A long time ago, just around the corner...

There only used to be gamers. That was it. We all used to huddle round a single ZX Spectrum, listening to the code screaming in from the tape (yes, cassette tape, you young-uns) for what seemed like hours. How we'd laugh when it didn't load first, second or third time, until you had the tone set just right. By the time you got the game running you were so grateful the bloody thing was working at all you played it to death. You had to be determined in those days. We shared a sort of fanatical devotion to gaming at home that you had to have to survive those bleak, keyboard thumping days of yore.

Of course, now it's all different. All you have to do is put in the disc/cart and you're off. The era of mass-market gaming is upon us. No longer are gamers a sort of secret society, constantly apologising for their hobby and in fear of being - gasp - a geek! Enter the Casual Gamer.

With gaming now being cool, not everyone is a fanatical hardcore gamer. A new breed of gamer, content to just play the only game in his collection when he comes in from the pub, has been born. There are people out there that would actually say, "Coo, isn't Small Soldiers great fun. It looks just like the film," without being sarcastic. I know! My sister-in-law is one of them. I haven't the heart to tell her. As a dyed-in-the-wool hardcore gamer, I shudder inside at every game she buys. They're horribly familiar. Games of the film, all of them. She does play some good games, it's true, but she doesn't know the difference.