It is February, 2004. My 15-year-old son got the PlayStation Game XIII for Christmas and we've both been working on it. That Saturday afternoon, Rik and his older sister Jen had gone out to meet up with their Goth friends in town., Anne was doing something or other on the PC, which left me at the PS2.

At some point in the game I cam into a scenario. A large area of storage units on a grid pattern, patrolled by four opponents. The quite large area between the units and the wire fence was guarded on three sides by snipers and on the fourth with a guard post holding two more men. I was equipped with a handful of throwing knives, a crossbow with a telescopic sight and an assault rifle with grenade launcher.

I spent a lot of time learing the patterns of the patrolling guards and how long they remained out of sight of each other. Using knives, timing and stuffing bodies into unlocked storage units I disposed of the patrollers without raising the alarm. I then proceeded, from the cover of the units, to dispatch the snipers with my crossbow. Finaly I went to the guard post, shot out the window and put a grenade through it.

At which point, an exasperated voice from the other chair said "You, sneaky, crafty, cunning old git!". I had lost track of time the kidshad come home and Rik, unwilling to break my concentration had sat quiety and watched me demolish a scenario he had yet to get past with his 'all guns blazing' approach!

It remains one of my most treasured compliments.