Since 2010, VideoGameWriters.com has been focused on delivering unique and exclusive content to your whatever screen you check us out on.
Brian Shea // Editor-in-Chief
Brian Shea is VGW’s Editor-in-Chief. In addition to leading the team at VideoGameWriters.com, he contributes such regular features as “Shea’s Say,” “Eleven Things,” “Commercials from the Past” and “Essential Gaming.”
As one of the founding editors of VideoGameWriters.com, Brian started out as the site’s Associate Editor. After stints as the Managing Editor and Features Editor, Brian became the Editor-in-Chief in early 2013 to help lead a major reinvention of the VGW image, which included a heavier focus on feature articles and a migration away from such a fixation on news coverage.
Brian has been heard on ESPN Radio, the Opie and Anthony Channel on Sirius XM, as well as several podcasts throughout the gaming industry. He got his start writing about rock music, where he interacted with current or former members of such well-known rock groups as Guns N’ Roses, Boston, Korn, Alter Bridge, and Dio. In the past, Brian’s work has appeared in the Official Xbox Magazine and the Delmarva Daily Times, as well as on Examiner.com, TheHeroFeed.com, TheXboxDomain.com, and UltimateRockGods.com.
Articles // Twitter // Facebook // Email
——————————————————————————————————————————————–
Anne Lee // Managing Editor
Keeping in line with her general love for all things Japanese, Anne is our go-to gal for any and all Japanese games. Whether it’s a no-name otome game or big-time JRPG, she’ll play them all in her quest to find compelling narratives and more diverse characters in games. As the only resident of Australia on the staff, she’s constantly forced to bear attempts at kangaroo and koala-related humor.
When she isn’t working on her PhD on boys’ love manga, she’s playing the quirkiest titles she can get her hands on or whipping up her monthly “Best of Niche Gaming” picks. Her academic interest in gender and sexuality heavily informs her critiques of games, and she’s determined to get an academic article on video games published one of these days. Region-locking is the bane of her existence.
Articles // Twitter // Email
——————————————————————————————————————————————–
Russell Jones // Associate Editor
Russell Jones spends his days in local TV news, and his nights playing and writing about games of all kinds. Besides video games he also has a fondness for collectible card games, board games, and tabletop RPGs. His wife once commented that his hobby is collecting hobbies, and video games are certainly no exception: other entries in his “collection” include a painful foray into paintballing, a hiking pack which hasn’t been used in a decade, a Ren Faire costume, and a practice samurai sword. His World of Warcraft guild also once voted Russell “Most Likely to be a Paladin in Real Life.”
As a staff writer for VGW he focuses on PC titles and RPGs, while also commenting on the state of gaming at his Tumblr “The Gentleman Gamer.” Russell also appears regularly on VGW’s “Unlimited Ammo” podcast and co-hosts the weekly “Geek In Review” podcast, where he and fellow host Jeramy geek out about movies, games, comics and more.
Articles // Twitter // Email
——————————————————————————————————————————————–
Stu Strock // Associate Editor
As a kid, Stu was introduced to games early on. His parents played fantasy RPGs on their Commodore 64, and he readily followed suit. In fact, most of his reading ability initially developed through playing extensive RPGs. As he grew up, Stu was drawn to games that offered my budding mind new types of narratives; likely enjoying anything that introduced a new concept to him.
These days, he still primarily plays games driven by plot. His ongoing curiosity with games is still focused on concepts he’s never seen before, but its scope has shifted from pure narrative to the game playing experience. He wants to play games that challenge both the way he plays and his very concept of what a game is.
At VGW, Stu tends to point himself toward games that try new things. You’ll usually see his face on commentary about a game that affords its audience a new experience every time they play it, especially if those experiences are rooted in an adaptable narrative. The way Stu sees it, a good game can either tell a good story, or let its audience create their own.
Articles // Twitter // Email
——————————————————————————————————————————————–
Jen Bosier // Community Manager
Jen lives with her husband, daughter and super-villain kitty. An avid gamer since the Atari, she honed her skills on Doom 2, Daggerfall and System Shock. A bonafide 360-convert, she plays more than is humanly healthy and has more than a little dudebro-gamer in her blood.
Jen’s work can also be found on Forbes.com.
Articles // Twitter // Facebook // Email
——————————————————————————————————————————————–
Matt Heywood // Staff Writer
Matt Heywood is the founder and EIC of EntertainmentBuddha.com where he strives to make you a better geek, one post at a time! He’s the self-described guru of all things geeky, but gaming is his main mistress. He was a gamer before playing video games was the cool thing to do, and his roots pre-date the NES.
He’s been hooked on gaming ever since and enjoys educating others on the trials and tribulations of the video game industry. His blood oozes 1’s and 0’s, which is a result of his long history with playing games and talking about them with friends.
When he’s not scouring the Internet for interesting nuggets of awesomeness he can be found in his secret lair enjoying the latest and greatest video games that the market has to offer. If it has Achievements or Trophies he’ll play it!
Articles // Twitter // Facebook // Email
——————————————————————————————————————————————–
Sam Cline // Staff Writer
Sam Cline was born in Decatur, Illinois, but raised in Dallas, Texas. His initial love for meteorology (storm chasing) turned into a love for film and writing. Filming storms and tornadoes wasn’t enough. He longed to create adventures of his own. He was raised an avid gamer. From NES and Super Mario Bros. 3 (the best one) to the Xbox 360 and the journeys of Master Chief, he’s been hooked for years. If you ask, he’ll never turn down a bout of Rock Band.
He attended college at Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri and received a B.S. in Film with a minor in Digital Arts. He graduated in 2012. Sam now lives in Springfield, Missouri and mostly works freelance, but holds a steady job to finance his love for all things “pop culture.” He still loves writing, directing, and gaming, and you can usually find him doing one of the three in his spare time.
Articles // Twitter // Email
——————————————————————————————————————————————–
Will Harrison // Staff Writer
Will Harrison was born in the wilds of Southeastern Ohio Appalachia. Some say you could hear the angels singing on that day. Whether or not that is true, once he received his B.S. in Communications Studies from Ohio University, Will moved to Toledo, Ohio in order to start a life and career in the news industry.
When he isn’t hard at work as a research assistant and midnight shift crime reporter at a newspaper, Will is usually found gaming. Video games. Board games. Collectible card games. He has an overflowing closet of nerdiness to prove it.
Will’s greatest love in gaming is fighting games and the fighting game community at large. If you ever want to start an argument with Will, just tell him you think Ryu is the greatest Street Fighter character of all time.
Articles // Twitter // Email
——————————————————————————————————————————————–
Tyler Meier // Staff Writer
Tyler Meier was raised on pixels and wired controllers as a child and as he grew up, so did his love for the gaming community. He left home to become a part of business school undead, but realized that using his armor of college could be used as a weapon instead. He then began his own professional writing endeavors after years of breakup poetry, sexual-gaming haikus, and inappropriate social media posts. When he’s not making gaming parallels to business or #CubicleLife trends on his Twitter, he’s reading comic books, listening to power chords with brass instrument bands, making up morbidly humorous stories about a man named Bob, and promoting a comedic atmosphere that feels too good to pass up but too awful to forget.
His mother told him that he’s the embodiment of Rob Gordan and a tenured professor told him he’s Walt Whitman meets Green Day. He writes freelance and will answer any question you could want to ask him, regardless if he’s right, because questions are always fun. He learned Instagram from Pokémon Snap, playing music from Rock Band, parallel parking from Crazy Taxi, and business practices from the synonyms of living.
Articles // Twitter // Email
——————————————————————————————————————————————–
Keith Mathias // Staff Writer
A lifelong student of literature and film, Keith is currently pursuing a career as an English literature instructor. His passion for gaming was originally aroused playing Super Mario World on the SNES, and solidified for all time with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This began a love affair with adventure games and RPGs that has persisted to this day. Goldeneye 007 can be credited to Keith’s current obsession with First Person Shooters, and he has been a self-proclaimed master of the headshot since 1997.
When not gaming or teaching, Keith can be found indulging his intense love of film, food, and beer. He is on a never ending quest for the following items: the perfect taco, the best bowl of pho attainable outside of Vietnam, and the beer to suit every situation.
Articles // Twitter // Email
——————————————————————————————————————————————–
Jake Baldino // Staff Writer
Grocery store manager by day, video game journalist by night. Jake spends his limited non-video game-time tweaking his iPhone and reading the occasional comic book.
A proud New Yorker with a big mouth, you can find him talking games on The Nerd Word and the Pretty Much It show on YouTube. Jake is also the host of BecauseVideoGames on YouTube.
Articles // Twitter // Facebook // Email
——————————————————————————————————————————————–
Jason Evangelho // Publisher
Jason is VGW’s founder, publisher and a longtime podcaster, writer, and “solopreneur” who is driven by the classic Jello Biafra quote “Don’t hate the media. Become the media.”
As the founder and former Editor-in-Chief of VideoGameWriters.com, Jason was the brains behind both the podcast, site design, and many of the features that were previously run on VGW. You can currently read Jason’s work on Forbes.com. In the past, Jason hosted Insomnia Radio, and was the Lead Video Game and Technology Writer for College News Magazine.