Our writers:
Jeannie
Jeannie plays games. In fact the first game she owned: Zelda for Nintendo. Growing up with two brothers had its effect as many more games followed. Metroid became a fast favorite in the household. We learned to scream--as we died over and over--at the television. Over the years the love of video games grew with each release of a Next Generation system. The Playstation 2 was the first (but not the last) gaming system that she paid $500 for. Many thought it insane, until she started writing reviews. Eventually her games were free and somehow she received checks for her reviews.
Jeannie prefers Playstation. On occasion she will use the Xbox, however Playstation is her one true love. After all when you’ve written for Playstation Magazine, it’s hard to go to anything else. She is a cross platform player though, don’t let the love of Playstation fool you. She kicks it, and kicks it hard when playing and reviewing. Her specialties are first person shooter, driving, and puzzle/action games. Unfortunately she does not enjoy the RPG/turn based games. If Jeannie gives one of these style games a raving review, it must be good because she hates sitting through the monotony of turn style games.
Daniel
From the UK and gives his own spin on video games. A long time player and creative person, he understands the ins and outs of gaming. His tech knowledge for PC gaming is bountiful while the industry is constantly changing Daniel looks at what is new and demystifies what you need and don’t need.
His first experience of gaming was a Sinclair ZX 81 in the mid 1980’s when he was but a small boy. This quickly followed with a Commodore PET 3016 and then an Amstrad CPC 464. The then simple graphics, led to a love of gaming, and TRON being one of his favorite films.
His first console was an Atari 2600 wood grain, followed by a Sega Master System II with Alex Kid in Miracle World built in, which led to days of constant screaming as he tried to complete the game (he later gave up and never succeeded). Then in the mid 1990’s his parents bought their first PC, and astounding Packard Bell DX2 66MHz with 4mb ram and a 600mb hard disc. Then in 1998 he received his very own PC (he can tell you what it was too) which led to playing numerous flight simulators and FSP’s (AvP scared the crap out of him whilst playing it in the dark).
Now he has accumulated a Sega Dreamcast so he could play Jet Set Radio, a Sony Playstation 2 and has successfully rebuilt his PC so he goes back to playing his favorite games, even if it means downloading lots of emulators!! He also keeps umming and erring about ‘Geometry Wars’ on the Wii.
Daniel loves puzzle/ action games, some RPG’s, TRON 2.0 and Missile Command. He hates Sports/ Sport management simulators, WWE and UFC games. He is currently waiting for American McGee’s sequel to Alice, Star Wars: The Old Republic and Mass Effect 2.
Benjy
Nintendo is the only real video game company out there. Everything else is just a pale imitation.
At least, that’s Benjy Kaplan’s gaming philosophy, and it’s worked well for him so far. He was raised on the NES and, yes, he’s better at Zelda than you are. He’s tried your “Play stations.” He’s tried your “X Boxes.” And frankly, he’s unimpressed. If it doesn’t have a plumber in a red hat, it’s not a real video game.
(Eh. Plumbers or the zerg. Blizzard counts, too.)
Benjy enjoys playing RTS games and old school platformers. He hates FPS games with a passion, but that’s mostly because he sucks at ‘em. (Although, strangely, he rocked at Goldeneye on the N64. See above.) He will gladly take any and all challengers to a Super Smash Bros match. Standing rule: If you pay your own airfare and car rental fees to make it to him in Los Angeles, he will supply the pretzels.
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If you would like to write for us please email hardedgereveiws (at) gmail (dot) com include a sample of your work and what platforms you wish to review for.
