The last 10 years have seen computer games develop from being a niche entertainment medium, used only by a hardcore few, to become an industry worth $6bn (£3.6bn) in European sales alone."
But with new consoles like Sony's PSX and the handheld PSP looming on the horizon gaming is looking at its next stage of evolution and how it can embrace and become accepted by so-called "mainstream culture".
Hardcore games players have previously formed the main target audience and have, in turn, become the evangelists of gaming by championing products, creating fan sites and original content, and spreading what PR just can't buy - namely, good word of mouth.
But, one of the major challenges facing the games industry at the moment is how to convert the elusive nonbelievers.
Ray Maguire, managing director of Sony Computer Entertainment in the UK, believes that the games industry is already failing a large percentage of people in this country simply because it has not been able to reach them.
"If we've got 7 million PlayStations in homes and half of those are PS2s, then that's only around a third of the UK. So what's happened to the other two thirds and why can't we get to them?"
He believes the industry still has a lot of transition to do in terms of getting products which appeal to the other two thirds.
Last week's column looked at how mobile games are hooking in casual players by encouraging them to try out more up-to-date games on their phone. But Maguire insists that understanding why non-gamers are not playing is also important in helping the industry cast a bigger net.
"If you talk to non-players and try to understand why they're not playing it's not driven by price," he says. "It's usually an emotional reason, like they feel uncomfortable with it or sometimes there's a time element to it and a certain misunderstanding of what gaming is all about."
Games are starting to have a much more noticeable influence on TV, with programmes like Gamepad, Gamezville and the upcoming Golden Joystick awards (which is to be televised on MTV this year). Whether or not you agree with how the programme creators have decided to interpret games and games culture, it's nonetheless hard not to notice that these shows exist.
Let us also not forget the online world. With the Xbox and PS2 network offerings still in their relative infancy, there is still plenty of scope for gaming to reach out to a wider audience, with ideas such as episodic adventures that players can download and pay for incrementally.
Industry analyst Screen Digest has predicted that online consoles will be the biggest gaming market by 2006, with mobile games coming a close second.
Meanwhile David Gosen, MD of Nintendo Europe, thinks the most important factor in the "mainstreaming" of gaming is not for companies to squabble over a piece of the market share, but instead to actively try and grow the market from the ground up, creating different games for different people and, specifically, simpler games for those who don't have the time to devote to complex titles.
"Games that are simple give the people who are very time-pressured the chance to play videogames as part of a number of other activities that they partake in," he says.
"Historically, we used to talk about disposable income being the deciding factor in game choice, but I think that time has now become a key factor."
As the games industry looks towards moving out of its entertainment niche and into the mainstream, the key theme that runs through the avenues it has been taking in order to push itself forward is that of giving people more choice.
Like films, gamers like to play games that meet their needs at a given time; a quick beat 'em up with mates after the pub, a strategy game for when they have time to exercise their minds, or a quick go at a blocks puzzle when they're waiting for the bus.
To cater for new audiences, without alienating the existing ones, different games of varying complexities need to be made more available to the spectrum of potential gamers. Build them and they will come.
Charts - full price software
Official UK Leisure Software Charts (c) ELSPA compiled by Chart-Track
1) Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 (PS2, Xbox, PC, GC)
Electronic Arts - £37.99
2) Club Football (PS2) Codemasters - £39.99
3) Eyetoy: Play (PS2) Sony - £39.99
4) Conflict Desert Storm II (PS2, Xbox, PC) SCI - £39.99
5) Soul Calibur II (GC, PS2, Xbox) Nintendo/Electronic Arts - £37.99
6) Hulk (PS2, Xbox, GC, PC) VU Games - £20.99
7) Formula One 2003 (PS2) £20.99
8) Halo: Combat Evolved (PC, Xbox) Microsoft - £39.99
9) Colin McRae Rally 04 (PS2, Xbox) Codemasters - £37.99
10) Finding Nemo (PS2, GBA, PC, Xbox) THQ - £34.99
