I'm Mark. I'm the guy on the banner. (Full banner on http://blogs.ign.com/markB0SS). I guess I consider myself as a casual gamer in terms of competitive play, although in terms of overal appreciation, I'm up there. It all began with the Nintendo Game Boy and a little Soviet Union uncopyrighted game called Tetris. It was my brothers birthday and he got the coolest 'it' product to hit the shelves during the 80's. Having no idea what a computer game even was until then, I played it for the rest of his birthday and ran the batteries dry. I didnt really understand the rules, I was just amazed that you could control what was on the screen. To my surprise my dad let me know that I actually had my own console in the loft that would run on a television. The Sega Master System. Over the following years I went from someone that just enjoys to control whats on the screen to someone that played for its escapism and now to someone that appreciates games as a form of art, its casual entertainment and for its culture. So here I am, writing this blog, with an over usage of apostrophes and memorable one liners. Hopefully one day to use as a reference to possible gaming journalist positions in the future. The blog as a whole is going to be aimed as a supplementary read, but it will also be a place for me to store my reviews and feature articles. Ive writen most of it with a unique form thats informational but also offering something different then that offered from other sites.Its also a position from where I can hire gamers to one day form the best clan of all time. 'The international unisex everyday other superhero liberal hippy punk rock space pirates and/or cowboys of peace love and rock and roll. Inc.' I hope you like my blog header, because ALOT of the stuff in there has been photo shopped(Full banner on http://blogs.ign.com/markB0SS) to a subtle extent as if to make it appear real. The banner obviously, but also every single video games related object, including the Pikachu statue near the shop. Most of the other ones are well hidden. My favourite video games TV show of all time is 'Games Master' (UK). My favourite games movie Mortal Kombat. My game collection varies in genre. I have an unopened Amiga in the attic. Some of my favourite games of all time are Final Fantasy 7, Zelda Ocarina of time, Metal Gear Solid, Fahrenheit (indigo prophecy), Sonic the hedgehog, Snatcher, Night Trap (there's always one that other people don't like), Burnout 3, Mortal Kombat, EA hockey 91, Mario six golden coins, Grim Fandango and Okami. I see the future of gaming as the next evolutionary step in entertainment, a form of complete sensory emersion in narrative or sports or other possible situations-a mix of the hollow deck from star trek with one of those virtual reality arcade machines they use to have in the 90's. Other then that I really hope you enjoy my blog. I like to know what people think of my writing, and I also really enjoy a good talk about anything envolving video games, so please feel free to leave me messages or blog replies. Cya on the 'green' (Xbox live), if anyone wants to game, just drop me your gamer tag. Same goes for my Wii number.