Martin Percy, Sevenoaks, England

I'm 44 and I'm a computer engineer, so perhaps it's not surprising that I'm such a big gamer. I'm really into simulation games, the kinds of things that let you experience what it's like to do something like fly a plane or drive a huge truck - all from the comfort of your own home. I have my own YouTube channel and I play live to audiences of over 100,000.

I've always been interested in big machinery and the games are incredibly detailed. They feature traffic and buttons and everything, and are very realistic. The feeling of landing a passenger jet safely is incredibly exciting. I also love the social side of it. It enhances the whole experience. I read all the comments from other gamers and enjoy interacting with them.

Contrary to expectations, by the way, I don't live in my parents' basement. I am married, I have three kids and I do have other hobbies as well!

Jessie, Taichung, Taiwan

I got my first desktop when I was at university, and to begin with I wasn't very keen on computer games. The big change came after I graduated and found that I couldn't get a job. I applied for hundreds of different positions and went for a few interviews, but without any success.

Around this time, I discovered The Sims and soon I was completely obsessed. I don't know if you know the game or not, but it's quite unusual as there are no fixed objectives; it's more like a virtual world where you can create characters and stories, and so on. I loved the fact it allowed me to be creative. After a while, though, I realised that while I was busy trying to fulfil these fantasy versions of my life, I'd more or less given up on my real life!

In the end, I decided to quit. It was hard to break the habit, but it's been for the best. I'm working now - for a company that sells household goods - and I've met someone too!

Emerson, Freetown, Sierra Leone

Internet speeds and connections are still a real issue in many areas here, so most of my gaming is done on my smartphone. Obviously, this affects the kind of games we play here. It's not common to play games online with different friends. For us, playing multiplayer just means playing side by side!

Another way in which gaming here is different is the huge number of pirate copies on the market. I'm not saying it's good, because I know that it's taking money away from designers and programmers, but without black market copies, people here could never play most games as they're too expensive.

One other difference here is that we don't get angry like western people. I read recently about all these organised protests in the United States because one part of a game was released later than promised. It made me laugh. Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't be happy in that situation either. It's just that we have bigger things to worry about.