GeekDad presents the first episode of its new video game web series for families: Family Gamer TV. Each episode will premiere exclusively on GeekDad every other Friday. Here’s how it came to be:
Family Gamer TV (FGTV) has been a GeekDad project I’ve been working towards for over a year. Writing and speaking about family gaming means I’m often asked questions about video games that are very specific to family gamers. Having looked in vain for a regular TV format that answered these questions in an easy to digest way, I realized there was a need not being met. Family Gamer TV is the result.
A year later and things have taken shape. I wanted FGTV to be a regular platform that addressed gaming topics just for families. Rather than focusing just on the latest and greatest games, the show will track the progress of families new to gaming to discover how they get on. And rather than a string of casual party games, my aim is to highlight any game (hardcore or otherwise) that can work well for family gamers — my favorite suggestion of late has been Wipeout HD for very young gamers, but that’s another story.
Family Gamer TV
Each episode I get the chance to sit down with different families and find out how things are going on their journey from non-gamers to family-gamers. It’s been fascinating to discover the successes and failures they’ve had along the way, to see firsthand what works and what doesn’t. I’ve already learned a lot about what makes for a good game in a family setting and it’s not always what I expected.
But as well as introducing families to existing games and gaming technology, many of them also wanted to know what was coming up in the world of video games. So, along with the family stories, I’ll also be talking about new games. But rather than just focusing on the latest hot titles, I’m aiming to uncover the less well known new games that are a good fit for family gamers — like the recent Sola to Robo on DS, Motorstorm Apocalypse on PS3 and Gunstringer on 360.
Finally, and this is my favorite bit, I also get to answer viewers’ questions on FGTV. These are aspects of gaming that don’t get talked about all that often because they are specific to playing games in a family. Some will undoubtedly focus on how to play games safely, looking at family settings on different devices. But I’ve also got some great questions lined up that will lead us to talk about video games in unusual and interesting ways.
Today marks the first public airing of FGTV, although you may want to catch our secret Pilot FGTV episode to be in on things right at the start. The next episode will premiere exclusively on GeekDad in two weeks.
