Video games and interactive hardware can provide endless amusement for players of all ages. Virtually anyone who likes to play any type of game can happily settle in with an electronic option. There are strategy, quest and searching games; tag and board games, action and racing games, mysteries, expeditions and even aerobic instruction games. The market is flooded with interactive fun for every sort of gamer.

Electronic game software can entertain, and also educated. While all gaming programs are designed to provide fun, many people are able to develop certain skills and talents while playing. Interactive hardware can help you with reading, writing and arithmetic. Budding artists can hone their drawing skills, while aspiring racecar drivers learn to downshift and turn the wheel just a little before the road curves. Problem solving, dancing and other skills can be developed as players interact and learn from one another.

Game manufacturers have been using electronic components and features since the 1950s. From these humble beginnings, the electronic gaming industry has seen multi-billion dollars in growth. Electronic games adapted technological trends and evolved into highly qualified computer systems.

The United States were first to furnish players with video games. Limited knowledge and development costs kept the games rudimentary compared to today's standards, but fun nonetheless. First-generation gamers fondly remember the thrill of graduating from on screen "ping pong" games of dots and dashes, to playing a "space wars" game with sound and explosive effects. As we eagerly plugged these video game dinosaurs into our black and white television sets, we thought it could never get any better.

The phrase "video games" generally encompasses the genre of interactive, electronic amusement and sport. Early developers introduced arcade games to barrooms and pinball alleys. These first coin-operated machines used television screens for display, and were equipped with speakers for sound effects and music. Coin-operated arcades, and the video games within them, were huge sensations and before long, video game systems began to make their ways into our homes.

There came a point on the video game timeline that developers stopped to realize that computers were widely available and easier to use. At this point, the video game world turned to a new direction. These home computers would become channels for the modern video game industry. Developers began exploring running strategies, and designers worked hard to find ways to attract players to these newly reinvented video games.

As a result of these new technological breakthroughs, Sony introduced PlayStation in 1988. Largely a home electronics company, at that time Sony did not have a great deal of knowledge about video games. At that time, the gaming world had reached a new high. There was no better time for Sony to get a leg up on the competition with its multi-media machine called PlayStation. This innovative gaming system introduced what we now know as the CD-ROM. In the first year, Sony sold out seven million Playstation systems worldwide. Following the initial PlayStation success, Sony began using CD-Is in the early 1990s. These small disks provided gaming enthusiasts to play interactively over a computer system.

Personal gaming systems have quickly evolved into a huge industry. Nintendo, Gameboy and PlayStation are big names in video games. These manufacturers realize that game enthusiasts can be anyone from a toddler to a retiree, so they've developed games and software to appeal to the masses. More corporations are coming on board to develop their own arcade and video game products. The industry continues to grow, and developers keep on working to find new ways to amuse us.