QUEUE UP

Gaming is everywhere; from The Last of Us on HBO to Ready Player One (the book, and the Spielberg movie) to the Super Mario Bros. movie to the Sonic movies and on and on.  And those aren’t even the games, just other forms of entertainment based upon them! The games themselves are actually even bigger!

In fact, the AP reports the industry raked in nearly $210 billion worldwide — larger than the movie and music industries combined 🤯. The industry has changed a lot since the days of PONG, Pac-Man, and the original Super Mario Bros. That fact becomes even more evident when you walk into the room and your kid is seemingly using superhuman reflexes and dexterity to successfully navigate the blinding mess of graphics on the TV 😵‍💫.

I’m Chris DeAppolonio, a father, part-time gamer, and CEO of the esports organization Evil Geniuses. Whether you're trying to understand what your kid is spending so much time on, want to figure out more ways to connect with the gamer(s) in your life, or maybe you are just getting introduced to the world of Esports, this is the place for you. A newsletter that I created with one noble purpose: to help all of us get into the “game” in some fashion. 🫡

• CONNECTING WITH YOUR KIDS THROUGH VIDEO GAMES

• ICYMI

• SCREEN STUDIES

• COACH'S CORNER

• LEARN THE LINGO

• LOAD OUT

CONNECTING WITH YOUR KIDS THROUGH VIDEO GAMES

I have two kids, eight and five, and though they are still young, I know that finding common interests to bond with them as they get older will be a challenge. Or at a minimum staying relevant enough with them and their passions to feel like I know what’s going on and that time hasn’t passed me by 🧓. Even now, my kids are massively into Pokémon right now (especially Pokémon cards; my wallet 💀). While I know a lot of the originals, there are now over 1,000 Pokémon out there, so sometimes I just feel like they’re speaking Greek when they talk about some of the new ones.

Like most parents and kids, we play sports and LEGO together, among other things. But it's been video games that have filled an awesome gap for us, and we’re not alone in fact 72% of parents play video games and of those, 83% play with their kids. My parents used to play Nintendo with me as a kid, Duck Hunt 🦆especially, and my dad would pick my plays for me in Madden 🏈.  He even tried giving GoldenEye64 a shot for a bit until me and my friends got too good. But it made for some great memories.

There was even a time where my grandma told me to give her a controller and played Smash Bros with me. I taught her the absolute basics and somehow, someway, she actually beat me!! 🫨 She’s been gone for some time, but that’s one of my favorite memories with her 💙.

So give it a shot and play with your kids! Whether you’re an absolute pro or you feel like Adam Driver on SNL trying to “Get a Fortnite”, I put together a list of 5 games that are great for the newcomer to help you get started with a new family-time activity: 

ICYMI

We’ve rounded up some of the biggest headlines that live on the cross-section of pop culture and gaming! 

Here are a few quick hits you should know this week:

1. 7-Eleven & Tetris Gaming Collaboration

   • To mark the 40th anniversary of Tetris, 7-Eleven released a special Slurpee-inspired handheld version of Tetris.

2. Metallica will be the headliners of the next Fortnite Festival in-game concert

   • The Weeknd, Lady Gaga, and Billie Eilish have headlined the first three Fortnite Festival seasons and now the hard rockers are up next 🤘

3. DOOM: The Dark Ages

   • Yes, that DOOM. The old school shooter that defined a generation of computer games (remember actual disks?) has its newest iteration announced: a medieval alien extravaganza

SCREEN STUDIES

Fortnite

In this segment, we’ll explain what the heck you’re looking at so that you can confidently pick up the controller or know how to watch. I’ll pause and break down the X’s and O’s like John Madden. We’re going to start with one of the most popular games in recent memory. If you haven’t heard of Fortnite by now, you’ve been living under a rock 🪨. 

Fortnite is a battle-royale game where 100 players drop onto an island and have to gather materials from the environment to build ‘forts’ and also find weapons while avoiding an ever-closing circle of death called the Storm ⛈️ . The last person standing wins it all: a Victory Royale.

The key info you need to know under the minimap (from left to right) includes the time until the Storm circle closes (stay inside the circle to stay alive), how many people are left, and how many people you’ve knocked out.

Your equipment can be pretty much anything, from a pickaxe to a gun to a first aid kit to a bomb that leaves people helplessly dancing while you eliminate them. The quality of items goes from Common - Grey < Uncommon - Green < Rare - Blue < Epic - Purple < Legendary - Orange < Mythic - Gold < Exotic - Light Blue (Edge) Cyan (Center)

Your shields can be refilled with shield potions, a blue liquid that grants extra protection. Be sure to stock up because once your health and shields are at 0, you are knocked out.

COACH’S CORNER

The team I run, Evil Geniuses, is one of the most prolific esports teams on the planet. That means we compete, and dominate, in professional video games. We’ve won over 215 championships in our 25 year history. Our current head coach, Christine ‘potter’ Chi, is a championship winning player and coach. 

If you ever wondered what the world of gaming and esports was like from the inside or if you have great stories to share about your own gaming experiences, here’s your chance!

Send your queries/thoughts/stories (or your resume if you think you can be a pro gamer 😆) to [email protected].  We’ll feature the best ones in upcoming newsletters!

LEARN THE LINGO

And lastly…My gift to you.

Each week, I’ll share a few bits of the lingo to help you sound like you know what you’re talking about when the games get going.

LOAD OUT

My goal is to give you something worth reading each week that allows everyone a chance to better understand and participate in this amazing industry. We’ll continue to deliver our thoughts on the biggest gaming news, how to get more involved in gaming as an adult, how to game with your kids, and more. As a lifelong gamer and now a gamer dad, I want to share my experience and passion to help others find as much joy in video games as I do. I’d love to hear any feedback - you can reach me at [email protected]

GLHF (‘Good Luck, Have Fun’…one more bit of lingo for you 😉 ),

Chris

What I’m playing this week:

Okami HD on PC