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.
The Games of Wii Sports Club
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Posted on August 1st, 2014 by
One of Nintendo’s most popular sports titles on the Wii was Wii Sports. So when the Wii U first came out, naturally Nintendo had a Wii Sports title for that, too. But they released it a little differently. Shortly after the launch of the Wii U, you could download and play games on Wii Sports Club. You could pay for each sport separately or pay to play by the hour. But now Nintendo has just released a disc copy of Wii Sports Club with little to no fanfare, so I thought I’d write about it a bit in this blog.
Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition (360, Xbox One, Wii U, PS4)
Posted on July 30th, 2014 by
Juan is a humble Mexican farmer, but one day while helping prepare for his village’s Day of the Dead festivities, a group of evil skeletons kidnaps El Presidente’s daughter, who is also Juan’s childhood friend. These skeletons, led by the evil Calaca, plan to merge the world of the dead with the world of the living, and they kill Juan before he can rescue the girl. Stuck in the world of the dead, Juan finds a mysterious mask. When he puts it on, he becomes a strong and powerful Luchador. The guardian of the mask, a lady named Tostada, tells Juan that the mask not only gives him the power of a Luchador, but will also allow him to return to the world of the living so he can rescue El Presidente’s daughter, defeat Calaca and his minions, and save both worlds in the process. I don’t know what is different in the Super Turbo Championship Edition of Guacamelee, since I never played the original, but this downloadable game is a 2-D action platformer with Metroid-style exploration and combo-based fighting gameplay (360 version reviewed here).
Reader Review: Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake (PC)
Posted on July 28th, 2014 by
My good friend Leroy is back to guest review another game! This one is a whimsical puzzle action game that looks right up my alley! With a title like Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake, how can you NOT click to read his review?
Games for U and Mii
Posted on July 25th, 2014 by
So recently I was wrapping up playing Tomodachi Life on my 3DS. It’s a life sim game that lets you use your Mii characters. I started thinking about other Mii character specific games, and thought I’d write a blog that features them. Most of these Mii games are geared toward casual gamers, and while Nintendo has gotten quite a bit of criticism on that, I still think they’re fun. Now, there are many games that let you use Mii characters in titles like Mario Kart and Sonic & All-Stars Racing, but I’m focusing on just the games that only have Mii characters and nothing else. So let’s get started.
Marvel Pinball: Deadpool (360)
Posted on July 23rd, 2014 by
Everyone’s favorite “Merc With a Mouth,” Deadpool, is bouncing of the comic book pages and into his own pinball game. His table features all the madcap nonsense and crazy humor you’d expect from Marvel’s most wisecracking superhero (and sometimes villain). You can download and play it on consoles that support Zen Studios’ pinball games and PC, but it’s reviewed on 360 here.
Reader Review: Electronic Super Joy: Groove City (PC)
Posted on July 21st, 2014 by
My good friend Leroy is back to review an add-on to a game he wrote about last year called Electronic Super Joy. The add-on is called Groove City. Click to find out if it’s worthy of your time:
Photos With Mario (3DS)
Posted on July 18th, 2014 by
The last thing we’ll look at in our “Free-to-Play” Week is an application for 3DS that you can download on the eShop for free. It’ll let you take photos of Mario characters using cards, similar to how the AR Games functions on your 3DS. But while the Photos With Mario app is free, the way you get the cards isn’t. You have to buy special Nintendo Points cards that have the Mario cards included, and you can only buy them at Target stores.
Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball (3DS)
Posted on July 16th, 2014 by
The next game in our “Free-to-Play” feature week is a strange one, for many reasons. It’s a baseball game, but quite different than other ones you may have played. And second, it’s from Nintendo, which is unusual because they generally don’t dabble in this kind of game. They have this and a free-to-play version of Steel Diver for download, a submarine game on 3DS. The baseball one piqued my curiosity though, so since it was free to download, I figured, why not?
Unplugged: A Bit of Summer Archery
Posted on July 15th, 2014 by
As I looked out at the summer rain today, I pondered what to do with my young grade school boys. Looks like it’s time to break out the bow and arrow and do a bit of indoor archery practice! No, I’m not crazy, but I recently got a hold of some of the kid-friendly bow and arrow toys made by Zing Toys.
Moshling Rescue (iPad)
Posted on July 14th, 2014 by
It’s “Free-to-Play” week here at GamerDad.com, where we’ll look at three games that won’t cost you anything to play (well, sort of). Anyway, Moshi Monsters is a popular online virtual pet simulator where players take care of various cute monsters and their Moshling pets, as well as play games and have adventures. And now the Moshlings are starring in their own match-three puzzle game, which plays similar to other titles like Bejeweled and Candy Crush. It’s free to play and available on Facebook and iOS devices (reviewed on iPad here).
