Xbox Drone Beta

It was the first Gulf War that seemed to introduce us to a new kind of war coverage.

Through the reach of CNN, and the intrepidity of the likes of Wolf Blitzer - surely a name that wasn't so much given as chiselled - we saw war a new way. The long-range destruction of foreign cities by cruise missiles - disembodied cities with, at least at first - no inconvenient blood and mess to be seen. Real war as video games. We were able to watch the results of the people who fight in our name, but who were fighting at ranges of hundreds of miles.

The surreal long-distance nature of this war strikes home when you read about the lives of the drone pilots. What is it about the phrase "if you push that button somebody can go away" that chills the blood so much? Whatever the rights and wrongs of the American operations in Pakistan, and whatever the operational advantages, you can see why people in Pakistan would not exactly be comfortable with these things flying around letting bombs off above their heads - imagine how you'd feel if the lorry overtaking you on the M1 was actually being driven by a trucker from an office in Bangalore. Although, come to think of it, that may be a way to reduce transport costs.

Meanwhile, my nephew Jamie has been showing me his Xbox linked up to a multi-player game called "Mop the Floor with Blood" or something equally charming. In the game, the players can run around shooting each other in real time.

Just thirty years ago, all these things seemed remote - almost impossible. But as the games become more life-like and war more game-like, and in these days when people have paid to be taken into space as tourists, the day when a Premium video game gives someone the chance to fly their very own real drone comes closer. Of course, it'll just be a game. It won't be armed. It'll just be flying around in the desert somewhere, where nobody lives, just having a play at flying.

Or at least, it will be to start with.