This week's Replay is all about the power of gaming communities—the power they have to make ongoing games really entertaining, the power they have to put pressure on corporations, and the power they have to, well, be really quirky and odd. Let's go!

Fortnite's New Season Lands with Spooky Aplomb

First up, the biggest news of the week: Fortnite's new spooky and weird sixth season is finally here. Continuing the game's striking creativity, the "Darkness Rises" update fills the island with creepy woods and "corruption cubes," which do … something. Of course, there are the smattering of new items and cosmetics, too, including passive companions who will follow you into battle and watch as you die. Cheery!

If you're wondering about Fortnite's continued dominance in the battle royale genre, this is it, right here. Here is a game that's always growing and experimenting, and that's doing extremely clever things with space and setting in the medium. Fortnite forever.

Sony Caves in to Cross-Play Demands, to the Joy of People with Friends

Over the past few months, one of the more mild, agreeable controversies in games has been about Sony's insistent refusal to allow cross-console play on the PlayStation 4's multiplayer games, despite many publishers wanting it, basically every consumer wanting it, and it being, apparently, very technically accomplishable. (The functionality has, in fact, been turned on by accident before.)

Now, finally, they've caved. This week Sony announced that they would begin allowing cross-play on some multiplayer titles. While this is going to be on a case-by-case basis, it means that if you have buddies who use other gaming consoles, you might actually be able to play with them. The first game to receive cross-play is, of course, Fortnite.

I Guess We Have to Talk About Bowsette, Huh?

Fandom is weird and beautiful, and very thirsty. This past week provided irrefutable evidence of that with the emergence of Bowsette, a phenomenon that is, well, a little hard to explain. So, recently, when Nintendo announced Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe for the Switch, a new Mario powerup was introduced, a Mushroom Crown that could turn Toadette into Peachette, a Peach lookalike. Wait, said the internet, that crown can turn a mushroom person into Peach? Can it turn anyone into Peach? What about, say, Bowser? Could there be a Bowser Peach?

Yes, the internet responded to itself, resoundingly, yes. And fan artists went wild, producing more vaguely suggestive videogame fan art than I have ever seen. Bowsette is a huge meme, appealing to queer people who find something very relatable and fun in freely changing genders and to people who just really liked The Shape of Water. So, is Bowser sexy now? Definitely yes. Enjoy it. But maybe don't browse any Mario fan art on Twitter while you're at work for a while.

Recommendation of the Week: Life Is Strange

The first episode of the second season of Life Is Strange dropped this week, which means now is the perfect time to experience the bittersweet original. Following Max, a teen photographer who realizes she can rewind time, and her best friend, Chloe, it's a fascinating and, to me, deeply moving queer coming-of-age story nestled in a creative little adventure game. Things get surreal, and sad, and beautiful. And the soundtrack is superb.