It only takes one trip down the electronics aisle of any store to know video games are a hot commodity. New releases are available every week while developers push the creative envelope further using the latest in technology. Some video games have made it to the big screen. Resident Evil and Doom are two that come immediately to mind. Now some of the most popular video games and pushing their way into a new medium: board games.

Sid Meier's Pirates! has made its way to the board game shelf. Much like in the video game, you command a ship and plot to take over more ships. The board games is played by 2-6 people with an average game lasting around 90 minutes.

The popular real time strategy Age of Mythology has a board game counterpart. Players control an army made up of warriors, priest, and creatures from Greek, Norse, and Egyptian mythology. A dice and card system are used to resolve battles.

The role playing video game Warcraft is also available in a tabletop version. The board game follows the same premise as the video game. Each player choose a faction to play and then must raise an army and go to battle. The board game is such a success that an expansion is now available with more heroes and races for players to enjoy.

In the World of Warcraft board game, players carry out the same tasks and goes as the online roleplaying version. Players choose a race and class. Next their character explores the world of Azeroth. This is a huge board game with 150 plastic figures that represent the multiple races in Warcraft.

Doom makes the transition from video game to board game as well. One players controls the hoarde of invaders that have broken into the UAC Mars base. The other players are the Marine defenders who try and stop the invaders and save the world.

This is not a new trend for video games to crossover into the board game realm. The Pac-Man board game made its way onto store shelves way back in 1982. Another 1980's vintage video game Qbert had his own board game. The Qbert board game was the same setup as the video game.

Board games inspired by video games give fans of the repective game another venue to enjoy the games they love. Creating a board game from the concept of a video game also introduces more people to that game. Video game turned board game is a growing market and only looks to expand further in the years to come.