Super Mario, Pac-Man, Pong and Galaga all are household names, thanks to video games. Memories of spending Friday nights at an arcade with a roll of quarters and a soda, building a home computer to play PC games or buying the new game console to play the latest games on your TV - from the first basic video game in the mid-20th century to now, the video game industry steadily grew to become the largest entertainment industry, even more so than movies, television and music. In 2017, the gaming industry raked in $116 billion in revenue, whereas TV generated $105 billion and the film box office brought in $41 billion. There certainly is no doubt that gaming is more popular than ever before - all you have to do is ask your grandchildren to tell you more about Fortnite or Minecraft and you better be prepared for a conversation. But how exactly did the industry get to be such a giant and what is everyone playing now? Let's take a look. 30 NOVEMBER 2020 BY MARK ANDERSON A LOOK BACK AT VIDEO GAMES THROUGHOUT THE YEARS