WhatTheyPlay.com: A Great Videogame Resource for Parents

Want to know which games your kids really want to play? For those who care concerned about the violence, language, provocative imagery, or gameplay of some of the most popular video games, never fear: you have a solution.

WhatTheyPlay.com is a great website for parents like you. It has reviews of almost every game out there and gives the real deal on whether it is age-appropriate or as fun as advertised. Touted as “Video Game Rating and Review Guide for Parents and Kids”, this website is worth a visit.

Here is  smaple excerpt from WhatTheyPlay.com’s review of Super Mario Galaxy: “Super Mario Galaxy is rated “E” and marked for “Cartoon Violence.” Though some of Mario’s acts can be considered “violent,” the outcome is never any harsher than what might be shown on a cartoon. For example, if Mario jumps on an enemy, that enemy goes flat and disappears. One battle involves a dinosaur-plant with a heavy weight in its tail. To win, Mario must knock that weight into the dinosaur’s head. There’s never any blood or gore.” Read the rest of this entry »

The Wii Sucks and You Know It

Nintendo is an innovative company. When I was 16, I got my first Nintendo Entertainment System and it blew me away. You know what I am talking about. They packaged the thing with Super Mario Brothers, a game that was so ahead of its time, so intoxicating that anyone who picked up the controller –or as much as heard one of the tunes would fall instantly in love. But it did not stop there. Games like The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Kid Icarus and Castlevania took gaming to a whole new level and created a new wave of video gaming junkies. The followup Super Nintendo was also fun, although I thought that the Sega Genesis was better overall for sports games. With the Nintendo 64, they again innovated with the gun style controller, more buttons and platformers like Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie. They carried this into their excellent Gamecube platform and gave us Zelda Windwalker and Mario Sunshine in a compact system that you could even easily take with you.

The problem with Gamecube was that everyone was captivated by the Playstation 2 and Microsoft’s original XBOX. With PS2’s vast library of games and XBOX’s superior online strategy, this system was bound to be missed by anyone other than foodad and the kiddy set who probably were not ready for Final Fantasy, Return to Wolfenstein or Halo2. This article is not about history, it is about suckage of the Wii.

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The Real Reason for the Wii Shortage This Christmas

Dad Finds Game for Son, then Sells it as Punishment

This guy is the real Guitar Hero. This is a story about a school teacher that found a copy of the hard-to-find game, Guitar Hero 3 for his son. This awesome dad found it, bought it, and was psyched to give it to his son for Christmas.

But when he came home one day and found his beloved offspring smoking pot with his friends in the backyard, he did something amazing: he sold that game on eBay instead of giving it to his son.

“So I was so relieved in that I had finally got the Holy Grail of Christmas presents pretty much just in the nick of time. I couldn’t wait to spread the jubilance to my son,” the father wrote on eBay. “Then, yesterday, I came home from work early and what do I find? My innocent little boy, smoking pot in the back yard with two of his delinquent friends.” Read the rest of this entry »

That’s What Friends Are For

Are Mario Games The Best Ever?

According to review aggregator site, Game Rankings, the top 10 console games from the last 3 generations of consoles are all from Nintendo. Whether you agree with the rankings or not, there is no disputing the fact that Mario games pwn in a big way. Super Mario Brothers is more than a classic. It’s the console game that defined a generation of videogame players.

Brandon Erickson of Game Critics compile some interesting facts based on those rankings: Read the rest of this entry »

To Wii or Not to Wii: Babyproof your Marriage with a Video Game System?

I’ve been told I’m the luckiest guy alive. I’ve been told I’ve experienced the greatest moment ever. And neither of these platitudes have anything to do with the birth of my son, meeting a celebrity or finding a $100 bill on the street.

A couple of weekends ago, as Mrs. ReviewDad and I were running errands with ReviewDad Jr. asleep in the backseat, trunk full of über-sized loot from Costco, she said coolly and without looking at me (as if reflecting on an idea long considered) “should we get a Wii?”Take a moment to read that line again and let it sink in. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

Yes. Those are the precise words that came out of my wife’s mouth. I shit you not.

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Counter Strike Today, Surgery Tomorrow?

Get off that computer and go outside! You are limited to 30 minutes of video games per day. Those games are too violent. As a kid, I heard all of this and many of you are saying the same things to your kids. You are concerned by the amount of time they are spending with a controller in their hand or sitting at a computer terminal questing for XP, blowing away aliens, building, deploying and destroying armies and socializing with their friends.
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Reconnecting With Her Through DDR

Maybe you have a new baby and you’re not getting to spend a lot of time together, or your kids are older and they’re driving you crazy driving back and forth from soccer, hockey and karate practice. Whatever the reason you’re spending less time together, I have three words for you:

Screw Doctor Phil.

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