The transition from one generation of consoles to the next is always painful, though this time around the launch of new portable game devices by Sony and Nintendo has helped to prop up software sales and mask the decline in sales of games for fixed consoles.

ECONOMIST: The video-games industry

Heavy make-up or a mask will also work, as will tilting your head at a 15-degree angle, which fools the software into thinking you do not have a face, according to an online guide produced by hacktivist group Anonymous.

BBC: 'Privacy visor blocks facial recognition software'