Video games are constantly on the rise, like it or not. Gaming is no longer an underground hobby for losers in their mom's basement. The industry has come a long way from those days; breaking into the mainstream as an entertainment medium. In fact the entire gaming market is valued at an estimated $95.2 billion annually. Making it the most profitable entertainment industry on the planet, that's more than music, movies, and books revenue combined.

So, this begs the questions; how did the industry become this popular? Why weren't video games an accepted medium? And, what does the gaming culture consists of?

Well, as a devout gamer since the age of three I can, or at least attempt, to answer these questions.The origins of video games go back further than one would think, but to summarize there was the early days of of text-based games in the 1960s. This was in the wake of the computer age kicking off.

But, what was revolutionary was the home console and commercialization of video games in the 70s and 80s.

The 70s and 80s were the adolescent days of gaming. Companies like Atari made the famous game Pong widely available to the public. Shortly after Atari's success companies like SEGA, Nintendo, and Namco came to be. Each of those gaming companies made their iconic characters that are known by even non-gamers to this day. Sonic, Mario, and Pac-Man invaded the arcade scene in full force; this is widely known as the golden age of gaming.

Once home consoles started catching on Nintendo, and others, became a household brand. When the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and SEGA Master System debut in 1985 is when gaming became part of the culture.

Up until the 90s the two consoles dominated the industry. Not only that but, it was almost impossible to not hear kids talk about Mario or Zelda; video games had made their mark on society. Gaming was a popular thing among younger audiences, but it was a sub-culture at that time and that was only prolonged by the public opinion towards games in the 90s.

As new companies like PlayStation raced to the ever-growing industry in the 90s, video games faced great resistance from the masses. The media started to see how some video games were violent and how that may be destructive to impressionable children. This was around the time games like Mortal Kombat and Grand Theft Auto were just surfacing. And non-gamers wanted to see an end to the violent video games.

The gaming industry took a big hit during this era of gaming, and not in terms of money but by how people viewed it. For many gamers, they still latched on to their dear hobby like there was no tomorrow. Being a gamer at this time was more than a hobby it was a lifestyle, a statement. Gamers at that time knew what we know now: playing a video game isn't a crime, game creators are allowed by law to make anything they desire, and there is zero correlation between video games and violent behavior.

The U.S. government wanted a regulation system in place for video games, so violent games couldn't fall into the hands of young children. In response the gaming industry created the ESRB instead of a government program. The ESRB gives video games their ratings the appropriate age groups. This was to be used instead of government intervention. The video game industry is a self regulated industry, something that's rarely found in entertainment realm. But because the industry has such a tight nit community, gamers knew without the ESRB gaming would be much worse.

So, a bullet was dodged for the time being, but, shortly after the U.S. government dumped billions of dollars on researching the effects of violent video games. In the late 90s and early 2000s this long research study was conducted, and the results were unexpected even for gamers. The government found that not only do video games have zero association with violence, but they also found that there are more positive than negative effects of games. Video games have proven to increase cognitive ability and real-time critical thinking skills. These two factors help children with learning disabilities manage better in school. Learning disabled gamers perform better in school as opposed to non-gamer students with an LD.

After the violent video game argument was shut down by research, the industry grew at an aggressive rate. As the current decade rolled around games broke into the mainstream. Consoles like Xbox and PlayStation have the game worlds so immersive and emotionally gripping, the public can no longer ignore the power of the medium.

Since 2010 over 1.2 billion people play video games worldwide, and over 700 million play online. Also, 52 percent of gamers are female and the average gamer age group is between 25-35. It's not longer a little boy's hobby, its as versatile as any other form of entertainment.

There are many gamers who say gaming is a lifestyle for them. Many have made careers out of gaming; there's game developers, game journalists, and even professional gamers who play competitively.

Gaming is now part of the culture as much as TV, movies, sports, music, and books. Dismissing the hobby is not a wise thing to do in this day and age, think about what video games have to offer. So, please don't be afraid to game as much as one's heart desires!