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.
A new way of measuring game quality
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Posted on November 2nd, 2007 by
Game reviewers fret over whatever system we’re given to score – whether it is a 100% scale, a 1-10 rating, or a 5 star scale like at GamerDad. We anguish over half-points, look over our own history to ensure consistency, and generally think way too much about the whole thing. Turns out that our kids have a much better gauge of whether or not a game is good – and it gets around the common problem I face of dealing with games that are fun but loaded with problems.
Bee Movie Bias?
Posted on November 2nd, 2007 by
I love Jerry Seinfeld. In fact, I’ve been re-watching Seinfeld in syndication lately and enjoying it all the more after watching “Curb Your Enthusiasm” over the past few years. It’s so easy to mentally replace George with Larry David. I understand that it’s a big deal that Jerry is back with this animated “Bee Movie,” and I love children’s animation, but the ad blitz has me wanting to jam my fingers in my ears and scream “Serenity Now!” Is this unprecedented advertising overkill of what looks like – judging from previews – a pretty mediocre retread of “Antz” going to make it impossible for me to review the game without bias?
Watch GamerDad On TV
Posted on November 1st, 2007 by
As mentioned yesterday, in the post directly below this one, GamerDad was interviewed and filmed about the Manhunt 2 controversy. We have the YouTube story. Click MORE to watch how it all turned out!
GamerDad on ABC WISN News 12 at 6pm Tonight!
Posted on October 31st, 2007 by
I got an email today asking where in Wisconsin I lived and whether or not I cared to comment further on Manhunt 2’s release, video game violence, and related issues. I quickly called back and told them I was about 15 minutes away. One hour later a van pulled up and I was interviewed for tonight’s broadcast. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to post the video or link to the site, once it’s in place.
This isn’t the first time we’ve had this opportunity. We’ve been on the local news in San Francisco, Seattle, and Philadelphia. But this marks the first time my home town has acknowledged my existence and that’s somehow more gratifying. more…
Wise Men Say – Happy Anniversary GamerMom!
Posted on October 31st, 2007 by
Linda Denison (GamerMom) and I “met cute.” I was 24 and had run out of money on the streets of San Francisco. My parents offered rescue: Either come to Birmingham Alabama to live with them (that’s where they lived at the time) or move to Milwaukee Wisconsin, where I was born and had ample extended family. I chose Milwaukee, figuring I’d take a year or two to get back on my feet and then head back to the coast. All that changed 3 weeks after I arrived and I agreed to go on a blind date with a nurse who worked on my Aunt’s floor. We moved in together 4 months later. That was 12 years ago. We were married on October 31st, 1998. That was nine years ago…. today! more…
Reader Question: Halo 3 Online?
Posted on October 30th, 2007 by
I answer parents questions all the time, but every so often we get a question here at GamerDad/GWC that
deserves a public answer. Here’s one about Halo 3:
We had an issue at our son’s school this week where a student was overheard remarking that another student was going to get stabbed. When he was questioned about it, he said he was talking about him getting stabbed playing Halo 3 online. My understanding of the game (which we are intending on purchasing for our son) is that this was impossible. i.e. you don’t kill other players online.
Is that true? Thanks for your time.
Witches, The Witcher, and WTF …
Posted on October 29th, 2007 by
Every once in a while we get a game that promises ‘mature content’. And every now and then (too frequently) we have another chicken little proclaiming how the sky is falling based on some new game or book or movie … late last week we had both!
Manhunt 2 – Do They Think Parents Are Stupid?
Posted on October 29th, 2007 by
Whew! Look at this cover. Scary stuff, huh? I mean, you can tell just looking at it (the M-rating is another clue and the descriptors speak of extreme violence, gore, “strong sexual content” and “use of drugs”) that this is a horror game made for adults. The game is called Manhunt 2 and if you haven’t been following the controversy, here it is in a nutshell.
Manhunt 2 is a sequel to one of the most vile and violent games ever made. The plot casts the player as a serial killer trapped in a nightmare where it’s kill or be killed with other serial killers and crazies. The game got an AO -Adults Only rating from the ESRB a few months ago and they did something, cut some content, to make that an M-Mature. Several countries have banned the game outright, despite the changes, with the highest profile being the British Board of Film Classification, which kept the ban despite the changes. The game, fittingly, comes out in stores on October 31st. Okay, with me so far?
Apple Flavored Kool-Aid
Posted on October 29th, 2007 by
Sure, gaming on the personal computer – for me and others of my generation – meant the venerable and brilliant Apple IIe. But, despite that beginning, for over 20 years I’ve been a Windows guy. For the better part of the last 11 years I wrote about the PC, almost exclusively. I’ve penned over 1000 PC game reviews, I was CNet’s Tech Freak columnist for 2 years, I wrote for TechEdge, Laptop Magazine, and Maximum PC. I wrote for Sharkey Extreme – which was once one of the top grassroots PC websites during the late 90’s. I built my own computers and pretty much did it every 15 months so I could stay current. But now I live in a house of Apple Computers. I have a Video iPod, an iMac 20″ computer, a MacBook laptop, and now GamerMom and I are owners of brand new iPhones. Am I completely done with the PC now? Why is that? How did Andrew Bub come to drink the Apple Kool-Aid? more…
Taikos vs. Guitars
Posted on October 28th, 2007 by
In honor of the release of Guitar Hero 3, here’s an old blog I wrote where I admit I’m the only person who doesn’t like Guitar Hero games. Give me Taiko Drum Master any day!
