Meet the Team

Name: Mike Bell
Role: Founder & Editor-in-Chief
Twitter: @MikeStoke
Gamertag: Mikestoke | PSN: MikeBStoke | Steam: Mikestoke
Favourite game: Saints Row 2 (Yeah, really)
About: I’ve been playing video games since I was old enough to use a joypad, I would sit and watch my father play games like Quake on his PC in awe. My first real console was my SEGA Mega Drive which I would run home from school to play every night. Afterwards I moved onto the PlayStation 1 and 2. However in 2008 I decided to buy an Xbox 360 which has since become my favourite console and the console I currently play on most!

Name: Duncan Heaney
Role: Content Editor
Twitter: @Ace_McDunk
Gamertag: Ace McDunk
Favourite game: The Secret of Monkey Island
About: I’m a professional writer, journalist and occasional stand-up comedian. I’ve been playing games for as long as I can remember. Not constantly of course – occasionally I do sometimes have to stop to do some work.

I played my first games on a BBC Micro, but my love of gaming really started with the Atari ST. The Secret of Monkey Island was a revelatory experience, opening my eyes to the endless possibilities of the medium. Since then I’ve held a deep-seated passion for titles that contain strong narratives or immersive worlds. As a result, my favourite genres tend to be RPGs, and the mighty graphic adventure.

Eventually, I got my hands on a PC, and started playing games like Doom and Duke Nukem 3D. It wasn’t long before I was hooking two or three computers up to play these games multiplayer.

Name: Edd Verney
Role: Content Editor
Twitter: @zigs00
Gamertag: zigs00 | Steam: zigs00
Favourite game: Hide and seek
About: Most of my earliest memories all seem to involve gaming, so it’s more than fair to say that video games have always been an integral part of my life. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved gaming, playing DOS games and handhelds since before I could even talk. The SNES still remains my favourite console, and was the first one that I genuinely loved playing, spending countless hours of my childhood glued to its controller.

I spent way more time on my Xbox 360 than anything else, with Rock Band taking up most of that time. Real sucker for any game with great co-op, fun and challenging puzzle/platformers, and point-and-click adventures.

Name: Jonathan Grier
Role: News Editor
Twitter: @DelTorro
Gamertag: Jonabob87 | Steam: Jonabob87
Favourite game: Final Fantasy VII
About: It began in 1991 when my mate’s brother gave us a shot of Alex the Kidd on his Master System. I was instantly hooked. When my Mum bought me a Mega Drive II for my fifth birthday a year later along with Sonic the Hedgehog and the Aladdin video game I knew that it was the beginning of something special. I’ve been an avid gamer ever since.

I’ve fought Robotnik on the Mega Drive (Genesis), brawled in the streets on my SNES, foiled Bowser on the Nintendo 64, explored the planet Ragol on the Dreamcast, defeated the Empire on the Gamecube and battled Locust on the Xbox 360, and I’ve loved every single second of it.

PC games are a bit good too.

Name: Chris Winters
Role: Staff Writer
Twitter: @akwinters
Gamertag: akwinters | PSN: Omikaru | Steam: akwinters
Favourite game: Deus Ex
About: After overcoming my fear of losing, I picked up my NES controller to play Super Mario Bros. when I was five. I was instantly hooked. Not only did I enjoy it, I was actually pretty good. From there, it’s a long and well-documented life of picking up as many games as my parents were willing to buy, changing allegiance from Nintendo to Sega because of Sonic the Hedgehog, and having a long love/hate relationship with said series. Alongside my console toys, I also played the old LucasArts adventures on my ramshackled PC, not getting half of the jokes until I replayed them when I was a bit older. These days, I’m often found in Minecraft, cut with the the odd JRPG here and there.

Name: Kieran Devlin
Role: Staff Writer
Twitter: @KieranD
Gamertag: The Bake Potato | PSN: The_Baked_Potato | Steam: KDevlin
Favourite game: Mirror’s Edge
About: Been playing since Game Boy Color/PSone, and my first game was Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. I own pretty much every current-gen system (DSi/iPhone notwithstanding), and in my spare time like to write boring little bio’s like this and post them around the internet. I wrote for just one other website before this one, at time of writing hold the “record” for second most popular article on the site (damn you Lightningz!) and am mourning the soon-to-be loss of any good American telly once Lost ends. Think that’s it. Yep. That’s it.

Name: Kyle Gammon
Role: Staff Writer
Twitter: @Bauza23
Gamertag: Kaixcore | Steam: Bauza23
Favourite game: Final Fantasy VII
About: Video games have been in my life since the days of the NES, with a bit of father-son bonding on Solar Jetman and nightmares of Bowser with his many hammers as a 4 year old child, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Since then I’ve switched my allegiance between Nintendo, Sega, Sony and Microsoft but my favourite ever console was definitely the Dreamcast – a console ahead of it’s time, for sure – but for now my 360 is gunning for 1st place.

Asides from speaking my mind on about games here, you may also see me acting like a typical armchair football fan on Twitter.

Name: Manveer Kahlon
Role: Staff Writer
Twitter: @Muppety
Gamertag: GENERAL MUPPET | PSN: General_Muppet | Steam: Muppety
Favourite game: Crash Bandicoot
About: Sometime after being born I was introduced to games through way of the Sega Master System and NES.
Actually, I’d like to think the real credit for that goes to Podd; I am forever thankful to the tomato-like thing for teaching me how to spell with its silly actions.
While I’ve been fortunate enough to have played on consoles and handhelds throughout the nineties – in a room above a newsagents – the first one I had the pleasure of owning myself was the Playstation (that doesn’t mean the PC got neglected though!).
These days, I end up getting lost in whole, realised universes. Sometimes even more so than some books.
Wasted youth? Nope. Just glorious times spent away from reality.

Name: Matthew Stewart
Role: Staff Writer
Twitter: @MATTYB00SH
Gamertag: MATTY B00SH
Favourite game: Exile (Commodore 64)
About: I was first introduced to computer games at a very early age when my parents bought a Commodore 64 way back in 1984. I still consider it to be the most influential piece of technology in the games industry to date and we wouldn’t be where we are now if it wasn’t for that coffee coloured box of dreams!

I naturally progressed onto consoles with the release of the SNES and enjoyed the usual classics such as Super Mario World, Mario Kart and F-Zero. From there I became part of the Play Station generation, owning the PS1 then the PS2 on which I became a massive fan of the Silent Hill and GTA series. I jumped the Sony ship once the original Xbox was released and in turn, moved onto the 360 which is where I find myself today.

Name: Oliver Dyson
Role: Staff Writer
Twitter: @OliverD22
Gamertag: TriggerHappyOli
Favourite game: Batman: Arkham Asylum
About: Hey! I’ve played videogames since I was seven, with my pre-owned PlayStation One, and have since owned every console of the last generation, starting with the PS2 and ending with the Xbox. I’m now a dedicated 360 gamer. I am also a keen viewer of TV and Film, and a comic book/Batman enthusiast, so hopefully I can bring a little of my knowledge in those areas and carry it over into my writing! (Bring on Arkham City!)
At the moment, I’m currently an A-Level student in my second year studying English Language, Literature, Drama and Theatre Studies. As a prospective journalist, I am extremely grateful for the opportunities writing for NXT Gamer has given me, and will present and hope to be able to provide features and reviews which while informative should also make you laugh a little too!

Name: Sandeep Dawett
Role: News Writer
Twitter: @sdawett
Gamertag: Sandman2040 | PSN: Photododo
Favourite game: Trivial Pursuit… wait, did you mean video game?
About: After being blissfully unaware of what a video game was until about the age of 6, I was quickly indoctrinated into the world of gaming thanks to the early acquisition of a Commodore 64, SEGA Mega Drive II and classic Gameboy. Whilst the technology of the Commodor 64 baffled me and the science behind blowing into a game cartridge to make it work amused me, I quickly realised that gaming was something that I enjoyed on a sub-atomic level.

After my stint of console expertise and adoration of Blue Peter’s Katy Hill was over, my curiosity for PC gaming grew. Games like No One Lives Forever, Unreal Tournament and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 were played to a backdrop of Prince, Michael Jackson and Metallica records (CD’s), until one fateful day where, whilst eating a Nando’s (probably), I played Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare on the Xbox 360 with an old friend for the first time…

These days it’s no longer the SEGA Mega Drive II or Katy Hill, but instead, it’s the Xbox 360 and Miss Marple that rule my heart!