Gaming

Gaming is a colloquial term that generally refers to the act of playing video games, or sometimes tabletop games. Those who enjoy gaming are often referred to as “gamers,” though many people who enjoy video games actively choose not to identify as such. Surveys indicate that around 65 percent of adults in the U.S. play video games in some form, which can mean on a dedicated console, on a personal computer, or on a mobile device like a smartphone or tablet. Gaming as we know it today has evolved greatly over time. Going back to the 1970s, it was largely done in arcades, but consoles like the Atari 2600 and Nintendo Entertainment System popularized home gaming throughout the 1980s, and it has remained popular to this day. PC gaming goes back to home computers in the 1980s such as the Commodore 64, but the advent of Windows in the 1990s and digital marketplaces like Steam in the early 2000s brought PC gaming to where it is now. Handheld gaming devices like the Game Boy made gaming portable in the early 1990s, but those have given way to smartphones, with the iOS and Android app stores full of incredibly popular and lucrative games. Some of the biggest companies in the gaming industry today include Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Valve, Activision, and many more.

More Gaming - Page 48

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