New Dad Gaming

By Trevor Alexander & Jeff SmalleyNews Leisure Video Games Parenting Kids & Family Tech News

New Dad Gaming episodes

November 08Ep. 405: Ocarina of Time Temptations, Tape to Tape, and Pokémon Card Ethics
This week on New Dad Gaming, Trevor and Jeff tackle the $1,000 question: is the new Ocarina of Time release enough to justify buying a Switch 2 for the kids (or for the dads)?
Trevor also reviews the 1.0 release of Tape to Tape, an incredibly fun hockey roguelike that blends NHL '94 gameplay with Hades-style mechanics. The game is so good it led Trevor to commit a "gaming dad sin" by double-dipping on both PC and PS5—sparking a debate over the great PC vs. Console ecosystem lock-in, with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth getting caught in the crossfire.
Finally, the dads discuss the ethics of Pokémon card trading conventions. When kids try to trade cards with seasoned adult vendors, is it a fair deal or a harsh life lesson? Plus, a rant on adults hoarding Pokémon McDonald's Happy Meals.
Just because you became a dad, doesn't mean it's Game Over!

Listen and Subscribe:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-dad-gaming/id1107330772
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Website: https://newdadgaming.com/
35 min
October 30 Ep. 404: My Kid Hid Ocarina of Time, Back to Witcher 1 & Saturday Morning Metroid Fusion
A super heavy Jeff show, gaming dads. We missed a week (no grand adventure, just life), so this one comes in hot, opening with a quote instead of a poem: dads are the most ordinary of men turned by love into heroes, adventurers, storytellers and singers of songs. And in some cases, podcasters. First story: Jeff borrowed his kids' 3DS to play Ocarina of Time, beat it, set it aside, and then couldn't find the 3DS. His 13-year-old came downstairs: "I have it. I've actually been playing Ocarina of Time without you knowing." Why would you hide that from the dad with a gaming podcast? The layered part: it was happening when the homework was supposed to be happening, a couple of weeks after the whole homework saga, so the reaction was yay, and also let's not slip back into old habits. "That's such a great memory. You're in so much trouble." Jeff's pitch for any new dad who hasn't played it: a contained world, maybe a dozen hours, and the 3DS version has little caverns you crawl into for a video hint, so your kid doesn't need YouTubers. First of all, come to your gaming dad. Then the podcast. With the Switch 2 remake on the way, the dads wonder whether a Switch 2 shows up in Jeff's house by the end of the year. Trevor got a PS5, so what's the worst that could happen?

Second, controversial: Jeff loves The Witcher 3, and he's gone back to The Witcher 1. Point-and-click sword swings on an animation roll, definitely rough. His why: he's read all five books, kept recommending them, then realized the games take place after the books, with a whole amnesia reset, and he wanted to see where the characters started. The dads kick around the real question: do you send someone back to the first game in a series? Mass Effect holds up; Trevor going from Elden Ring back to Dark Souls 1 would be infuriating. Jeff's verdict so far: the lore buys him patience a new IP wouldn't get, the retro jank is kind of endearing (that Skyrim feeling, where the horse spawns on a roof and you laugh), and a serious game that takes itself seriously gets no such pass. Which leads to Jeff's 16-year-old, then 14 or 15, playing Skyrim: dad told him to go fight a giant, the club sent him to the moon, and he had a blast. Games that cross generations.

Last: Saturday morning Metroid Fusion. Jeff's kids suggested it, and they want to do it every Saturday: dad plays, kids watch, the same setup that produced the Elden Ring memories where his kids were the research team telling him what to do. Jeff loves Super Metroid and never played Fusion; Trevor has never beaten a Metroid game. Fusion turns out to be the accessible one: it tells you the objective, shows you the map, and dying doesn't erase an hour of exploring like Super Metroid did. Part of Jeff suspects the kids just want to see him struggle, and his reaction time is not what it used to be. Trevor's confession, a through line of the entire show: he was never good at gaming, and when an old game says "just get good," the answer is I can't and I don't have time, I have to go do my taxes. One small update from Trevor: he beat a video game. Space Marine 2, everything heavy, sparks flying off your boots, zero idea what the story was about, and the first game he's finished in at least a year (Final Fantasy VII Remake was the last, about two years ago). Stay tuned next year for the next one. If this episode skyrockets, Jeff talks more.

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Others on Our Website: https://newdadgaming.com/
30 min
October 09Ep 403 - NBA 2K25 is Stealing Your Game & Life Without Screen Time
What happens when you actually pull the plug on your kids' gaming privileges? This week, Jeff shares the surprising results of a digital detox, and Trevor braces for a similar battle with his youngest. We dive into why modern "endless" games like Roblox and Fortnite make it harder for kids to disconnect compared to the narrative games we grew up with.
Plus, we tackle the growing controversy around NBA 2K25. 2K Games is shutting down servers, which is permanently disabling the single-player MyCareer mode—meaning a chunk of the game you paid for is disappearing forever. We rant about the ruthless monetization of modern sports titles and why the industry needs to change. Finally, we debate the pros and cons of migrating the console out of the dark gaming dungeon and into the bright, social space of the family living room.
In this episode:
The unexpected social benefits of taking away the kids' digital playground.
Why live-service games make setting boundaries harder.
NBA 2K25 server shutdowns killing single-player progress.
Gaming in the living room vs. the home office dungeon.
Shoutout to the indie hockey game, Tape to Tape.
Have you recalibrated your gaming setup or dealt with the sports game treadmill? Let us know at newdadgaming.com. Remember, just because you became a dad does not mean it's game over!

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Others on Our Website: https://newdadgaming.com/
32 min
October 02 Ep. 402: My Kid Lost the Computer, Roblox Is the New Hangout & the State of VR for Dads
Good old-fashioned discipline, gaming dads. Two weeks into grade 8, Jeff checked Google Classroom against his 13-year-old's version of events and the two didn't match: homework not done, projects not done, a story and a half about where it all was. The kid had been "doing homework" on the laptop with a little Roblox sprinkled in, a side quest that was really the main quest, then asked the teacher for an extension because he'd been sick (a week earlier). So the computer is gone for gaming, the laptop lives in the family room for schoolwork only, no phone, and YouTube is on the chopping block too. Trevor's take from the other side of the house: taking the console away is a punishment against yourself. Those two quiet hours were when the deck boards got replaced and supper got cooked. You hold the line anyway, because it's by far the most effective punishment there is. His own precedent: when his oldest flubbed a test he had every ability to pass, all games went away for three weeks until the next test came back with the mark expected. "You got an extra day of games. It cost you three weeks." Now the reminder does the work on its own.
Then the complication. Trevor's house is trying weekday gaming after years of weekends-only, with a deal laid out flat: a project due Friday or a test on Tuesday that goes badly and the newfound freedom disappears ("We lose it, Papa." "That's Sir Papa to you."). But five or six buddies are logged on after school (Fortnite in Trevor's house, Roblox and Minecraft in Jeff's), and that isn't pew-pew game time anymore. It's where the inside jokes happen, so taking them away isn't the same as taking away a game. The dads compare notes on screen time when all the friends are online, Jeff's 16-year-old aging out of the online hangout and into the mall ("we don't see him until suppertime"), his 13-year-old still deep in it, Trevor's hypothesis that the online hangout is a 10-to-12 thing and real life wins once they get some freedom, two kids who will be polar opposites, and the same lesson applied to buying loot: you saved for months and now your character has a red suit instead of blue.
Finally, the state of VR for gaming dads. Trevor still loves his Quest 3 (Star Wars: Squadrons, movies on a 100-foot screen) but worries whether the medium survives. Jeff's kids are in VR with Roblox, he pops into Skyrim VR now and then, and he's wondering if dads missed the sweet window when headsets were $300. The price climb says yes: PSVR was $400, PSVR2 was $600 to $800, the new Steam Frame is $1,200 to $1,400 on top of a beefy PC, and the new Quest is a $1,200 media device you should probably skip for the Quest 4. VR studios are closing and the storefronts are full of Gorilla Tag clones. The bright spot is the mod community: Titanfall 2 as a full VR game with your hands on the mech controls, plus Cyberpunk 2077, Elden Ring, Alien: Isolation, Valheim and Subnautica, all playable in VR on a Quest 3 (still the sweet spot at $500 or less) and a capable PC. Jeff is waiting for the PSVR2 to hit $400. Trevor's last call for anyone who wants the calm side of VR: Puzzling Places, 3D jigsaw puzzles in pass-through, hundreds of them, often on sale for about nine bucks. Finish three puzzles before you're allowed back into Roblox. Send strength and well wishes to Jeff's household.
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36 min
September 25 Ep. 401: Game Pass Down, PS Plus Up & Dad's 7-Game Backlog Challenge
Trevor's youngest saved up half a PS5, dad covered the other half, and the household is now a PS5 household one year before the PS6. That kicked off a subscription rethink. The PS Plus games Trevor collected for years vanished the moment he stopped subscribing, Game Pass Ultimate's streaming never fit his dad flow, and he isn't using the day-one perks. So he's levelling his stats: Xbox spend down, PlayStation spend up, a year of PS Plus at 30% off, one kid on the Xbox and the other on the PlayStation. Jeff's caveat: claim the monthly games or lose them. And the escape hatch they both see coming: if all the kids touch is Fortnite, Rocket League and Fall Guys, maybe the answer is no subscriptions at all. Plus, used PS5 discs are the cheapest used market going right now (Bloodborne for 14 or 15 bucks), but with everyone waiting for GTA 6 and disc production winding down, Trevor thinks it's a tiny window. Jeff, on a digital console, hates hearing it.

Then, one year after No New Games 2025: how much did the dads actually buy? Jeff can't name a new game; he's been in his backlog with Sekiro, a modded Stardew Valley, Minecraft with the kids and comfort games "like flavours of ice cream" (he even passed on Wolverine). Trevor picked up Space Marine 2, Assassin's Creed Black Flag on the Switch and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on sale, and now sets himself a challenge: finish, or give an honest go to, seven games before April, before he buys the third Final Fantasy VII. Space Marine 2, GTA 5, Rebirth (Jeff: 93 hours), Black Flag, No Man's Sky (finally playable now that the grind has dials: "I'm in space, let me have fun in space"), Elden Ring and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. That last one is the game that nearly broke their no-new-games year, and neither of them can get into it: Jeff bounced off after a dozen hours, and Trevor hasn't installed it because it needs 45-minute chunks and "the courage to try it." A listener in the chat nails why an older story game loses its pull when an old TV series doesn't.

Finally, a board game for kids who bounce off orcs, goblins and ancient-Egypt grain economies: Downforce, a car-racing game where every card moves other cars too, choke points let you block the lane, and betting means a losing car can still win. Trevor's boys had a blast. Jeff: "This is Mario Party. This is gonna totally enrage me." Sign-off: Google says New Dad Gaming is the oldest gaming dad podcast in the world; Jeff says it's also the one with the biggest backlog.

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Others on Our Website: https://newdadgaming.com/
34 min
September 21 Ep. 400: We Have a GTA 6 Winner & Trevor Finally Buys a PS5
Four hundred episodes. Trevor started this show with one infant and now has an 11 and a 9 year old; Jeff is staring down two teenagers. We open with a poem for everyone who got us here, look back at the consoles that came and went along the way (RIP PSVR, no regrets), and announce the winner of our 400th-episode giveaway: congratulations to gaming dad Shaun, who takes home GTA 6 Ultimate Edition. Thank you to everyone who entered, subscribed, rated and reached out. We wish we could give away more.
Then, on episode 400, Trevor finally enters the PS5 race. His 9-year-old spent a year saving chore money and gift cash, dad offered to go halfsies on a $450 used console, and then the $400 PS5 simply stopped existing. Two price hikes and a GTA 6 hype cycle later, he got in at $650 with three controllers and two games, which raises the real question: when the price jumps after the deal, do you teach your kid about the economy or keep dad's word? Plus the one controller nobody in the house is allowed to touch, why you should open and install a console before you gift it (32 GB of Fortnite and an Epic login stood between a kid and his first play session), the disc that still needed a 60 GB download, and Jeff's family-setup tips: mount it horizontal, beware rest mode, and what PS Plus does and doesn't unlock.
And Jeff has found his Tenchu fix. Instead of emulating the old ninja game, he went into Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and after hundreds of deaths he makes the case that it is the most sessionable FromSoft game for a dad: two lives, forgiving checkpoints, hop in, get kicked around, go to bed. Trevor, fresh off his Elden Ring summer, is tempted. Pumpkin beer season is coming in October, and cheers to 400 more.

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Others on Our Website: https://newdadgaming.com/
38 min
September 13GTA 6 Ultimate Edition Giveaway! Plus Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake & Minecraft Dad-Wins | Ep. 399
We are officially on the road to Episode 400, and we are celebrating with our biggest giveaway yet: GTA 6 Ultimate Edition! Listen in for the secret word and full instructions on how to enter before September 15th.
This week, we're diving into the newly announced Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake and discussing whether the nostalgia hits the same for our kids as it does for us. Trevor shares an unexpected co-op bonding experience playing the retro point-and-click horror game Night Manor (from UFO 50), and Jeff explains how a private Minecraft server magically bridged the age gap between his teenagers. Finally, 13 years late to the party, Trevor tries out GTA V and discovers it might just be the perfect bite-sized game for dads with limited time.
How to Enter the GTA 6 Giveaway:
Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite app and take a screenshot.
Rate the show or leave a comment on our socials and take a screenshot.
Head to newdadgaming.com/GTA6 (or click the 400th Episode banner).
Enter your screenshots and the secret word: RADIO. (Must be 18+ and a resident of North America. Contest ends Sept 15 at midnight).
Episode Chapters:
**** Pre-Show: Trevor's Twitch streaming struggles
**** The GTA 6 Ultimate Edition Giveaway Details!
**** Intro: Are the kids actually asleep?
**** Reacting to the Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake
**** UFO 50 & bonding over point-and-click puzzle games
**** How Minecraft brought Jeff's teenagers together
**** Trevor finally plays GTA V (and why it's great for dads)
**** Final giveaway reminders and outro

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Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-dad-gaming/id1107330772
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/434cj9ksKBnX6aY2aBZ6Uw
Others on Our Website: https://newdadgaming.com/

#podcast #podcaster #podcasting #fatherhood #gaming #dadgaming
34 min
September 04 Ep. 398: The Dumb Phone Wishlist & Gran Turismo Driving School
This week on New Dad Gaming, we dive into the murky waters of gifting a 9-year-old. Discover the genius "dumb phone" mall scavenger hunt hack, and the moral dilemma of going half-sies on a new PlayStation 5 with your kid.
Then, Jeff pitches an idea for his newly 16-year-old driver: can Gran Turismo (and maybe a PSVR 2) serve as a legitimate virtual driving school? We debate the physics of Gran Turismo versus the surprisingly realistic traffic laws of GTA V.
Plus, we have all the details on our massive Episode 400 giveaway! Listen in for the secret word and find out how to win the Ultimate Edition of GTA 6.

Links:
Enter the Ep. 400 Giveaway:
https://newdadgaming.com/GTA6

Subscribe to the Podcast!
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-dad-gaming/id1107330772
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Others on Our Website: https://newdadgaming.com/

#podcast #podcaster #podcasting #fatherhood #gaming #dadgaming
28 min
August 28 Ep. 397 - GTA 6 Giveaway! Switch Swashbuckling and Dastardly Deeds
Announcing our GTA 6 Giveaway to celebrate our upcoming 400th episode!
To enter, you'll need to have a photo proof that you follow the podcast and that you've left a comment or rating.
Simply enter your info here: https://www.newdadgaming.com/gta6
Besides the giveaway, we discuss the recent GTA 6 leaks, some Assassin's Creed Black Flag on Switch, when your kids become free Door Dash, and trying to bend some rules again.

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Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-dad-gaming/id1107330772
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Others on Our Website: https://newdadgaming.com/
39 min
July 20 Ep. 396 - PlayStation Pours One Out for Discs & The Rules for Breaking the Rules
Physical media is officially on the clock: PlayStation has announced it will stop supporting discs (January 2028), and we have thoughts. Paying extra for a disc drive that's about to be a paperweight, digital games that never got cheaper, movie libraries deleted overnight, the used market vanishing — we break down what a disc-free future means for gaming dads, whether Xbox follows suit, and why Nintendo cartridges might end up the last physical format our kids can inherit.
Meanwhile, Jeff's first-ever playthrough of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time levels up — off the phone and onto a proper (borrowed-from-the-kids) 3DS, after an hour-long road trip with his teenager to snag a used copy that felt like lining up for a midnight launch. Motion-control archery, a time-travel puzzle at the bottom of a well, and a genuinely terrifying Ganondorf.
And fresh off six months in Colombia, Trevor has a parenting confession: what do you tell your kids after they watch you play "nope, only English" with a police officer at a traffic checkpoint? A very dad conversation about shades of truth, bending rules the smart way, and why granola bar thieves should learn to hide the wrappers. Plus kids "failing successfully" with Canada's famous bagged milk — and we're closing in on Episode 400!
Subscribe to the Podcast!
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-dad-gaming/id1107330772
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Others on Our Website: https://newdadgaming.com/
41 min