But according to the innovation quango NESTA (hard to find a better term for this non-governmental body), the picture is a lot gloomier.

Its report, Raising the Game, says Britain is going to slip from third to fifth in the global games developers league table, we haven’t the skills we need, and studios and staff are heading to Canada to enjoy that country’s generous tax breaks. The solution? Well I think NESTA is calling for similar tax breaks in the UK - but it’s hard to be sure.

Still, here’s one ray of light - provided by the BBC’s Economics and Business Unit where I work. My boss has launched a competition to encourage keen young (or old) games developers to come up with something that could be used as part of a project called The Box. This involves tracking a shipping container as it sails around the world, and is a brilliant idea, which only a far-sighted BBC editor, keen to educate, entertain and inform the licence-fee payer, could have engineered. (There, I think my job may now be safe).

Even more imaginatively, he is now collaborating with a group of developers who’ve been working on Facebook applications. They are helping to run this competition aimed at making The Box even more engaging for schools which are now following the website and tracking The Box. The top five entrants will be selected by a panel, which will include BBC executives and school students, and they will see their games loaded onto The Box site. Then there will be a public vote - and the winner will be featured on the site for the rest of the project, which will probably last into next summer. They will retain the commercial rights to the game and can then make money from it in any way they wish.

So this is a small project - but one which could show us whether NESTA’s view that the games sector in the UK is suffering a severe skills shortage is really accurate. So if you’ve got an idea for a game for The Box, get cracking. You have until 19 December to raise your game.

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A £1m TV and online anti-cocaine advertising campaign featuring “Pablo the drug mule dog” is to be launched by the government today.

The campaign advertisements, voiced by comedian David Mitchell, are targeted at 15- to 18-year-olds to make them more aware of the risks and harms of cocaine use.

Pablo, a dead dog, wakes up to find he’s been used as a drug mule to smuggle cocaine into the country. In an attempt to find out what led to his demise Pablo interviews key players from the world of the drug - the dealer, the user, a bag of cocaine, a heart, a nostril and a bank note.

They highlight the addiction, heart attacks, personality changes, fear and violence involved in the process.

Sarah Graham, spokeswoman for the government drugs information service Frank said: “No animals were hurt in the creation of this ad - unlike in the cocaine trade.

“Some young people may perceive cocaine to be a harmless party drug but they don’t realise the destruction it causes.

“Users can suffer serious harm to their mental and physical health, while the cocaine supply chain also harms people and the environment.”

The television and online advertising is a new departure in government drugs education work.

Despite the latest British crime survey figures showing overall illicit drug use declining, cocaine use amongst 16- to 24-year-olds continues to remain stable, with about 5% having used the drug in the past year - equivalent to 320,000 teenagers a year.

The number of drug-related deaths in which cocaine has been cited on the death certificate as a contributory factor has risen to 196 in 2007 - the highest number since 1993.

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In a dank, dingy basement, a little dog with the voice of David Mitchell off Mitchell and Webb, wakes up dead with a gaping hole in his chest. Turns out he’s been used to smuggle cocaine into the country. And he’s called Pablo, possibly after Pablo Escobar the (also) deceased Colombian drug baron.

So Pablo/Mitchell the dead dog/mule sets out to find out the answer to the question: what’s the big deal with coke? Big deal … see what they did there?

Anyway, it’s a murky place when Charlie’s about (Charlie? Don’t worry he’s no one). Where there’s cocaine there are guns and scuzzy toilets, not to mention that basement with poor Pablo, lying with his gaping wound.

The world of cocaine is a place where hearts race and stop, nostrils bleed, personalities change, people turn into other people who aren’t as nice as the people they were before. More selfish.

And objects - that gun, that heart, those nostrils, a banknote, the cocaine itself - talk with vaguely familiar voices. Not quite as familiar as Mitchell’s, but then the budget was only £1m.

Isn’t that thingy from wotsit though?

Maybe it’s because I’m not (quite) between 15 and 18, but I’m not getting much of it.

I think I understand the overall message though. Cocaine? It’s not good for you, turns you into an arsehole. And your nostril into one too (honestly - check the link). Also, little dogs die. So don’t do it kids. If you’re tempted, talk to Frank. I’ve no idea who Frank is, but he’s on 0800 77 66 00.

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