Some industries rise and fall while others find ways to adapt, a fact of business life, one that seems to have been accelerated by the prevalence of computers in our everyday lives. Newspapers, for instance, underwent a drastic exercise in downsizing. Because of websites like Craigslist, their classified ad revenue dropped to the point where publishing a daily edition using tree pulp and ink became prohibitive. Several papers in cities like Cincinnati, Denver and Seattle now publish exclusively online.

Make Way for the Classics

The video game industry, which churns about $10 billion worth of annual income, has evolved perfectly with the times. Unlike newspapers, the future of video games has never been in doubt. From the first blip made my Atari’s Pong on the national radar, Americans haven’t been able to keep their hands off their joysticks. Asteroids, Space Invaders, Pac Man and Donkey Kong led the charge into the future of video gaming… And who can forget Defender?

The Best Common Denominator

For years, video arcades (where 25 cents bought you a lousy three lives) cornered the market, with only the Atari 2600 and Odyssey2 game consoles providing relief – though with a dearth of quality. Gradually, the old arcades closed their doors as Nintendo, Sony and other game platforms improved dramatically. Along with the Internet came online gaming, with the PC serving as a game console unto itself. First Doom became a household obsession; today it is World of Warcraft and others.

The most important component that made this sea-change possible were the joysticks and controllers that connected to the computer by way of the USB port. Microphones, through which multi-player online participants could coordinate their gaming actions, are also USB connective. This ubiquitous computer feature has been one of the cornerstones of what has become a vital underpinning to the global economy – an industry that isn’t playing around.