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.
LEGO Dimensions Midway Arcade Level Pack
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Posted on April 1st, 2016 by
I swear when LEGO Dimensions first came out, the makers did everything they could to get me to want to buy it! LEGO Dimensions plays like other LEGO titles, but incorporates the ‘toys to life’ gaming concepts brought about by Skylanders and Disney Infinity by giving you LEGO characters, vehicles, and items you can use in the game by building them and placing them on a special pedestal. I wrote a big article about it that you can read here. Anyway, like I said, they did everything they could to tempt me to get LEGO Dimensions. They must’ve read my mind and knew I liked Portal, so they put that in the game. I also like 80’s movies like Back to the Future and Ghostbusters, as well as TV shows like The Simpsons, and those are in here, too. But the icing on the cake was the recently released Midway Arcade Level Pack. I’m a huge fan of classic arcade games, so you know I had to get this. But it’s not what I first expected!
Replay: VHS is Not Dead (Wii U, PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Posted on March 30th, 2016 by
Meet Harvey, the star of a new downloadable game called Replay: VHS is Not Dead. Harvey is just an unassuming average guy who must live in the 80’s or early 90’s, as his favorite thing to do after work is go to the movie rental place and rent lots of tapes to pop into his VCR at home. Of course, he may also go to that store to see that cute blue-haired girl behind the counter that he likes. Anyway, one day while renting movies, the lady clerk gives him a remote control along with his rented tapes for some reason. And on the way home, he gets struck by some weird lightning and manages to survive. At home, with his VCR tapes still glowing with energy, he still puts them in the VCR and uses the remote control, but then gets sucked into his TV and is stuck in the movies he rented! Now you must help him and the stars of the movies reach the end so he can escape in this retro-styled 2-D puzzle platformer. It’s available to download for most of the current gen consoles and PCs, but reviewed on Wii U here.
Pac-Man Puzzle Tour (iOS, Android)
Posted on March 28th, 2016 by
Normally I wouldn’t review every free-to-play Candy Crush clone that comes about on the iPad, but I had to with this one because it has Pac-Man in it! And you know how I like Pac-Man! Apparently the ghost monsters have stolen all the fruit from the Pac-Man arcade machine and have run off, and now Pac-Man must catch them. Help him by matching three of the same fruits in a row in this downloadable game available for iOS and Android devices (reviewed on iPad here).
Amiibo Robos & Lobos
Posted on March 25th, 2016 by
Today I’m going to show off just two new amiibo figures I got recently, but these were pack-ins with games. There’s a robot and a wolf. Let’s check them out!
Sadame (3DS)
Posted on March 23rd, 2016 by
Sadame is an action RPG viewed from a top-down perspective. Set in historical Japan; choose to play as either a Samurai, Ninja, Monk, or Rogue as you defeat enemies and creatures from Japanese mythology. The game is available to download on the Nintendo 3DS eShop.
Inside My Radio (Wii U, PS4, Xbox One)
Posted on March 21st, 2016 by
Inside My Radio is a pretty standard 2-D platformer, but with a twist. You can jump, wall climb, dash, and pound the ground, but it must be in time with the beat of the music. You play as a group of square pixel dudes, and there’s some sort of story involved, but it didn’t make any sense and doesn’t really matter to play the game anyway. It’s available to download on Wii U, PS4, and Xbox One, but reviewed on Wii U here.
LEGO Marvel’s Avengers (PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, 3DS, Xbox One, 360)
Posted on March 18th, 2016 by
While there is already a LEGO Marvel Super Heroes video game, LEGO Marvel’s Avengers is based more on the movies. Rather than follow an original story that encompasses all of Marvel’s heroes, you’ll follow the plot of the two Avengers films (and even some flashbacks from the first Captain America flick). The game recreates a lot of the scenes in LEGO form, and plenty of voice samples from the movies are used. And of course they try and add as much LEGO humor as they can. LEGO Marvel’s Avengers is available for all the current game consoles, but reviewed on PS3 here.
Fire Fu (iOS, Android, Windows Phone)
Posted on March 16th, 2016 by
Fire Fu is an arcade action game where you swipe your finger across the screen to summon streams of flames to burn up silly dragons and other goofy-looking monsters. It’s available for most mobile devices, but reviewed on iPad here.
Shutshimi: Seriously Swole (Wii U, PS4, Vita, PC)
Posted on March 14th, 2016 by
Shutshimi is a wacky retro-styled 2-D side-scrolling shooter, and what makes it unique is that levels only last ten seconds before you move onto the next. It’s like Gradius meets WarioWare! Play as a goldfish with huge muscular arms (kind of looks like Trogdor or that dolphin thing from Gravity Falls), and shoot all manner of sea creatures as you try and survive and power-up. Shutshimi is available for download on Wii U, PSN, and Steam, but reviewed on Wii U here.
Project X-Zone 2: Team Capcom
Posted on March 11th, 2016 by
Project X-Zone 2 is a strategy RPG on the 3DS that stars popular video game characters from companies like SEGA, Bandai Namco, Capcom, and even Nintendo! Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve taken a look at the characters from each of the game companies in this title, and we’ll conclude this blog series by going over the characters on the Capcom side!
