Ryan grew up in the western suburbs of Chicago, in an area dubbed “The A” by its residents. It was there that he learned useful tips on how to shank someone (remember, kids, it’s in and up), how to embroider and, above all, how to play Halo. Ryan also took up the art of writing after several tumultuous years of high school, where he learned people didn’t like talking to him all that much. Ryan capitalized on his love of writing and his teenage social awkwardness to complete a journalism degree from Roosevelt University in downtown Chicago. He currently works at the Chicago Tribune as a multimedia producer. Ryan likes White Sox, Guitar Hero, chicken, chicken with sauce (ketchup works, but BBQ is preferred) and reading books.

Andrew can recall a time when gamers were mocked, and when a young man would get teased for wearing a Legend of Zelda t-shirt to school. But, while others hid their hobby, he accepted his passion and wore the shirt with pride! He studied games, experimented with games and even smelled the cartridge upon the initial opening of a new title. Like a fine cigar, he relished digging into a new experience, a new world and something a little more fantastical than the small Midwest town in which he felt so trapped. Games were, and still are, a gigantic portion of his life, and although he must tend to other duties, such as a rock band, college and, most importantly, his son, he’s still a studier and a critical judge of a quality game experience.

James grew up on the mean streets of Schaumburg where he quickly learned to hurt with words. He did 3 years hard-time at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana for assault with a boring personal statement and was released early for good behavior. He is currently mastering the dark side of the force at Chicago-Kent College of Law while writing sketch comedy, helping to manage his family’s appliance repair business, and screaming profanity at his TV with a PlayStation controller in his hand. He believes that somewhere between Killer 7, the Legend of Zelda, and Portal, you can find Nirvana. Not the band, though. They’re stuck in some game we all got sick of in 1996 and haven’t played since. He accepts the possibility that he may be wrong about this and everything else, and encourages you to prove it.

Ed is a Massachusetts-based writer and gamer who first felt the compulsion of “just one more level” with an all night marathon of Yars Revenge. The Atari 2600 was his first major console and he’s owned most of them since. That said, at heart he’s a Nintendo fanboy – calling the Mario, Metroid and Zelda series his Holy Trinity. Ed attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst from 1990 to 1994 and graduated with a B.A. in Journalism. Although he’s worked in the financial industry since graduation, he’s continued to scratch that creative writing itch through an alarming number of failed screenplay attempts. Regardless, that call forever beckons; hence, a blog is born. Despite the added responsibilities of career, home and family, Ed finds time to game daily as a way of unplugging from the rigors of the real world. No matter how old he gets, he can’t shake the gaming jones. He was introduced to video games in the mid-70’s through a neighbor’s Pong machine, used his Machiavellian skills of coercion on neighborhood kids to invite him to sleep over so he could co-opt their Atari 2600, and in the 80’s, discovered he’d never remember the combination to his high school locker so long as UP UP DOWN DOWN LEFT RIGHT LEFT RIGHT B A B A SELECT START was tattooed upon his neural tapestry. These days, he’s the proud patriarch of a Wii60 household.

Aside from being an avid gamer, there is more to me than meets the eye (or written material). Currently, I am enrolled at the University of Virginia to get my Licensure and Graduate studies in Special Education. From there, I want to go back for my Bachelors in History. While I am not engrossed in books and papers, I am either wish it were warmer weather to ride my bike or reading a book that makes my veins want to pop from my skull. I read a lot of politics and international material. My gaming preferences is preferably a game that can hold my attention for two seconds. There aren’t many. Other than that there isn’t much to say about me. Thanks for coming to the site and I hope that we can give you exactly what you are looking for.

Since playing with the Atari in the 80’s Simon hasn’t stopped gaming. Progressing through gaming systems he now prefers the XBox 360, and regularly fights (or runs away and hides accordingly) online. At his happiest playing historical strategy games – he still tries his hand at other genres (often providing the comical relief for those he plays against). He still (foolishly) challenges those 20 years younger to online duels. Professionally, Simon has been a consultant psychologist since 1995. Simon’s research expertise lies in the area of media (from a production and a consumer perspective). He has particular experience in program ideas and video games. Simon also has extensive research experience in game design and game play in relation to personality, physiology, mood and cognition. Most recently his research has concerned the potential positive effects of gaming on players’ attitudes and well-being. Simon’s consultancy experience includes work with Sony, the BBC, Sky Corp., BUPA and the British Science Museum. He is a partner in the UK based Games think tank GameMechanics.tv.

Jason is a graduate student studying English Literature with a passion for Renaissance drama and computer role playing games. While his exact age is classified, he remembers playing video games with a type of controller referred to as a “paddle.” Jason enjoys games from all genres, though his preference for single-player gameplay is evidenced by his complete lack of skill against human opponents. While he has no children, Jason is the proud father of two cats. Their ability to understand language, including words such as “no” and “get out of that” while simultaneously ignoring these commands indicates that cats have a similar OS to his PC. Aside from cats, Jason finds stress in his relationship due to his recent acquisition of a 20′ monitor and his beloved’s complaints that games look better on it than on her computer. A duel to the death has been scheduled between Jason and his beloved in PvP while Pat Benatar sings “Love is a Battlefield.”

Michael is an East Coast, old-school gamer. His early gaming life was spent with consoles; he had an Atari 2600, a Colecovision (and the long-lamented Coleco Adam PC, which loaded games from cassette tapes) and an SNES. He even had a brief dalliance with the Sega CD. But in 1998, a friend and co-worker let him borrow a copy of the shareware demo for a little game called Half Life, and since then, he’s worshipped at the PC gaming altar. He’s amassed a collection of more than 70 titles from the year 2000 up to the present day, and he’s built three gaming PCs from scratch — but he also recently purchased an Xbox 360, “just to see how the other half lives.”

Alaric has been playing PC games since 1991 when his father, a programmer for a state-run phone company, brought home a suitcase-sized laptop with a green monochrome display. At the time these things were unheard-of in Soviet Russia and Alaric immediately became hooked. Since then, gaming became one of his major hobbies. He keeps a list of all the games he beat, which number in 130s, as well as a list of beta-tests he participated in and MMOs he played. Alaric is a PC purist and doesn’t own any consoles. His favorite genres are RTS, RPG, FPS and Adventure. Alaric lives in a suburb of Chicago, works as a web developer and takes classes in Northwestern University in hopes of one day receiving a History degree that he absolutely doesn’t need.

Christopher J. Troilo is a Project Manager by day, working with non-profits and educational institutions in Washington D.C. and has served as a freelance writer for several D.C. area newspapers. Having grown up a “Nintendo Boy”, his nostalgic loves will always lay with Mario, Link and Samus, but today he serves writing reviews for a variety of platforms.

At a young age, Patrick always knew he was a gamer for life when his family got a NES. That being said the first “Wizard and Warriors” title screen song is always on repeat in his head. He also will never fully understand why people never enjoyed Nintendo’s Virtual Boy as much as he did. The first Resident Evil scared the crap out of him and rumored to have made him keep the closet light on for some time. Patrick enjoys all types of games but Survival Horror and MMORPG’s have a special place in his tiny beating heart. He has attended some college video game classes at Columbia College Chicago. He currently lives in the suburbs of Chicago and will forever be a fan of the Chicago Bears.

Michele is a life long gypsy and underachieving Jack of all Trades. After a 13-year career as an air traffic controller, she decided she preferred playing video games. When she’s not reworking someone’s novel or screenplay, you might find her under a tree teaching Latin or the Greek classics. She does take time out to study for her Information Technology Management classes, and has been known to get lost in Oblivion or the landscapes of Kingdom Under Fire when no is one looking.