Andy Roberston runs the Association of Family Gamers, and produces the brilliant video series, Family Gamer TV. We sat down to have a chat with him about what family gaming means.
Hi Andy!
When we first saw your video for the Association of Family Gamers we thought it was a great idea. How important are games to you and your family?
Games are as important as books and films to my family. They create time we spend together, introduce us to new sports and hobbies as well as being a lot of fun. We often like to share these on our YouTube videos for games like Skylanders.
What kind of games fans will view your videos?
We have a strong following with the 6-15 year olds, then really not many in the 16-25, then another strong bunch from 26-40 and even some who watch in their 60s. This reflects our focus of covering games for families rather than avid core games.
This does mean that we are often criticised by hard-core players for not asking the questions they would ask, but that is largely because we are making these videos for families rather than gamers. For instance the questions we asked about Skylanders Swap Force focused on the value of the game for families.
Tell us about the day that you decided to create The Family Gamer TV YouTube channel.
I had been getting inundated by emails from families asking questions about games that weren’t answered on more hard-core game review sites and blogs. I would look around online to find reviews written for families and realised there really weren’t many sites doing this.
Then we struck upon the idea of creating “fly on the wall” mini-doc videos on YouTube where we open the door on what other families are playing. Hence, Family Gamer TV was born.
Family Gamer TV is promoting a positive image of games and gamers. Which of your videos are you most proud of?
We have had some big success on YouTube with our Skylanders Giants videos getting almost 1,000,000 views. However the episodes that are our favourite are those that provide unique coverage for families not found else where:
3DS XL Battery Test
Wonder Book of Spells
Our In-Store Family Gaming Surgery Epiosdes
Disney Infinity Unboxing
If someone else posted Family Gamer TV videos, would you find them useful?
Yes totally. I think any chance to hear from families that play games is a great opportunity. Each family is different because they have children of different ages, this means you can pick up some great tips about how to play games for your family.
In your opinion, what’s the best family game ever made?
A recent, and much overlooked favourite is a game on the Wii call Go Vacation. It really is like an expansive four player version of Skyrim on the Wii, tailored for a young audience. It’s open world, various locations, great mini-games and fully featured transport system makes it great for families.
I run the Family Gamer TV game awards to track what’s best for different ages.