This week I’ve started reading Douglas Coupland’s latest – jPod.

Upon learning the lead protagonist’s favourite videogame is Chrono Trigger I felt a burst of admiration for, solidarity with and understanding of Coupland’s prize character – all shattered a second later with the follow-up words, “on Playstation”.

Now I was repulsed towards, disorientated by and confused as to why he would not have picked the original and superior Super Nintendo version. What kind of man is this? Next, dismay to realise that not only would I pick up on such an inconsequential detail, but that this thing would upset me.

Finally, hopeful wonder at whether Coupland wanted to engender these exact emotions in readers like me – that this gentlest of shading of character development was to show that his hero has excellent but flawed tastes to the well-played amongst his audience.

Now, as I write this, steady guilt that already this might have been a life better spent…