GamerDad and family 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.
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Cary Cleared the Casino Night Zone: Act 2

On the second day of our Vegas trip, we mostly visited the shops on the strip. But that night we took a night bus tour to see all the neon lights in Vegas.

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Cary Cleared the Casino Night Zone: Act 1

Even though I don’t like Sonic the Hedgehog, there’s one type of level in his games that I look forward to reaching. The ‘casino/pinball/carnival’ type level. Not only are these stages really fun, they’re full of colorful neon lights. I don’t know why, but neon lights have always fascinated me for some reason, and I also really like other games and stages that have neon style graphics (like Mario Kart 64’s Rainbow Road). Heck, one of my favorite things to do at Christmas is drive around and look at Christmas lights. For that reason, I’ve always wanted to go to Las Vegas And this past week, I finally did! So here’s a series of blogs—with pictures—about my recent trip to Vegas!

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Toy Story 3

I love Pixar because I know going in that I’m going to love it, and coming out I always do. Wonderful is the company that always has me walking out of the theater feeling like I’ve just seen the best movie ever. Even if it’s not really true, that’s the feeling these creators give you. Toy Story 3 is no exception. We caught it in 3D and Imax yesterday and easily went through a box of Kleenex.

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Sam & Max: Season 3: The Devil’s Playhouse: Episode 3: The Stole Max’s Brain! (PC, PS3, iPad)

Sam & Max aren’t your regular police force…they’re the Freelance Police. Sam is a no-nonsense dog detective and his pal Max is a hyperkinetic rabbity thing. For more than 20 years they’ve been serving their brand of justice on the pages of underground comic books, on a Saturday morning cartoon, and in some popular computer adventure games. Now they’re ready for their third season of crazy madcap episodic point and click adventures! (PC version reviewed here)

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Cary’s E3 Yarn

Well I’m going to do the totally unoriginal thing and write a blog about my impressions on the news and previews at this year’s E3. I didn’t go this year, but it amazes me how far technology has gone since I first went to E3 back in ’96 (or was it ‘97?). With video technology on the Internet now, you can watch the previews and conferences at the show, and it’s like you’re there! That kind of technology just wasn’t available when I first went! I remember when our press kits were paper in folders, then CD’s, and now you just download assets on Web sites! Wow! Anyway, here’s a little overview on news I read about E3 2010 that caught my attention.

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Father’s Day!

Father’s Day is special here at GamerDad, for obvious reasons, but also because GamerDad the website was officially born on Father’s Day 2002. 2002. Wow. That’s like… 8 years!  Needless to say we’re super proud.  Here’s to 8 more years of … aw heck, lets round it up and say 10 years of gaming with children. Shall we?  Happy Father’s Day to all the GamerDad, Moms and Kids out there!

EA Sports Wii Accessories

The Wii had accomplished many things but for me, the single greatest impact it’s had is how I play video game golf. I appreciate good graphics and all but the swing method in Tiger Woods was a revelation to me. It only got better when that Wii motion enhancer entered the picture. Well, what if you could use a real club? How about for tennis? Baseball? Well, you’ve probably seen cheap-op attachments they sell in stores. What does EA do to improve on those?

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Ulysses Restored!

Since I made a big deal about it because I wanted to rage against the idiocy of Apple’s blanket ruling that there shall be no nudity – not even art – at their App store, I figured I had to update this story. For those who don’t know the story involves a witty comic adaptation of the James Joyce novel Ulysses. Apple’s policies made the creators of this graphic adaptation (voluntarily) change their artwork to omit a picture showing a nude man leaping into the ocean. His tiny graphic penis was the problem here. Today is Bloomsday, a holiday evidently created in Dublin to celebrate Joyce, and the creator of the comic emailed me some good news:

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Battlefield Bad Company 2

OWEN WRITES: Hi, Gamerdad I’m 13-years old and I was wondering whether you think Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is suitable for someone my age. It’s rated M for Blood, Strong Language and Violence. My parents don’t care about language and it’s rated 16 by PEGI, an equivalent to T in Europe. Thanks!

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Happy Father’s Day! Cary’s Toy Stories

I know that most gamers’ minds are filled with news and anticipations about E3 right now. But it’s more important not to forget what special day happens right after E3. That’s right, Father’s Day! Last year around Father’s Day, I listed video games my dad likes on my blog. So, this year I decided to take a different approach to my Father’s Day blog. This weekend, I’m going to take my dad and the rest of his family to see Toy Story 3 (since I have five little brothers on my dad’s side, that’ll be an expensive outing, but it’s worth it to do something fun with them). I’m really excited about seeing the movie with my family, so in honor of that, this blog is all about my top five favorite toys from my childhood. And each one is associated with my dad somehow.

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