Get Your Game On: Fortnite, Black Hair at Hogwarts, and a Bit of Gaming History

As I write this, my daughter is playing Fortnite. Previously, as other parents—including celebrity parents—have experienced, my child was the ONLY child not playing Fortnite at the time, so after some research and input from my friends here at Sidequest, I decided to remove my daughter from that lonely island of non-Fortnite playing children. I have not succumbed to the urge to play it myself, but I was a pretty proud gamer mom when my kid ended up in first place on her first night.

Black Hair at Hogwarts

Black Hair is a big, beautiful thing, but, while there have been some major improvements, finding that representation in video games can still lead to frustration. Black Nerd Problems recently reviewed Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery, which is a mobile app that they largely agree is pretty good—once you get beyond that character creation problem.

“First of all I’m happy we can all be Black at Hogwarts because the movies told us how rare that shit is. But why, why, WHY do I have to drop real American United States Dollars for any Black hairstyles besides some box braids??”

Mainstream Media Still Doesn’t Understand Gaming

Two UK media outlets recently came down on Fortnite’s business model, calling into questions its addictive nature and in-game purchases. With the focus on in-game gambling and the World Health Organization identifying gaming addiction as a legitimate mental health concern, the media’s concern is not unfounded. The problem is that the media doesn’t seem to recognize that mobile games are part of the problem too. That includes mobile games like Hogwarts Mystery, which locks a number of items behind a pay wall, including the ability to rescue a kid from being strangled to death.  Mobile, PC, or console games are video games, whether you consider them casual or elite forms of the medium, no matter how popular one might be.

The Lesson in Gaming History Begins with Donkey Kong

If you want to understand much of the history of gaming, take a look at the porting of Donkey Kong. Donkey Kong began life as a popular Japanese space invader arcade game called Radarscope, that was then ported when Nintendo of America jumped in late on the trend. Jon Irwin writes at Variety:

“Games are often moved from one platform to another because there’s money to be made when a title, already designed and completed, can be released to an audience who hasn’t had a chance to play it. But more interesting are those ports that result in fundamental changes to the game itself, providing new life to what had become just another old thing on the growing heap of history.”

Games Bleat

Welcome to Games Bleat! I’m Kael, the local gaming swamp hag, and my little figgy fishies have been telling me about some sweatie treatie deals and freshly clean games. My baby’s slippery slimy skins and murky camouflage is perfect for spying sales like these:

PC

• “Dreamcast Collection” $6.89
  Crazy Taxi
  Jet Set Radio
  NiGHTS Into Dreams
  Sega Bass Fishing
  Sonic Adventure DX
  Space Channel 5: Part 2
• Cat Quest $6.19
• Unholy Heights $2.79
• PC Building Simulator $17.99
• Super Win the Game: Soundtrack Edition $2.49
• Gunmetal Arcadia $6.49
• Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight $5.99
• Dungeon Souls $4.54
• Sanctuary RPG $0.79
• The Silver Case $9.79

Nintendo

• The Long Reach $10.49
• Typoman $9.09
• Dead Synchronicity: Tomorrow Comes Today $11.99
• De Mambo $6.49

Deep in the squelching waters, my barracuda beau has been hunting for new games—he so loves to see me happy—and I’ve decided to pass his scaly secrets on to you. First off is LongStory, a visual novel about high school where you can supposedly date and identify as whoever you want, though I have yet to find the swamp fish option I’ve been searching for. Next is The One Spell, a small game about a mage with just a single spell, which is unfortunately not one that grants gills for cuddling with your fishy babies. Finally there is Beacon, an early access game that finally allows the options to mutate your body into something capable of burying itself in the dank mud of the swamp and excreting an acidic bile for self defense.

Anyway that’s it for this week’s bleat! I’m off to go siphon algae that I can use to feed my spawn of slick children. Catch you next week!