles, banished to the back bedroom, along with a rather Surround Sound-less, Widescreen-less telly, are played by myself and my younger brother and visitors under the age of 20. I fail to recall the last time my uncles, Grandad, Grandma and aunts came upstairs, slouched across the floor and my bed and got stuck into a loud-mouthed multiplayer session of Mario Kart. Nor can I remember the exact date when my parents sat side by side to conquer Zelda. It just doesn't happen. And yet, according to Future Gamer, post-pub adult games are everywhere, so who buys and plays them? My parents certainly don't, and even they can be safely called 'adult', except when they show me up (usually as they return from the pub). And for the record, nor do I.

Neil Clowrey

FG: Sorry Neil, but you're wrong. I know loads of people who get back from the pub, fire up the PlayStation or whatever and get stuck into some multiplayer gaming - Actua Soccer 3 regularly gets a run-out on a Friday and Saturday night in my house for some post-pub relaxation, and I certainly don't think I'm the only one.