Superheroes. They’re everywhere. The success of superhero films in the last few years has brought the spandex-clad do-gooders out of the basement and into popular culture. We’ve seen them destroy alien invasions, save people from burning buildings and shrink to a size so small that it can only be understood by theoretical science.

  According to data, today’s millennials are the most plugged-in generation in history. On average they spend a whopping 9.5 hours a day engaging with media, usually through smartphones. But it isn’t just mobile devices that have hooked folks—for many people, their drug of choice is video games.

Today, millions of people from all over the world take part in a multi-billion dollar a year industry called competitive gaming. The rise of eSports has facilitated this trend—and people take it seriously.

Throughout history, nearly every generation has condemned their respective youth for one thing or another. In fact, three Ancient Greek philosophers once had similar thoughts about the youth of their time.

2016 marks the 20-year anniversary of the day little cuddly monsters called Pokémon first appeared on everyone’s favorite Gameboy. The title was a labor of love created and slaved over by famed designer Satoshi Tajiri, who, as legend has it, was inspired by his childhood hobby of collecting insects.

First-person shooters, platformers, side-scrollers, shoot-em-ups—these are just a few of the many video game genres out there. Add all those sub-genres into the mix and you have near limitless options for gaming. 

One of the biggest innovations of the 7th generation of video game consoles was the persistent metagame of achievement and trophy hunting. Though there were a few limited precursors (Activision in 1982!), Gamerscores originated with Xbox 360 achievements in 2005, but Valve and Sony quickly realized what a smart idea it was and added achievement and trophy systems to Steam and the PS3 in 2007 and 2008, respectively.