Vitals: 42, two boys (six and nine)

Education: Born at the right time to have played PONG and Combat as a child. Owned an Atari 2600 when they were new. Much later, a B.A. in Philosophy and an M.A. in Speech Communication at Colorado State. Working on a Ph.D. in Planning and Design in the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado. Research area: Videogames!

Publications: Arts and entertainment columnist for both of the Denver daily papers for the past 17 years. Currently, the syndicated games columnist for King Features. Freelance contributor to various publications, including The Escapist and Equinox, the EverQuest Magazine.

Platforms played: Anything, everything. I still have a functioning NeoGeo in the closet.

Genres played: Innovation. If it's new and interesting, I'll play it. But I'm always a sucker for a good sim game, action-adventure, platformers and real-time strategy. I love first-person shooters, but only ever play multiplayer when I feel like getting walloped.

Multiplayer or single-player: Single-player. In the dark. With beer.

My favorite Top 10 games ever played:

1) Grand Theft Auto III
2) Katamari Damacy
3) Guitar Hero
4) Max Payne
5) Civilization
6) House of the Dead -- In the arcade
7) Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
8) Super Mario 64
9) Halo
10) (And I know you don't think it's a game but I do) Second Life

These are all games that I still own, still have systems on which to play them, and one day intend to play back through -- every single one of them.

What makes me tick: I'm an ideas guy. If something is interesting, I get hooked. So, no grinding for me. Make me think. Let me shoot while I think and I'm even happier.