Google fans no longer get an automatic L, Epic Games has opened pre-registration for Fortnite Android.

Fortnite Battle Royale is Epic Games 100 player, last player standing megahit. Cartoon-y as heck, with Wile E. Coyote like antics, eliminated players are sent back to the lobby while their opponents dance and celebrate their wins.

Fortnite for Android will be available on some devices. I'll post the list below. Purchase a new Samsung Note 9 or Galaxy Tab S4 and you get an awful looking skin to play with that other folks won't have.

Epic has some confusing partnership with Samsung but the game is available on other manufacturers handhelds as well. Epic is NOT partnering with Google, and has elected not to distribute the game via the Google Play store. Survive the storm, beware the malware. Downloads will be direct from Epic.

Sign up here.

Android Beta initially will work on the following devices:

Samsung Galaxy: S7 / S7 Edge, S8 / S8+, S9 / S9+, Note 8, Note 9, Tab S3, Tab S4 Google: Pixel / Pixel XL, Pixel 2 / Pixel 2 XL, Asus: ROG Phone, Zenfone 4 Pro, 5Z, V Essential: PH-1 Huawei: Honor 10, Honor Play, Mate 10 / Pro, Mate RS, Nova 3, P20 / Pro, V10 LG: G5, G6, G7 ThinQ, V20, V30 / V30+ Nokia: 8 OnePlus: 5 / 5T, 6 Razer: Phone Xiaomi: Blackshark, Mi 5 / 5S / 5S Plus, 6 / 6 Plus, Mi 8 / 8 Explorer / 8SE, Mi Mix, Mi Mix 2, Mi Mix 2S, Mi Note 2 ZTE: Axon 7 / 7s, Axon M, Nubia / Z17 / Z17s, Nubia Z11

See the FAQ for the list of more compatible devices.

Epic Games is offering $100 million dollars in prizes at their Fortnite competitions, over the next year or so. The Friday, August 3rd, 2018 installment begins at 2pm PST. Read the rest

Fortnite Battle Royale's new Fly Explosives Limited Time Mode is a BLAST!

The absolute best way to finish out challenges relating to explosives kills, and a fantastic way to laugh until your sides ache, is the new Fly Explosives LTM. The game mode features explosive weapons and insane maneuverability. You'll be 'sploding fools left and right.

The much debated jetpack is back. I am a huge fan, but people who can build like mad hate how it levels the playing field. People who can build and fly become near unstoppable!

Once far over-powered, the guided missile changed the entire meta the last time it was out of the vault. People would build small boxes, hide and fire missiles out a window. Hunting players down from relative safety made the game kinda boring and lame. This revision of the guided missile seems to be under-powered and seems to relegate the weapon to teamwork related kills. It is slower, turns wider, and does far less damage to buildings and people.

I was able to complete a "Get Three Explosive Weapons Kills" challenge in my first game. I was able to rack up a "Kill 10 opponents" challenge in two more. Normally I'd have worked all night to get 10 kills and maybe 1 would have been with explosives.

Game play certainly changes when you don't have to worry about being sniped or lasered from across the map. My squad mates and I were whooping it up dying of laughter just as often as grenades. Read the rest

I had to have this Fortnite tee-shirt. They keep finding ways to get me paying for this free game.

Fortnite 99 Problems T-Shirt via Amazon Read the rest

Fortnite Season Five is off to a blazingly ridiculous start! The beginning of a new season is the best time to buy your Battle Pass! Get to work!

Fortnite is fantastic fun. The 100 player Battle Royale mode sports fantastic gameplay physics and mechanics on Xbox, PS4, Nintendo, PC, and Apple iOS. The game is packed with hilarious animations, dances, actions, weapons, and locations. Backstory and Easter eggs are ludicrously sprinkled all over the map in a manner that is only additive and addictive, but doesn't impact gameplay at all. There is deep strategy to be learned, skill to be developed, and a massive eSports prize pool to aim for, or players can just build a crazy ramp and try jump a shopping cart across half the map.

Fortnite has it all.

I have been frequently asked if folks should buy the available-in-game Battle Pass. For $10 the Battle Pass is a bargain! You will immediately get a character skin and a few other items of bling, but the real value is the series of challenges and rewards that are super fun and fulfilling over the next 10 weeks. Adding some 'progression' and goals to a game this is otherwise just a constant repetition. 'Drop on the island, find loot, try to survive' gets a corollary "I need to blow 3 people up with plunger grenades" or "I have to dive through 20 hoops as I skydive down to the island." Occasionally the challenges are crazy fun, or just plain weird. Read the rest

After releasing and withdrawing their long awaited 'Playground' Limited Time Mode (LTM) due to server load problems, Fortnite is poised to bring it back.

Popularity of Epic's massive 100 player Battle Royale tanked the Playground mode on release. Epic failed to realize just how popular a practice/friends only/clip making mode would be.

Playground mode will let players practice with their friends. Allowing folks to learn to aim and to build outside of a Battle Royale. 4 players get 1 hour to do anything they can imagine on 'The Island.' Resources are 10x, every spawn for loot will be populated, and players will respawn after an elimination.

Already a wild time, Fortnite just got a lot more competitive. Read the rest

YouTuber Mr Mash likes to make flipbooks. His latest is a depiction of Raven from Fortnite dancing. Read the rest

Epic Games' fantastic Fortnite Battle Royale has launched, as anticipated, on the Nintendo Switch. Now you can dance the L on every major gaming platform but one: PC, Xbox, PS4, IOS and Switch. Android is up next.

I've been enthusiastic about the Switch for a while and wondered if it'd replace my aged Xbox One. Fortnite ensures the unit will get a lot of use, even if every other game is a dud.

I alternate between the FunkOps skin, and the Leviathan, whom I lovingly refer to as "Bob Fishman."

Nintendo Switch with Neon Blue and Red Joy-Con bundle via Amazon Read the rest

You'll want to learn to play Fortnite.

Fortnite, the ridiculously fun battle royal game, will hit the esports scene with an incredibly INSANE prize pool. The game's creator, Epic Games, has pledged $100,000,000 in 2018-2019 tournament bounties. In what currency, I am not sure.

I pay my daughter's allowance in "v-bucks" so she can buy cool skins and funny dances in the game. She has never been so eager to get her chores done. Fortnite helps keep the litter boxes clean around here.

The video above is one of Twitch streamer Dr. Lupo's fantastic guides, Domeshot University, where he explains how a competitive gamer thinks. Read the rest

It's still a few months down the road but, if you're an Android user, like I am more and more, these days, there's reason for celebration: Fortnite is finally coming to the platform.

Fortnight has been at the top of the hot game dog pile in the iOS App Store for some time now. And no wonder: it's accessible, fun, looks great and, at least on more recent iPhone handsets, plays like a dream. According to TechCrunch, prior to bringing the game to iOS, Epic Games was making $126 million in revenue off the title. With this being the case, it makes sense that they'd throw all of the resources possible to make Fortnight playable on every single platform on the planet. That Android users would soon be able to crush any hope they have of being productive throughout their day wasn't the only thing that Epic had to say about the game, either.

From TechCrunch:

That news comes amid a flurry of other Fornite related announcements this week. Earlier this morning, Epic unveiled a Battle Royale competition with a large in-game cash prize. This morning, the company also laid out plans to bring voice chat and improved gameplay and controls to the mobile side of things. Stats are coming to mobile, as well, along with a reduced install size.

While I prefer playing shooters, survival games and other twitchy fare that requires a fine touch with a keyboard, mouse or gamepad (I know you can can use all of that with Android, but it feels gross to haul those around with a smartphone,) Having the option to play a huge title like this on the go, no matter whether I'm rocking an iPhone or my OnePlus handset at the time, is pretty great.

A teenager livestreaming a demo of a Fortnite cheat he found online got sued by Epic Games, but the case raises questions about who, if anyone, is legally obligated after he clicked the user agreement required to play the game. Read the rest

Fortnite Battle Royale, a 100 player last-person-standing video game, has become all the rage in my home. It is easy, and free, to hop in and play but takes a lot of strategy, and tactics to play well. These videos have been helping my daughter and I.

I love Ben "Dr. Lupo" Lupo. Ben is a streamer whose giant heart made the Destiny community proud a few years ago. Lupo is smart, eager, friendly and completely aware that his audience is of all ages and sorts. You can watch Lupo without fear of misogyny or racism, which is a lot to say for white male streamer. You can also learn from him. Domeshot University is a series of videos Lupo has been creating that explain exactly what he is thinking, and why he is doing what he does he as plays Fortnite. He has helped my gameplay immensely.

I've learned to make finding a shotgun my early focus, how to prioritize healing items, and a lot of 'how Dr. Lupo looks at the map.' This all really helps. Please keep making them, Ben!

Look at how I've improved:

I still have not won a solo match, but I came really damn close. The above video is me trying SO hard. I thought you'd enjoy my painful fail at the end. I think the other player got a lucky headshot.

My daughter loves Ali-A. This guy has more energy than the energizer bunny, gets that young kids are in the audience and speaks to the 11 year-olds of Fortnite. Read the rest

Fortnite Battle Royale, the video game that has taken over gaming by storm, announced "Revenge" by Enzait as the winner of the #ReplayRoyale fan film contest. Players can use an incredible in-game cinematic Replay feature to re-watch, cut and clip their play from almost any angle.

Fortnite's makers at Epic Games do not always do the best job of picking contest winners, but the community corrects them when they go astray! Epic recently released a fan-favorite entry in their dance contest as an in-game emote, Orange Justice. Even tho Epic selected another winner, fan clamor convinced them to add the wildly flailing dance.

Orange Justice is the dance for me, and it is great exercise! Read the rest

Fortnite Season 4 has arrived, and the meteor has finally struck our island! Read the rest

Epic's Fortnite Battle Royale has a new new replay system that offers content creators an incredible tool. Here are some fun samples from the YouTubes. Read the rest

This $33 Bengoo stereo gaming headset is every bit as nice as my $100+ one.

Gaming and marijuana do not mix. I break headsets and controllers pretty regularly, every few months something gets dropped hard, or yanked off my head by a dog running past and catching the cable (OUCH!!!) I get tired of replacing them.

This Bengoo headset feels every bit as nice as the expensive SkullCandy set it is replacing. The plastic is just as plastic. The ear cups and padding are plenty comfortable. The sound and volume control seems very much the same.

The headset has a very nice cable that annoyingly has permanently affixed stereo and USB jacks. I have used the velcro cable tender that came with to hold the un-used cable end (USB for me) out of the way. The volume and mute controls are super functional and in a good place on the cable.

The mic works well. Adjust the sensitivity if it is not picking up your clear and cogent call-outs.

There is minor price variation based on the color you pick. The unit is labeled "Kotion" who appears to be the manufacturer. I am not sure what a Bengoo is, a Benji is my brother.

I can direction-ally identify footsteps in Fortnite again.

BENGOO G9000 Stereo Gaming Headset for PS4, PC, Xbox One via Amazon

Image via Amazon Read the rest

The world's most popular video game, FortNite Battle Royale, revolves around building forts and shooting chumps. Building can be really difficult, and it is hard to win without learning this skill. Enter the Porta-Fort.

FortNite has quickly replaced all other games my daughter and I played. Now we play together, roving the island of death with me insisting we hunt down others, and my daughter trying to find great places to deploy her bush camouflage.

I wonder how the Porta-Fort will change things. I am not sure it will, because the crazy build-off fights between experienced players reach for the sky -- but tossing a Porta-Fort may sometimes give you the instant edge you need.

Shooting chumps is still hard. They've recently improved first round accuracy to help with that too. This chump got shot.

The new replay system is fun too! Read the rest