A line stretches to the end of the building as fans eagerly wait. This is not a line for the next Hollywood blockbuster; in fact it's for something entirely different.

Impatient, the crowd grew louder, the excitement brimming. Amped on energy drinks, diehard devotees count down the minutes.

In unison the crowd begins to chant "Three, two, one…"

The wait is finally over.

At 12:01 a.m., Tuesday Sept. 14 over 100 enthusiastic gamers at the GameStop store in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. were some of the first to get their hands on the latest installment of the popular Halo video game series, Halo Reach for Microsoft's Xbox 360 system.

"The anticipation was really getting to me," GameStop employee, Rory McKay said. "People had been lined up outside the store for hours."

In fact, this isn't the first time gamers have lined up for a midnight launch of a Halo game. Back in 2007 with the series first foray onto the Xbox 360, Halo 3, gamers helped the game set the record for largest entertainment launch in history.

According to the NPD Group (a leading global market research company) the launch grossed over a $170 million in sales within its first 24 hours. Larger than any movie release, The Dark Knight which holds that record did just over a $158 million for its 3-day opening in comparison.

It's not just record breaking sales figures that the video games industry is achieving either.

Late last month, a report issued by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) proved that while the economy may still be in a major rut, the video game industry is not only flourishing, but offering people some of the best paying jobs out there.

The report titled "Video Games in the 21st Century: The 2010 Report" shows that from 2005 through 2009 the computer and video game software industry saw an annual growth of 10.6 percent compared to the whole U.S. economy which only saw an annual growth of 1.4 percent for the same period.

According to the ESA, in this growth more than 32,000 people have found employment in 34 states directly from the computer and video game software industry, collecting an average salary of $89,781 for 2009 alone.

Though the salary rates may be somewhat inflated since it most likely takes in consideration executive wages, it still gives a rough idea of how much the industry has grown.

Growth is fueled from gamers of all ages and demographics, many of which treat the release of new video games as much more than just going to the store to buy the latest game, but as entertainment experiences.

An industry that is not just carried by male college students and kids anymore, the ESA websites report that the average gamer is now 34-years-old and that female gamers over the age of 18 represent a larger demographic than males under the age of 17.

"There are a lot of games targeted to the female audience today," said Stephanie Lee, freelance strategy guide writer and host of GameXplain's Game Busters. "But that doesn't mean we all play Nintendogs, I can definitely hold my own when it comes to Halo."

The amount of ways games can be played now also is adding to the growth. From once being confined to TVs and computer monitors to now finding games in almost all forms of technology. It's hard not to walk around campus and find someone lost in thought on their phone or laptop passing time between classes with a quick game.

"You can be broke as a joke, but you're still going to find a way to play," Lu Otero, third year Criminal Justice major said.

From Super Mario Bros. to Halo, from Pac-Man to World of Warcraft, video games have become heavily integrated into our generation's culture. As students, video games keep us up late at night, cut into our study time, and even force some of us to live on the Top Ramen diet.

We may not realize it, but our digital addictions have become a major contributor to driving the still struggling American economy.