Video games have become a major player in the entertainment industry. The budget of the biggest games can be on par with that of motion pictures. The market share continues to rise, and innovations are rapidly turning from concept to reality. The conversation about video games is no longer restricted to obscure chat rooms and friends basement’s. It is played out on the front pages of major publications and dinner tables across the U.S. But, as a college student when can you find to think and talk about these games, let alone play them?

It can be helpful to have a barometer, an idea, about what matters in a convoluted business that is constantly evolving. The aim of this column is to bring awareness to the most important issues surrounding the video game industry and to narrow down the choices of games that flood the market.

It is also aimed at the bigger conversation that all video game players should be a part of; after all, it is our money that is driving the production of video games.

Players should not sit idly while someone else makes decisions about an important future, and instead participate in the debate that happens on a daily basis. Video games already influence our culture in unpredictable ways. It should be up to gamers to influence how the things they love evolve and affect their daily lives.

Whatever your preference for entertainment (console, computer, mobile), your thoughts on video games create the conversations that are needed to achieve recognition for, and further the advancement of these past-times (that are quickly becoming more than just past-times). The conversation must be broached, and this column is meant to spark those conversations about quality, quantity and the effects of video games on all of us.

From computer games to console wars, the spectrum of choices for video games is overwhelming. Likewise, the road to find good video games can be challenging as well. But, with the experience of 25 years of gaming, a guide can be helpful.

The goal of uniting gamers under one umbrella is challenging. It is a world highly specific, competitive, and often niche users. One thing that we must all remember is that we are all gamers at heart and in practice, and the only way to truly influence the things that we care about is to be one voice, speaking for what we care about.

The young adults that play a make these video games shaping the world of entertainment to come, and it is up to all gamers to help shape that world that is evolving.