End "National Video Game Day"... Both of Them!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - These “_____ Day”s are scams.

I do not respect the celebration of anniversaries (including birthdays) or reoccurring special events on the calendar. Over the weekend, September 12th was celebrated as “National Video Games Day” in the United States. I saw a conversation between two people that went as, “Happy national video game day!” “Wow, has it really been a year already? It feels like video games day 2019 just happened.”

The reason it feels so recent is not because you remember 2019, but, in fact, you remember “National Video Game Day” from July 8, which is another day “celebrated” in the United States.

Why are there two of these days? Well, there's some ill-explained explanation out there, but it's not important or interesting and it doesn't make sense. According to Calendarr.com, some dude named David Earle submitted it to the Chase's Calendar of Events, which is a publication (founded 1957) that puts among its buyers “thousands of libraries” and the media. They have a Wikipedia article that only has a few total edits on it, but I guess they meet a notability standard to have been not deleted for over ten years. They describe themselves this way:

Chase’s Calendar of Events today is the most comprehensive and authoritative reference available on special events, holidays, federal and state observances, historic anniversaries and more. Each spring, hundreds of new entries are submitted to join the more than 12,500 items that make up each year’s edition. Each event listing (where applicable) contains contact and mailing information. There is no charge to be listed in Chase’s.

Note what they said. There are over ten-thousand items in 365 days, with hundreds added each year. It's free to be included. In other words, literally anyone can go and make a national whatever day. There is no barrier to entry. If you think the mobile app market or Steam are over-saturated, this is even easier to get into than those. Heck, I could go and make a National KoopaTV Day if I wanted and submit it (May 12, for when we were founded), and they'd apparently print it. Then it'll be preserved in libraries across the United States, or even the whole Earth.

And then I guess some other guy made the other date somewhere else and they're both recognised?

I think it's better if we just abolish these days entirely—with the exception of World Turtle Day on May 23, of course. They exist, at this point, so corporations can make quirky social media posts on a trending hashtag. Hey, look, Nintendo of America made a post about playing videogames! ...They do that every other day of the year (except during racial riots, even when they have a new product out), but, you know.

(My investigative reporting reveals that actual videogame organisations, including lobbyist group Entertainment Software Association as well as Nintendo and Sony, ignore the July 8 day—with a few exceptions on some years—and focus on September's. Non-gaming companies will post on July 8...)

Most disgusting are some of the companies that will post on BOTH of them with no awareness whatsoever. Here's one I found, Origin PC, which seems to be very popular in the PC gaming world, with their verified blue checkmark and over one million followers:

It's #NationalVideoGameDay, which means its a great day for a LIVE BUILD at 3 PM EST! 🎥

We will be building @Completionist his new ORIGIN PC BIG O powered by @AMD ⚡

Make sure you tune in to chat with us and @Completionist on here or https://t.co/YiVfbz64E8 🗯️ pic.twitter.com/v5DIuoQh6G

— originpc (@ORIGINPC) July 8, 2020

Since today is #NationalVideoGameDay let's take a look at some of the classics that paved the way for PC gaming!

Which is your favorite PC game of all time? pic.twitter.com/ViqEWbCvrd

— originpc (@ORIGINPC) September 12, 2020

...So, yeah, bad stuff. Those kinds of tweets make the world a worse place. They're the same kind of tweets they'd normally have, but with a hashtag at the start proclaiming they're doing this because of the special occasion. It's disingenuous! And as long as I'm in charge of KoopaTV, you'll never see us do that.


Let Ludwig know in the comments if you respect or share his commitment towards disrespecting ____ days (and this goes for ____ week [ignore that time KoopaTV published a completely filler article for Customer Service Week in 2015—at least it's not every year] and ____ month), or if you think he's making a big deal out of nothing. Or, perhaps you even LIKE these stupid days. Also, let Ludwig know if you've made your own day before and made it “official” by submitting it to a free directory. Please don't submit your day to KoopaTV. KoopaTV cannot make it widely celebrated.