{"id":2475,"date":"2009-06-01T11:43:52","date_gmt":"2009-06-01T17:43:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamingwithchildren.com\/?p=2475"},"modified":"2009-06-01T11:43:52","modified_gmt":"2009-06-01T17:43:52","slug":"gamerfamily-playlist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2009\/06\/01\/gamerfamily-playlist\/","title":{"rendered":"GamerFamily Playlist – May09"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"np240_excitebots\"Here at the GamerDad family residence (a small house by a big lake) we play games. A lot of games. I pretty much have the opposite problem you do. I never have enough time to really get into a game – gotta move on – and my kids know that dad has A LOT more games downstairs then he lets on.\u00a0 So lets talk about my spoiled family a bit. (Note: there’s a lot about the old Sid and Marty Kroft’s Land of the Lost too.)<\/strong><\/p>\n

GamerMom has been working too hard lately, but she’s taken to Personal Trainer: Walking <\/strong>for DS. It’s the most realistic walking game around, she says. Yeah, it’s not a game, it’s a pedometer that uses the DS to give detailed analysis and suggestions on how to improve your\u00a0regular day excercise. I imagine this means adding a staircase to your route or something.\u00a0Still, targets motivate pretty good and she has been walking a lot lately . . .<\/p>\n

GamerBoy (6)\u00a0is hooked on some very good games. He’s been playing some Didj – an educational system from Leap Frog – and DS games like New Super Mario<\/strong> and both Kirby games. On the Wii however, he’s playing some Super Mario Galaxy <\/strong>(such a terrific game), ExciteBots <\/strong>(I cannot recommend this enough!) and a rotation of classics. He’s playing Super Smash Bros Brawl <\/strong>with\u00a0his best friend, they”re playing the gigantic “Subspace Missions”) – great fun and perfect because a more advanced player can handle the jumps while the little one smashes and bashes the robots.<\/p>\n

GamerGirl is (9) keeping it simple with Guitar Hero: On Tour <\/strong>(the DS game) and some old standbys (she likes fashion, pet care and, oddly, Sim City). The Sims 3 <\/strong>just arrived and I see that (with lots of supervision) dominating her life for months and months ahead.<\/p>\n

GamerDad has been playing with his iPhone way too much. His current rotation includes: Resident Evil: Degeneration <\/strong>(it plays like the newer games, rather than the old camera oriented system). Armageddon Squadron <\/strong>is a WWII flight sim (it’s extremely diffiuclt but also extremely well made). The star of the App show is Wild West Guns <\/strong>– a simple but extremely entertaining shoot’n gallery that brings elements like target shooting, Duck Hunt and that old arcade oater Cheyanne (the train sequence). That’s it for the Apps (I promise honey!) but I’m trying to wrangle EA’s Tiger Woods <\/strong>and Peggle. <\/strong>(Note: All the above games, except Resident Evil & Armageddon <\/strong>are probably available on PC or from the current generation’s stores.) I’ve been nowhere near my 360 and PC lately, my DS misses me (it’s plotting to kill my iPhone I believe), and my PSP has a layer of dust in it that makes it look like Crayola’s peach color) so that leaves the good old Wii. Oh! Wait! On the PS3 I’ve been playing the serene Flower <\/strong>and Red Baron<\/strong> (a very non-arcade lite simulation that brings me back in time more years than I can count. Okay, now the Wii. I’m playing Super Smash Bros Brawl <\/strong>with my best friend, we’re playing the gigantic “Subspace Missions”) – great fun and perfect because a more advanced player can handle the jumps while the little one smashes and bashes the robots. I’m also playing a lot of Punch Out.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Movies with Children? <\/strong>Yep! We saw Night at the Museum: Smithsonian Edition <\/strong>and I just don’t get the critics. I mean, it’s not a GOOD film per se, but it is a fun film, especially for kids. It slyly teaches a lot of history (my kids are curious about Amelia Airheart and Custer now). Also, Hank Azaria is downright brilliant. WARNING: They do “use” Lincoln in the film and they use him stupidly. Why remove the gravitas from Abe? Why make him an “Honesty” joke with hip hop overtones? Someone needs to be slapped.<\/p>\n

The kids are thoroughly enjoying the TV verion of Land of the Lost <\/strong>– despite the fact that its cheap and horrible acted. I ate this series up as a kid and I can see why. The cave home, Grumpy the T-Rex, the “flyswatter,”Chaka” and those mysterious and creepy Sleestax. The show has an air of mystery that’s braver than most kid entertainment.\u00a0Why are the \u00a0insect\/lizard Sleestax there? They’re clearly from another world. Do they have asthma? Why is there a sky at the bottom of the waterfall. What the heck is a “routine expedition” anyway and why bring your lame teen son and whiney daughter? Ah, see? That kind of stuff gets the kids thinking and makes up for a lot of low budget silliness.<\/p>\n

We liked Nim’s Island <\/strong>a lot more than we thought we would.\u00a0A fairly non-Hollywood storyline about a super Dad, a superior kid and a fragile writer. He\u00a0that sounds like me! ‘Cept the lady\u00a0part. My kid’s enjoyment comes from\u00a0the\u00a0farting seals and flying lizards.<\/p>\n

“I’m lost! I’m lost! Find Me! Livin’ in the land of the lost! – lost lost lost”<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here at the GamerDad family residence (a small house by a big lake) we play games. A lot of games. I pretty much have the opposite problem you do. I never have enough time to really get into a game – gotta move on – and my kids know that dad has A LOT more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-game-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2475\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}