Welcome to GamerDad: Gaming with Children. My name is Andrew S. Bub - the GamerDad - and I've been writing about videogames, movies, and children for over 15 years now. After working as a magazine journalist, I switched gears to write about how media violence affects children, educating parents about them, and working closely with magazines, newspapers, major retailers and even politicians. GamerDad is an internationally recognized expert in this field. Games, movies and media are fun, kids and families love them, they aren't going away. So join me in cutting through the hype and lets have a real conversation about the things that matter: Video Games, Violent Media, and their supposed effect on children and families.
Welcome to GamerDad: Gaming with Children. My name is Andrew S. Bub - the GamerDad - and I've been writing about videogames, movies, and children for over 15 years now. After working as a magazine journalist, I switched gears to write about how media violence affects children, educating parents about them, and working closely with magazines, newspapers, major retailers and even politicians. GamerDad is an internationally recognized expert in this field. Games, movies and media are fun, kids and families love them, they aren't going away. So join me in cutting through the hype and lets have a real conversation about the things that matter: Video Games, Violent Media, and their supposed effect on children and families.
Have a Super Mario Easter!
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Posted on April 19th, 2019 by
I love the Easter holiday. I enjoy both the religious and secular sides of it. So I was thrilled to find some Mario related Easter treats at the store. So let’s take a look at what I’ve found.
American Ninja Warrior Challenge (Switch, PS4, Xbox One)
Posted on April 17th, 2019 by
American Ninja Warrior is a long-running obstacle course TV game show, and it’s been very popular. So much so that now there is a video game based on it! Create and train an athlete in career mode, challenge other players, and even design your own obstacle courses. It’s available on nearly all current game consoles, but reviewed on Switch here.
Thomas and Friends Adventures (iOS, Android)
Posted on April 15th, 2019 by
Thomas the train wasn’t around yet when I was a kid, but if he was, I probably would’ve been really into that, as I loved reading about trains when I was little (although their faces kind of creep me out). In fact, two of my favorite Little Golden Books were The Little Engine that Could and The Little Red Caboose. And now your little engineers can go on globetrotting adventures with Thomas and his train pals with Thomas and Friends Adventures. They’ll build railroad tracks and compete in train races, all the while learning about different cultures and countries, as well as relatable lessons like being scared, telling the truth, making friends, and more along the way! Thomas and Friends Adventures is a free to start app you can download on iOS and Android devices, but reviewed on iPad here.
ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove (PS4, Switch, Xbox One, PC)
Posted on April 12th, 2019 by
As a kid, I never had a SEGA Genesis. I was a SNES man, myself. Most of the time, I was fine with that, as the SNES had more games that interested me at the time. But there were a few times when a game on the Genesis caught my eye. ToeJam & Earl was one of those games, as it was very colorful and cartoony with unique gameplay. Over the years they’ve had a few sequels, and now they’re back again with ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove. It’s a homage to the original game on the Genesis, and it’s available to download on nearly all current game consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
RemiLore (Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Posted on April 10th, 2019 by
Remi is a high school student who is cleaning her library with a broom one day. But when she dusts off an old book, it starts talking and she panics. The book, named Lore, is a magical spellbook that transports her to a magical realm infested with robots. Now it’s up to Remi and the magical book to fight off the horde of mechanical monsters to find the portal so Remi can go back home. RemiLore is a randomly generated hack and slash dungeon crawler action game, and it’s available to download for nearly all current game consoles, but reviewed on Switch here.
Namco Museum Vinyl Record
Posted on April 8th, 2019 by
When I was a kid, I remember record players and vinyl still being around. But they were quickly replaced by cassette tapes and CDs later. But now records are making a comeback over the past few years. I don’t know if it’s the technology of record players getting better or hipsters longing for that classic record sound. But now you can also get video game soundtracks on vinyl as well. So here’s a review of a Namco Museum record I got this past Christmas!
Unplugged: Street Fighter Exceed Card Game
Posted on April 5th, 2019 by
Street Fighter is one of the most popular video games ever made and helped jump start arcades and the one-on-one fighting game genre. And now you can play a card game with characters and themes from the famous franchise. Exceed is an existing card game with fighter style mechanics, and their latest series includes characters from Capcom’s classic series. You can read more about it here, but before you do, please make sure to read my review below.
Claybook (Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Posted on April 3rd, 2019 by
I’ve always had a passing interest in stop motion and clay animation. In fact, one time in college I took a day-long just-for-fun clay animation class. It took us a whole day to make a few seconds of very choppy clay animation, so I have new respect for the folks who do that for a living! So I won’t pass up a chance to review a game that looks like it’s made entirely out of clay. Claybook is a 3-D puzzle platformer where everything looks like it’s made of Play-Doh. It’s available on nearly all current game consoles, but reviewed on Switch here.
Overwatch Cereal?!?
Posted on April 1st, 2019 by
No this is not an April Fools’ joke, this stuff actually exists. You can get it in stores now, so I thought I’d write about it here. You’ll have to forgive me, I don’t know a whole lot about Overwatch, so my description of the cereal may not be as detailed as it was when I reviewed the Super Mario Cereal a year or so ago.
The Games of the Atari Flashback Classics vol. 3: Part 3: 2600 Games
Posted on March 29th, 2019 by
So last we’ll look at the rest of the games on the vol. 3 collection of Atari games, these coming from the 2600. I have to say that I don’t have as much nostalgia for the 2600. I did play it a lot at friends and neighbors’ houses, but I didn’t own one myself until many years later. Plus I just don’t think most of the 2600 library is that good. I did like most of Activision’s games, and there were a few arcade ports that were decent, like Moon Patrol or Centipede. But most of the Atari made games just didn’t grab me. So if I gloss over a lot of these, now you know why. Anyway, let’s look at the games on here.
