So a friend I work with has an eleven year old son. I can’t remember his exact age, but I’m pretty sure he’s like 45 or something. Somewhat irrelevant I guess. Anyway, his son of course loves Fortnite, and he plays on mobile all the time. I mean, this kid plays a lot. But one day the son asks his dad to try playing with him. Now my friend, lets just refer to him as “Sandwich” moving forward, is a bigger guy. Tall, big hands kind of fellow. The only way he is able to play is on his iPhone 5… You know, tiny screen, you see where I’m going with this.
His son also plays on mobile mostly, because they have less than satisfactory internet for using wifi on anything. So they use their mobile data instead. The point I’m trying to drive with this though, is I really hope that his son takes a moment to really appreciate that his dad is willing to try his best at a game on a phone.
Anyone who has played Fortnite knows that it is pretty complex for such a simple premise. Shooters are generally straightforward, but this one has a fairly large scale map, tons of locations and loot types. Vehicles, and traps in every location. Add the fact that some players just play it to make a living, where many others only play on rare occasions, like me. My building is not the greatest, but I can survive for a little bit anyway. I’m also playing on a rather high-end PC that gives me excellent controls and framerate. Sandwich is playing on a really old phone. He can barely see whats going on half the time.
But he continues to play with his son as best he can. Quite comically actually, but that’s alright, because he’s trying. A lot of kids can’t say the same of their parents. You know how happy I would have been if my dad tried those games with me? I’d have been ecstatic. Granted my games I wanted him to play with me were pretty much Mario based, and simple as can be. My dad is also probably old enough to be Sandwich’s dad. So theres that. But age wise my dad would have been in his 50s when I was 10, so similar to Sandwich’s age gap.
I remember my dad playing a Mario game with me once, just one of the mini games, not a full fledged Mario world or anything. I was so happy. To a or 8 year old I felt like my dad and I were bonding at something I was good at. Although it didn’t happen often, I savored every minute of it. For what its worth, I still like playing board games with my parents, that’s never changed. But I would have definitely charged into battle with my dad in Halo had he ever been able to play with me. Win or lose we would have had fun.
I really hope that Sandwich’s son realizes how lucky he is to have someone who is willing to give it such an honest attempt.
EK Creates 