All posts tagged 'Misc'
View from the Vault Part 2: How I stopped worrying and learned to love the game
Posted on October 31st, 2008 by
Wow … my first entry got a lot of attention. While there were only a few comments here, on two different sites the post sprang forth into 4+ page threads. One site is more biased towards ‘next gen’ consoles (i.e. X360 and PS3) and the other one is more biased towards PC gaming. Each one took something different and ran with it … but in neither case was much time spent talking about the actual game. So let’s fix that this time ’round.
Super Smash Brothers: Brawl … with Children
Posted on October 30th, 2008 by
Super Smash Brothers for the Wii is rated E-10 for its cartoon violence but exactly because of that cartoon violence I grabbed it off the shelf. It was a special night last Friday. Maggie and her mom were at the premiere of High School Musical 3 so it was just Henry and I. Oh, and my buddy Zane. Zane’s my gaming friend and he’s stood by me through two hospital emergencies. A good friend. We test split-screen multiplayer on M games for this site, we play Madden, and we rock. Henry usually doesn’t get to play with Zane, so to the boy, this was a special treat. Oh yes, Super Smash Bros. was the perfect choice!
View from the Vault Part: Fallout 3 Impressions Part 1
Posted on October 29th, 2008 by
I think I have already sufficiently established myself as a curmudgeon on many topics but certainly regarding PC gaming: I have railed for years about the impact of consoles on PC gaming (Deus Ex: Invisible War), complain about the state of games that are obvious ports when they do arrive (Oblivion), complain about the generification of genres that has occurred as consoles have led the charge to mainstreaming (again Oblivion), and so on. So I am a perfect candidate for someone to come out and rant about how the newly released Fallout 3 is nothing but ‘Oblivion with guns’ and rant and froth about the history of the franchise and the purity of the RPG genre and … well, just come on in and see … more…
GamerDad Keynote & the ALA
Posted on October 28th, 2008 by
GamerDad (me) will be delivering a keynote address at the 2nd Annual “Gaming, Learning, and Libraries Symposium” in Chicago, run by the American Library Association. I’ll be speaking on November 4th (remember to vote) at 9am and will talk for about an hour or so about videogames and this whole Gamerparenting thing I do. Joining me (at their own speaking times) are Dr. Lawrence Kutner (co-author of “Grand Theft Childhood” and Marc Prensky (author of “Don’t Bother Me Mom … I’m Learning!”).
Oh no! Cary played Dead or Alive Xtreme 2?!?
Posted on October 26th, 2008 by
When Halloween approaches, people tend to start talking about scary video games. So I’m going to talk about a video game that has the scariest creatures on Earth! Women! Just joking! Just joking! Women aren’t scary! Some of the nicest people I know are women. But the real scary question is “WHY on Earth would Cary play such a game?” That’s not normally the kind of games I usually play. So read on to find out why, and stick around for a silly review of it, plus a TRULY scary game!
Ask GamerDad 10/24/08
Posted on October 24th, 2008 by
Halloween is coming so GamerDad takes on a few tricks as well as treats this week! What’s the best console on which to do the Transylvania Twist? Is six-years-old too young to decapitate the Boy Wonder? Should we go to Ravenholm? In Dead Space can anyone hear you scream? GamerDad knows these answers, boys and ghouls. Read on!
My Week in Games
Posted on October 24th, 2008 by
It was a busy week. I’m still gearing up for the ALA Conference and Trick or Treating is this Saturday - which is irksome on one hand because it’s not ON Halloween. One the other hand though, it clears Trick or Treating duties from Sunday Afternoon and during a Packer game (a Wisconsin tradition that’s broken in my neighborhood) and because Halloween is my ten year anniversary and that means that we can go do something fun. Like Chicago. And then on the THIRD scary mutant hand … it means everyone is getting sick.
PSP-3000 … might want to hold that purchase …
Posted on October 21st, 2008 by
Whether you are someone who has never owned a PSP but were considering a new one, or someone who had the original and thought that the latest incarnation provided the differentiation that the PSP-Slim did not, or like me and start frothing at the mouth when the word ‘new portable electronics device’ are used in a sentence, you are aware that Sony’s new PSP-3000 has been released and is available in most stores. I’ve yet to grab one, and based on new reports I am going to hold off - and suggest you do the same. Read on to find out why. more…
NYT: Gaming leads to mass reading?
Posted on October 20th, 2008 by
According to a recent article in the New York Times titled “The Future of Reading: Using Video Games as Bait to Hook Readers”, new efforts to bring video games into traditional literary areas are happening due to “that video games also may teach a kind of digital literacy that is becoming as important as proficiency in print”. One quote postulates “I wouldn’t be surprised if, in 10 or 20 years, video games are creating fictional universes which are every bit as complex as the world of fiction of Dickens or Dostoevsky”. Also, they discuss how rich game worlds such as the one in Postal 2 have opened a dialogue around issues of race, religion and gender sensitivity. more…
