This occurred to me whilst watching “Snakes on a Plane” last week (watch those hits skyrocket!). Whenever I watch a film and a character plays games, it’s rarely a normal part of their character - they’re either kids who won’t do their homework, grown-ups that wildly thrash about, tongues flapping, or have some other form of abnormality that stops them functioning normally. Probably caused by games, but that’s another story.

I wrote a CV a few weeks ago, and didn’t feel that “playing videogames” was a good hobby, even though “reading books” and “watching films” would be fine, and are arguably more passive activities (contradiction?). I like to believe that you shouldn’t feel ashamed of anything you enjoy, but when writing that CV I felt ashamed to say I enjoyed playing games. That’s sort of upsetting.

Games are bigger business than ever, and will be all over the media this Christmas with the new console launches. Does this validate the existence of games? Are games acceptable now that everyone knows about them?

I really want to know your take on this, which is why I’m hosting a special “The Collected Writings of James Newton” podcast - catchy name not included! - for you to air your views. You can get in touch in these ways:

Skype - JamesProsody. Leave a voicemail!

Email - mail@prosody.co.uk. Either attach a sound file (mp3 please!) or just write your comments down. I’ll be happy to hear them.

Leave a comment here on this post.

However you do it, do get in touch - I’d love to know if you think games are - or will ever be - acceptable and “normal”. Here’s another thought - would you want them to be?

I am listening to Can You Feel The Sunshine? by T.J. Davis.