He enjoys the odd ‘hoop’, he’s the editor of industry standard EDGE and he keeps an eye out for, ulp, Nottingham Forest’s result. Who better to ask…

What games are tickling your fancy at the moment?
Not a lot, depressingly. Reflections’ Driver is interesting, although I’m sure there’s a lot more that can be done with the ‘real world’ driving game concept. There are still a few loose ends I have to tie up in Zelda, although in places it’s proving a tad more tiresome than I’d bargained for. I’m still tinkering with Dreamcast Sega Rally 2 as well, opening up new cars and new modes, although, like a number of other Dreamcast titles, it’s not the game it should’ve been.

What was the first game you ever played?
You’re taking me back to the age of six, in 1976, so forgive me if my memory’s a bit hazy, but like most people it was probably Pong, or at least an unofficial rip-off of it. As far as computer games go, it was Lemonade Stand (an early precursor to the likes of Theme Park) on the Apple in the late ’70s. Console-wise, at about the same time I’d just moved over to an Atari VCS after enjoying the delights of ‘tennis’ in black-and-white on a tawdry little Binatone unit.

Any particular favourites from yesteryear?
I’m not sure I’d enjoy it so much today, but Utopia, a ‘God’-style game on the Mattel Intellivision, was fantastic for its time. The coin-op versions of Out Run and Space Harrier blew me away, too - they represented a special time for me. And Mercenary on the Commodore 64 was revolutionary - its game world, despite being rendered in wireframe 3D, still managed to be more convincing than so many of today’s. Oh, and I mustn’t forget Super Metroid on the SNES, which still stands up convincingly as an example of near-perfect game design.

What has been the biggest videogaming let-down for you last year?
Christ, there were so many, it’s hard to choose one. But Trespasser stank the office out for a few weeks, so I’d have to plump for that in terms of how much potential was wasted.

Any titles you’re really looking forward to in the near future?
Namco’s first racing game on PlayStation 2, which I gather is a bit tasty. Dreamcast Shenmue should be interesting, and Power Stone looks promising. Talking of coin-ops, Dead Or Alive 2 and Yu Suzuki’s Ferrari 355 game both look like nothing I’ve ever seen before, so I’d like to get my hands on finished versions of those. I wish I could mention an N64 title, but with Shigeru Miyamoto claiming that Zelda represents the high point of the machine’s lifespan, well, things don’t look so hot.

When all’s said and done, what’s your favourite game ever?
Konami’s Juno First coin-op, simply because it was the only game I can say I ever truly mastered, and being able to get a whole afternoon of gaming from a single 10p was a kick for a 14-year-old. As embarrassed as I am to admit it, the pose value was pretty high, too.