Ask GamerDad column on WhatTheyPlay.com
Video games have been around long enough now that we can see a new trend developing--gamer parents. These parents have been playing games themselves for years, and look forward to playing games with their kids as a way to spend time together as a family.
The new "Ask GamerDad" column on the video game guide side What They Play brings this perspective to video game reviews and advice. Whether or not you are a gamer parent yourself, this point of view can be another useful resource when considering games for your kids.
In this week's column, "Gamer Dad" Andrew Bub talks about video games as fitness tools, drawing on his own experience of losing 30 pounds over four years by playing Dance Dance Revolution every day. This activity more than just "play" for Bub, as he relied on this weight loss to help him survive a heart attack at age 36.
The fitness options are expanding with family-oriented games such as Wii Sports and Wii Fit, which has been a big hit in Japan will be released in the United States in mid-May. I believe that a virtual sport should never replace 'real-world' family interactions. Even so, parents who are not major gamers themselves may embrace some of these new activities as a wholesome, and possibly healthy, opportunity to play with their kids.
The theme for today is flames. We've got pictures of a creative adaptation of Dance Dance Revolution, combining its complicated steps with the added punishment of an inferno in your face. It looks hard and scary! We also have photos of the Nokia N76, a sleek and shiny red phone. Plus, there's the HTC Touch, a phone that could fan the flames of the red-hot discussion surrounding the iPhone's June 29 release. Burn, baby, burn.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
Photos: Dance Dance Immolation
At a warehouse in Oakland, Calif., Saturday night, video gamers get shot in the face with fire--but it was all in the name of fun. The fun, in this case, was an evening of Dance Dance Immolation. DDI combines the movements with flamethrowers--needless to say, it's for grown-ups only. These pics are on fire.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
When you think of sleek and sexy cell phones or smart phones, chances are you probably don't think of Nokia. However, the Nokia N76 certainly changes that perception, with its sleek profile and red-hot color. Yet, despite its cool looks (or should we say hot), this Symbian "multimedia computer" isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Check out the Nokia N76 pics.
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
HTC, the company behind many of today's most popular Windows Mobile smart phones, has unveiled its latest project and some are already pitting it against the yet-to-be-released Apple iPhone. Take a photo tour of the HTC Touch and find out what makes this Windows Mobile smart phone special.
Photos: Kenwood Excelon DDX8019
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
If you're looking for a decent in-dash GPS navigation system that can support digital audio and video, then the Kenwood DDX8019 could be the product for you. If GPS navigation isn't your first priority, however, there are more easy-to-use media players on the market. You can decide while looking at our photos of the Kenwood DDX8019.
Saturday night in Oakland. What's a team of highly trained, well-funded engineers to do? They like dorky video games and they like blowing things up for fun. "Hey, I know!" one says to the other, "We'll make a game where you blow stuff up!" "Naw," replies the other, "Let's make the game blow up the player!"
Click on the image for more on 'Dance Dance Immolation'
And three years later... the result, which must be seen to believed, is Dance Dance Immolation, based on a popular arcade game with a similar name. Click on the image of the lady in the fire suit to see it in action.
(Credit:
Drinkstuff)
Even though our resident "DDR" expert has the day off, Crave remains dedicated to giving you all the news about Dance Dance Revolution whenever we can. (Especially if we don't have to exert ourselves physically to try it out.)
That's why the "USB Finger Dance Mat" is our kind of DDR product, as it doesn't require us to leave the chair to participate. In fact, we must stay in the chair, or at least close enough to a USB port, because "instead of using your feet to follow the lights you use your fingers to groove," according to Everything USB.
In other words, it's the height of laziness. We're exhausted just thinking about it.
(Credit:
JustDDR.com)
Okay, I might like Dance Dance Revolution, but I'm not this hardcore about it by any means. Nevertheless, apparently some people are. JustDDR.com is selling a souped-up DDR deck called the "Metal Pad DDR Platinum Pro." The foot pads on this luxe dance machine are made of stainless steel, so that you can bring your home arcade a major notch above the norm. The pricing information is in Japanese, so I'm not positive how much it costs, but I'm sure it ain't cheap.
Now that's heavy metal.
(Via Red Ferret)
(Credit:
Gizmodo)
I have some friends who like to make fun of me because I totally dig Dance Dance Revolution. Okay, I have a lot of friends who make fun of me for it. But considering I have never played World of Warcraft, I don't know any kind of programming languages, and I have never seen an episode of Star Trek, I need to have some other way to express my inner geek. Hence, DDR. Which is why I was totally pumped to read on Gizmodo that somebody has put up an extensive tutorial for how to make your own DDR deck, like the kind they have in arcades. It'll cost $400 and take approximately 16 hours as well as some building know-how, but that's a small price to pay for being the coolest nerd around. Way better than just a mat to hook up to your PS2.
Imagine how this could enhance your backyard parties! (Or rooftop parties, for us urban dwellers.) Pair it with the light-up inflatable bar (Tim Moynihan's inflatable girlfriend optional), and man, that's one outdoor shindig you sure don't want to miss. Just make sure you have a massive outdoor TV, too.
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