The headline followed the release of a review of computer games' impact on young people, commissioned by the federal government, which found games were inspiring families to turn off the TV and interact on a scale not seen since the days before television.

Fast-forward 23 years and the gaming landscape is unrecognisable.

A generation of teenagers are now putting their headsets on and locking themselves away in their bedrooms to take on friends and online players in ultra-competitive games like Fortnite.

Canberra woman Julie-Ann Whitecross has had a front row seat to the changing face of video games.

Just about every gaming console released in the last few decades has come through her Gordon home, from the family-oriented Nintendo 64 and games like Mario Kart, to the PlayStation 4 and games with online capability.

She believes the 1995 research stacked up well, but only until the introduction of online gaming.

The Nintendo 64 is still set up in the family's rumpus room, and when her 15-year-old son Matthew recently asked his parents to play it with him, Mrs Whitecross was thrilled.

"I’d love to see more gaming systems like that, because that was definitely family-oriented, rather than being isolated and just doing your own thing, going to your room, closing the door and entering a new world which is all online," Mrs Whitecross says.

"All of the Nintendo games were fun. We would all sit around there and just laugh and laugh and laugh.

"It’s why we’ve still got the games and the console; it’s just so much fun. The current gaming really isn’t designed for families."

Even Matthew, who enjoys playing Fortnite, Rainbow Six Siege and other PlayStation 4 games online against his mates, acknowledges the difference.

"With games online with friends, it’s a lot more competitive," the teenager says.

"With the Nintendo 64, it’s a lot more relaxed. You actually have fun with it, and it’s much less competitive."

Mrs Whitecross doesn't blame teenagers for enjoying modern consoles like PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

She's upset with the way manufacturers have designed games to encourage online play, meaning while children like Matthew are still interacting with their friends while gaming, they're not doing so in person like her older children did with the systems available when they were younger.

"Once headphones go on, everything else gets blocked out, which I find very sad," Mrs Whitecross says.

"To see [Matthew] interested in the Nintendo 64 is fantastic, but at night, it’s not what he wants to play. He wants to interact with his mates and play these [online] games."

Mrs Whitecross believes the changing nature of video games has taken away their very purpose: to be fun.

"Matthew’s bedroom and our bedroom back onto each other, and we can hear him at night sometimes getting really angry and shouting at the television," she says.

"To me, that’s not what games are about. They’re meant to be fun. With the Nintendo 64, [getting angry] never happened.

"I do find it very sad that this is the way games are now being produced for our teenagers."

One of Mrs Whitecross' daughters, 27-year-old Holly Steer, has moved out of the family home and lives with her partner Matthew Carter.

They don't have a video game console at home, but the couple has discussed buying a Nintendo 64 to play together, rather than a PlayStation or Xbox.

Ms Steer, who played older and more modern consoles during her childhood, shares her mother's concerns when she looks back.

"With the Nintendo, it was always in the family room," Ms Steer says.

"When we got PlayStations and Xboxes, they all went into our bedrooms. They just weren't conducive to everyone sitting together.

"[Games like] Grand Theft Auto would be awkward to play in the family room because our little siblings are 10 years younger, so you really couldn't play that with them going past."

Dale Kleeman, a senior lecturer in information systems at the University of Canberra, has maintained an interest in the impact of games on social interaction since the 1995 research was released.

At the time, Mr Kleeman told The Canberra Times he kept a close eye on the games his children, then aged between five and nine, played on the computer.

All three of his kids have continued to play video games since, but none of his now adult children have let gaming dominate their lives.

But Mr Kleeman acknowledges that's not the case with a lot of young people, who can become addicted and isolated from their families.

"Things have got a hell of a lot more complex," he says.

"Back then, a lot of the computer games were simple and they were relatively standalone-type games.

"They were probably sophisticated for their day, but nowadays, the vast majority of the games we’re seeing are sort of online, network-type games.

"I think that’s a real risk. People can get really highly addicted to them."

Mr Kleeman now has two younger daughters, aged 16 and 19, who often play games on their smartphones.

He says the prominence technology now has in everyday life can make it dangerously easy for young people to be drawn into online interactions at the expense of doing things in person.

"The thing is, the kids these days tend to multi-task," Mr Kleeman says.

"They’ll be watching a movie on the screen, playing [a game on their smartphone], and perhaps also be on some other device checking their Snapchat or whatever else they’re doing.

"I don’t know how they do it, but I see my [teenage] daughters doing that quite a lot."

Mr Kleeman's eldest daughter Benita, 27, has played video games her whole life and believes they can have social benefits.

The pastry chef and university student enjoys first-person shooter games like Call of Duty and Left 4 Dead, and plays them at home with her boyfriend and online with friends.

She says she spends about one or two hours a week gaming.

"I used to play a lot more, but there's not much time now with full-time work and study," Ms Kleeman says.

"I've found that [gaming] has brought me together with people and we've always had a fun time."

Ms Kleeman is not alone in taking that view. A group of adult Nintendo players have been meeting up in Canberra twice a month for the past five years to play 3DS and Switch games.

But many much younger Australians are playing games online with people they have never met in person, in an environment where bullying is common.

A survey of 3017 Australians between the ages of eight and 17, released by the federal government's eSafety commissioner in March, found half of the respondents had played online with people they didn't know.

The "State of Play" report revealed 17 per cent of those who played online had been bullied or abused while playing the games.

As the report notes, it is a problem that is likely to continue, with the popularity of online gaming unlikely to die any time soon.

"This is a sizeable industry both globally and within Australia that is able to monetise the interest shown by players in a number of ways," the report says.

"Despite its relatively recent development, young people in Australia have demonstrated a significant interest ... paving the way for continued growth in its participation."