Getting your game on with the Arcadie #DadApproved

Hi all, 

With fathers day zooming towards us the lovely people at Moonpig invited me to join the Dads' Institute, testing fathers gifts to give your dad the best gift possible. We love hugs and pancakes too, just saying. 

In the name of retro fun we were sent the Arcadie Arcade cabinet from Zeon Tech. While not a full size cab with a Jamma board slapped inside, it makes use of the Apple iPhone and iPod touch to become your portable arcade machine with the ability to play your tunes or make calls in between game time. 

On first appearance it looks true to arcade cabinet from the 80's thankfully without the CRT burn in and cigarette burns on the side. Using this is as simple as loading the game you wish to choose and inserting your device into the docking connector nestled inside when prompted. Once calibrated it's ready to go with this taking very little time in total before playtime.

The Games are all in the Apple A

The controls feel solid, with a satisfying click many of us will remember from the arcades or from posh joysticks with microswitches.

pp store with a mix of free and paid apps from a host of developers and the vast majority are real good fun to play with easy controls.

There is the odd issue with some games, and this with the third party ones - some seem to struggle with the controls. This varied with the iPhone 4s and iPod 4th Gen with the iPod liking more games, I assume this is from the screen protector as some games use carefully positioned touch pads inside the unit to control games.

Even with this in mind, it's an enjoyable addition to your iDevices bringing with it lots of fun and a growing catalogue of  games that ask for nothing more than your imagination and attention. We've been having score contests here. With the loser having to do the housework (me again - pfft!) I can happily say it's Approved by me and the kids! If your dad loves 8bit, arcade and has an iDevice - he'll love this. Click here to buy one from your dad. To learn more about Moonpig's Dad Approved gifts for fathers day click here 

Paul

Gift ideas for the Dad in your life.

Image Credit Mimiliz 

Hi all,

Over the last few weeks the kids have been looking forward to Fathers Day. A dedicated day where the humble dad gets to chill out, enjoy breakfast in be.. WHO AM I KIDDING?

Truth be told, we're ambushed at silly o'clock by the smalls armed with cards lovingly made at school or with Mum's help, told to get up for a present or two then demanded to get the breakfast on, with complaints at bacon or pancakes. Finally when everyone's eaten the presents come out.

With the girls whispers about the day It's made me wonder what gifts I would actually want and what I would give to my father if he was still with us. He was a picky moose, so this could be a challenge compared to me.

We'll start with the old man.
Let's see, you're typical bloke who smoked to much, eat lots of the wrong things and wasn't active enough.
Now many of these things could have been changed over time, but the one of most benefit initially would have been to concentrate on his smoking habits. It's one of the attributions to his passing, 10 years ago many of the products designed to help someone quit smoking were cumbersome and ineffective, only benefiting a smaller amount of people. Thankfully things have changed over the decade with electronic cigarettes becoming a useful tool for those wanting to quit, with some E-Cigs systems having variable contents of Nicotine to help people adjust and eventually quit smoking with far less dangerous chemicals in the process.

Now onto something I caused in part when younger, in one of his "lets get active" moments, Dad bought three cheap mail order bikes out of the paper  many many years ago. They were that cheap they fell apart quickly, new bikes would have been cheaper within a year. So, I would boot his backside and get him a bike, while not a high end model it would be something he could use and enjoy rather than swear about it falling apart if cared for.

Then I would have to guide him into tech by building him a capable computer, but it's main purpose being music creation. He's a Jack of all trades when it comes to his music but never seemed to do much with his clobber once he got out of the gig scene. With the new age of on-line music services available he could have had a far wider audience who could have appreciated his talents around the world, it could have been his second coming so to speak.

Now, Father aside, what would I want from my little trio of monsters, truth be told I don't really know.

If I got the chance it would probably be a relaxing day with nothing much to do and lots of time to do just that would be awesome. Bar sweets, as long as there's sweets of some sort I'll be a happy Dad, a happy Dad indeed.

If I was a lucky I'd hope for some new riding clothes, as long as it's not Lycra. In my shape you'd all need mind bleach, not a good sight you'll all agree.

What do you plan to get your Dad for Fathers day? Share it with us here and I'll add it into the post too.

Paul :)

Disclosure,
This is a collaborative post

What makes the perfect Dad?

Heya everyone!

Today is special, I'm publishing this post from a hotel room in london just in case I don't get the chance tomorrow morning, as I'll be in a radio studio tomorrow morning talking with stations around the UK and Ireland about being a dad thanks to the lovely people at Burts Potato Chips and their yummy goodness!

The guys and gals at Burts were wondering how we can all be the perfect dad's. I've got an easy way to do that, ask the kids. If come out with the cute "you're the best daddy ever" or "you've got a big belly" or similar, in my eyes you've pretty much cracked it! Yes you can forget the cringe worthy dancing, the bad jokes and being a bank that never closes, all you need to do to be the perfect modern father is to always be there when needed in a crisis, give great life advice and cheer up your children when they’re down.

With Father’s Day just around the corner a study by Burts Potato Chips has revealed the top attributes that combine to make the best dad. Being able to help out with DIY in the house (43 per cent), give good financial advice (38 per cent) and give a great hug (28 per cent) also ranked highly on what makes the perfect dad.
When it comes to gifts, dads aren't demanding with less than half (42 per cent including myself) not expecting a Father’s Day present, a third (36 per cent) stating that the best Father’s Day present they received was something made by their child and a quarter (26 per cent including me) valuing time spent with their children on Father’s Day as the most important gift they could be given.

On speaking to Leane Bramhall, the Marketing Director at Burts Potato Chips she tells me “Our research found that 43 per cent of us feel that our dads rarely treat themselves, instead opting to treat the family more. Father’s Day is a perfect opportunity to give som
ething back and show them our gratitude.“

With more than a third of us (38 per cent) resorting to the same, boring presents each year and struggling to know what to buy, it seems however that we are giving them less and less thought when it comes to saying ‘Thank you’. What’s more, a staggering 10 per cent don’t even buy their Dad a present or a card – twice as many as those who don’t give their mother a card or present for Mother’s Day.

Leane continues: “We rely on our Dads for more than we give them credit for and with the research revealing that they often get overlooked, something as simple as quality family time together can make a huge difference. This year we are encouraging Brits to make the extra effort and show their appreciation.“

Stuck on how to celebrate fathers day this year, well how about the chance to win a deliciously epic supply of potato chips and a new TV thanks to Burts Potato Chips?

In the run up to Father’s Day, Burts Potato Chips are asking people to submit a photo of their dad, through their Facebook page www.facebook.com/BurtsChips, captioned with why they are #BurtsBestDad for a chance to win a year’s supply of Burts Chips and a state-of-the-art TV from Finlux.

I can't enter the competition as I'm representing Burts Potato Chips with this post but thought I would ask TheJess to chat with the girls while I'm in London what they love about their dad and this is what they thought.

"Daddy makes yummy dinner and gives great cuddles and loves making me laugh with tickles. We love playing in the woods with daddy and making treetents. And daddy makes the bestest pancakes ever" Roll on Sunday

While I stop blushing I'll tell you a little about what i think about my father too!

What Can I say about my old man, he wasn't the best judge of things and pretty stuborn but at times made up for his quirks with his skills behind the wheel of a truck, be it a DAF3300 ATI, Volvo F12, DxxxBEG, the limiter destroying Foden, you knew how to throw a truck around better than many and while not perfect you made a huge first step to smooth things over with us in the week you passed. so all I can say is thanks!