First person shooter games offering players a close to real-life experience of being the gun-toting soldier, a hacker or even a futuristic warrior are as popular today as they were when the format first appeared with Maze War in 1973. 

The ‘80s saw basic animated games offering the first person perspective. But the genre truly arrived when American soldier William "B.J." Blazkowicz hit our computer screens in 1992 in Wolfenstein 3D.  Immersive 3 D graphics, customization options and the multiplayer option took sales of games like the sci-fi Doom in 1993 through the roof.

Other popular games like the futuristic System Shock (1994) had players assuming the identity of a hacker and brought in cutting edge technology that allowed players to climb, look up and down, jump and even lean for the first time ever! Quake (1996) had a huge following thanks to a feature that allowed it to be played over the internet -- a harbinger of the popularity of the online gaming phenomenon that was to follow.

Super smooth spy James Bond moved from the silver screen to the PC screen with GoldenEye007 in 1997.  Award winning games like the action packed Half-Life (1998) and its spin-off Counter-Strike (1999) and the record breaking Halo: Combat Evolved 2001 had gaming enthusiasts queuing up to buy their latest release.

The lines between reality and the gaming world are fast blurring, as first person shooter games are pushing the limits. It's almost impossible to tell real from virtual in the Call of Duty -- Modern Warfare games with civil wars, US Marines and British Commandoes all making an appearance. As technological advances like id tech 4 combine with complicated plotlines to bring us intelligent games like Wolfenstein 2009, it's clear that the best is yet to come.