This past week, circumstances led me to check in the mirror to see if my appearance had suddenly changed, and perhaps I was cooler looking or somehow more attractive. Maybe I had better hair, I don't know.
I assumed reality had to have been drastically altered somehow, because it seems that when I wasn't looking, video games slipped into the mainstream - big time.
I have no idea when it happened, either. One minute, video games were delegated to the domain of society's fringes, rumoured to be enjoyed only by maladjusted, baggy-panted male teens, or virginal 40-year-olds with shyness issues and memberships in the Star Trek fan club.
Now it seems video gaming has earned some sort of social acceptance and taken its rightful place beside other entertainment mediums like TV, music and movies.
I came to this realization as I sat watching the 24-hour CTV News channel where, sandwiched between stories of President Obama's various doings and reports on the world's ongoing conflicts, was a segment on the newest Call of Duty video game release.
I'm used to seeing a tech story or two about the latest Blackberry or iPhone incarnation, but here was an actual serious piece on the hype and anticipation behind this particular game's release.
Here was anchor Sandy Rinaldo, a serious and matronly journalist, asking about graphics and gameplay like she'd just come back from fragging enemy soldiers on the Xbox herself. Maybe it's just me clinging to those old stereotypes, but I just can't picture a woman my mom's age mashing buttons on a game controller while marvelling at the realistic blood splatters and body mangling physics.
As I began looking at other news channels and websites, I caught more "gaming news" that was being presented front and centre along with international war reports and the latest Hollywood buzz.
One channel had a report in its headline news warning people to be careful about buying Xbox gaming consoles from Craigslist or eBay. It seems more than a million Xboxes were banned from online play by Microsoft, as the consoles had been tampered with to allow users to play pirated games. Now everyone was trying to unload their banned systems on unsuspecting buyers looking for a deal.
I was overjoyed that gaming was now out in the open and no longer a dirty hobby I had to hide, but I wondered why suddenly everyone was taking notice.
Believe it or not, video games have been around since the late 1940s, but it was in the '80s that the computer boom gave birth to a real gaming generation and the male geek stereotype we know and loathe.
However the latest polls indicate the games market is diversifying thanks in part to things like the iPhone that have great graphical capabilities and thousands of games available. For casual online puzzle-style and simple mobile cell phone games, the gender divide is more or less equal between males and females these days.
In fact, surveys suggest more than 41 per cent of PC gamers are now female, the average American gamer has been playing for 12 years, and is now, on average, 35 years old.
So although all my friends' eyes still glaze over when I talk about the latest game I'm playing - it seems video games have finally made it to the cool side of the entertainment spectrum.
And my reflection in the mirror? The same Star Trek loving geek with bad hair, unfortunately.
Oh well, you can't win 'em all.
