East Texas has a New Outlet to Spread the Love of Gaming

I've written many a time of my love of gaming. I love to play games and I love to collect games for my retro systems. I have such a variety of video games that I've even hosted what I call Retro Video Game nights at my house just to share the entertainment. That's why I'm happy to share the news of a new venture that has popped up in East Texas that provides some mobile gaming entertainment.

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I have a plethora of video game options at home. I have my original Nintendo with, give or take, 50 games. I also have a PlayStation 1, 2, 3 and, of course, 4 console with various amount of games for each. If the PlayStation 5 wasn't so hard to find, I'd have that one by now. It will come soon enough.

I also have some of the various mini consoles that have come out over the years all loaded with a wide variety of ROMS including some arcade favorites like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Simpsons, X-Men and more. So yeah, when I host a Retro Game Night, it's pretty epic.

The one thing I don't do is provide a mobile service to share my gaming enthusiasm. I probably should. Could be a nice side hustle. But a new venture has popped up in East Texas that does just that, Skoolz Out. They are based out of Pollok, just Northwest of Lufkin, and use a converted school bus you can rent for parties or events and provide many modern gaming options for gamers young and old.

I reached to the owners of Skoolz Out, Joshlyn and Tre Jackson, and Joshlyn was kind enough to answer a few questions about their new business.

What gave y’all the idea for Skoolz Out?

Myself (Joshlyn Jackson) and my husband (Tre Jackson) have always played video games. Tre from a young age and I started when I was in junior high. We always dreamed of having a job that didn't feel like work as much as it was fun. I am an author and have been to many vendor events to sell my books and crafts. Both me and Tre fell in love with the background aspect as well as meeting so many new people. So we combined our two hobbies for one. A mobile gaming bus that we could take to vendor events.

Was converting an old school bus your first choice for the business?

No, it wasn't. We did research and found that most people who had a mobile gaming business were using trailers. However, Tre is a car guy and a trailer was too boring for him so we landed on a school bus. It was the best choice considering we had already been looking into making a bus into an RV or skoolie.

Which gaming systems are available to play?

We currently have 2 Nintendo switches, 3 PlayStation 4s, and 1 PlayStation 5. Although in the next 2 months we will convert completely to PlayStation due to its ease of access in offline matters.

Obviously, kids will love this at their party. Are there games available for the adult gamer to enjoy, too?

Yes, we have games ranging from 4 through 18+. Including Paw Patrol, How To Train Your Dragon, Skyrim, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Grand Theft Auto 5.

Something I haven’t seen from other gaming trucks is people can play Dungeons and Dragons on your bus. Was this a requested addition or are y’all fans of the game and wanted to include it?

I (Joshlyn) play Dungeons and Dragons weekly so it was my idea to include it. We understood that not everyone would search out D&D but we hope to have a few that would be interested in playing. Honestly, it's a dream of mine to be paid to play D&D.

Do you have just a certain part of East Texas that you will set up in or will you travel throughout East Texas?

We are from Pollok, Texas but we will travel any distance if the customer is willing to pay us. We have a travel fee so if it is a larger distance we wouldn't be out too much fuel and repair.

With an idea like this, y’all must be gamers yourselves. Do y’all have a favorite game or gaming system to play?

Our favorite system is PlayStation for sure. It's much more user-friendly and gives you more bang for your buck. My favorite game that I will come back to over and over again would be Skyrim. Tres favorite game is the Battlefield series.

Get all the details on Skoolz Out at their website, skoolzoutgaming.com, at facebook.com/skoolzoutgaming or on TikTok, @justjoshinya32.