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.
Retrospective: Mysteries of the Sith (PC, 1998)
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Posted on September 9th, 2008 by
While in theory this could be game could have been called Star Wars Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith expansion, fortunately it was just called Star Wars Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith and is easily abbreviated as MotS. It was released in early 1998, a mere four months after the release of a game still marked as one of the best first-person shooters of all time, and despite getting lower reviews than that game it remains a fan favorite and a standout release for an expansion pack. Yes, and since it was released ten years ago, I have taken another run through the game and looked back at MotS for the next entry in my Retrospective series.
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Cary’s Favorite 2-D Side-Scrolling Beat ‘Em Ups
Posted on September 7th, 2008 by
In honor of Castle Crashers being released on Xbox Live Arcade recently, I figured I’d list my favorite 2-D side-scrolling beat ‘em ups.
Movie Review: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
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Posted on September 6th, 2008 by
In anticipation of the upcoming CGI TV series, LucasFilms has released a full length animated feature film based on the period between the Episode II and Episode III films. What did I think about it? Head on over to MoviesWithChildren to find out!
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Posted on September 6th, 2008 by
As I was watching the ending credits for Star Wars: The Clone Wars, I was talking with my boys about the movie. All of us had enjoyed it and found it exciting and entertaining, but I had a nagging question: what would I have thought about it if I wasn’t a huge Star Wars fan? While I am pretty sure I wouldn’t have enjoyed it nearly as much, the bottom line is that it has been more than 31 years since I first paid my own money to see that opening crawl in a movie theater and I can no longer dissociate myself from Star Wars to the extent required to be truly objective about this movie. That might say to you that my opinion is biased, and it probably is, but too bad – I’m a Star Wars fanboy so deal with it … but that doesn’t mean that I can’t find quite a few negative things to say about this commercial … um, I mean cartoon … no, movie. Yeah, movie.
GenCon 2008 – The Boardgame
Posted on September 4th, 2008 by
For me, the raison d’être of GenCon is boardgames. Sure, there are role playing games and video games around, but I look forward to several days of gaming at the convention followed by still more days after the convention while I work my way through all the games I picked up during my visit.
A Great Shirt
Posted on September 4th, 2008 by
To commemorate the anniversary of my heart attack, my wife had something special planned. A shirt featuring a very special photo – the day at the hospital that I finally got to see my kids again – has been secretly passed around Wisconsin, around my family, and around PAX. My surgeon, parents, friends, relatives and more signed it and even better, it features Tycho and Gabe. Gabe even drew his signature character. How cool is that? This shirt is more special than I can possibly express and I wanted to thank you Linda – publically – for it. Love you honey, click inside for pics! (Special thanks to Colleen Hannon for doing the PAX legwork!)
Video Trouble
Posted on September 4th, 2008 by
PAX was wonderful, but not everything goes off without a hitch. The short of it folks, is, and this is painful, the video didn’t turn out. It’s nobody’s fault really. Just dumb luck and the fickle finger of fate. See, because of the overflow from last year’s speeches they didn’t want to stick me into a conference room that seats only a few hundred again. So they booked me into a 1500+ seat improvised theater. An open ceilined warehouse that, if filled with crates, would look more at home in a first person shooter. more…
Ask GamerDad 8/29/08
Posted on September 3rd, 2008 by
My PAX update will have to wait – Henry is K5, so he gets the second day of school off for reasons I don’t pretend to understand – but here is the Ask GamerDad that appeared at WhatTheyPlay while I was at PAX. Questions about Portal, Piracy, Cleaning Niko’s mean streets and, of course, Hot Dogs.
Cary Comes to PAX-Land!
Posted on September 2nd, 2008 by
PAX-termath ’08
Posted on September 1st, 2008 by
We’re back and we had a great time at the show. I don’t have the words to describe it but the big speech – though good, I think – was a bit impacted by some unexpected emotion. I mean, last time I was in the building, talking about that stuff, to those kinds of people – I was just one week away from a massive heart attack. Tomorrow is the “anniversary” and there’s a part of me that’s ignoring it and another part that sees it as the end of a long, long, tunnel. It’s been a harrowing year – time to put that behind me.
