美国国家公共电台 NPR The Fortnite Craze Might Be Here To Stay

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

High schoolers, celebrities¹, parents, even sports teams are copying some of the signature dance moves from the video game Fortnite. Capital Public Radio's Adhiti Bandlamudi brings us this.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

ADHITI BANDLAMUDI, BYLINE²: Wissali Holman and her husband Skyler are having their date night at a nightclub-styled video game lounge called PLAYlive Nation in Tracy, Calif.

WISSALI HOLMAN: There's somebody coming - no, no - yep. I died (laughter).

BANDLAMUDI: It's a big, dark room with club music playing in the background. Instead of a dance floor, TVs line the walls with connected Xboxes. Big, comfy chairs sit in a row in front of the TVs. The Holmans have never been to this arcade³ before.

HOLMAN: You know, I actually walked by with my sister, and I saw people playing Fortnite from outside, and I was like, oh, my gosh, my husband will love this.

BANDLAMUDI: Fortnite is a cross-platform game. You can play it on your phone, computer or a gaming console. The game's premise⁴ is that you enter into a world and have about 20 minutes to build fortresses⁵ and shoot down other players until it's the last man standing⁶. It's caused a major stir in the video gaming world because it's turning casual gamers into avid⁷ gamers.

JOOST VAN DREUNEN: Fortnite appeals to a mainstream⁸ audience.

BANDLAMUDI: Joost van Dreunen is the CEO of SuperData Research, a company which specializes in video game analytics. He says most shooter games are serious and simulate violence with lots of blood and gore⁹. Fortnite is more like a friendly game of tag.

VAN DREUNEN: It's more colorful. It has, you know, sort of tongue-in-cheek, you know, aesthetic¹⁰ to it. So for all those reasons - it's cartoony. So for all those reasons, it's much more accessible and much more friendly.

BANDLAMUDI: His company estimates the game has made over $200 million in March alone. The game is actually free to play. All that money is made through microtransactions. Players spend money on extras like skins, which are basically costumes for their characters, or on emotes, which makes the characters do a special dance.

CATHERINE GARRETT: I've probably spent around $60 to $70.

BANDLAMUDI: That's Catherine Garrett, a Fornite player from Athens, Ga.

GARRETT: There's always just so many fun, like, skins that come out that are, like, limited edition, and you don't know if they're going to be out again and sometimes I just feel too tempted¹¹.

BANDLAMUDI: She says she's never been one to spend hours on a game. But after Fortnite came out, she's now playing two to three hours a night.

GARRETT: And then just recently, I started watching a lot of gamers on Twitch¹², especially Ninja.

BANDLAMUDI: Twitch is a streaming service for video gamers, and Ninja, a gamer name taken by 26-year-old Tyler Blevins, is now a legend in the Fortnite world. He's a master at the game and rocketed into popularity after playing in an online battle with rap artists Drake and Travis Scott. That battle has been watched nearly a million times.

GARRETT: Holy cow, Drake plays Fortnite. That's insane.

BANDLAMUDI: Not just Drake, it seems, but everyone can play Fortnite. The idea of who is a gamer is expanding. Van Dreunen from SuperData Research says Fortnite's success is likely to continue.

VAN DREUNEN: It's almost impossible to fail at this point, at least in the foreseeable future, because it has all the ingredients.

BANDLAMUDI: It's free to play, easy to pick up and addictive¹³ to win and addictive to winners like when the Houston Astros beat the Baltimore Orioles recently and celebrated¹⁴ with Fortnite's jubilation¹⁵ emote dance - shoulders hunched¹⁶, hands up, feet thumping¹⁷ the ground.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, "FORTNITE")

BANDLAMUDI: For NPR News, I'm Adhiti Bandlamudi in Sacramento, Calif.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, "FORTNITE")

 

1 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 arcade   

n.拱廊；(一侧或两侧有商店的)通道

参考例句：

• At this time of the morning,the arcade was almost empty.在早晨的这个时候，拱廊街上几乎空无一人。
• In our shopping arcade,you can find different kinds of souvenir.在我们的拱廊市场，你可以发现许多的纪念品。

4 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

5 fortresses   

堡垒，要塞( fortress的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They will establish impregnable fortresses. 他们将建造坚不可摧的城堡。
• Indra smashed through Vritra ninety-nine fortresses, and then came upon the dragon. 因陀罗摧毁了维他的九十九座城堡，然后与维他交手。 来自神话部分

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 avid   

adj.热心的；贪婪的；渴望的；劲头十足的

参考例句：

• He is rich,but he is still avid of more money.他很富有,但他还想贪图更多的钱。
• She was avid for praise from her coach.那女孩渴望得到教练的称赞。

8 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

9 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

10 aesthetic   

adj.美学的，审美的，有美感

参考例句：

• My aesthetic standards are quite different from his.我的审美标准与他的大不相同。
• The professor advanced a new aesthetic theory.那位教授提出了新的美学理论。

11 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

12 twitch   

v.急拉，抽动，痉挛，抽搐；n.扯，阵痛，痉挛

参考例句：

• The smell made my dog's nose twitch.那股气味使我的狗的鼻子抽动着。
• I felt a twitch at my sleeve.我觉得有人扯了一下我的袖子。

13 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。

14 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

15 jubilation   

n.欢庆，喜悦

参考例句：

• The goal was greeted by jubilation from the home fans.主场球迷为进球欢呼。
• The whole city was a scene of jubilation.全市一片欢腾。

16 hunched   

（常指因寒冷、生病或愁苦）耸肩弓身的，伏首前倾的

参考例句：

• He sat with his shoulders hunched up. 他耸起双肩坐着。
• Stephen hunched down to light a cigarette. 斯蒂芬弓着身子点燃一支烟。

17 thumping   

adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持

参考例句：

• Her heart was thumping with emotion. 她激动得心怦怦直跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He was thumping the keys of the piano. 他用力弹钢琴。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》