GamerDad is 6!
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Posted on June 30th, 2009 by
I’ve had too many occasions over the past year or so to list my accomplishments here at GamerDad. I won’t do that this time – let’s keep it simple. Happy 6th Anniversary to GamerDad: Gaming with Children. Here’s to the future, however it goes!
Slimer Ate 50 Hot Dogs!
Posted on June 30th, 2009 by
Hey folks, just wanted to let you all know that I may not be blogging as much as I used to. I just got a new part time job in the extermination business. My other co-workers at my new job keep calling me ‘rookie,’ the receptionist ignores me, and the pay’s lousy. But in these hard economic times, you gotta do what you gotta do. Plus, aside from helping an old plumber friend clear some pests out of an old mansion, I have next to NO experience in this kind of work. Honestly, I’m just following in the footsteps of one of my idols, a hungry, round, yellow fellow who’s a bit of a ghost buster himself. So who ya gonna call? That’s right, me! I’m a Ghostbuster now, and I’m ready to believe you.
Ghostbusters – PS3/Xbox360
Posted on June 29th, 2009 by
Ghostbusters will always be special to me. It was a kid-flick from an era when a PG-13 movie could have overt sexual jokes (remember the female ghost who, during a montage, appears above Dan Ackroyd when he’s in bed? She hovers above him, turns invisible, and then you see his pants unbuckling and his reaction helped me understand so many things about adulthood) (oh, and that whole Keymaster/Gatekeeper thing). I was 12. It was my birthday. My friends blindfolded me until we got to the theater. A wonderful day! Well, Atari released a game and it’s billed as – and almost lives up to the original film (Ghosterbusters 2 be damned!). Find out the “almost” here: more…
Unplugged: Dominion, the German Game of the Year
Posted on June 29th, 2009 by
Just this morning, the most prestigious boardgame award of the year was awarded to the card game Dominion. The award is the Spiel des Jahres (German for game of the year) and nominees are announced each May with the actual award presented every year at this time. In Germany, boardgames are a common gathering point for families and friends and games recognized with the Spiel des Jahres (SdJ for short) are known for their uniqueness, fun, and appropriateness for families to play together. Winning the award virtually guarantees huge sales in Germany for the base game and then future expansions are almost always added on to take advantage of the increased interest. This year’s winner, Dominion, is easily my favorite game of the past year and I’m glad to see it win the award. Congratulations to the designer, Donald X. Vaccarino and publisher, Rio Grand Games. Both are from the United States, so that bodes well for the domestic boardgame industry. Clearly the German judges like the game, but how does it play?
This Week in Games: June 28 – July 4th
Posted on June 28th, 2009 by
Welcome back to the latest edition of This Week in Games. Before getting to the games, I wanted to let you all know that this will be my last edition of This Week In Games. I wanted to thank Andrew for all the great years … and invite you to read my goodbye message at the end of the article. But for now … to the games!
We have a relatively solid release schedule that is full-up with movie tie-ins, including Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. I know our family has been anticipating the new Harry Potter movie since it was delayed last fall, and the video game tie-ins have generally been fairly solid if unspectacular. As for the new Ice Age … my expectation after watching a pair of dreadful ‘exclusive clips’ this week is that regardless of how bad the game is, it will take little effort to be better than the movie! more…
Final Fantasy: Distant Worlds Orchestra Concert
Posted on June 25th, 2009 by
One of the many things the Final Fantasy series of role playing video games is known for is its sweeping and memorable music scores-perfect for an orchestral setting. In fact, on tour right now in the US is an orchestra concert featuring the music of Final Fantasy with videos and scenes from each of the games. I attended the concert in Dallas last weekend at the Meyerson Symphony Center. Here’s how it all went down:
Guitar Zero – U R 2 out of Touch
Posted on June 23rd, 2009 by
Wait! Even if you don’t like Prince I’m making a point here about ALL kinds of games! 
I’m a Prince fan, and before you scoff one of the main reasons is because I’ve seen him in concert. The man IS a Guitar Hero and not only that, he’s a Rock Band too. He plays every instrument on his albums. I saw and heard him do a very credible Zeppelin medley live here in Milwaukee and I swear to you – he no longer looked like a purple weirdo. He looked like Jimmy Page. Sounded like him too. But, man is he out of touch! Come in for the how and the why:
Game Review: Sam & Max Save the World (Xbox LIVE)
Posted on June 23rd, 2009 by
Sam & Max aren’t your regular police force…they’re the Freelance Police. Sam is a no-nonsense dog detective and his pal Max is a hyperkinetic rabbity thing. For more than 20 years they’ve been serving their brand of justice on the pages of underground comic books, on a Saturday morning cartoon, and in some popular computer adventure games. Now they’re ready to take on Xbox Live with all six hilarious episodes of their Season One adventures from the PC and Wii.
Red Faction: Guerilla? T-Teen?
Posted on June 22nd, 2009 by
I literally yawned when someone here asked me about Red Faction: Guerilla. I yawned, which is an awful thing to do about something that took years off the developers lives to… er… develop, so when it arrived I looked at the M. Learned that it’s a “sandbox” game (do whatcha want, when ya want) where you can blow up buildings. Not knock them down like Far Cry and not blow holes through them (like Bad Company). Here you can do “demolitions!” I normally don’t like these kinds of games – unless they’re named “Grand Theft Something” mainly because they demand a time investment I’m usually not prepared to make. I like simple stories – these kinds of games are recreation to me. Well, I’m glad I stuck it out. Here’s why . . .
This Week in Games: June 21 – 27
Posted on June 21st, 2009 by
The summer blockbuster movie season is in full swing, and that means we are seeing more and more movie tie-ins. This week it is Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, a movie dominated by CGI robots and the kid from Even Stevens but whose media campaign spent more time on Megan Fox. The game is out on every platform, and as happened last time also gets TWO DS releases – one for Autobots and the other for Decepticons. That is what we call the Pokemon factor … and it seemed to work last time, as there was just enough differentiation to make it worth getting both if you liked them. more…
