It never ceases to amaze me how popular video games have become over the years.

When you think of mainstream media, you think of things like TV, movies, music, and even the radio. But now video games are slowly becoming as popular, and maybe in the near future, even more popular than all the rest of those things.

This isn’t a new revelation, this is something that has been obvious for years now. Video games have been growing in popularity at a very steady rate since the 80’s. Iconic arcade games like "PAC-MAN," "Space Invaders," "Donkey Kong," and of course "Super Mario Bros" paved the way for the games we have now.

Without them, who knows where modern video games would be. These games exploded back in their day. Mario is probably the most iconic character of all time, and he's still around to this day, 35 years later!

There were many popular home consoles for video games throughout the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, such as the SEGA Dreamcast, Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis, and the Gameboy. However, perhaps the most iconic and the system that opened the door for what we have today was the PlayStation 1. This system brought a whole new line of games, new graphics, and endless possibilities. It opened the door for the PS2, PS3, PS4, Xbox, Xbox 360 and the Xbox One.

Without that system, none of the extremely popular games we have today possibly would not even have come ou, games such as "Call Of Duty," "Grand Theft Auto," "Halo," and "Madden." All these games may not have ever happened if it weren’t for the PlayStation.

Not only would these games not have existed, but who knows where the world of Esports and competitive gaming would be. Competitive gaming is growing every single day becoming a multi-million dollar business which is only expanding the reach of video games in today's society.

The world of video games is growing every single day since their very early conception in the late 50’s to their growth in popularity through the 70’s and on, they have had a constant impact on our world. People from all over and of all ages play them, and each year they rake in billions of dollars.

Since its release in 2013 "Grand Theft Auto V" has sold over 90 million copies worldwide and has generated over $6 billion in revenue through pre-orders, sales, and microtransaction (in-game purchases). One game alone has made $6 billion, just imagine what lies ahead for video games in the future.

Video games are on their way to becoming one of the most popular forms of entertainment, slowly taking over the world. The video game industry made twice as much as Hollywood in 2013 and was worth an estimated $108.9 billion in 2017. In my opinion, it’s only a matter of time before the video game industry is the most popular form of entertainment in the world.