In another few decades, it’s going to be a difficult task for anyone alive now looking back to depict where reality ends and fantasy begins. Think about the natural progression of technology and how telephones quickly morphed into microwaves, and a game like Pong suddenly leaped into the future with flash casino games accessible from mobile iPhones.

If it’s a sport or an activity, odds are there’s a videogame made about it. Billiards is no exception, and snooker, especially, has found a comfortable home in the digital age.

Purists will suggest that there are many aspects of the game that no computer software can correctly imitate. Side-spin only plays a little role in many of the digital games. The cloth is always flawless and the table speed is a predetermined factor. Chalking the cue, aiming and stroking are all done via a button without any real feel needed.

But what these games lack in realism they make up for in excitement. It takes a true billiards lover to even want to learn snooker, much less battle their way through the sometimes hours-long games. Digital snooker speeds up the process, offers multiple views of the table, and is as much of a teaching tool as there is.

There’s also the fact that the snooker room is always open. You won’t have to search for an opponent, there’s no need to reserve a table. If you can power on your PlayStation 3, then the game’s as good as played.

Today’s videogame consoles offer a snooker set-up that’s very close to the real game. Although the aforementioned motions of the game are computerized, the onus is still on the player to do the little things to win the match – strong defense, the safety game, touch shots, concentration, and a sense of the table layout and how to gain the best position.

World Snooker Championship games are available for both the Xbox 360 and the PS3, and even Wii has a snooker game out which really requires a steady hand for the motion capture technology.

It might not be a snooker lover’s favourite way to play, but going digital may be one of the best things that ever happened to snooker. Now anyone can play, age and height regardless, and with any luck a new generation of snooker lovers will emerge.