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.
Christmas Fall and Winter Movie Roundup!
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Posted on December 21st, 2015 by
Usually at the end of summer, I’ll write a blog about the movies I saw during the past few months, as I see a lot of movies during that time. It’s pretty rare for me to see a bunch of movies any other time of the year, but this Fall and Winter I did. So I decided to write a little blog about what I saw, just for fun. I’ll try to keep the spoilers to a minimum, but just in case something slips out, you’ve been warned!
Octodad: Dadliest Catch (Wii U, PS4, Vita, Xbox One, PC)
Posted on December 18th, 2015 by
Originally a short PC project, Octodad is a 3-D action game where you play as an octopus disguised as a human. Somehow along the way he’s been able to get married and have two kids (best not to think too much on that). In the original game, you would try and do household chores while controlling the octopus’ legs and arms separately; which isn’t as easy as it sounds and oftentimes would lead to funny sights. In the new game, Dadliest Catch, not only must you do household chores this way, but you must also take the family to the grocery store as well as an outing to the aquarium, which doesn’t make Octodad too happy to be there. You’ll also have to make sure not to make too many mistakes or draw attention to yourself or you might get caught by one of the aquarium’s many marine biologists (the game claims they “know a fish when they see one”), or a revengeful French chef who is out to get you! Octodad: Dadliest Catch is available to download on most of the current-gen game consoles, but reviewed on Wii U here.
Horse Life 4 (3DS)
Posted on December 16th, 2015 by
Ride, compete, and take care of your equestrian companion with Horse Life 4, a downloadable title for Nintendo 3DS. Honestly I’ve never even heard of Horse Life 1-3, so I don’t know what kind of improvements were made here. So is Horse Life 4 hot to trot or a stinky pile of horse dung? Giddyup and read on to find out!
Unplugged: Holiday Guide 2015
Posted on December 15th, 2015 by
Give the gift of face to face time with a boardgame. It’s time once again for me to preach to the masses on the greatness of boardgaming. Nothing beats the social aspect of in-person gaming with friends. Last year’s run-down remains a great list of recommended games. Here again are some great examples of boardgames to get you and your family gaming. You might not find all these titles at your local mega-mart but many can be found online or in a friendly local game store. Some may argue $50+ boardgames are expensive, but compare that to videogaming (and where multiple copies are required for multiplayer play) and the economics of boardgaming shows their true value. Good boardgames are timeless, just as good today as they will be years in the future. They will provide many more hours of entertainment than most video games. In that vein, feel free to delve into some past year’s guides for 2013, 2012, 2010, and 2009.
Monster High: New Ghoul in School (3DS, Wii U, Wii, PS3, 360)
Posted on December 14th, 2015 by
Monster High is a popular toy line of girl teen dolls who are based on monsters, and now your little monster can create her own ghoul and explore Monster High in a new game for consoles and handhelds (3DS version reviewed here). First you’ll need to create your character by choosing her monster type, hair style, skin and hair color, and outfit to wear. Then you’ll play out your first days as a new student of Monster High.
The Three Amiibos
Posted on December 11th, 2015 by
I’ve been lucky lately and have been able to get pretty much all the Amiibo figures that have been released recently, so let’s take a look and see what I got this time!
Snoopy’s Grand Adventure (Wii U, 3DS, PS4, 360, Xbox One)
Posted on December 9th, 2015 by
Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang have been delighting readers of the comics section in the newspapers for more than half a century, and have also scored big with award-winning animated TV specials among other things. And now there’s a full-length computer animated Peanuts movie now in theaters (and it’s actually pretty good, I enjoyed it anyway). So in honor of that, Activision released a game based on the characters and style of the new film. In the game, Charlie Brown and his friends are playing hide-and-seek, and Snoopy and Woodstock must find them! But Snoopy has a pretty vivid imagination, so a bush can become a jungle, a brick fence wall can be ancient ruins, a cardboard box can be a rocket to the moon, his doghouse can be a flying WWI biplane, and much more! Guide Snoopy through stages inside his imagination and find all the kids in this 2-D platformer available for nearly all the current gaming consoles, but reviewed on Wii U here.
Adventure Time: Finn and Jake Investigations (Wii U, 3DS, PS3, PS4, 360, Xbox One)
Posted on December 7th, 2015 by
Adventure Time is one of Cartoon Network’s most popular shows, and man, oh man are there a lot of games based on the franchise. Trust me; I’ve reviewed most of them! I think I’ve reviewed more games based on Adventure Time than any other cartoon license, and since I’ve been doing this for nearly 20 years, that’s saying something! Most of the other Adventure Time games imitate other classic titles like top-down Zelda games and other dungeon crawlers. But when I first heard about the name “Finn and Jake Investigations,” I thought it might be like one of those Phoenix Wright games. But when I saw screenshots it looked more like a 3-D platformer! To my surprise when I actually played it, it’s really a point and click adventure game! In fact, if TellTale Games had this license, this would probably be like something they would make, at least a few years ago. At any rate, it’s one of publisher Little Orbit’s best games yet! It’s available for nearly all the current game consoles, but reviewed on Wii U here.
The Portals of LEGO Dimensions
Posted on December 4th, 2015 by
Recently I played and beat the new holiday title, LEGO Dimensions. I was impressed with some of the worlds you explore and licenses used, so I decided I’d write a blog about it. In short, LEGO Dimensions is essentially Skylanders with LEGOs. You buy and build LEGO figures and vehicles, and then put them on a special pedestal so you can play as them in the game. Unlike Disney Infinity, any character and vehicle can go into any world at any time. That’s one thing that Skylanders and LEGO Dimensions does right. Half the fun was seeing all the worlds you could go into, and what surprises you’d find. In fact, brother Jeff (who I always play LEGO games with), described the game as ‘LEGO Kingdom Hearts’ and I like how he put that. So let’s dive into the portal and see what we can see!
Fallout 4 Vault Dweller’s Survival Guide (Book)
Posted on December 2nd, 2015 by
Fallout is a super popular post-apocalyptic action RPG shooter series, and the newest game, Fallout 4, was recently released. It’ll probably end up being one of the big Christmas titles this season, so you’ll want to be prepared with the Fallout 4 Vault Dweller’s Survival Guide. It’s a robust, super-thick paperback strategy guide, and we’ll take a look at a few sample pages in this review.
