Anonymous wrote:A few comments, from a longtime gamer/tech dad whose DS and DD are fairly frequent gamers as well.
1) Where can they play? iOS, Mac, Xbox, PlayStation. Android eventually. And most important, Fortnite supports cross-platform, which means an iPad kid can play with an Xbox kid. That's generally a great leveler for kids who can't afford higher-end equipment.
2) How violent is it? There's two modes:
Battle Royale, where you play online in a Hunger-Games style battle where 100 start and 1 wins. Yes, you are shooting each other, but there's no graphic blood or corpses - a UFO comes and lifts you up when you are killed. The dynamic is closer to a big game of Nerf gun tag than the trenches of World War I.
Save the World, where you compete against the computer AI who controls a bunch of zombies. This was actually the original game and is still played quite a bit.
The overall dynamic though is quite light - lots of bright colors, cartoony feel to it. You parachute in off a schoolbus. Everyone was issued bunny costumes for Easter. One of the most popular axes for wood-chopping is a sparkly rainbow hobbyhorse-unicorn.
I should also mention to unfamiliar parents that there is NO academic research linking video game violence to real world outcomes. There's a lot of people masquerading as experts weighing in on this (including our current President), but the research is clear that there is zero causal link.
3) Age appropriate: Sure, there are male and female characters and they are good looking, but the graphics are relatively tame. And much more importantly: it is a gender-neutral game, a rarity in gaming. You are randomly assigned one of eight templates at start, 2 genders x 4 races. You do not control this. You can buy some skins that are gender-specific (see money below) but that's based more on character than gender/race. It makes for a much more gender-neutral culture than many online games. Epic is on record as saying they have no intent to change this.
4) Culture: Let's put it this way -- dance moves are at least as big a part of the game as shooting anybody. Rocket riding (jumping on a missile as it takes off, Dr. Strangelove style minus the phallic overtones) is a popular pastime. The waiting room tends to break into spontaneous dance-offs.
5) Money: Bling matters, and it doesn't. Culturally a lot of the game motivation is to buy cool skins/bling/moves/equipment. But, and this is important: NO purchasable equipment affects game play. You cannot buy your way to excellence. It must be earned. There are a few things that buying helps, most notably a "battle pass" which amounts to a $10/mo subscription to earn perks faster. But the game resets to a large extent each "season" so people all get a fair shake.
6) Social: You can play with chat on and that's a big part of the game - but you can hear who you are playing with. No grownups masquerading as kids here. It adds more trust than you would think. And kids learn social interactions in a vocal way that's actually relevant to adult skills.
7) Why kids play:
8) Why this adult lets them play: It's been a great social learning experience for our late-elementary school son. He is learning a ton about how humans think. How do you build a team? How do you negotiate? Do you crack under pressure? Can you work together towards a goal? What do you do when your friend tries to scam another friend out of some loot? How do you manage friends who don't play fairly? All of these are put to the test, daily.
And there's a fair amount of research on the positive effects of fast-action strategy games on a number of intellectual development fronts. Spatial relations, math, pattern recognition. These skills translate to the real world. Heaven forbid your kid ends up in a real world shooter situation, but these skills absolutely transfer to real life. Fields of fire, taking cover, avoiding sightlines all matter.
9) Restrictions: In our house, we have the same restrictions we do for all electronic media:
- no use after dinner or at meals
- no use in private places
- good online safety (don't share names or locations)
- a balanced life - there are times when it's fine to veg out in front of the TV, there are times when we need to get outside, and "do what you have to do first" on homework and chores
That's been good enough for us.
Sorry for the long post but so many parents are uneducated about gaming in general and Fortnite in particular that I thought it worthwhile to take a few minutes to explain it. Orange Justice!
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this. Much appreciated!
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