So I realised the other day just how many pieces of plastic gaming paraphernalia I have scattered about my house. There’s the full set of Rock band instruments, DJ hero, the Halo 3 Legendary edition master chief helmet and no less than 2 different steering wheels. It gets quite embarassing when non gaming friends come over and I have in essence a room full of what appear to be toys for small children. There’s often quite a bit of explaining necessary in order to convince people that I’m only fantasising about becoming a rock star or world famous DJ or whatever.

I have to admit though that I love gaming peripherals and paraphernalia. I tried learning to play real guitar. It’s far too difficult and far too time consuming for me. I love the instant gratification that picking up my rock band guitar and playing along to some quality music brings. That’s the joy of peripherals: they take something that in the real world would require real skill to master and boil it down to pressing some coloured buttons and strumming in time. Brilliant.