The European Computer Trade Show is the celestial body around which the entire European games market orbits. Not, as you might think, because of the endless round of parties, launches and opportunities for drinking far too much and falling over, but because the ECTS is a showcase for software houses to display the wares they'll be offering at Christmas.

After several lacklustre years, there were positive signs at the most recent ECTS - held between the 8th and the 10th of September - that we're heading for a new golden age of videogaming, reminiscent of the halcyon days of 1992. Though we've yet to see the emergence of a media-friendly figurehead, such as that reactionary thug Sonic the Hedgehog, there's a whisper on the breeze that says a new gaming revolution is coming.

With the barest hint of what Nintendo may, or may not, be planning for Europe, it was left to Sony, Sega, and their third-party bedfellows to light the beacon and lead us into a new era.

Come now, young one, drop those cakes, take our hand and let us drag your bloated frame across the burning embers of tomorrow...