Welcome to Gaming Dad!!
My name is Calvin and I am a 34 yr old Father of three who loves gaming. I started this site to spread understanding to parents and to those who just don't know what gaming is. Gaming is a part of our culture, like it or not, and I want parents to feel that playing videogames with their kids is important. Showing your child the right games to play is as important as teaching them to play catch. Games are not the ever present corrupter of youth as the media would have you believe, for every Grand Theft Auto, there is a Sonic All-stars Racing. Who knows maybe we'll make a gamer out of you. So please spend some time on the site, and add Gaming Dad to you bookmarks. If you have an idea or problem please do not hesitate to drop me a line.
Welcome To The Relaunch Of Gaming Dad!!
Well I have been away for a while. Due to life and other issues I have had to
put the site on the back burner. So I
return with a clearer focus and a leaner Gaming Dad site. I realized that I bit off more than I could
handle with the initial concept of the site.
Rather than bog it down with more reviews of titles that everyone else
covers and fluffy parent pieces. I will
try to stick with games that maybe you never thought of as family friendly, and
of course throw my hat in the ring when it comes to topics that I feel need
weighing in on. Welcome back and hello
to any new readers.
So where to begin… How about the new Nintendo 3DS, see my write-up in the reviews page. That’s right its 2011 and instead of a new console war we have a handheld one. “But only one new console came out?”…So far. Later this year Sony will be unleashing its new portable, the “NGP”, as well. So is there still room for 2 handhelds with all of the other competition out there? Maybe is all I’ll commit to right now. Don’t think that I’m being cautious either, between iOS devices like the iPod, Android, and of course the existing hardware from Sony and Nintendo there is a lot that a new device needs to bring to the table to have an impact. I do not think that touch devices are going to replace handheld systems, sure they are popular, but if Sony and Nintendo don’t try to learn from the sales model of the App Store and its ilk things could change.
Imagine downloading a demo of the latest Mario game, realize that you like it and then pay $9.99 for it, wouldn’t that be great. Instead of blind buying another game that you did not demo for $39.99, only to realize that it has no legs and will sit on the shelf forever, or until you trade it in for pennies on the dollar. How many more games do you think would sell if the price point were lower? Maybe it’s a cultural gap, both handhelds are developed by Japanese companies and neither seems able to come up with a decent online component. Come on Nintendo lose the friend codes already, and both of them need to come up with a decent store front for online purchases. Apple has done a pretty good job with all of the titles that come out on the app store, with a simple but effective store front on their devices coupled with a more detailed store accessible with a PC.
I know, what about Gamefly or other rental options; or Amazon instead of Gamestop for trades. All well and good but this still boils down to simple economics, when was the last time a B&M store like Best Buy or even GS with their best sale could ever match a sale on Steam? I bought Mafia 2 for my PC on Steam for $7.49 about 3 weeks ago; let me know when the console or PC editions of Mafia 2 hit that price point new in a B&M retailer. So my hope for 2011 is that Sony and Nintendo will wake up and see the money they are missing out on.
So welcome back to old friends and hello to new readers, and feel free to drop me a line at gamingdad@gamingdad.net.
G.D.
PS: Be sure to check the contest page for your chance to win a Crysis 2 Limited Edition for PC. Sure the 360 and PS3 versions are good but for me 1080p is the way to go and Crysis 2 only gets there on a PC!
So where to begin… How about the new Nintendo 3DS, see my write-up in the reviews page. That’s right its 2011 and instead of a new console war we have a handheld one. “But only one new console came out?”…So far. Later this year Sony will be unleashing its new portable, the “NGP”, as well. So is there still room for 2 handhelds with all of the other competition out there? Maybe is all I’ll commit to right now. Don’t think that I’m being cautious either, between iOS devices like the iPod, Android, and of course the existing hardware from Sony and Nintendo there is a lot that a new device needs to bring to the table to have an impact. I do not think that touch devices are going to replace handheld systems, sure they are popular, but if Sony and Nintendo don’t try to learn from the sales model of the App Store and its ilk things could change.
Imagine downloading a demo of the latest Mario game, realize that you like it and then pay $9.99 for it, wouldn’t that be great. Instead of blind buying another game that you did not demo for $39.99, only to realize that it has no legs and will sit on the shelf forever, or until you trade it in for pennies on the dollar. How many more games do you think would sell if the price point were lower? Maybe it’s a cultural gap, both handhelds are developed by Japanese companies and neither seems able to come up with a decent online component. Come on Nintendo lose the friend codes already, and both of them need to come up with a decent store front for online purchases. Apple has done a pretty good job with all of the titles that come out on the app store, with a simple but effective store front on their devices coupled with a more detailed store accessible with a PC.
I know, what about Gamefly or other rental options; or Amazon instead of Gamestop for trades. All well and good but this still boils down to simple economics, when was the last time a B&M store like Best Buy or even GS with their best sale could ever match a sale on Steam? I bought Mafia 2 for my PC on Steam for $7.49 about 3 weeks ago; let me know when the console or PC editions of Mafia 2 hit that price point new in a B&M retailer. So my hope for 2011 is that Sony and Nintendo will wake up and see the money they are missing out on.
So welcome back to old friends and hello to new readers, and feel free to drop me a line at gamingdad@gamingdad.net.
G.D.
PS: Be sure to check the contest page for your chance to win a Crysis 2 Limited Edition for PC. Sure the 360 and PS3 versions are good but for me 1080p is the way to go and Crysis 2 only gets there on a PC!
