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.
My Arcade BurgerTime Micro Player
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Posted on April 10th, 2018 by
The nostalgia factor is strong over here at GamerDad. It is hard to get more nostalgic than an upright coin-operated arcade machine. While the dream of owning your own arcade may be hard to achieve, you can create a little mini-arcade on your desk using the line of arcade Micro Players by Data East. While the current crop of available titles is pretty slim (BurgerTime reviewed here) they make an excellent desk toy that is attractive, working arcade cabinet.
Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse (Switch, Wii U, PS4, Xbox One, 3DS, PC)
Posted on April 9th, 2018 by
Ever since the very first game on Game Boy Color (which I still have), I’ve always been a fan of the Shantae game series. And now my second favorite game in the series is now on Nintendo Switch! (my first favorite is still the original game). So here’s a quick review of Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse. In the game, you play as Shantae, a half-human, half-genie who uses her powers to protect her home of Scuttle Town. But in the previous game, she was stripped of her genie powers by her arch rival, female pirate Risky Boots. But now Risky has come back with a proposition for Shantae: help her dispel the pirate’s curse that has taken Risky’s crew, and Shantae may get her powers back. So now Shantae and Risky must work together in this 2-D platform game adventure.
Cary’s Favorite King of Fighters Characters
Posted on April 6th, 2018 by
Recently I got The King of Fighters XIV for PS4. A lot of times when I get a fighting game, I like to talk about the characters in it. But there are SO many characters in this one that there’s NO WAY I’m going to do that! So we’ll just look at my favorites, OK? And none of these are in any particular order.
Codenames: Marvel and Disney Family Edition (Boardgame)
Posted on April 5th, 2018 by
The party deduction game, Codenames, continues to be wildly popular: spinning off a Pictures version, a two-player Duet version, and now USAopoly has licensed to to create a Marvel and a Disney Family edition. Rather than giving clues and guessing words, the new editions come with cards containing full color art of the two different themes. While Marvel serves as a fun version for fans of the comics and movies, the Disney Family Edition makes the game even more accessible to the younger set and is worth a look for families of even younger grade school children.
G.P. the GamerPuppet Unboxes the “King of Fighters XIV Burn to Fight Premium Edition” (PS4)
Posted on April 4th, 2018 by
Hey folks, G.P. the GamerPuppet here. A while back Cary got the special edition of King of Fighters XIV for a good price new, and it came with a lot of stuff! And he had me unbox it. So let’s see what’s inside!
Mercenary Kings Reloaded (Switch, XBox 1, PS Vita, PS4, PC)
Posted on April 3rd, 2018 by
Mercenary Kings Reloaded is a challenging (but fun) retro side scrolling shooter where players shoot first, ask questions later, oh and pick up any loot that was dropped. Four player local multiplayer is supported via splitscreen, making this a great fast-playing multiplayer game (particularly on Switch, reviewed here.) Players team up to accomplish timed missions (rescue, elimination, collection) which reward characters with cash money and materials to collect. Players can use materials (and cash) at the home base to improve their weapons, armor, and even personal upgrades. The game doesn’t roam far from its roots of dodge bullets and shoot everything that moves, but that’s a good thing.
The Legend of Zelda: Art and Artifacts (Book)
Posted on April 2nd, 2018 by
I got this book about a year ago and just never got around to writing about it until now. Just too many games to review and such! Anyway, it’s a book of official art from the Zelda series and makes a nice companion to the Hyrule Historia book that came out earlier. I thought I’d just take a quick look at it with you all.
Scribblenauts Showdown (PS4, Switch, Xbox One)
Posted on March 30th, 2018 by
Scribblenauts is a very creative game series where you can type in any word to make it appear on screen, and then you use what you create to solve puzzles and overcome obstacles in a 2-D platform world. Later games in the series even let you join forces with DC superheroes! And now you can play against each other in this multiplayer party entry Scribblenauts Showdown! It’s available for PS4, Switch, and Xbox One, but reviewed on PS4 here. The whole thing kind of reminds me of a mix of Mario Party and Scattegories!
DropMix (Electronic Toy)
Posted on March 29th, 2018 by
DropMix makes a game out of the role of a DJ. Players drop music track cards into slots on the board, mixing their sounds together to make new remixes of their own. Players compete or cooperate while playing a matching game to create new sound mixes. While the game doesn’t have much depth, the fun in the system lies with messing around with different combinations of the available tracks. As a game, DropMix is so-so, but for music fans it can be a fun and interesting toy.
American Girl World (iOS, Android)
Posted on March 28th, 2018 by
American Girl is a popular line of toy dolls, and now you can read about their adventures with the new free-to-play American Girl World app. It’s available on iOS and Android devices, but reviewed on iPad here. The app takes the form of an interactive story book, with each book on the app featuring one of four characters. The first character you can read about, Z. Yang, is an aspiring filmmaker. But when she wins a film contest audition, can she juggle that, her school projects, and dealing with her friends? After that you can read about the next friend with a bunch of in-game coins, and the last two stories cost real money.
