Well now, let's not get all caught up by such a cachy title, hmm ? Making a history of gaming is quite a dangerous business, because as far as the games themselves are concerned, every one has had a different experience. So, I will not pretend that this will be an in-depth view of gaming and game history. No doubt that many sites will be able to give much more in-depth info than I can.
But, nevertheless, something can definitely be said on the general lines, and I will try to make it as fun as possible.
Gaming started very early in the computing area. I remember my dad (he worked in electronics at Memorex, then Storage Tech) who, in 1975, brought home a wondrous little thing that hooked on a screen of sorts (hey I was only nine at the time). I did not know, but it was computer - the basic kind - on a PCB. When turned on, it could play a tank game (perfect resolution for the very blocky style that tanks can be represented with). It was obviously not for the game that the thing had been made, but the game was a good proof-of-concept for the applications that could be run with it. Maybe that is how gaming started - as proof-of-concept software for material destined to do something else entirely.
At any rate, before the graphics era, games were text based. Some rather good games did come out, but most were of the fantasy adventure kind and had either very basic interactivity with the environment, or big problems on syntaxical analysis. Once graphic games started, the PC received the kick in the rear that would ultimately bring the attention of video card makers which, in turn, would invent the most revolutionary product of the last century : the 3D graphics card.
But first, there were games in text mode.