Hey everyone, welcome to another edition of Homeroom Announcements, my Friday podcast type video where I give thoughts and updates about the Skooled Zone channel.

So in today's video I want to wish everyone a Happy National Video Games day. It's always celebrated on September 12th and this year that falls on a Saturday. And in case you didn't know such a holiday existed, now you do.

But I couldn't just leave you there, now could I? In typical Skooled Zone fashion, I'll give you some interesting facts and trivia.

From my research, I couldn't actually pinpoint an origin to the holiday. It may have started out as a chatroom joke or internet meme and just grew into a ritual so big that it was dubbed a national holiday. As far as I can tell, it's been celebrated for at least a decade now. If anyone watching thinks they know who started it, leave a comment in the After Skooled Club, which if you're new to the Skooled Zone is the little nickname for the comment section down below.

I do know that it's not a congressionally recognized National Holiday, which would make it more official and widely recognized. That's a shame because a couple other frivolous themes have made it into National Holiday status. Hopefully this channel will grow large enough someday that I can petition the President to declare it a National Holiday. That would mean you could legally take the day off from work to play video games. How cool would that be?

Let's face it, video games are undoubtedly an art form, not to mention a multi-billion dollar industry. And if you count not just the software units, but all the hardware involved, including mobile apps, not just console and PC games, all the replacement parts, upgrades, accessories, subscriptions, toys and merchandise, all the brick and mortar stores, all the downloads, all the conventions, all the research and development, advertising and marketing, all the magazines, books, blogs, YouTube channels and basically every other commercial aspect related to video games, not just in America, but internationally, it could be close to a trillion dollar industry. That's more than the gross domestic product of some small countries. So it's not beyond the realm of feasibility that National Video Games Day could be one day recognized congressionally. And with virtual reality finally making headwinds, video games could eventually surpass movies and TV as the number one form of global entertainment.

With my strong belief that video games can be powerful educational tools, one of the primary elements of this channel, I would love to see National Video Games Day taken seriously. Maybe even evolve into International Video Games Day. If any one wants to help me start a petition or at least help foster a movement in the industry, let me know down in the comments, or head over to my website SkooledZone.com and email me. You never know, maybe 2016 or 2017 could be the year it's finally given its due. As Drake would say, we gon see.

I pulled some stats for you from the ESRB website, which as you may know is the video games rating board. They're a pretty established governing body in the world of video games, so I'm going to trust their facts. But they're pretty surprising to say the least.

We think of video game enthusiasts as mostly kids, right? Wrong. The average age of those who buy and play video games is 34 to 39 years old. What that means is that an equal number of people younger AND older buy and play video games. Only 25% of gamers are younger than 18. Almost 50% of all gamers are between 18 and 49 years old. And 26% of all gamers are over age 50. That means more seniors are playing video games than kids. So seeing ol' Frank Underwood in the White House playing some Call of Duty is well within the scope of believability.

Also 40% of all gamers are female. So my brothas make room for the sistas. And I should mention that these stats are from 2010. It takes a while to collect and compile accurate statistics. So if these stats are from 2010, I can only imagine the needle has shifted across the board. If I were to guess at 2015 statistics, I would guess that the female gamer population is tied with men now at 50% and maybe even higher in the over 18 demographic.

Here's another amazing statistic. YouTube gaming channels alone bring in anywhere between 3 and 4 billion views... each month! That means around 30 to 50 trillion views per year. That's just a staggering number of eyeballs and it's only going up! So it's no wonder that most of the smart gaming companies have embraced YouTube gamers as a powerful marketing tool for them and stopped slapping on strikes. There ARE still a few game companies that are clutching old traditions and feeling butthurt about it. I won't name names, but you probably know who they are. Most forward thinking video game companies, however, now embrace YouTube gamers as a way to help get free advertising. Coming from someone who runs a gaming channel, that's the far superior mindset. No antagonism and everyone wins.

Now I could go on and on and give you dozens more cool factoids about the video game industry and the history of video games but that should probably be a video unto itself. I created a webpage on the Skooled Zone website where you can see the ESRB infographic. Just go to www.SkooledZone.com/gamingstats. This video though is mainly just a quick shout out to all the players out there! Pass this video around to inspire those far and wide.

And in recognition of National Video Games day, enjoy a little Saturday staycation and play those video games until your heart's content. Tell anyone that bothers you that you're just doing your national duty. Then on Sunday, ya know, go out and enjoy some sunshine. Or catch up on some videos on the Skooled Zone, whatever's clever...

On that note, have a great weekend and I'll see you on Monday with another gaming episode.

LPK

Love, Peace, Knowledge.