It's a social thing.

It may be a cliché, but gaming has often involved a bloke committing himself to its pleasures while his girlfriend sighs in the background and derides the activity as antisocial. Thankfully, this set-up can be knocked aside completely these days.

The Christmas season is very much a time for good old-fashioned socialising, involving actually physically being with people and sharing a drink or six. So where can gaming fit into this? Well, at the suggestion of my girlfriend no less, we introduced EyeToy to the new year's mix. And it was a resounding success. When I was a kid, we always used to play games – sardines and the like – on new year's night. For every ostensibly grown-up new year's party experienced in later life, I'd always pined after such play. In many ways, EyeToy satisfied the craving this year. Sony's hit innovation (which has been in the games sales charts since its original release in July, reaching over two million in UK sales by early December) really did fit right in to the requirements of the season, notably socialising and silliness.

Gaming is increasingly confounding the long-held criticism that it is anti-social. Personally, despite a love of good ale, I hate an evening of passive smoking – so pubs aren't always a hundred per cent appealing. However, online gaming sessions can in some ways fulfil similar requirements to a jaunt to the local for me – I can have a few beers and I can socialise. But I can also avoid the foulness of a faggy fug. Some maintain that without the physical proximity of friends, this just isn't proper socialising. I don't buy that and nor does the dictionary definition of ‘sociable’. It's just a different, new-ish form of interaction. If you do need to be in the same room to feel you're fulfilling the correct criteria of socialisation, playing ostensibly one-player games – Silent Hill, Medal Of Honor or Prince Of Persia say – with a mate is just dandy. A few beers, swapping turns at every death or save point, giving each other tips, it's a very pleasant social activity. And of course, racing, fighting and other such traditionally multiplayer games have long involved mates crowding round the TV.

With EyeToy (which simply doesn't incur the usual vitriol of those who have a blanket negativity about gaming) or the ever-increasing online multiplayer opportunities, the emphasis of much videogaming is becoming increasingly social. Which was handy during Christmas. Daniel Etherington 16 January 04

useful link: www.eyetoy.co.uk