Pure Gaming Goodness

Just in time for the weekend, here's a feel-good article for you!

I'm a huge fan of the videogame industry charitable organization GamesAid, which I describe in this post about gamer charities.

They recently held a vote to decide which charities will receive donations from this year's fundraisers. Each winner will receive £20,000 which is 76% more than last year. I'm so happy that the amounts that gamer charities are able to raise are increasing every year.

The votes are in and the winners are:

Action for Kids, Families Need Fathers, SpecialEffect, The Willow Foundation, and Volunteer Centre Sutton: MAPS.

Here are the thank-you letters from each winner:

Lyn Prodger from Action for Kids, a charity that works with children and young people with physical and learning disabilities, said:

“We are really excited to be working with GamesAid again this year and would like to thank everyone for their support in terms of funds donated, time spent and the events and activities they organize. The GamesAid grant will make a real difference to the lives of some fantastic and inspirational children and young people”.

Nadja Singh, Director of Fundraising at Families Need Fathers, added:

"The donation from GamesAid could not come at a better time for Families Need Fathers. We, as is the case for many charities, await the outcome of the government spending review with apprehension, and anticipate a drastic cut in the services we will be able to deliver. The money from GamesAid, therefore, will ensure that whatever the outcome, parents at the height of their most desperate crisis, when they fear they may never see their children again, will be able to get through to our telephone helpline and be supported in finding a child-centred way forward”.

Bob Wilson, founder of the Willow Foundation, said:

“This year the Willow Foundation aims to provide almost 1,400 special days and this generous donation from GamesAid is invaluable to help us achieve this target. Thanks to GamesAid we will be able to make a positive impact, not only on the lives of the young people we help with this funding, but to their loved ones too”.

Adam Knuckey, Manager at MAPS, a mentoring service for vulnerable and marginalised children, added:

“MAPS are very excited about the prospect of putting this donation to work, allowing many vulnerable children to have access to specialist mentors, fun activities and key resources to help them develop and achieve more. The Award demonstrates the excellence of our committed volunteer mentors who offer time week in, week out to transform lives for the better. We are very proud to be associated with GamesAid and the positive work they are engaged in”.

Dr Mick Donegan Director, SpecialEffect, said

"The SpecialEffect charity is dedicated to ensuring that everyone, no matter how severe their disability, can share the camaraderie, challenges and sheer enjoyment that comes from playing computer games. From the word go, no organisation could have supported the charity more enthusiastically that GamesAid. This fantastic donation will enable us to transform the quality of life for some of the most disabled and needy children in the country, whether they are in hospital, at a hospice or recovering from a traumatic injury or illness at home. With GamesAid's generous support, we're taking huge strides in making it GameOn for everyone!"

Andy Payne, Chairman of GamesAid, concluded:

“We are delighted to be donating to these five charities, all of whom do an extremely important job in this country and contribute greatly to improving the lives of some of society’s most vulnerable individuals. It is especially pleasing to see that the members of GamesAid have once again voted to make this a completely democratic decision. We look forward to working closely with these charities in the forthcoming year and ensuring we update the members and the industry in general on all their fantastic efforts, as we do every year. It’s a real shame that there had to be three charities that missed out. The voting was so close this year, we would encourage everyone to pitch in, join GamesAid and have their say going forward”.

If you want to help out with next year's donations, check out www.justgiving.com/gamesaid.

- Chris K
- a.k.a Breakdance McFunkypants

Reposted from my blog: http://www.mcfunkypants.com
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/McFunkypants

The World of Sensible Soccer

Back in the early 90's before the 'britpop' urge to learn a musical instrument, there wasn't really much for teenagers to do. Then Sensible Software released ‘Sensible Soccer’ on the Amiga and the Atari ST and the football gaming world was changed forever.

What was so different about this game was the simple control method, the same button for pass and shoot (tap for the pass and hold for the shot). It really was pick up and play stuff.
As well as this simple approach to gaming it also allowed the editing of national, club and custom teams. Friends always gathered round to play each other. 'The Black Swan FC' often competed against 'Netto Town' in their bumble bee style kits. With your class mates filling the numbers 1-11 (they didn't have squad numbers then)

As the years went on regular updates were released with minor tweaks and bugs ironed out.
But in 1994 Sensible World of Soccer or 'SWOS' as it's affectionately known was released, this wasn't just an update this was a complete overhaul. Not only could you compete as a team from near enough every division in every league across the world but it also featured a 20 season career mode which allowed players to manage and play as whatever team took their fancy.
Again in typical Sensible software style the management aspect was simple, user friendly options nowhere near as in depth as FIFA touches on these days and certainly not like what we've become accustomed to in Football Manager.

For many 'SWOS' was the best game on the Amiga and the only reason to own an Amiga.
Codemasters released the 96/97 version of SWOS on Xbox Live Arcade, it featured the retro styling of the game as well as more polished HD friendly presentation. As with 'Sensi Soccer' games it took a little while getting used to the feel of the game but it wasn't long before I remembered why I spent so much time playing the game when originally released in the 90's.
There have been a number of attempts of next generation versions of the franchise since the Amiga days but unfortunately none of them come close to the original. But with the presentation of FIFA and the playability of PES 'SWOS' is always going to look dated.

But really simple football and goals is all we want, Right?

Follow me on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/JayMcNeill

My gaming hell

I first got into gaming when the Sinclair ZX81 came out. I'm 50 now and I have no idea when the ZX81 came out, however I do recall that I must have been in my 20's or so.

Either way it doesn't matter because I'm a dad maaaaan, and not only that I'm a workfreelancefromhomehousehusbandwithtwokidsthatdrivemecrazy dad type person. And if any of you fellow dads out there are in full time work and your missus stays at home looking after the house and kids etc. (like I used to be before I goddam well had to give up my premises thanks to that bitch called 2009) you will probably wonder what the hell she gets up to all day and how come you get home from work and the place is still untidy. Well let me tell you fella...

As I write this I have four sets of freakin' bed linen in four different states of wash, dry, on the floor and generally crumpled in a corner somewhere. The dishwasher isn't loaded yet and I'm on the phone trying to work, while editing a story for my other day job as an online editor/video maker. It's currently 2.00pm as I write (because I'm procrastinating on my fee paid work) and we've run out of tea! I'm supposed to be popping to the shops to get some but it's pissing with rain and I don't fancy it. Besides, I like coffee. It's a shame my wife doesn't. So I like gaming, hell yeah! It takes my mind off all of the above shit.

And this is my point. Gaming puts me into a vacuous drooling zen like state and I like it. I also like to drink a little (yeah, right) booze when I'm gaming so I'm usually pretty numb to the cold by the time I log on in the late late evening to play. And guess what? I only come for the single player experience. I first got into online gaming via the PC about ten years ago or so. I had a seriously bad Soldier of Fortune 2 death match habit. So bad it pretty much near ruined my marriage at the time which is why I gave it up. When I moved out I got a PS2 and this pretty much sealed my fate with regards to the single player experience because I dared not hook it up to the net for fear of never again venturing from the house. By the time I moved back I had formed a band, wrote and recorded a wickedly cool album, got on the radio, got on the front cover of Classic Rock magazine and was busy headlining gigs around SW London in some pretty cool venues, so I was too wrapped up in being an artiste' to play video games. But all of this was about to change after everything went tits up halfway through the difficult follow up album and I gave up the front end of the music business to become a part time music promoter a year or two down the line.

During this hiatus I still managed to amass a ton of PS2 games because I couldn't stop buying them for the kids. I quite like hanging back and not jumping straight into the expensive end of a console launch, preferring instead to hang on and buy in cheaply while cherry picking the best games a system has to offer. We did this with the Wii which arrived about two years ago. My daughter turned ten this spring and I somehow managed to convince her that she needed an Xbox 360 with all the works. How did I do this? Well, she was a Just Cause junkie for the PS2 and when we saw the JC2 footage there was no stopping her, or me, for that matter. I figured she was going to need an Elite console with wifi web connectivity, remote with Sky player (what a load of shite that is) and a fully loaded Amex Gold Live account just in case she wants to download 'the odd game'. We have been steadily buying some pretty cool games, again none of the rubbish because we're coming at this late in the development cycle, and I'm having a blast. She, on the other hand, isn't that interested in Xbox simply because it's not really a ten year olds thing. Shame we had to find this out after having spent all of that money, but yup, yup, yup... I guess I can't complain.

I’ve just noticed the time and I’ve got to go pick up my daughter from school and get the tea bags, all before the missus comes home from work expecting a ‘nice cuppa’ to be waiting for her for when she gets home. Yeah right. As if I haven’t got my hands full already! All this and I am still trying to teach myself Photoshop (yes the montage above is all my own work – I’ll be sure to update you as it develops).

There you have it. If the lads have me back I’ll get around to talking about why I like the single player experience and how the heck I got involved with an online multiplayer gaming community!

Screw you guys! I’m going home. ;-)

Have we all......moved on?

Most of you from GamerDads know I am a retro gamer. I collect old games consoles, games, hell even my gamertag and psn have retro in them. I love the old games so when the wii was announced with downloadable content including megadrive games, snes and even intellivision games I was a little excited to say the least. I managed to get a wii on launch (no mean feat) and quickly purchased a controller to enjoy the retro gaming heaven I would surely be on. I thought my days of walking into Game were over and all future purchases would be from a virtual spotty teenager. Ok I jest, we will always buy the latest games out but I still thought the Wii would be getting some serious play time, but heres the thing....It doesn't. It gets an airing at xmas but even then its party games. I still have my SNES and Megadrive (the golden age) connected to the same tele as my PS and Xbox but that only gets a go every now and again. Retro gamers love to reminisce about the good old days of gaming where fun was the main ingredient not story line.  So heres my question.....Have we all...moved on? Are games simply better now and we just like to regress back to our youth. Has online gaming just taken it to the next level that we can never go back from. Can we no longer play alone? Are games simply better now than what they was?  Can a game like Heavy Rain do so well because the storyline is awesome but the gameplay relativly basic? Have we all become obsessed with big impact, visually stunning, huge storyline games and lost what made gaming great?
Maybe its just me.
Gaming has moved on massively since I was a youngster and I have to admit its hard to resist the pull of online Modern Warfare where reactions are king and and the pause button is forbidden but a hey, a quick game of mario should sort that out :)

Why is it I can never be bothered?

As I'm sure other 'gamer-dads' would agree, most of their free time is spent entertaining their kid(s).

Enduring their tv programs, their tantrums, their noisey toys and feed times. The entire time remaining focus on that magical time of the day..... Their bedtime!

One of the major changes I've noticed since my kids were born is the fact that I can no longer race home and have a blast at a new game, not until the kids are in bed anyway.

Maybe its just me, but once they're in bed I just don't have the energy to play video games. Maybe my brain has been frazzled by the over exposure to kids tv. Maybe I'm tired, maybe there is something good on the tv. Or maybe I'm just lazy!

If you're interested in what I have to say follow me on Twitter

I nearly worked for Sony

Yeah that's right I turned down Sony.


The summer of 2007 I was unemployed went for an interview at studio Liverpool. A temporary games tester was the position I applied for, not a well paid position but as people may or may not know its a foot in the door of the game industry.


The interview was as you'd expect, tell them about your interest in games and why you want to work for Sony etc.


Practical side of the interview consisted on playing a very early build of a very early F1 game that the studio had released. Write down as many issues as possible. For example, a car being invisible on the starting grid, or selecting an option makes the game freeze.


Now I left the building feeling pretty confident with my performance, I just had to wait for the call.


A couple of days later I got a phone call, offering me the job.... I said no.


Here is why, in between the interview and being offered the job my wife found out she was pregnant. This meant one thing, I'd have to get a full-time permanent job.
I couldn't afford to take the chance on a temporary position, and one where I would have been working between the hours of 6pm - midnight Monday - Friday. I wanted to be available incase I was needed to do a hospital run etc.



So when Sony rang to offer me the job it was with great sadness that I had to turn down my dream job.



If you're interested follow me on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/JayMcNeill

A Gaming Dad's Life

As I sit here on a Friday night, a long week in work behind me. The weekend is just around the corner. What does that mean?

Well to some people it might mean massive sessions on Modern Warfare 2 or Battlefield Bad Company 2 depending on your preference. A hermit lifestyle for the weekend, moving only for toilet breaks or refreshments. That's how life used to be for me.

Now however I find myself the dad of twin 2 year old boys, a full time working dad of twin 2 year old boys at that. The weekend involves pulling silly faces making silly noises and watching Thomas the Tank Engine!

Let me share three things I've learnt from being a parent.

Time is a premium: Yes of course the time I spend with my kids is important, shaping their minds imparting knowledge, but just as important is the time when they're in bed. But what do I do when they're in bed? To be honest I couldn't tell you what I do, I think I just spend most of the evening on auto-pilot.

Never ever leave gadgets lying round within kids reach: I got complacent, I left a PS3 controller out of reach but within sight of the kids, and what happened? Yes you guessed it... it broke. When did I find out? Just when I was about to relax in front of the TV and start Batman: Arkham Asylum. I wont go into too much detail as to how it broke, lets just say it involved a kids toy being dropped from a height. Sony replaced it and I eventually got to play my game.

Try not to promise online meet up's: Yeah that's right, there have been times where I've arranged to meet up online and play some co-op action (MW2 spec ops anyone?) but once the kids are asleep and I've had tea the only thing I'll be battling that night is the urge to have an early night.

Please understand, the above isn't a rant nor a complaint, I love my wife and kids and wouldn't change anything for what I've got today. In fact I can't wait till the kids can actually start playing the consoles themselves (Supervised of course!).

Videogames and Charity

Blowing up aliens doesn't really help the world become a better place. Thankfully, gamers are generous and loving people who share an earnest desire to help people.

Why else would the goal of most games be to "save the universe"? Gamers all want to be heroes. We want to save the princess, free the slaves from captivity, put out fires, defuse the bombs, catch the criminals, and defeat the evil empire.

Just to spread the love, I thought I would do some research into game-related charities. Here is your chance to give back by doing what you love. Gamers can truly save the world - and with a little compassion and generosity, gamers have the ability to make a huge difference in the lives of others.

Special Effect
Special Effect is a charity that focuses on providing special controllers and equipment that enable physically challenged individuals enjoy playing games.
Games can really free people - for example, imagine that you are paralyzed: think of the joy and freedom that you would get from being able to fly through the clouds or run at top speed in a FPS game.
This simulated mobility can have an enormous impact on the psychological well-being of somebody trapped in their own body, unable to move freely. Virtual reality can allow people to run free, jump high, and enjoy an escape from their daily struggles.

GamesAid
GamesAid acts as a broker of charitable activity on behalf of the industry, taking advice from all sectors. It distributes funds to a diverse range of charities; it is a means of giving something back on behalf of the industry.

Child's Play

Child's Play is a community based charity grown and nurtured from the game culture and industry.

Over 5 million dollars in donations of toys, games, books and cash for sick kids in children’s hospitals across North America and the world have been collected since their inception.

OneBigGame
OneBigGame is the first non-profit video game publisher.

An example of one of their games is WINtA, an iPhone/iPod Touch rhythm game from PaRappa the Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura aimed at raising money for charities.

Electronic Frontier Foundation
Without the Electronic Frontier Foundation the internet would suck.

IGDA Foundation
The IGDA Foundation holds charity dinners with guest speakers. Proceeds from the dinners will help support the various charitable projects supported by the Foundation including the Romero Archives, the Eric Dybsand Memorial Scholarship for AI Development, the Accessibility SIG “Gamers with Disabilities” Project and the other charitable works of the IGDA Foundation.

Get-Well Gamers
The Get-Well Gamers Foundation was founded in 2001 with the goal of bringing video game systems and games to children's hospitals.

Video games are an effective and proven pain management tool and provide needed entertainment during long hospital stays.

Humble Indie Bundle
Although the event is now over, the Humble Indie Bundle is an example of how even smaller indie game developers can raise massive amounts of money for charity. The Humble Indie Bundle experiment has been a massive success beyond our craziest expectations. So far, 138,813 generous contributors have put down an incredible $1,273,613. Of this, contributors chose to allocate 30.85% to charity: $392,953 for the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Child's Play Charity.

If you know of some worthy videogame-related charities that are not on the list above, please comment with a link and I will be sure to add it to the list.

Remember, when gamers give back, it makes a big difference!

- Chris K
- a.k.a Breakdance McFunkypants

Reposted from my blog: http://www.mcfunkypants.com
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/McFunkypants

What got me started gaming

My very first experience with video games. Was it the SNES? No, was it the NES? No. It was in fact the 'Sinclair ZX Spectrum128k+2'

Aside from having a name that rolls off the tongue the Sinclair was the daddy of home computing and video games.

The Sinclair Spectrum +2 was the first Sinclair computer made by Amstrad after they bought the rights of the Sinclair computers products. Now I'm aware that there were other versions of Spectrum's available before the +2 release in 1987 yet as this is my article I'm talking about the Spectrum +2 (I'll touch on the others at another time)

I don't really know much about what the machine cost back then as it was my Dad who got the machine and brought it home, but from what I can gather courtesy of the Internet I believe it to be somewhere between £139-£149 crazily enough the same prize as a Nintendo Wii!

The redesign of the Spectrum +2 welcomed a proper typewriter keyboard and a built-in tape recorder and twin joystick ports.

Anyway that's enough about the technical side of things regarding the computer, lets move onto the Games.

There were tons of them, Popular game developers were Psion, U.S. Gold, Ocean and of course Codemasters.

The first game I ever played was an adaptation of the TV series 'Street Hawk' for those to young it was basically Knightrider but on a super bike. It was a simple top down view, riding a bike chasing bad guys cursor keys for control and space bar to jump.

Now as you can see from these graphics we're talking simple colours and actions on-screen. Sound effects were a minimum with the odd noise coming from gunfire from the vehicles you were overtaking, quite why every car was firing at you I never understood!

The next major game for me was 'Daley Thompsons - Decathlon' released by Ocean.
Now as the game savvy of you may be aware this game was one of several attempts to bring the arcade game 'Track and Field' to the Spectrum

The game consisted of the 10 events which make up the Decathlon (100 metre sprint, long jump, high jump etc) movement was controlled by either wiggling the joystick back and forth or pressing to alternate keys on the keyboard. Graphics were slightly better than Streethawk, with crowd cheers and scrolling 'Ocean' advertising boards in the back ground.

Now I'm not going to sit here and list every game I played on the computer as that would be endless given how easy it was to distribute copy games (as simple as using a two deck tape recorder and copying tape to tape) How simple is that, no need for cracks, or disc key's etc.

It wouldn't be right of me to talk about the Spectrum without mentioning the loading procedure. It really did feel like an age for a game to load, when in all seriousness it was about 5 minutes, during which we were treated to god awful squealing and scratching (what can only be compared to a similar sound modems used to make when they connected to the Internet) moving bars at the side of the screen as well as a cool attempt at a picture of the game.

Well I hope you've enjoyed this little trip down memory lane there will be more to come in the future, please feel free to comment about your favourite or memorable Spectrum games. If you would like to reminisce some more about the Spectrum then pay a visit to the guys over at the gamerdads forums

3DS Starts the revolution (composed by Paul Govan, Game People.co.uk)

composed by Paul Govan
Paul Govan writes the Family Gamer column. "I write family video game reviews. I want to play games with friends and family in the same place, as well as enjoy sharing the experience with my wife and kids. But as well as these there are precious late night gaming moments to fill. Throughout, time is of the essence."
see more about Paul here

The 3DS sets right a legacy of iterative wrongs. It returns the DS to its 2005 promise of revolutionising portable gaming.

Living in a family awash with Nintendo hardware, makes a new clamshell gaming product significant and exciting for me. But having been stung with a string of attractive yet largely unimproved updates to the DS lineup (DSlite and DSXL both adding little to the existing functions) I'm a little more cautious.
The DSi eventually delivered more than I first expected - with some of my favourite games on the system now being DSi-ware (Starship Defence and Pulse Pinball). But it also took away the GBA slot, something I've still not really got over.
The 3DS console is happily more than just an iterative change though. In what may have originally been called the DS3 (after the original DS and DSi took the first two spots in the series), we have a genuine next generation in Nintendo handheld gaming.

Games

It's unusual for Nintendo to put the leg work in to get third party support for their products - even years after release never mind at launch. But perhaps they are turning over a new leaf as the 3DS has an impressive catalogue from the off.
Not only first party titles like Mariokart, Animal Crossing and Pilot Island, but also impressive third party support including Resident Evil, Super Street Fighter IV and Metal Gear.
I was also heartened to learn that you can transfer DSi-ware purchases from the DSi to the 3DS. If Nintendo are giving up an opportunity to make us buy our favourite games again, this must have been really high on the to do list. Our family has heavily invest here, and without this feature we would have had to think twice about trading in our DSi.

Virtual Console

Extending the games library further, the 3DS offers a portable version of the Wii's Virtual Console. That so many reporters assumed this would enable you to download GBA games on the 3DS is testament to how much the missing slot still burns. What we have on offer at launch is the ability to download full perfect versions of original Gameboy and Gameboy Colour games. This of course doesn't rule out the addition of other systems at a later date - the Wii's Virtual Console added support for a number of new machines after it was released.
It's only those people that grew up with the original Gameboy that will be aware just how rich a back catalogue is on offer there. In fact, it sounds a bit worthy I know, but my favourite (and most played) tennis game is Top Ranking Tennis on the Gameboy. And I still go back and play it now.
But as with any new system, it is the potential of the hardware, rather than the launch titles that will define it. It's good that even without being wowed by the 3D there is plenty else to consider.

3D HD Movie Screen

The top screen is now wider and offers an equivalent HD resolution (for its size) of 800x240. It looks a little lop sided compared to the balanced DSi, and introduces a challenge for games to transition both screens smoothly. But this wide screen format offers greater support of HD movie and TV watching without the need to letterbox or crop. The prospect of 3D HD movies on the 3DS makes it worth the compromise I think.

Most will already know about the glasses-free 3D feature already. Without having hands on the system it is hard to really take in just how effective this is. The interest here though, is how well they can integrate it into other 3DS features and controls - like the camera and motions sensors.

Controls

Alongside this, the 3DS offers the same sort of inputs as the original DS - microphone, touch screen and buttons. But it doesn't end here, there are a number of new ways to interact with games on the 3DS that build on Nintendo's experience with the Wii.
The system has built-in accelerometers like the original Wii-mote so it knows how fast it's moving in a particular direction. This combines with a gyroscope, as in the MotionPlus controls, to determine the orientation of the device.

Games like Warioware Twisted which because of their expensive proprietary motion sensors never quite made it to the UK, will now be easy and cheaper to make.
Following on the success of games like Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver and it's step tracking, the 3DS incorporates a pedometer function that not only records your steps but gives you graphs and stats about your day's activities.

3D Camera

There are three cameras on the system. This might seem overkill at first but this not only enables you to take and view 3D pictures, but also turns the unit into a portable sensor bar. Drop a reference card on the table, and it can use this to create a game where you move the 3DS around to shoot at things that look like they exist in real world - augmenting reality with gaming.

This enables the device to orient itself with other objects in the room. This gives the device a sense of depth, as with PS3's Move, to let players zoom in on a particular location for an in-game reason.

Social

Nintendo have an unusual approach to multiplayer games and the social aspects that go along with this. They focus heavily on ways to play together locally, often to the detriment of their online experience. Again we see their device focus on local interactions rather than global matchmaking.
The 3DS extends their Mii offering. We've seen some games like Walk With Me edge towards doing Mii's on the DS. The new portable not only uses Mii's for its social interactions but can use the 3D camera to automatically create a Mii for you in seconds.

The Mii's are then used to identify other people in the 3DS tag mode. Here the console can stay activated even when switched off. It then detects other 3DS systems nearby and wirelessly swaps prizes and compares data.
A light glows on the top right of the shell to inform players they have new gifts to check out. Opening the 3DS, they are greeted by a gaggle of Mii's that represent the different people they have been in contact with. Each offers a different gifts relating to the games they have been playing.

The camera can also be used to pull in Mii's from other people's DS, via a barcode that can be printed from the web. It seems a little convoluted, and I'm hoping you can also just pop the Mii's on an SD Card to get them on another 3DS or the Wii. But this being Nintendo we may well be stuck printing bar-codes.
The 3DS will also be able to connect to the Internet via WiFi while in sleep mode. This will allow users to automatically download free software, games ranking data, and more.

Conclusion

I really wanted to stand off this iteration of handheld gaming - it's only now that I'm really seeing real value from the DSi. I'm often blamed in my family for rushing us onto the next new thing before we have really enjoyed what we already have.
But the 3DS is clever. By supporting the DS games, and offering a fresh window back on Gameboy and Gameboy colour games it feels like a logical next step. And one that wants to bring with it the classic old games I love introducing the kids to.
As the features stack up and the games keep getting announced, there are simply too many factors converging here not to be excited about the prospects for what Nintendo have done next.
The 3DS launches in Japan in February 2011 and in Europe and the States in March 2011.

The First One

Hi all and welcome to the brand new GamerDadsBlog. I thought I would take a little time to explain what we are trying to achieve here and what you can expect for the future.
As with everything in the GamerDads network we have opened our doors to the community to provide what we hope will not only be informative, interesting but above all, a great read. We have asked Gaming Dads from around the globe to contribute. Some are seasoned bloggers, some from within the industry, some just members of the GamerDad community but they all have one thing in common, they are all dads. We welcome submissions from anyone who is a dad and has something to say. We credit authors within there blog and link back to there own site (should they have one). With the introduction over I will leave you to enjoy the blog.
GamerDad out.