The computer and video game industry employs more than 120, 000 people, a figure that will grow, said Rich Taylor, a spokesman for the Entertainment Software Association, a trade association.

WSJ: NYU to open center for studying games in Brooklyn

And no matter what the Cell does to the broader computer-industry landscape, the virtual game-vistas it will conjure up are certain to look fantastic.

ECONOMIST: Computing

One of the common complaints within the game industry is that not enough women study computer science, and thus the recruiting pool is simply not there, making it impossible to have more than a few female developers to every herd of men.

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The game was spreading beyond basements, particularly influencing the nascent computer-games industry.

ECONOMIST: Gary Gygax

The country is home to some of the industry's best-known game designers such as Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto and Konami Computer Entertainment's Hideo Kojima, designer of the Metal Gear Solid games.

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