Video games have always been an extremely popular pastime for people of all ages. In this digital age, it’s hard to meet someone who has never played a video game in their life. Even those who swear they hate video games have played at least one in their life.
Growing up with a lot of brother’s, video games were quite common in my house. Whether that be Super Smash Bros, Minecraft, Mario Kart or Wipeout: The Game, something was always being played.
More recently, online gaming has skyrocketed with games such as Fortnite and Roblox being top platforms, which is why I have decided to see what the people of Elizabethtown College prefer more.
If you’ve never heard of Roblox or Fornite, both of these games are online gaming platforms where you can play against real people or computers, chat and make friends across the globe or even just buy funny character packs.
Roblox launched in 2006 and describes itself as “an online gaming platform and creation system rather than a single video game”. It also has been described by Damien Doyle as the “YouTube for games.” Roblox has a wide, and I mean wide, variety of games that players can choose from. Roblox has games for every generation, style and gaming preference. If there is a type of game you’ve been wanting to play, Roblox more than likely has it.
Fortnite, on the other hand, is more of a standard video game. You, and up to 99 other players, are fighting to the death in a battle royale style. They also have other game modes, such as Fortnite Save the World, LEGO Fortnite and Rocket Racing.
Fortnite was extremely popular when I was in late elementary to early middle school. It started to die out, but then had a resurgence when they brought back the original gameplay style. After this event, many players returned to the game.
When I had asked the students of Elizabethtown whether they preferred Roblox or Fortnite, it was an overwhelming win for Roblox. Out of nearly 50 submissions, only a handful were for Fortnite, with the rest being for Roblox. I did notice that most of the submissions made by female students were for Roblox, while mostly male students voted for Fortnite.
After I received my submissions, I asked some of the students what made them choose one over the other.
One student simply said, “Life is Roblox,” a nod to the DJ Khaled meme.
Many students attributed their love for the game due to nostalgia. A popular response was that they remembered playing Roblox frequently with their friends during the Covid lockdown.
Others said they discovered it more recently and enjoy playing it with their friends back home. When I asked the students who chose Fortnite, they said that they preferred that style of game play. They didn’t need all of the other gaming options that Roblox had.
Overall, the main reason for Roblox winning this debate was due to the memories that students had from their childhoods and the ability to play a wide variety of games with their friends. And if you want my opinion, I would say Roblox because it’s something my friends and I enjoy playing together, even when we are all apart.
