‘Games teach us things we need for real life. Video games are no different from that...’
LANDING in Junk Junction, I was safe from attack. Here, I could learn how to look up, down, all around and which way to jump in order to evade snipers.
But the storm was closing in. As fast as I could run, it was catching up with me. I leaped into derelict buildings, hammered down walls, picked up ammunition and a weapon, but it was no good. The storm was upon me – if it didn’t drain my energy, a sniper would.
And then it happened. “You’re dead,” said my son, all deadpan himself as he checked my credentials.
On my first venture I was in the top 26 out of 100 playing. An incredible score. Maybe the place was peopled with novices tonight? But no, it wasn’t beginner’s luck or natural ability, the teenager assured me.
He’d deliberately helped by suggesting I parachute into an underpopulated area.
Fortnite. If you think it’s just a misspelled word you have somehow missed the craze that has taken over from Fifa as the video game addiction of choice for children and teenagers. Some adults are getting pretty engrossed, too.
This third-person shooter is said to be the most popular video game in the world. It’s available on PC, Mac, Xbox, PS4 and mobile devices.
Part of its massive attraction is that it’s free – although players can pay for some extra add-ons – and it has been played by as many as three million people at once.
It is also addictive, compulsive and obsessional, as anyone who knows a gamer will testify.
Parents are reporting tantrums and rages as they try to dislodge their young people from screens, handsets and headsets. Homework is compromised and plates of dinner go cold as teams get together to fight as one, oblivious and impervious to the calls of those in the real world.
How alarmed should we be? Some adults claim their children are in the throes of an obsession, missing out on fresh air, real experiences and life.
Fortnite isn’t the only video game, but it certainly is the craze of the moment. Even parents of children too young to be allowed to game say their infants are chanting the alphabet to the names of its weapons.
Much as I hate violent video games and as much as I think real is better than virtual, I’m not sure that Fortnite is all bad.
Aware I was at risk of becoming like those who insist this or that film is bad without watching it for themselves, I decided to have a go to see what all the fuss in my house is about. (Well, it’s less of a fuss and more a “leave me alone I’m playing Fortnite with my friends”.)
My policy of allowing video games in the communal living room only, and not shut away upstairs in bedrooms, means I have been forced to live in the kitchen for months now while young people battle it out, shouting like mad people from inside their headphones.
Not any more. I’ve just tried Fortnite and I quite like it – although I’d hazard a guess I am one of the worst at it, with little hope of improvement.
This is a communal game that you can play together with friends. The hand controls are harder to navigate than the clarinet I used to play and the level of subtle hand-eye co-ordination needed is not to be sniffed at.
“It’s all about strategies, not about killing,” my nearly 16-year-old tells me very seriously.
When I yell that food is ready or something else needs doing to tear him away from the screen, he informs me that it’s quite unreasonable to request him to end the game. He’d be letting his mates down if he didn’t and this isn’t a long game.
So now Fortnite is teaching us time management and negotiation skills. It would be easier to blast my way through the living room wall and fell him with a storm of scary parent stuff than to suggest we agree a reasonable time slot to meet up with a bowl of pasta.
Time was when parents would declare: “Supper is on the table in five and if you’re not here when it is, the bin will have it.”
Life isn’t as simple as that anymore. Few of us have lives where we can guarantee to the minute the time of anything unless it is crucial. And let’s face it, spag bol is the last thing on your mind when you’re up against KillerBoyz in Tomato Town.
Everything is variable, negotiable and plastic. Time stops for none of us, especially if your friend is building a fort and you’re about to be killed in Fortnite Battle Royale.
I prefer Fifa because it isn’t violent. I prefer real life because, well, it is more real. But what is real life? Is hide-and-seek not a fantasy in the same way as Fornite? Was Dungeons and Dragons any better?
Games teach us things we need for real life. Video games are no different from that.
I just wish they could cut out all the killing.