The Team

Brett Walton

Brett created gamrReview in 2010, initially as part of the VGChartz network of sites. In March 2012, gamrReview became a stand-alone site in its own right, now under the direct management of Craig Snow and Karl Koebke and dedicated to bringing the most informative, trustworthy and interesting game reviews and previews on the web.

Craig Snow

Craig initially joined the staff as a general news contributor, before quickly shifting his emphasis towards reviews. Having been on the review team since almost the very beginning, he has gradually built up his role within the review section and seen that aspect of the site transform beyond recognition into the gamrReview site that it is now.

As well as being joint Editor-in-Chief alongside Karl, Craig is our second most active reviewer, and is also our primary Copy Editor. He lists StarCraft: Brood War, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, Shadow of the Colossus, The Orange Box (in particular Portal), and Race Driver: GRID as his favourite titles.

Karl Koebke

Karl is a Chemistry graduate from Michigan Technological University and is currently working towards a Ph. D. in Biochemistry from University of Wisconsin: Milwaukee. After spending a few months on the VGChartz forums he applied to become a reviewer on a whim in 2008 and, to his surprise, was accepted. Since then he has slowly increased his workload by becoming the site's most prolific reviewer, and one of gamrReview's Editors-in-Chief.  Gaming has been a passion of Karl's since his first playthrough of Pitfall, although he didn't have a favorite genre until he played Earthbound on the Super Nintendo. Since then, JRPGs have been Karl's main focus in gaming and he lists Earthbound, Final Fantasy VII, Super Mario RPG, Persona 4, Shadow of the Colossus and Valkyria Chronicles as his favorite games.

Nick Pantazis

Nick is a writer, editor, and respiratory therapy student. His passions in life are writing and healthcare, and he's an avid fan of video games, anime, science fiction books, movies, and just about anything nerdy. He has been part of the VGChartz staff since 2007. He created the original review system for the site and continues to work closely with Karl and Craig in maintaining gamrReview as a both an editor and writer. Nick's favorite games are Shadow of the Colossus, Chrono Trigger, Majora's Mask, Skyrim, Portal 1 and 2, and the Pokemon franchise. 

Xavier Griffiths

Xavier is a student at Fordham University where he studies English and Communications. Xavier joined VGChartz and applied for a spot on the review team as a way to improve and increase his writing output in early 2009. In addition to writing reviews, he offers support as a content and copy editor for gamrReview. Alongside books and films, videogames is Xavier’s favorite hobby and the one he has been interested in the longest. Always willing to try something new, he enjoys playing games across a wide range of genres and platforms. His list of favorite games include Pokemon Silver Version, Crash Bandicoot 3 Warped, Soul Calibur II, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and, most recently, Rayman Origins.

Arthur Kabrick

Though Arthur Kabrick began gaming on the original Game Boy, when he experienced PlayStation with the PS1, he never went back – except, of course, for the Gameboy Advance. He joined the site in June 2008, coining the phrase “joined for the numbers, stayed for the community”. It was only in January 2010, however, that he signed up to VG Chartz staff as a reviewer and news/features writer. Among his favourite games of all time are Shadow of the Colossus and the Ratchet & Clank and God of War franchises, as well as those old 2D Zelda games. Recently, however, he has become more of a PC gamer. Arthur was born in, and currently resides in, London (no, not the Canadian one), and other than gaming, his interests include politics, reading science fiction and fantasy, tennis, and, of course, wearing a top hat and monocle and walking around with a cane.

Chris Kerr

Some people love games, some people love Sean Bean. Chris loves both. Having been an avid gamer since he was a whippersnapper, Chris decided to try his hand at journalism. He began writing a few years ago, and after trudging through the swamp-like realm that is volunteer journalism he managed to land a position at gamrReview. Chris currently resides in the glorious county of Lancashire where he studies BA Hons English and generally goes about his business. He hopes to one day have a career in the industry.

Some of his favourite games include The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Shadow of the Colossus, The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Alan Wake and the Mass Effect Trilogy. 

Alex St-Amour

I suppose, since you’re on this page, you're here to find out a bit more about gamrReview’s review team, so allow me to throw some facts your way. I was born in 1989 in Gatineau, Canada and first picked up a game controller two years later when I got a brand new NES with a copy of Super Mario Bros. (both of which I still have). Ever since then I've stuck by Nintendo as my game-provider of choice, but have recently invested in a more powerful PC so I can enjoy all the shiny new games that come my way. Aside from gaming, I'm an advertising major and have worked on ad campaigns in the Ottawa region. In the summer of 2010 I was hired by gamrReview to write reviews… and that’s where we are now.

Now for a little gaming cred (in hopes that I get taken seriously): my favourite title of all time would be The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, followed closely by the original Knights Of The Old Republic. I also fancy myself a collector of 'gaming rarities'; currently sitting on my shelf are a Virtual Boy, an R.O.B. with full Gyromite set, and the Zelda Game & Watch, to name but a few.

Brent Galietti

Brent is an MBA student at the University of Central Florida, having graduated in Accounting in 2012. He started out as a Nintendo fan in his younger years but has since expanded his horizons to encapsulate the entire industry (though the platformer still holds a special place in his heart). Brent joined gamrReview in Spring 2010 to chase the dream of reviewing video games and has enjoyed every minute of it. When not gaming, he's watching sports incessantly and commenting on the sport world at large on Twitter (feel free to join in!).

Among his favorite series are: Pokemon, Ace Attorney, Shin Megami Tensei, Sonic, and the amazing cult classic that is Valkyria Chronicles.

Chris Matulich

Having been enraptured with the gaming industry since he and his brother got their grubby little hands on their first Nintendo back in 1989, Chris hasn't looked back since. He likes to consider himself a connoisseur of the industry, dabbling in all genres and platforms as he sees fit, but can never really tear himself away from his precious RPGs, whether it be the now western dominated genre of the present, or his beloved, quirky Japanese games of yesteryear.

Chris earned a BA in English Literature from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, a Masters in Special Education from Hunter College, currently teaches in a NYC school for students with disabilities during the day, and writes for gamrReview at night, being apart of the team since the Summer of 2010. Chris has also slowly making his way into the comics scene, thoroughly enjoying The Walking Dead, Sin City, and basically anything that has Wolverine or Batman.

While he's a big enthusiast of retro gaming, Chris doesn't discriminate between retro and modern, playing anything and everything that strikes his interest. Topping his favorites list (at the moment) are Final Fantasy IV, Chrono Cross, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Batman: Arkham City, Knights of the Old Republic, Darksiders, Metroid, Super Metroid, Shadow Complex, BioShock, Baldurs Gate II, Monkey Island II: LeChuck's Revenge, Kingdom Hearts II, Battletoads & Double Dragon, Left 4 Dead, The World Ends With You, Mega Man II, Super Contra, and Resident Evil (GC Remake).

Gordon Bryant

Gordon Bryant graduated from Mohawk College for Television Broadcast Technology in 2009, focusing on the writing elements of television production. While gaming has been his primary hobby for most of his life, he enjoys reviewing movies, television shows, novels, and other forms of entertainment in his spare time. In addition to writing reviews, he also enjoys writing editorials, short stories, and novels. While he always felt he played a wide variety of games, his time reviewing for gamrReview has expanded his (already open) mind when it comes to his tastes and he hopes to continue this trend in the future.

Somewhat of a gaming snob, he hates it when people limit themselves to only a genre or two, or feel that some games are 'too kiddy' for adults to enjoy;  he feels that all games can be fun regardless of their intended audience and advocates this by trying as many new games or genres as he can.  His favorite games are Final Fantasy VI, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Megaman 2, and the trilogy of Donkey Kong Country games on the SNES.

Jake Weston

Like many children growing up in the 90s, Jake Weston began his life long love of gaming with his Super Nintendo, beginning with Super Mario World and Mega Man X. After a childhood satiated on super-powered plumbers, blue bombers, anthropomorphized bandicoots and radical hedgehogs, Jake discovered that his passion lied in this interactive medium, and decided to try his hand at his own gaming blog. Soon after that, he began writing for other various websites, and was brought on board the VGChartz staff in the summer of 2011.

In between playing and reviewing games, composing music, and working on that movie script that will totally be finished one day you guys I swear, Jake Weston currently studies Cinema at the University of Oregon. His favorite games include the Mass Effect series, Metal Gear Solid, Valkyria Chronicles, Final Fantasy VIII, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Joseph Trotter

Joseph hails from Bury, England, a place famous for black pudding, Robert Peel, the Police force, and inspiring some of Charles Dickens' characters; all the makings of a wild night out. A keen hoarder, Joseph spends much of his spare time and pennies collecting vinyl records and fine books, leaving few moments to actually enjoy these delicacies. Although he always dreamt of playing football for his beloved Leicester City, enthusiasm was unfortunately not meted with talent. Instead, Joseph has somehow ended up at the University of Glasgow studying Classics, where he spends most of his time fraternising with the thoughts of men long dead.

Somewhere between these events Joseph picked up a controller and has never looked back, or up. His first console was a Nintendo 64, brought one Christmas in tandem with his mortal enemy and brother, David. Joseph stumbled upon VGChartz in 2010 off a recommendation from a good friend. Spotting a vacancy the next year, he threw his hat into the ring and was as surprised as everybody else to be offered an editorial/features role, before moving onto the gamrReview team. His favourite games are Zelda: Ocarina of Time, KOTOR, Banjo-Kazooie, Shadow of the Colossus and Half-Life 2. Probably.

Kasper Andersen

Born in 1990, it wasn't until the Nintendo 64 era that Kasper started gaming, and in his early teen years, it started becoming a passion. Since then, he's gamed on many different platforms and became an active member of the VGChartz community in 2008, the first step on the path to becoming a gamrReview reviewer in 2011. In 2012 he received his bachelor's degree in software engineering and started his master's degree in game programming by spending a semester with DADIU.

Kasper is not too fond of retro gaming and often prefers newer games over older ones. In the same vain, he is also very excited about the future of video game controllers that the Wii kickstarted, with a particular soft spot for the full body gaming achieved with Kinect.

His favorite games remain moving targets, but on the list you can currently find games like Heavy Rain, Flower, Mirror's Edge, Batman: Arkham City, Mass Effect 3, inFamous 2 and others.

Matt Ashbaugh

Matt graduated in 2011 from Missouri State University with a degree in Fine Arts, with an emphasis on Sculpture. When he isn't creating 3D art he enjoys humor, animation, and especially video games. He was playing games the same time he was learning to walk and talk, cutting his teeth on his father's Atari 2600 and Intellivision with such classics as Adventure, Buzz Bombers, and Triple Action.

He now has all current consoles and never leaves home without his 3DS. Some of Matt's favorite gaming franchises are: Kirby, Legend of Zelda, Super Smash Brothers, Professor Layton, Mario & Luigi RPG, Assassin's Creed, and inFamous.

Daniel Share-Strom

An extreme gamer since the age of two, Daniel took two years of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology`s Game Development and Entrepreneurship program before switching majors to Communications. As a passionate fan of the gaming industry, with a flair for writing, he naturally jumped at the chance to write for gamrReview (VGChartz at the time) when the opportunity presented itself in 2008.

He has owned nearly every big game system since the NES, including all current-generation consoles. Daniel has a wide-ranging taste in games, with favourite franchises including - but not limited to - Super Smash Brothers, Heavy Rain, Kingdom Hearts, Resident Evil, Super Mario, Halo, Gears of War, and Mass Effect. However, his favourite just might be the Super Nintendo classic, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time.

Joe Hill

When Joe was first introduced to Mario Kart on the N64 when he was just a boy, he couldn't have  known what he was letting himself in for. More than a decade later and after the completion of his University degree in Journalism and English Literature in 2012, he realised that being a writer in the video game journalism industry might be a good fit; and that's where he finds himself today, hoping to one day continue to do the thing he loves professionally. Joe's favourite games included Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, Assassins Creed and Deus Ex. He is also currently contributing to two other gaming websites.

Connor Weller

Born in 1994, Connor is currently studying for a Mathematics degree at Plymouth University. His gaming life began all the way back in 1998, when he played his first ever game: Final Fantasy 7, and hasn't stopped since. Ever since then, he's been a Sony gamer, playing his way through Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Gran Turismo and others throughout his childhood. As of late, he's also invested in Nintendo's offerings, and ranks Portal, Final Fantasy 12, Chrono Trigger, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Xenoblade Chronicles as his favourite games. He joined the gamrReview team in 2012 as a Writer.

Gerard Martin Cueto

A lifelong gamer with a penchant for writing, Gerard is currently testing the waters as a games writer/journalist. He is a fan of the Playstation brand and has owned every Playstation console/portable. Some of Gerard's favorite games/series  include Uncharted, Infamous, God of War, and Metal Gear. His writing experience includes writing news, features, and science articles while part of the academe; and several featured blog entries on Gamasutra.com. He is looking to focus on writing video game news and features, especially ones centered on game/console development.

Gerard is also currently working as a Producer in Gameloft. Because of this, he chooses not to cover/write about anything related to Gameloft. His views are his own and do not reflect the views of his employer.

Tesh Modi

Stephanie Barnes

Stephanie's love of art and passion for gaming led her to completing a degree in Game Art & Design from the Art Institute of California - San Francisco in 2012. When she isn't spending time reading a book or watching a good movie, she likes to spend her time writing walkthroughs for niche games, such as JRPGs.

Stephanie hails from sunny Northern California and finds herself most days in front of a PS3 with a laptop to take notes. Some of her favorite franchises include: Final Fantasy, Lunar, Breath of Fire, Uncharted, Resident Evil, Tales Of, and Portal.

Noah Glaser

Noah Glaser has been a video game addict ever since he played Space Invaders on the Atari 2600. Since then he has continued to maintain his passion for gaming while obtaining his Bachelors in Information Technology. The Super Nintendo is his favorite console of all-time, and the Zelda series has stood out as his favorite series.

Michael Beecham

Michael Beecham has been a gamer all his life and after learning that he could make his own Michael made it his goal to build his own worlds for the enjoyment of others. Michael is also a huge Legend of Zelda fanatic and the Nintendo 64 is his all around favorite console to-date.

Sam Rowett

Sam Rowett is a writer and gamer from the north of England. He strongly advocates the notion that games are art and likes RPGs, action games, old-school FPS titles, and his own gloriously long hair. His personal site is http://www.pywritechnics.com/

Mark Hoover

Mark spends his days in a software development role, a career path he largely owes to video games. Growing up with games as his primary hobby, he began to tinker with programming to try and create his own. This led to pursuing a Computer Science degree and disproving all his stepmother's nagging that he spent too much time with a controller in his hands! He cut his teeth on Sonic 1 at the tender age of 5 and hasn't looked back since. Some personal favorites include the MOTHER, Harvest Moon, and Kirby series, though he's poured way more hours into the Smash Bros. and Pokemon series than he'd care to admit.