Breanna
Unlike the rest of the reviewers on this site I didn't play a lot of games growing up so I can't name drop a lot of nostalgic titles. My family owned a farm so there wasn't a lot of down time. That, and a 45 kbph dial-up internet right up until college made anything with the internet a bit of a pain. Now I play almost as much as my ex-Player 1, Pierre-Yves.
The first console I owned was a used NES given to us by a friend. You had to smack that thing in just the right place and wiggle the cords to get it working (ah memories). I won my first PS1 from Pizza Hut and fell in love with the old Spyro series. Later I got a PS2 and learned to "drive" with Grand Turismo. I conquered the world numerous times with the various iterations of the Civilization series and played God with the Sims. I'm almost ashamed to admit the hours I sunk into World of Warcraft while in college.
Now my gaming tastes are the same as my music - it ranges from "this is awesome you have to get it" to "I know, please don't judge me". I love games that make you think, test you, and let you go your own way. I've sunk hours into Skyrim and I'm pretty sure I've died every way possible in Don't Starve. I find I often get bored with games where I have to do the same thing over and over again. That being said, I'm a cold blooded killer of hordes on any Diablo or Warriors game.
I never know what will strike my fancy, and even if I don't personally like it, I can see the values of certain styles or looks and I love to try new things.
Christopher I.
I started off gaming on the Atari 2600 when I was a mere three years of age way back in 1985. Ah, the good ole mid-'80's: Spandex, neon clothes, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith and hardcore Nintendo games that forced you into rage induced controller throwing fits. Thank goodness those rectangular NES controllers were practically indestructible.After writing for the gaming industry for several years I took a break and quickly found myself strapping into a new gaming genre niche: hardcore racing simulators. From the likes of Race 07 to Dirt Rally, the overwhelming majority of my gaming time is spent tweaking car setups and burning digital rubber in PC sims. Sim racing blurs the lines of gaming and reality - granting players real world knowledge of car physics and driving skills - and I'm planning to take my learned digital skills to the NOLA Motorsports Park and grip the wheel of a Ferrari 458 to find out if the simulators indeed offer live track value to its players.
Steam: Slapshot82
Jeff
My first console was a classic: the Atari 2600. After that, I've mostly stuck to Nintendo and Microsoft consoles, with pit stops at the Dreamcast and PS2. I've dabbled with the PC on and off over the years but generally stick to consoles. I prefer to play single player games or games with local co-op, but will jump online from time-to-time on Xbox Live. I'll play most genres (except dancing games...ugh), but typically stick to the popular franchises.As a father of four boys, I've reached a strange point in my life where I'm not the one in the house logging the most screen time any more. I'm also lucky to have a wife who will occasionally play (she's into Bioware games, Elder Scrolls, and BioShock). My time is also being split by a growing love of board games, so a game has to be great for me to play it more than one time through. Yeah, MMOs are probably not gonna happen.
My Xbox Live gamertag, Hrolf29, is named after my Diablo II dual-wielding, ram-skull-wearing, blood-potion-making barbarian. Most of the electronics in my house are named after Dragon Age or Mass Effect characters. And I'm pretty sure my wife still loves Alistair more than she loves me.
Marc H.
My story begins in 1987, when my parents bought me an NES for Easter. I was 2 at the time, but to say that I was hooked would be an understatement. Not only did I live through the Nintendomania craze, I breathed it in and embraced it. A longtime reader of Nintendo Power, I have read every issue from their first to their last, have owned every Nintendo and Sony platform released in North America, and like to fool myself into thinking I can hold an objective and unbiased stance. All of that goes out the window if anything Metroid comes on the horizon though, which will elicit a high pitched 'Eee' from me that will put most fangirls to shame.I avoid sports games like the plague, with the exception of interesting crossovers like Mega Man Soccer or Mario Golf, and while I am not bad at them, first person shooters tend not to engage me on any level unless there is some sort of experience progression system. Instead, I tend to fall for games that fall into the action, adventure, beat 'em up, defense, fighting, MMO, platformer, puzzle, rail shooter, rhythm, roguelike, RPG, run 'n gun, SRPG, strategy, and TPS genres. All of my favourite games have some sort of grindable element to them and it's not unheard of for me to sink 300+ hours into a Disgaea title before even considering leaving chapter 3.
Finally, a terrifying fact about myself! If I played and beat a new game from my collection every single week, and didn't replay old games, it would be approximately 3.5 years before I ran out of games to play, not counting picking up new titles in that time. www.backloggery.com/zylvyn if you don't believe me.
Marc L.
As I grew up I still loved playing on any system, but once I was introduced to the online world it really struck my fancy, starting with Diablo 2, I fell in love with online multiplayer games. Later on I found a love for the FPS genre, and have on and off over the next 10 years or so been playing games such as counter-strike enough to join a semi-pro team for a while during high school. I honestly don't tend to have a preference anymore, but I do tend to lean towards games with some sort of online content. I have had many names when I was younger as a gamertag, but as I got older it basicly landed on Frosty, Froztea, Frostizzil…there may be a theme here.
Anything from FPS to RPG/MMORPG to action RPGS to card games, lately rocket league, H1Z1 and now Zelda BoTW taking up most of my time. But if something offers me a challenge and I enjoy its style…I will not back down. Darksouls/Bloodborne, Rogue legacy, I seem to be a bit of a masochist part to my gaming style, and I can't get enough of it.
Parker
I'll start with my biggest gamer shame: I've never owned a Nintendo console. Not a one. I did rent a N64 from Blockbuster to play Super Mario 64, though! Despite that shortcoming, I've been playing games as a hobby ever since I could hold a Genesis controller. Even after spending all day at work in front of a computer screen, I'll still come home and often fire up Steam or the Xbox. I love games of most types, but struggle to really get into jRPG games - I'll let Robert and Nick handles those!When it comes down to it, my favorite games are really broken down into two categories: The ones I can play day after day while still watching Netflix, Hulu or YouTube, and the games I'll play to completion without ever considering splitting my attention with other media. I'm a bit of a serial hobbyist - a jack of all trades, master of none. I've dabbled in homebrewing, music production, firearms, Magic: The Gathering, Warhammer 40K, and sports (even Rugby - and I live in the US?!) just to name a few. But there have been three constants the last few years - video games, board/tabletop games, and craft beer.
