Game of the Year?
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Posted on February 6th, 2008 by
Hey GamerDad! Where’s your Game of the Year picks? Why does GamerDad.com still have last year’s GOTY article linked? Especially given that our GamerDads (and our MomGamer) have already published their picks for the best games of 2007. But what about me? The figurehead? The super hero? The man himself? Well, I’ve written the article and then I took the opportunity to sell it. It’ll be posted at CrispyGamer soon – along with another exciting announcement. I’ll keep you posted. Watch this space. I’ll have the article plus links to my crew’s thoughts, picks and opinions. It’ll be worth the wait!
GamerDad De-Wired
Posted on February 5th, 2008 by
Well, today (Feb 6th) is the day I finally get the staples, wires, or whatever they really are, out of my chest. Most people tolerate these just fine but for some reason my skeletal structure, my broad massive giant chest, my impressive physique, is rejecting the metal that held my ribcage together after doctors so expertly bust it open to quintuple my bypass… so, in the morning, I’ll go under the knife again to have a superficial incision and then I presume he’ll take wire-cutters and remove the remaining jabby things. I can’t wait! I’ve been in low-level pain for almost two months now. I should be home tonight, don’t wait up for me but I’ll fill you guys in on Thursday!
Get out and VOTE!!!
Posted on February 4th, 2008 by
This isn’t strictly game related, but neither can anyone who follows game news deny the amount of play video games get in political circles. Video games are huge money, and the content of those games – especially some of the mature games that we have discussed here – makes for easy political fodder. We have seen recently in the whole ‘Mass Effect’ controversy that facts are no deterrent for someone trying to score points. But while we might not be happy with the situation, we are not powerless.
Ask GamerDad!
Posted on February 4th, 2008 by
WhatTheyPlay.com, my new best friends, have commissioned and published a brand new Q&A column from the ME, the GamerDad. The first issue is up and it functions as an introduction of sorts. The only problem with this column is that WhatTheyPlay is such a young company. They’re reaching the mainstream in a way I could only dream of, but they’re new, so the column is going to live or die based on the amount of questions we get. This will be especially important in the beginning, for obvious reasons. Lets prime that
pump, but I want real questions. So, ask gramma, your spouse, or anyone generally clueless or suspicious about videogames. Lets set them straight! Check out Issue 1 of Ask GamerDad and then use their MB or email link to get some questions heading my way! Thanks in advance! PS: No, a lightsaber could not cut Superman. Believe me, I’d know. They do, however, sting. So, ask questions today, get answers at the end of the week. We thank WhatTheyPlay for recognizing and publishing GamerDad.com.
More bad math for kids …
Posted on January 31st, 2008 by
Piracy is a problems for video game makers, and always had been. I recall having to skim through my PGA Tour Golf for Mac manual to find a certain detail – every time I started the program. That was 17 years ago. Now we have Starforce and rootkits and other elements to supplement manual authentication. Yet there are claims that piracy is worse than ever – every platform loses sales due to ‘hacks’ and downloads. There are those whose business it is to estimate the losses incurred by piracy. One of them has chimed in this week with regard to the top-selling Nintendo DS. Can you guess his estimate of what percentage of North American DS users are playing pirated games? Answer to yourself before you click in …
SAW – The Videogame
Posted on January 30th, 2008 by
I suppose you could call it “job security” – for someone trying to defend an industry and help parents all but single-handedly, this could be considered good news – because someone is going to make a videogame out of the “torture porn” progenitor SAW series of movies. The one with the puppet who makes people ironically harm themselves or others to save the lives of themselves or others. It’s pretty easy to imagine how you could make a topic like this into a videogame. Interactive torture is not a trend I want to see, but then again there is an audience and my principles demand I support them too.
GamerDad Health Update
Posted on January 30th, 2008 by
Thought I’d knock down two birds with one stone – hmmm, there’s got to be a less violent analogy that means the same thing. No matter! First of all, let me thank you for your generosity. Our little eBay fundraiser was a success and since it’s looking like the medical bills are paid for, I get to use this money to do something fun for my family. I’m so proud to be a part of this industry. Gamers are generous, never let anyone tell you different, and Linda and I are proud to know you. Second, I’m going in to the hospital next Wednesday to have all the metal removed (sounds scarier than it is) this will be an outpatient procedure and I had something similar done back in November. I recovered in about 3 hours then, I can’t think why now would be different. I can’t wait to be rid of this low-level pain I’ve sadly grown accustomed to. And lastly, a big thank you goes out to Alienware. They offered me a generous discount on one of their super-gaming computers. It arrived recently and it sits in my office – looking malevolent, cool, and powerful enough to handle anything. (Note: It’s black like the one in the picture but that’s actually a MUCH more powerful unit than mine.) Thanks again GamerDad Nation!
Happy Birthday GamerMom!
Posted on January 30th, 2008 by
Yes, yesterday was my wife’s birthday! A special day indeed for this family as you can see from this picture – even Bubbles the GamerHound stood at attention to sing in her own inimitable way. (Okay, for some reason I can’t upload a picture today.) A friend made Linda a homemade carrot cake. The kids, and I, gave her that sweatshirt with the kids picture on it. And she also got some books, recipe books, and more. We’re doing dinner and a movie this weekend. Happy Birthday sweetie, here’s to many, many more!
Hot Coffee – Settled
Posted on January 28th, 2008 by
GamerParents who’ve been reading for a while doubtlessly remember the “Hot Coffee” scandal (here’s my take on it courtesy of questions from the Dallas Morning News). As a synopsis, “Hot Coffee” is a piece of what’s called “abandoned code” – a common thing in software development. Basically one of the designers of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas created a silly sexual minigame and the code was severed from the game. It was found by a hacker and a bunch of faux outrage was the result. I mean, there was no nudity and what was depicted if you went to the considerable trouble to get it working, is tamer than the marionette sex scene in “Team America: World Police” (Rated-R) – not to mention that the game already had an M-rating and “sexual content” descriptor. The ESRB over-reacted and forced the game to accept the sales dooming Adults Only rating and the game was re-released at considerable expense for basically no reason and protecting no one. Well, Take Two settled and guess who won?
The Mini Games of Duck Amuck
Posted on January 26th, 2008 by
In the 1953 Looney Tunes cartoon Duck Amuck by Chuck Jones, an unseen animator bugs the crap out of Daffy Duck, with hilarious results. And this past year, a Nintendo DS game was made with that same concept and title. As a fan of cartoons, I was mildy curious about this game, but didn’t want to play full price for it. I’m sorry, GameCrazy, but it’s just not worth 35 bucks. Luckily I found it for 20 bucks elsewhere, so I decided to snag it.
