Meet The Team

Lisa Konigkramer - Editor

I suppose you could say I was pulled, albeit somewhat reluctantly, into the world that is gaming thanks to the influence of my many gaming friends. My Duke Nukem adventures aside, what started out as dabbling soon turned into a reputation as a solid shot with a double barrel shotgun in Quake and holding my own in Towers Defence and Star Craft. I left the PC gaming arena after experiencing Mario Kart: Double Dash on the GameCube and have not looked back since. Games that have earned a treasured spot on my shelf include The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Super Mario Galaxy, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Resistance: Fall of Man, Rock Band, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Shadow of the Colossus, God of War and PixelJunk Monsters.

Wayne Trollip

Gaming began for me on the Sinclair ZX Spectrum back in the day when you were at the mercy of the cassette recorder for loading programs. Countless hours were spent battling through R-Type in my quest to save the galaxy. In the coming years my frustrations with stretched tapes were replaced with the ever reliable "stiffy disk" on my uber fast XT 4.77MHz personal computer. My PC gaming days centered around lanning to the wee hours slaying nasty Orcs. Notable PC experiences involved the ever popular Doom, Castle Wolfenstein , Quake I & II, Half-life, Warcraft II and Starcraft. Towards the end I loved playing Couterstrike to the dismay of my mates, however, the endless virus outbreaks, software updates and graphics cards purchases made me switch to consoles. Some of my favorite console gaming experiences have been Mario Kart Double Dash, Super Mario Galaxy, Trauma Center: Second Opinion, Shadow of the Collosus, Gears of War, Pixel Junk Monsters, God of War I and II and Lost Planet. There really are too many fantastic titles to mention so these are just a few that have enriched my life.

Peter Wiles

I have been gaming since my dad bought home an Apple ][ back in '84. In between writing out Apple BASIC listings from Nibble magazine I was playing Lode Runner, Castle Wolfenstein, Hard Hat Mack, Aztec and bumming on my friends' Family Computer console (NES for non-third-world countries) and PC's. After scraping together a PC in the early nineties, I moved on to Civilization and loads of arcade ports like Bubble Bobble and Ironman Offroad. Slowly but surely the games on PC got more complicated until I enjoyed playing Excel rather than the latest 4X Space game, and PC gaming lost me. Fortunately, console gaming came to the rescue, and what I used to see in my unenlightened days as "games for the masses," are actually superior to those thinly disguised accounting packages I once enjoyed. My favourite games are Heroes of Might and Magic 3, Civilisation 2, Alpha Centauri, Railroad Tycoon 3, Warcraft 2, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Resident Evil 4, F-Zero GX, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan!, New Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Guitar Hero. Please don't take me too seriously...

Oliver Snyders

Gaming, eh? Who needs it? The business and development side of games, to the visceral feedback and fun of actually playing games - this is what draws me in and has been bringing me back since starting out on the Atari 2600 and arcade cabinets about 18 years ago. My 'favourite' games can be quantified by the amount of hours I've put into them, so I guess Quake 3: Arena and Tetris could be considered 'favourites', while great gaming experiences of the past include Grim Fandango, Final Fantasy 7, Metal Gear Solid, Psychonauts and a handful of first-person shooters. Doom 2 and Monkey Island 1 have a special place as well. I like to believe I'm completely platform agnostic, seeing as how I've had access to a lot of the great consoles over the years, as well as the PC being a mainstay throughout. I'm also a game designer wannabe at heart with great admiration for the industry greats of the world.

Oltman Botha

I am a gamer. I have always been a gamer. I will always be a gamer. I will never be a fanboy of a platform. If you consider yourself a gamer and a platform fanboy, then you are not a gamer. I game on any platform, any genre, any time, anywhere. And I love every moment of it! Growing up in the platteland, anything electronic was usually from the devil. But with determination I was able to show my parents the advantages of playing games. Hand/eye co-ordination, creative stimuli, life lessons... I knew I had succeeded when I had to fight my dad to get off my consoles. I continue to discover new things in gaming. Sharing these with others is now a reality. Eat it up folks, its better than cake!

Bryan Johnston

Gaming and me - we grew up together - we're like family. I'm practically the sibling of the modern gaming industry, since I learnt how to insert an ATARI 2600 cartridge long before I could fit a yellow cube into a round hole. I've played an array of titles on a variety of platforms, ranging from Manic Miner (ZX Spectrum) to Grand Theft Auto (PC). We've shared several coming-of-age milestones too, including the rabid delight of scrapping cities in Rampage, the elation of running 4-player Doom over serial cables, and even leading ☺ down the ≡ to retrieve the ♀. Along the way, I've witnessed Electronic Arts mature into the ruthless tempest that is now EA, and I've watched Activision develop into the uncompromising blizzard it has become. Given my experience, you'd probably expect that reviewing games for someone like me should be a breeze! I presently spend most of my time with consoles which, similar to gale-force winds, seem to have transformed the face of the gaming industry forever. One day I hope to soar to the heights of a superior gaming presence akin to these inexorable forces of nature, but for the moment, as I find my feet with game reviewing, it feels like I'm just passing wind. Only time will tell!

Thomas Morrison

I've enjoyed playing games from as far back as I can remember. I used to go to my dad's work after school and play monochrome shareware games like Flightmare and Sopwith on his IBM computer, and a few years later the NES and I became fast friends. High school was spent playing PS1 classics like Final Fantasy VIII, Metal Gear Solid and Gran Turismo 2. During my university days PS2 and later Gamecube took precedence, and when I entered the working world PS3, PSP and Xbox 360 were my consoles of choice. In my 'free time' I'm an English tutor exclusively serving the Japanese population here in Durban. Needless to say, I'm a huge fan of quirky video game titles coming out of the Land of the Rising Sun, and firmly believe that Japan has the best character designers in the world.

Jannie Theron

Growing up with friends who had Commadore 64s and Atari's, I only really got into gaming when we got our first XT PC and never looked back. From primary school to becoming a dad one thing has stayed constant: Playing games. From the Sierra Quests to the Xbox 360, from configuring extended or expanded memory to port forwarding for optimum latency, months of non-stop Diablo II, a stint at game development and now writing about them. The games just won't go away. As gaming time got less I find myself playing XBLA and Wiiware games lately. In a multi-million dollar sequel focussed industry, these little gems are where the innovation and risk taking lies. This is what keeps gaming from stagnating. This is where I look for fresh experiences and satisfaction.

Daryl Eksteen

Well, I have been playing games since I was around 6 years old, just loved my Sega Mega drive after upgrading from the Nintendo Entertainment System. I haven’t really stopped since and the hunger has grown even more since I got my hands on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles. One thing is for sure….I will be a gamer until I die! Games are more than just games, they are like movies, cinematic adventures that you become part of and escape to another world. But like all things in life you need a balance to really appreciate them. I am a big sports fan and love watching the National Hockey League and most rugby matches. My favourite sport teams are the New Jersey Devils (NHL) and the Sharks Rugby team. I love sports games the most, especially the EA titles. The EA NHL titles are without a doubt my all time best games - with the new AI learning and CPU strategy adjustment features, I never get bored playing them. Every match you play is different and the games are fresh, fun and so close to the real thing. I have enjoyed seeing how the EA NHL titles have evolved since the Sega Mega drive days to one of, if not the best, sports titles out today. I am married to an amazing woman and have 3 awesome indoor cats. I am currently studying Psychology and I plan on becoming a qualified Psychologist in the near future. I love Durban!
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