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.
Review – Ninja Gaiden Sigma (Xbox360, PS3)
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Posted on March 7th, 2008 by
CrispyGamer.com had me review the PS3 version of this mind-numbingly challenging and very violent sword fighting game. I reviewed the Xbox 360 version for Common Sense Media last summer (that review gives more parental information so I’ll link it here as well). It’s bloody and violent, it earns its M-rating, but only the most persistent and skilled teens or adults will be able to see all that blood and gore. The game is really, really hard! In addition to the blood there’s a scantily clad secondary character. The decapitations are gone, but the game is still violent. Read the review here.
20-Sided: 5 Ways to Deal with PC Piracy
Posted on March 6th, 2008 by
Part of the recent closing of Iron Lore studios was an estimate that 90% of people playing the studio’s Titan Quest games were on pirated copies. This isn’t the first time that number has been tossed around – there have been other claims of ~10% purchased copies, and the fact that the PC versions of some high-profile shooters were being outsold 5:1 or 10:1 last year by XBOX versions raises the question of just what the numbers of actual players looked like.
Snow Bunny
Posted on March 6th, 2008 by
It’s very unusual for it to snow where I live in Texas, much less snow in the beginning of March! So when it snowed today, right after I put up our yard Easter decoration, I had to take a picture. Click this blog to see a surreal snapshot!
Rockstar’s Bully: What Parents Need to Know
Posted on March 6th, 2008 by
by Colleen Hannon, the Momgamer
Editor’s Note: Colleen wrote this handy guide back when Bully was first released for PlayStation 2. Well, it’s found its way to the Xbox 360 and Wii . . . here comes the controversy again!
Review – Mario Strikers Charged (Wii)
Posted on March 5th, 2008 by
CommonSenseMedia.org has my Mario Strikers review and it’s got all the parental information you need in it. Like Mario was going to suddenly get foul-mouthed? My, that would be a surprising turn from Nintendo – wouldn’t it? Anyway, the game is rated 10+ in terms of content and ability (some younger more experienced kids and tweens will have an easier time) and I gave it 4 of 5 stars.
Dungeons & Dragons – Memory Lane
Posted on March 5th, 2008 by
I’ve been planning on writing this for over four years now. Memory Lane is basically me picking over my childhood for, hopefully meaty, scraps of memory but my memory was rudely jogged yesterday. E. Gary Gygax passed away. Back in the early 80’s I got hooked into the D&D thing.
Review: Warriors of the Lost Empire (PSP)
Posted on March 4th, 2008 by
Every now and then a game comes along that redefines a genre or subgenre; a game that changes your assumptions about what is possible; a game that becomes the standard-bearer against which all newcomers are judged.
D&D Gary Gygax Dead at 69
Posted on March 4th, 2008 by
Fans of anything stemming from the Fantasy genre mourn the loss of one of our seminal figures. From this No Joy in Green Bay
Posted on March 4th, 2008 by
FOX Sports announced today that Green Bay Packers QB Brett Favre is retiring. Thus ending the longest consecutive start streak of a QB ever, more records broken then I care to count, and a career that lasted well into his 30’s. He went out slinging, his last pass was an overtime Interception in the NFC Championship but the weather was below zero and . . . we in our late 30’s can’t take the cold like we used to. I understood.
Return of the Doodle?
Posted on March 4th, 2008 by
We never got around to reviewing it – shame on us! – but the DS game Drawn to Life is the kind of game we’d recommend to anyone who has kids. That’ll get even easier now that they’ve announced a sequel – and it’s based on Spongebob Squarepants. Due in the Fall, Drawn to Life: Spongebob is coming from THQ and will feature the nefarious Doodlebob as the enemy. Anyone else hearing that funky garbled doodle language from that classic episode? (No really, I can’t get it out of my head!)
