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.
Retro-Bit Generations: Part 5
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Posted on July 21st, 2017 by
OK so we’re finally at the last part of my look at the games on the Retro-Bit Generations console. Here you can expect to see everything from Rod Land to Zooming…Secretaries?!?
Retro-Bit Generations: Part 4
Posted on July 20th, 2017 by
So if there’s one thing I’m learning from playing this Retro-Bit Generations console is all sorts of games made by Jaleco. They even had a mascot of sorts, a little red clad ninja that starred in a bunch of games! A few are featured in this batch, plus many more!
Exit: The Game (An Escape Room in a box)
Posted on July 20th, 2017 by
Escape Rooms have been growing in popularity and fans now have a way to have a similar experience in their own home. Several companies have released an “Escape Room in a Box” style game that provides an Escape Room experience through a consumable game. (As you play, the components are destroyed.) Just this week, Exit: The Boardgame, was honored as one of the two “Games of the Year” in Germany. Today we’ll take a look (without spoilers) at one of the Escape Room options, Exit: The Game.
Retro-Bit Generations: Part 3
Posted on July 19th, 2017 by
Today’s look at games on the Retro-Bit Generations console has a lot of favorites from Irem, including Hammerin’ Harry, Kid Niki: Radical Ninja and its sequel, and my personal favorite, and what sold me on this system: Kickle Cubicle!
Carrotia (Boardgame)
Posted on July 18th, 2017 by
Carriotia has players cooperate to quickly build a progressively bigger maze, moving their rabbit to collect carrots when they finish. A timed section has players laying out maze tiles to connect the start and end points of the maze, followed by an untimed phase where players take turns moving about the board trying to pick up the placed carrot tokens. The rabbit must exit the maze in a limited number of moves, and things can get complicated as various birds also move about and can affect the board. Complete three progressively larger mazes and then count your carrots to measure your performance. Thirty carrots is an incredible score, while collecting only ten carrots means there are hard times ahead this winter.
Carrotia
Publisher: Mage Company
Ages: 8+
Players: 1-6
Time: 30 minutes
(Review copy provided by Mage Company)
Retro-Bit Generations: Part 2
Posted on July 18th, 2017 by
Lots of Capcom goodies in this second part of my look at all the games in the Retro-Bit Generations console. Highlights include Captain Commando, NES Commando, Exed Exes, Forgotten Worlds, Ghouls N Ghosts, Super Ghouls N Ghosts, Gun.Smoke, and many more!
Retro-Bit Generations: Part 1
Posted on July 17th, 2017 by
So last year Nintendo released the NES Classic Edition, a console with 30 NES games packed into it. I was pretty bummed when I wasn’t able to get one, but it sounds like a lot of other folks weren’t able to get it either. I really hope I can get the SNES Classic Edition that they announced would be coming out this year, but I’d better not get my hopes up. Personally, I think how Nintendo handled the NES Classic Edition is one of their biggest mistakes they’ve made. Well, maybe not as big as the Virtual Boy or having the N64 be cartridge only. So out of frustration, earlier this year I bought an off brand retro console called Retro-Bit Generations. Why? Because it had a lot of games on it that interested me more than what was on the NES Classic Edition, like Kickle Cubicle, Captain Commando, etc. What can I say? I’ve always liked the weird non-mainstream stuff. So all this week we’re going to take a look at the console and the games on it. This thing has over 100 games on it, so yeah, it’ll take us five days to go through it all. So let’s begin!
Taito Wins This Round at Round 1 Arcade!
Posted on July 14th, 2017 by
At the beginning of the year, my brothers were telling me about a really cool arcade near where they live. And just a couple of months ago, I finally got a chance to go to it and take pictures. And now I finally got a chance to post them here! Anyway, it’s called Round 1, and it has a bowling alley, karaoke, darts, pool tables, and a big kiddie play area. But who cares about any of those things? (joking) It also has a really big arcade with lots of ways to separate itself from other typical arcades.
WizKids RPG Miniatures Update
Posted on July 13th, 2017 by
Another round of nifty little plastic figures have been released by WizKids. A new line of minis complements the recent Pathfinder Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path. In addition, two special sets of player-character minis have been released under the Dungeons and Dragon label. The pair of releases are interesting because each contains the same six characters, but the first release shows them at a low level while the follow-up release arms the miniatures with much more advanced and/or epic looking weapons, armor, and tools. As usual, these prepainted minis aren’t cheap, but they’re fun to have on hand to help set the tone and sort through the complexities of battle.
Tokyo Xanadu (Vita)
Posted on July 12th, 2017 by
Nihon Falcom is a Japanese video game developer who has been around for decades. Their most well-known series in the US is probably Ys (pronounced ‘ease’) but even then that’s a pretty niche series. Another popular series they made (at least in Japan) was the Xanadu games, which received many sequels and spinoffs. Fans of the NES may have played some of these spinoffs, like Faxanadu or Legacy of the Wizard (yes, really, all those games are related in a way). One thing the Xanadu games have in common is that, well, they don’t have anything in common! None of them are really related in any way (that I’m aware of), and such is the case with the newest in the series: Tokyo Xanadu. In this game you play as a normal Japanese high school boy. You have a part time job and hang out with friends. But one day you discover an alternate dimension filled with dungeons and monsters, and find out that some of your classmates are involved. Now you must juggle school, a part time job, and saving the world with your friends.
