Playing video games, (once thought of in our society as an activity only socially awkward male children did in their free time) can actually make you adult-like bank.

23.5 billion dollars last year just for the United States to be exact.

Those within the video gaming industry themselves aren't shocked by this news. Developers, artists, creators, and CEO's of the fastest growing interactive media entertainment field have seen revenue increases like these for years, creating even bigger paychecks for themselves, and for furthering the global dominance and expanse of video games into everyday life. To just see the impact that gaming can have even on the most casual of video gaming user one can look back upon the madness that beset our population with the release of mobile game Pokemon Go! Cashing in on good old 90's kid's nostalgia, gaming company Nintendo's stock following the game's release hit the highest it had in 6 years, with it's ADR more than doubling in market value reaching 18 billion dollars in two weeks. That's a lot of dough for a Japanese kid's game featuring yellow mice that shoot lightning bolts (Series Mascot Pikachu) or talking cats (Meowth). All this to say that while gaming companies have been leveling up (excuse the pun) in influence, power, market growth, and most importantly money, seemingly other large Wall Street conglomerates ranging from businesses from the famous Forbes or Fortune 500 have been sitting insipidly on the sidelines and watching. This is not so anymore.

Some of Fortune 500's most well known, multi-billion dollar corporations have seen the possibility of a new money making enterprise and have entered into head first. Many fans of the extremely popular Kingdom Hearts series, know that one of the leading characters in the brand itself is Disney's good luck charm himself, Mickey Mouse. In the early 2000's the idea came for a new way of combining the success of RPG (Role Playing Game) powerhouse Square Enix and favorite Disney characters to create a video game that used the fictional heroes that children grew up with idolizing with the angsty spiky-haired protagonists they then played on their Playstation's as they grew up. The odd combo resulted injust a huge amount of global success. Actions like Disney's ran up the similar vein of electronic and media companies like Sony and Microsoft joining the console video game market with the creation of the Playstation and the Xbox systems respectfully. Like the classic businessman, parable says, why only make 100 dollars when you could make 1,000? New markets are places for more diverse buyers who weren't buying your products before which means more growth of one's company and in the end more cash for the corporation as a whole. Why not go into gaming when it's been proven that we as a consumer culture are now buying video games at a rate even higher than the scale on which we watch movies or television? (The previous highest seller of content of entertainment media across the world)

But what do you do when you don't have a Mickey Mouse character to add to established games series or devote a creative team to building a new console system but still reap profits? You sponsor e-sports. E-Sports for my readers who don't know, (You would have learned about it eventually) is the newest pastime for the kids at the athletic table in the cafeteria. E-sports is what it sounds like, it's electronic sports, gaming competitions on a massive scale. Mainly for PC gaming and MOBAS (Multiplayer Online Battle arena) these large scale events harken to some of the largest sporting events America holds, taking place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles or Madison Square Garden in New York, where hundreds upon thousands of devoted fans, streamers, media producers, hosts, players, cosplayers, managers, live event coordinators and the sponsors themselves who usually also fork in for the cash prize given to the best team of players, come together to watch some video games and cheer on their favorite teams. The question of "Why is this successful," is void when considering the humanistic nature in all of our race that enjoys a good battle or fight between two opposite teams. (That's only further helped in e-sports where teams are often made up of one nationality or another, encouraging Patriotism akin to the fever pitch one feels during the Olympics) Either in Roman gladiator times or watching the Clemson vs. South Carolina football game on Saturdays, sports are a form of entertainment. Combining the ancient form of blood thirst for competition and voyeur play, with the dynamic world of interactive electronic media and you have an explosive new market and industry.

So after explaining all of this to you the fact that UC San Diego (one of the top collegial universities in the world for fans of gaming) was chosen for The Red Bull's Mind Gamers event makes perfect sense. With a past partnership of UCSD and Red Bull creating such events as Destiny Clash Course, and the high interest and success of the tournament, it makes sense to do it again. UCSD is one of 13 local qualifiers across the US where student teams oppose one another and compete in a series of puzzles and logic questions that test to the mental prowess of the person. The puzzles, questions, and games are all interactive and digitally focused at these competitions. The winning team with the fastest time in the country will even travel to Budapest in March of 2017 to compete with the victors across the globe. With organizations like the massive Triton Gaming being a hub for extremely popular competitive games like League of Legends, DOTA 2, Hearthstone, Starcraft, Pokemon, Super Smash Brothers Melee and 4 and a large and impactful Video Game Development Club, it is not surprising that a company such a Red Bull would choose UCSD and Triton Gaming. (A club with an excellent reputation for a high standard of live events and also partnerships with such professional companies like Gigabyte, Msi, and ibuypower.) But organizations like Triton Gaming aren't alone across the nation. In a sweeping new trend gaming clubs at universities in 2016 are hopping. Hopping meaning that they are full of young adults who are self-sustaining and ambitious. With their finger on the pulse of millennial social media and direct out reach to companies target demographic of hip 18-25 years, corporations are seeing the great knowledge and use of students like the ones in Triton Gaming. (And a future pool of applicants for careers upon their graduation.) It's a mutually beneficial relationship to both the student organizations and multimillion dollar companies.The company spends relatively a less amount of money giving away items or raffles instead of a 2 million dollar ad campaign that has the same amount of consumer impact. They also entrust the student organizations with equipment that college kids could not otherwise afford, screens, computers, systems, etc and the student club itself plans the event, meaning less work for the company itself while also training young professionals to execute live events that promote a high standard of excellence, marketing the club and the company itself well. This positive reputation only increases with consumers when a prize is included from the said company for winning part of the tournament. Red Bull had a market of young people who flocked to their energy drinks when it first started and young people most of the time enjoy video games. Video games in general require long hours with concentration and focus. It's as simple as that energy drinks could help you with that. By targeting gamers and teaming up with clubs like Triton Gaming, Red Bull hits two major consumer groups, the gaming market and a tech minded audience.

Being a part of such a new and exciting industry such as gaming and the depth of e-sport that is literally being built into more of a global empire as each year passes is a feeling of awe and excitement. Our generation is in control and is the leading influencers of a completely new art form that has yet to be confined to particular rules and has unprecedented room for the ability in which it can change how we treat the world, solve problems and our electronic-driven culture. What a lucky period and place we live in to go to our school at the time we do. The event takes place this Sunday and Monday, November 13th and 14th at Price Center University Ballroom East and West from 11AM to 10 PM. For more info on how to qualify for the games themselves check the link here http://www.redbullmindgamers.com/mission/game (Even though it's already ended you can still quality at the live event!), to the Facebook event page https://www.facebook.com/events/1715653292091340/, Triton Gaming https://www.facebook.com/tritonesports/ and to see a video of what the event is all about here https://www.facebook.com/tritonesports/videos/o.17....

A large thank you to Christian Hill for the idea and creation of this article, TG Live Events Head Jessica Lee for helping me with further explaining concepts and TG President Seth for looking over it also! I had the best time researching the information that went into it and can't wait to see the event unfold this upcoming weekend!

**All just speculations, these views are Author's own and and do not represent Triton Gaming, Red Bull or University of California San Diego as a whole *****