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.
Resident Evil 4
8 Comments
Posted on April 24th, 2010 by
LUCAS (15) – So I’m 15 as of last week and I wanted to get Resident Evil 4 Wii edition I tried to get it last year for my 14th birthday. I used whattheyplay.com and even showed my mom videos of it on youtube and she was fine with it until we got to the store I almost got it when the store clerk said it was the most bloodiest goriest game on the Wii and i know that’s not true (which i don’t understand why they would do that it just kills sales even the other store member came in to back him up the wierd part was we were talking about it before my mom came in about how fun and great it was) If you remember Manhunt 2 that was the goriest game for Wii i just want this game. whattheyplay.com even recommended it for me so i need to know is it fine to let me play this or what. its a really fun game and i want to play it and i have waited 3 years to get it so I need your help.
Pixar Disappoints?
Posted on April 23rd, 2010 by
I could be wrong but the just announced slate from Pixar/Disney has me a bit apprehensive. I like Pixar because I never know what the next movie will BE! It’s always a surprise. Something new and risky. So, what’s coming soonish? Will it be insanely creative like Up or Monsters Inc? Will it be fun and simple like A Bugs Life and Cars? Will it be amazingly beautiful and artistic like Ratatouille, Finding Nemo and Wall-E? Will it be a load of just plain fun, Incredibles? Will it be comfortable? Toy Story 1 & 2? This summer we get Toy Story 3, then Cars 2, then Monsters Inc., 2, somewhere around then we get a remake of Winnie the Pooh and a Muppet Movie (those are through Disney). The only original film seems to be about a Bear & a Bow and that’s just putting that Disney bear cartoon – the one that wasn’t bad – in my head. Where’s the risk? Come on Pixar, don’t give up clearing the path. You’re not about exploiting your IPs.
Press Start: 4/22/10 – Fire!
Posted on April 23rd, 2010 by
A Semi-daily little blog update to enhance that whole Twitter thing. Remember, that’s #gamerdadtm or @gamerdadtm or whatever it is. I’m old and don’t understand your social networking. Pressing Start now!
The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom
Posted on April 22nd, 2010 by
Available on Xbox Live or in Windows. I can’t believe I missed this game when it came out in early Feb. It just arrived for PC and I caught a commercial for it and – wow. Using German expressionalistic/surrealism to create a loopy platformer is a great idea. It’s a black and white world, with grainy film-stock and the protagonist is the villainous PB Winterbottom. A scourge, a rogue and a stealer of yummy pies. I like yummy pies, I like clever puzzle games, I like 2D platforming games and I like silent movies that make me think of a cross between Metropolis, Buster Keaton and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
I’m Working For Wario Now!
Posted on April 21st, 2010 by
Big news folks! I’ve got a new job! I’m making video games now! My boss is a big, fat, greedy man who has a zigzag moustache and his breath smells like garlic. And every time I ask when I’m getting paid, he always laughs like this: “WHA HA HA HA HAAAA!” Anyway, in this blog I thought I’d tell you about the people I work with at my new job, the history of the company, and a little bit about what I do there. (And for you more gullible types, yes this is just a very creative and silly blog about the newest game I’m really into right now: WarioWare D.I.Y. It’s a DS title that lets you create your own micro-games.).
Games Can Never be Art?
Posted on April 21st, 2010 by
Roger Ebert, noted – actually extremely noted – film critic and all around good guy has written a blog post defending his assertion that video games are not art. Actually he writes “CAN NEVER BE ART” which is even wrong-er-er. And then the Internet completely exploded. I have no dog in this fight. I’m a gamer, I love games, I happen to think games ARE art – or at least have that potential – but I really don’t care what a noted film critic who doesn’t play games thinks about it. For one thing, I’m certain that back when film was new, the very idea of films being art was huffed and puffed by all kinds of older-generation Eberts. So he’s old and out of touch – this is a surprise? This is an insult? This deserves thousands of outraged posts against a lovely man whose voice I miss (and can hear in my head) and opinion I still value. When it comes to FILM.
Press Start 4/21/10: Frantic Action Feeling
Posted on April 21st, 2010 by
A daily? Semi-daily? Bi-daily? Bi-curious-Daily? Little blog update to enhance that whole Twitter thing. Remember, that’s #gamerdadtm or @gamerdadtm or whatever it is. I’m old and don’t understand your social networking. I’m just a cave man. I was walking along and I fell into some ice and your scientists unfroze me… here’s the first Press Start update. Pressing Start now!
Dads and Daughters
Posted on April 20th, 2010 by
“The father of a daughter is nothing but a high-class hostage. A father turns a stony face to his sons, berates them, shakes his antlers, paws the ground, snorts, runs them off into the underbrush, but when his daughter puts her arm over his shoulder and says, ‘Daddy, I need to ask you something,’ he is a pat of butter in a hot frying pan.” – Garrison Keillor
A Decade of Maggie
Posted on April 20th, 2010 by
As I mentioned yesterday, 4/20 has a lot of meaning to me – and not just because I went to San Francisco State University. On the one year anniversary of tragedy, my daughter was born. We had no idea her gender and I had the honor of announcing to Linda that we had a daughter. Our lives changed, she’s 10 now and just plain “tweeny” and I’m alarmed at how fast the time has gone. In another decade she’ll be 20. The mind boggles. This is the second reason 4/20 helped set me on this path that led to GamerDad.com. For her birthday? She gets to play Sims 3 with me supervising, she gets an “emergency cell phone”, we planted an annual flower garden she’ll enjoy all Summer, she got an email address and 30 “girl-power” MP3s from iTunes. So. Much. Gaga & Beyonce. Happy birthday my love!
Columbine & 4/20
Posted on April 19th, 2010 by
Today is the anniversary of the day the Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold intended to perform the Columbine massacre. It was supposed to happen on the 19th of April. I never realized that, it had to do with a SNAFU over a friend providing ammunition (an 18-year old friend who could buy ammo at KMart). I’d always bought into the mythology that they were commemorating Hitler’s Birthday, on the 20th. Columbine figures BIGTIME in the history of GamerDad. I was a CNet freelance reporter and my job was to chronicle how the media was blaming video games for something that obviously had nothing to do with video games. I’ve written about it almost yearly since then, and it turns out I never really understood it until now. I just finished a devastating book called Columbine and it’s now out in paperback. I DO NOT recommend it, it will break your heart. The book is Columbine, and the author is Dave Cullin. It is the definitive study.
