paul govan
E3 Matters (Family Gamer)
July 21, 2008
Zath: “The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) was one of those annual events that as a gamer I always wanted to attend - it was basically the largest conference of the gaming industry with hundreds of stands at the LA conference centre, if you liked games then this was the place to be. However, last year saw the whole event scaled back and moved to several smaller venues as it was starting to cost the industry exhibitors huge amounts of money which it couldn’t justify.
I can understand why it’s had to happen, but in a way it’s a still a shame that E3 as an event on that scale no longer happens, I kind of liked the idea that the gaming industry could command such an event….well perhaps in actual fact it couldn’t!
So with a smaller E3 venue and the number of visitors having been scaled back, has E3 lost some of it’s shine? Are the big companies still using this event to make their big announcements of what we can expect in the coming year? - It would seem there’s still plenty going on though as the Family Gamer, Paul Govan now explains in his syndicated article below…”
Continue reading »Rough Gaming Guides (Family Gamer)
July 16, 2008
Zath: I’m somebody who really likes playing games, but doesn’t get anywhere near the time to devote to them as I did while I was growing up. This means I don’t want to have to ‘waste’ my precious time and money on games which I only find out are not my kind of game after having bought and spent several hours of gameplay on them. Obviously you could do lots of research, reading a variety of reviews, but again that’s cutting into your busy life - the answer is that you need a “rough guide” that outlines the type of game it is and what it generally involves!
Family Gamer UK had a surprising boost in traffic last week. Adding my parent’s rough guides was a small step but one that proved to connect with mums, dads, kids and even aunties.
I’ve been playing games for a long time, so when I got married and had kids I wanted to share my hobby. However, grabbed a game from a store shelf that reported to be suitable for my family often resulted in an ill fitting experience. Sometime the games were too difficult to control for the kids, or addressed issues they weren’t interested in, or failed to engage the other adults in our brood - namely my other half.
Continue reading »Caption Competitions (Family Gamer)
July 9, 2008
Zath: The Family Gamer section is having a caption competition! If you’re anything like me you’ll like the chance to walk away a winner with some gaming freebies, so take a look at and see if you can come up with an clever and funny captions - now is the time to prove you should be on the ‘Have I Got News For You’ TV show!
Family Gamer section on Game People have just set up this caption competitions page:
Continue reading »Controlling your eMotions (Family Gamer)
July 1, 2008
Zath: In this week’s Family Gamer article, Paul Govan talks about the Nintendo Wii innovative control system - I’ve only played on a Nintendo Wii once when I was invited to attend Sega’s Mario and Sonic Olympics bloggers’ preview event, but ever since then I’ve been intending to get myself a cheap Wii and start being immersed in the innovative control system that it employs - I’m going to treat myself to one as an early birthday present soon!
There are certain types of games that I like to play that would benefit so much from using the immersive Wii Remote control system, one such type would be arcade shooting games such as House of the Dead which normally require a specialist light gun accessory. This is great for that one game, but then once bought, you find that no other games use it and it just gathers dust - by using the Nintendo Wii Remote in different ways, you ultimately save money on expensive, under-used accessories! - Bargain!
Family games live or die by their controls, and motion controls even more so. Why is it that games like Boom Blox are so instinctive and intuitive, when others like SSX Blur are so forced and laboured? For me it’s that one-to-one free-form movement that brings the magic and makes the games come to life.
Continue reading »Dad’s Gaming Edition (Family Gamer)
June 14, 2008
Dads are a tricky subject. Some are loving and inspiring whilst others absent and off hand. Some are communicative and open, whilst others are as hard to fathom as the depths of Loch Ness. Some are in touch with their creativity and at ease with their feminine side, whilst others are purely manly. Although the people I’ve got to know through Family Gamer talk about their dads in different ways, they all seem to agree that they make up a big part of what it is to be a family.
Play Less Games (Family Gamer)
June 11, 2008
Zath: “Here’s a guest post from Paul Govan who will be guest-posting here on Zath! on a regular basis as I’m syndicating some of Game People’s great content. Paul’s got some great thoughts on family gaming and I hope you enjoy reading what he has to say about his experiences of being a gamer.”
I feel like Jerry Maguire today. After many years chasing my tail reviewing whatever game I could lay my hands on I have decided to take a break from the rat race. In the words of the man himself “Let us work less hard to [play] the [games] that we know won’t matter in the long run, and work twice as hard to [play] the ones who will.” So I’ll be here every other week for these Family Gamer articles, trying to get down in words the things that matter to me as a family gamer.
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