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.
Cary’s Top Five Favorite Firefighters in Video Games
Add Comment
Posted on October 21st, 2016 by
So a while back, I wrote a blog about my favorite police officers in video games. It was a fairly popular topic, so I decided to revisit it, only change it to be my favorite firefighters in video games. It won’t be as long of a list, because I couldn’t think of too many firefighter game characters. I’m a little surprised there aren’t more firefighting games out there. Real life firefighters are true heroes, risking their lives and being brave to save others in danger. So I’m surprised that more video games haven’t capitalized on that. Also, according to where I work now, this month is fire safety month so it’s topical. But anyway, here are my favorites.
Storm King’s Thunder (D&D RPG)
Posted on October 20th, 2016 by
This year, Dungeons and Dragons is all about the giants. The various types of giants (fire, hill, cloud, etc…) have gone to war with each other to determine the best kind of giant. Since the release of of 5th edition, Wizards of the Coast has picked an overarching storyline and theme for the year’s releases. This year focuses on a disruption of the natural order of giant seniority, and the infighting between the giant types to get higher in the pecking order. Player characters get caught up in the political intrigue and can even steer the outcome in one way or another before the tale’s final denouement.
Jotun: Valhalla Edition (Wii U, PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Posted on October 19th, 2016 by
Thora is a big, burly, tough as nails female Viking warrior. Unfortunately for her, her boat sank and instead of going to Valhalla, she ends up in Norse purgatory and must fight her way through collecting runes and battling huge bosses to impress the gods. Jotun: Valhalla Edition is a downloadable top-down viewed action game featuring hand-drawn graphics and animation. It’s available for nearly all current game consoles and PC, but reviewed on Wii U here.
Noitu Love Devolution (Wii U, 3DS, PC)
Posted on October 17th, 2016 by
One of the things I like about reviewing games is learning about certain series that I would’ve never had heard of before. This is a good example. Noitu Love was a computer game released in the mid-2000’s, and Devolution is the sequel. It was actually released a good while back on PC, too, but now you can play it with touch screen controls on the Wii U and 3DS (Wii U version reviewed here). It’s a 2-D action game that has a lot in common with 16 and 32-bit Treasure titles.
Cary’s Top Ten Favorite Police Officers in Video Games
Posted on October 14th, 2016 by
Over this past summer, and even some after that, there were a lot of news stories about police officers not doing what they should be doing, and it caused a lot of heat. Sometimes even in the form of riots. While I’m sure that there are police officers who are corrupt and some who lie and make mistakes, I think the majority of officers are trying their best to do the right thing, and need our support. But that’s just my personal opinion. So to show my support, here’s a blog about my favorite police officers in video games, and I’ll also share some ways I helped support our local police force in real life.
Poncho (Wii U)
Posted on October 12th, 2016 by
Buildings are burning and the world has ended. Kind of a dark way to start out a game where you play as a happy little toaster-like robot wearing a poncho. In the game you play as Poncho, who must explore a 2-D 16-bit styled world filled with other robots wandering around not knowing what to do. Your task is to find an item left by your creator which will supposedly save humanity somehow. The game is available to download on the Nintendo Wii U eShop.
Pac-Man Pop! (iOS, Android)
Posted on October 10th, 2016 by
So what happens when you combine my all-time favorite video game (Pac-Man), with one of my favorite puzzle game series (Bust-A-Move/Puzzle Bobble). You get Pac-Man Pop! It’s a new free-to-play puzzler downloadable on iOS and Android devices (reviewed on iPad here). So you know I had to check it out!
Axiom Verge (Wii U, PS4, Vita, Xbox One, PC)
Posted on October 7th, 2016 by
So Federation Force may not have been the Metroid game that fans wanted, but luckily you can get your 2-D Metroid-style game fix in with Axiom Verge. In the game you play as Trace, a scientist who gets caught in an explosion in a lab in New Mexico. But instead of dying or winding up in a hospital, you are transported to an alien world, and it’s up to you to survive, explore, and find out how you got there in the first place. Axiom Verge is a 2-D platforming 16-bit style game very similar to Super Metroid on the SNES. It’s available for download on nearly all current consoles, but reviewed on Wii U here.
Woody: Endless Summer (iOS, Android)
Posted on October 5th, 2016 by
Summer may be over, but you can still enjoy the season with a wakeboarding dog! Yup, they made a game about a wakeboarding dog. Now I’ve seen everything. Help Woody the dog avoid obstacles and collect coins in this free-to-play action game downloadable on iOS and Android (reviewed on iPhone here).
Solitairica (iOS, PC)
Posted on October 3rd, 2016 by
This isn’t your typical Solitaire game! It’s a mix of the familiar single player card classic mixed with RPG battle elements! Fight the monster armies of Emperor Stuck by challenging crazy characters. It’s available to download on iOS and PC, but reviewed on iPad here.
