Melbourne Exchange,
circa 1900

Gaming is officially big business in the land down under.

Over the past fiscal year, revenue generated from the gaming industry surpassed AUS $1 billion ($847 million) for the first time, according to Next Gen.

The gaming market has leaped 30 percent over the past six months. Since January, 5.5 milllion games were sold for around $264 million and half a million consoles were sold for another $150 million.