Champagne Toad!
We had champagne for my father’s birthday and, casually, I picked up the cork and showed it to my son Henry (GamerBoy, age 8 ) and said: “Looks kind of like Toad, huh?” He smiled and pocketed it. Toad is a character from his favorite games, the Mario ones, and yesterday he surprised me by creating this with no help from anyone. Awesome, huh?
GiverDad
Christmas is a time for giving, well, actually any time is and should be, especially with today’s economy. GamerDad fully supports Penny-Arcade’s Child’s Play charity but since they’ve already hit an impressive $2.2 million, I figure my help can go elsewhere. I lack the infrastructure to ask for your help, but one thing I don’t lack is videogames. Early last year the GamerDad Family proudly gave over $1000 worth of videogames, hardware and accessories to the Ronald McDonald House charity but this Christmas I decided to do something a little different by having my kids comb through their collections and give what they wanted to give. I told them to “make it hurt” but reminded them that others were hurting more. I was shocked and proud to see the results
FYI
Hey all! Just popping in to promise that I am planning on posting about LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean (Henry and I are on the third movie/episode already and the game is really fantastic), Portal 2 (love it love it love it) and most importantly the incredible LA Noire. That one needs writing because it’s very mature, in the true sense of the term. I’m mainly here to say: “Yes, the GamerDad.com email isn’t working.” and “No, this isn’t because I lost the domain or am abandoning the site” and “don’t worry, it happened because I’m forgetful and finding it hard to go back 8 years and remember just who I bought the domain from, the passwords, etc., It’ll happen, until then please use “TheGamerDad @ gmail.com” no spaces. As far as my general lack of attention to this site? Well that’s a combination of new health issues (yay!) and my focusing on parenting, landscaping, and trying to get my book done finally. That’s about it. Until later, check LA Noire on Youtube and ask yourself if bloody and totally naked crime victims (as well as every other descriptor) is okay for your kids (hey, crime is crime and the game doesn’t pull a single punch), get LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean, and by all means get Portal 2 for yourself. Happy GamerDadding.
GamerDad Charity – I’m Lovin’ It!
We get games here and they stack up fast. What to do with them after I’ve cracked the shrink wrap and checked out the content. I’ve also sent M-rated games to Military charities and kids games to www.GetWellGamers.com. I’ve sold some and directed the money to childsplay.org. But I’ve been lazy since my health took a nosedive and three years of games E-M piled up. Also, several Rock Band/Guitar Hero guitars, drums, and microphones. Some Leap Frog stuff , a steering wheel controller, and loads of DS games. Roughly 200 games in total. That’s a lot to ship to a charity. Then, at a McDonalds (I didn’t order anything) I saw the Ronald McDonald House charity and BOOM I knew what to do. See, this charity provides free accommodations to families with a loved one in the hospital. Often these families have children – kids in need of as much distraction as possible. I learned that first hand with my heart attack. Without distractions from family, my kids would have been a lot more traumatized and had my wife not been able to visit daily – I may have gone insane. Those kids need their families nearby and those families need comfort. So, yesterday, my family and I donated ALL of it to the local house
Stand By!
Things break. For me, they tend to clump up and happen in dispiriting groups. This time it was a camera, an ipod and the big monitor I use for PC gaming. So of course a Gamerdad hiccup was to be expected. It’s all good now, thanks for putting up with it. Happy 12th Anniversary Gamermom and now back to cowboy zombies, already in progress.
The End of EA Sports
It is with great dismay and sorrow that I must report the end of GamerDad’s relationship with EA Sports. This is sad to me personally, because I have reviewed Madden and other EA Sports games since 1996.
GamerDad in iVillage – Best of ’09
iVillage (Momster.com, Parenting Magazine, Momtourage, NBC-Universal), the largest “Mommy site” on the web – commissioned me to create a slideshow of my favorite games from 2009. There were a lot to choose from and I had to cover all ages but M-Mature. I think the article came out great. You can find it right here! FROM TYKES TO TEENS: BEST VIDEO GAMES OF THE YEAR!
A HEAVY Rain is Gonna Fall
Hard Heavy Rain hasn’t come out yet, I believe it’s due in late February (PS3 only), but it promises to be a violent adult kind of game. How adult? Here’s what the ESRB had to say :
WJTS 91.9 Audio Up
WJTS Radio’s Morning Show – Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia – posted their interview with me. You can listen to it here. They even wrote nice things about me and linked the site (you’d be amazed how many places don’t do this)!
WGTS 91.9 & GamerDad
I recorded a 15 minute segment with the hosts of WGTS 91.9 “Family Friendly” Radio’s Morning Show with Becky and Brennan. WGTS serves Washington DC and Maryland. It went well, good conversation focussing on what the Washington Post article talked about. Dads, gaming, limits and ideas for what to play. So, of course, that meant me babbling about Madden/Backyard football, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, LEGO Batman and, naturally, Beatles Rock Band. The station is Christian and usually about family and parenting – which means I reached a deep and thoughtful audience. No moralizing – leave that to others – I just talk about family and games and where the twain do meet. That’s what/how I do here at GamerDad! Thanks for contacting me Becky and Brennan.