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.
Dads and Daughters
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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.
Game Review: World Party Games (Wii)
Posted on April 17th, 2010 by
Take a tour around the world and play motion-control based multiplayer party games along the way with World Party Games for the Wii. Go international and visit Italy, France, China, and the USA as you challenge arcade-style games. Some even have the option of using the Wii Balance Board as well!
The Bosses of Mega Man 10
Posted on April 17th, 2010 by
As a huge classic Mega Man fan, I wanted to talk a bit about the newest game in the series: Mega Man 10. I know it’s been out for over a month on WiiWare, but I downloaded the Xbox 360 version later on because, well no particular reason except I have MM9 on 360 as well. So here’s a blog with a quick mini-review of MM10, a rundown on the bosses, stages, and weapons, and my favorite classic Mega Man games in general.
Twitter Twit
Posted on April 16th, 2010 by
Okay, so I joined Twitter. Which means someone has already got GamerDad and TheGamerDad despite my owning the Trademark. Grrrr. I have no idea what I’m doing and I won’t start tweeting until I get about 20 followers, but I plan on twittering what my kids, wife and I are playing and assorted thoughts. I think you can add me JUST by looking for #GamerDadTM – if anyone has a better idea on how I reinforce the fact that I’m the real GamerDad – a genuine concern considering I own the media Trademark and because I’m known in the industry. Anyway, thanks for suggestions and spread the word.
Nintendo DSi XL
Posted on April 16th, 2010 by
In the handheld wars, Nintendo has always reigned supreme. This has always made monkeys out of tech journalists and hardcore gamers – people who believe the Darwin like idea that tech wins over all else (a fallacy). I remember the original GameBoy and how the GameGear and then the Nomad and then one from Atari and one from… I don’t remember, Nokia had one at one point. But despite inferior technology – the GB had a black and white screen for god’s sake! – Nintendo has always come out on top based on the idea that people want games, and more games, and more games and that tech and price only appealed to a small subset of hardcore gamers. The Wii is no aberration, it was Nintendo returning to it’s smart ideas about roping in children, adults and old folks AND gamers all with one lasso.
My Kids Book – Vlad the 5th Grader, is revised
Posted on April 16th, 2010 by
Made the changes, kept what I liked, replaced the clunky with the cool. Sat on it a week. Re-read and made more tiny adjustments. Sent it in on Wednesday. (Found more errors Wed night – of course.) It is now Day Three since Vlad took his NY trip. I’m doing better than expected. Yet my nails are ragged, my lip is gnawed, my body is soaked in sweat, my eyes burn, my brain is fevered, sleep is elusive. Will my life drastically change in a moment based on the whim of others? Or is this another painfully near miss? I’ll keep you posted. ALL signs point to the former – I got immediate, like scary immediate – responses from the people waiting for this and my wife is 100% convinced (and she’s the less optimistic one in the family) but it takes a lot of … something… to believe you belong on the “distinguished list” of one of the top publishers ever, on the shelves in Target, the Kid’s section at Barnes & Noble. Then again, as a friend reminded me, it took a lot of, something, to even try.
Game Review: Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love (Wii, PS2)
Posted on April 15th, 2010 by
Sakura Wars is a popular long-running strategy RPG series from Japan made by Sega. Now, thanks to NIS America, stateside players can finally enjoy this game on Wii and PS2 (Wii version reviewed here). Set in an alternate reality in 1920’s New York City, a Broadway musical troupe secretly defends the city from evil by piloting hulking robot battle mechs!
GamerDad in Family Circle!
Posted on April 15th, 2010 by
Hey, remember when I said I was featured in the Feb issue of Family Circle Magazine? Here’s the relevant page in all its JPG glory! They asked me and a few others, that’s GameRevolution.com’s creator Ben Silverman – currently with Yahoo Games (a website that told me readers didn’t want parental gaming reviews, back in the day) and then me below and to the right. I recommended Lego Rock Band, Madden and New Super Mario Bros and about 10 other games, but they only chose those three. Anyway, for those of you who haven’t been to the doctor or dentist lately – where Family Circle seems to live – here’s the full page.
