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.
Darius Cozmic Collection: Console (Switch, PS4)
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Posted on July 10th, 2020 by
I’m a huge fan of the Darius 2-D shooter series from Taito. But what is Darius? While it may look like a generic classic space shooter at first, it has some elements that helped split it apart from others in the arcade. One, a lot of the spaceships you battle are designed to look like robot fish. I don’t know why that is, but it gives the game a weirder tinge to it that I like. Two, the original arcade game was three screens long! This was advantageous because you could see far ahead of you and could plan accordingly. It also gave you a bit of elbow room since the game was also two player simultaneous. And three, the music was really good! The stage one theme, “Captain NEO” is one of my all time favorite pieces of video game music. Taito has an in-house band named Zuntata that does most of their game music, which is cool. Anyway, I was super excited to find out that now there are two collection of Darius titles for Switch and PS4. There’s an arcade collection and a console collection, and I’m reviewing the console collection for Switch.
Ultracore (Switch, PS4, Vita)
Posted on July 8th, 2020 by
If Ultracore feels like a long lost 16-bit Genesis title, that’s because it kind of is! There’s a bit of interesting history behind it. Originally, it was called “Hardcore” and set to release on the SEGA Genesis and Amiga in 1995. It was developed by a company called Digital Illusions, also known as DICE, and the game was pretty much completed. Unfortunately, at this time the PlayStation just came out and everyone was interested in 3-D gaming, so this one got lost in the shuffle. A short time later DICE went under and the game was all but lost. But recently it was found again and Strictly Limited finished it up and made it available to download under the name “Ultracore” for Switch, PS4, and even the Vita (reviewed on Switch here). It’s a run and gun game with bits of exploration mixed in as well.
Outbuddies DX (Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Posted on July 6th, 2020 by
You’re an archeologist at sea, but a shipwreck lands you in the ancient underwater fortress of Behlam. Now equipped with a robot ‘Buddy’ you must explore the maze like corridors of caves and underwater lakes in this 2-D platforming adventure similar to titles like Metroid. It’s available on all current game consoles and PC, but reviewed on Switch here.
Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classic Wrap Up (Switch)
Posted on July 3rd, 2020 by
This past week I’ve run through all 51 games in the new Clubhouse Games for Nintendo Switch. So today I’m going to do a wrap up with links to all the articles I’ve written as well as my overall general impressions. So let’s begin!
Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics Part 3: Misc. Games
Posted on July 2nd, 2020 by
The last batch of activities in Clubhouse Games on the Switch are neither board games nor card games. Some are parlor games, some are toy-like sports games. Just a hodgepodge of sorts. All right let’s finish this off.
Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics Part 2: Card Games
Posted on June 30th, 2020 by
For the second part of my Clubhouse Games run through, we’ll ‘shuffle’ through all the card games you have to ‘deal’ with. I’m such a card with these puns!
Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics Part 1: Board Games
Posted on June 28th, 2020 by
Nintendo recently came out with a collection of board and card games for the Switch called Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics. I wanted to go through all the games briefly and share my personal impressions, but there are so many of them we’ll have to split this up into three parts with a wrap up at the end for the holiday weekend. So first we’ll look at the board games in this collection!
Shantae and the Seven Sirens (PS4, Switch, Xbox One, PC, Mobile)
Posted on June 26th, 2020 by
I’m a HUGE fan of the Shantae game series. I even still have the original game on Game Boy Color, box and all! But who is Shantae? She’s a half-human, half-genie dancer who can magically transform into different animals to help her get past obstacles in her 2-D platforming adventures. In her newest escapade, Shantae and her friends travel to a tropical island for a much needed vacation. Other Half-Genies will be there, too, so Shantae is especially excited to meet more of her kind. But shortly after she arrives, the other Half-Genies disappear. Risky Boots, the nefarious she-pirate and Shantae’s arch-nemesis, has been snooping about the island as well. Could she be behind all of this? It’s up to you to find out in Shantae and the Seven Sirens. It’s available for pretty much anything you can play a game on, but reviewed on PS4 here.
Rigid Force Redux (Switch, Xbox One)
Posted on June 24th, 2020 by
Rigid Force Redux is a horizontally side scrolling 2-D shooter, using elements from classics like R-Type and Einhander but with 3-D polygon graphics. It’s available on Switch and Xbox One, but reviewed on Switch here.
Awesome Pea 2 (PS4, Switch, Xbox One, PC)
Posted on June 22nd, 2020 by
There are plenty of retro-styled games out there now that imitate the look of 8- and 16-bit games, but not so many that recreate the pea soup green hues of the original Game Boy! But now you can play one ironically starring a little green pea! Awesome Pea 2 is a super hard 2-D platformer in the vein of other popular ones like Super Meat Boy. I never played the original Awesome Pea, so I don’t know if the sequel has any significant improvements, but I’m going to make a guess that it’s just more of the same. Awesome Pea 2 is available to download on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.
