Happy Halloween! I hope you’ve gotten your costumes and candy or treats ready 🎃 

In our last poll, KitKat was our readers favorite candy with 30% of the vote - so hopefully you all can get some from your kids’ bags this weekend.

We had an earlier Halloween celebration with a trunk or treat at school and my video game costume list was on full display. There were multiple Fortnite costumes: Peely, Fishstick, and more - easily the most repped video game. One or two Marios, one Sonic (No Shadow amazingly), a Fall Guys, a Poppy Playtime, a Steve, and a Link. There hasn’t really been a huge game release lately so it’ll be interesting to see what sticks around for 2025.

GOING RETRO?

At a local pizza joint, my son played an arcade machine that had Paperboy and 1943 on it and was hooked.

I loved it, too. These were games I grew up on with the original Nintendo. I could see the appeal too, especially for non-teens. Yes, the graphics are dated but the concept and controls are simple, which makes it easy to learn but hard to master.

I figured we could start playing some of these games at home and immediately into a problem: there’s not always an easy way to relive these old games. Many are available through Nintendo Switch Online but not Paperboy. So what happens when a game is so old there’s no modern way to play it?

Well, you use technology and get a little creative. I ended up finding a ROM and an emulator for him to play it on my laptop hooked up to a TV - not super ideal, or even legal in some eyes, but it worked and we had a blast.

This opened him up to wanting to play some of the original Super Mario Bros games with me - so it’s kind of nice that I get to relive some of my childhood favorites too.

• A Treat 👻 - Two of our fav Halloween games are free for Amazon Prime members: Zombies Ate My Neighbors & Pumpkin Jack

• A new game Neva, an adventure starring a woman and her wolf companion, has a deeper focus for parents: the cacophony of feelings that is parenting. Neva explores the peaks and valleys of being responsible for a life and brings the feels for parents.

• Chick-fil-A launches their own content and streaming app - it actually looks pretty promising and they can use their own advertising spend, stores, and kids meals to help push it.

• In this study, video gaming improved cognitive ability, with gamers performed cognitively like people 13.7 years younger on average.

SOME THOUGHTS ON ROBLOX

I’ve had about 4-5 conversations with parents about Roblox recently. It’s the most I’ve probably ever had about the game and they’ve all been within the last two weeks.

I’m not sure whether it is the age of our kids or the fact that it has been in the news a lot recently, but nearly all the conversations end up with them asking me what I think, or what we do at home. They know I work in video games and esports, and they’re looking for advice.

The first thing I tell them is they need to have some supervision on exactly what their kids are doing on there. Not all games on Roblox are bad or have evil people waiting in them - but instead of just giving a kid the tablet, help them pick out a game, watch them play for a little, and ask them about what they’re doing. This will build more of a connection between you but also help you better understand what they’re up to so you feel good about letting them have more free reign.

Secondly, I always share more info around the parental controls. In fact, after all the negative press, Roblox made sweeping changes for pre-teen users & around parental controls.

Finally, I’m honest with them in that I dug into the platform a bit and my kids don’t play. I chose to steer them in a different direction: Minecraft or Nintendo Switch games. And that’s for a wide range of reasons - I prefer those because when I want to play with them I am also enjoying myself, they have less online interactions, the IPs are safer, and there’s little to no 3rd party generated content.

Roblox can be terrific with the right experiences on the platform and a watchful eye. It’s just not the preferred game in our house. But becoming more knowledgeable about something is always the preference.

Aura: (noun) - used to describe someone's cool or "it" factor

Synonyms: vibes, energy, swagger

“Wow, EG, they have that World Champion aura.”

We were inundated with holiday catalogs through the mail this past week - it’s time to start preparing for those holiday wishlists. Don’t worry - we’ll help you with the best gaming gifts this year.

GLHF,

Chris

What I’m playing: Elden Ring