The STG Team

Shane

STG owner / Content admin

First playing Pacman and Astro Wars Shane then moved to Nintendo's Game & Watches and the mighty SEGA Master System II. He has owned every major gaming console in the past 30 years of gaming and been in the Video Gaming & Entertainment industry for over two decades. He is also a diehard fan of all things horror as well as anything gadgety and with blinky lights. He tries to convince others that he has Super Powers. He doesn't.

Andi Garnett

Andi Garnett has wandered through the gaming world for a considerable part of his years. Thinking back, he can still remember the boot-up sounds of the family Commodore 64, the thrill of choosing his first Pokemon (Charmander) and the shrill battle cry of Minsc from Baldur's Gate. More recently, after emerging out the other side of a 4 year stint inside World of Warcraft, Andi finds his time spent within the PlayStation ecosystem playing the likes of Uncharted, inFamous, and The Last of Us.

Anthony Cheetham

An occasional Playstation fan who doesn't own a Sony console, Anthony enjoys playing PC games with an Xbox 360 controller. He also likes to believe that last sentence will win over 3 groups at once. Sometimes he thinks that his Team Fortress 2 addiction is just his way of vicariously living out a repressed love of hats.

Becka Reid

Becka was introduced to the gaming world with the Sega Master System in 96. Although an outdated console at the time, that didn't stop this starry-eyed girl from developing an affinity and love for gaming. Further delving into the gaming world she cycled through consoles and PC, developing an absolute love for the elder scrolls series. These days you will find her playing anything from Xbox to PlayStation, Wii to PC, it doesn't matter to her as long as she can get together with friends and smash out some levels.

Ben Vandelaar

Trained in the Art of 3D and VFX Ben van de Laar is truly passionate about creating and playing games. From His first PC and Console (The Sega Mega Drive) to the new generation of gaming he plays all different genres from FPS to RPG. Ben enjoys studying the subtle motifs and designs brought to him in each new game and every development. He treats every new game equally and individually and will do his best to give an unbiased review for you, the reader.

Blair Loveday

Contributor - NZ

Since owning his very own original Gameboy, Blair has always been a sucker for a good game, movie or piece of tech and loves them in all shapes and sizes. From a quirky indie title, to a fun platformer, to a popcorn munching gun toting action fest, he will play them all; and tell anyone who will listen to what he thinks of them.

Campbell Jones

Contributor - AUS

Campbell ‘CJ’ Jones has been an avid gamer since time immemorial and is a true jack of all trades. From RTS to sports, FPS, RPG, Horror, Platformer or Adventure it does not matter. If CJ is not tearing it up on the track, crawling through deep dark dungeons filled with unspeakable horrors or building world spanning empires he can be found sating his bloodlust and megalomania on the island nation of Panau in an orgy of violence and destruction punctuated with maniacal laughter.

Connor

Contributor - NZ

My name is Connor McLay and I spend most of my time maladaptively dreaming of things that can't happen in real life, then writing about those things so I can say I haven't wasted my day. In between roadie work for the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, I work on the final drafts of my first novel which I hope (perhaps naively) to get published and find whatever way I can to get my writing out into the world. Though I was introduced to gaming on my uncle's borrowed PS1 and then through my Xbox 360, these days I'm a PC lad through and through. Let's do some nerd stuff.

Darren Price

Darren has been playing video games for over thirty-five years and writing about them for the last nine. He has written for New Zealand’s Game Console, both the short-lived print magazine and in the pages of NetGuide. These days he writes for anyone that asks nicely, as well as his own blog www.vicbstard.com.

Dhayana

Contributor - NZ

Dhayana, better known to many as just ‘D’, is a comics/anime/film and TV aficionado, who doubles as a public relations account executive during the day and enthusiastic blogger, social media fiend and occasional fan-fiction writer at night. In my spare time I also write to my blog: Attack on Geek.

Edwin Crump

Edwin has been playing games since collecting all 151 original Pokémon in Pokémon Blue. A fan of RPGs and third person adventures, he has spent far too much time in the worlds of Final Fantasy.

Finn Hogan

Finn Hogan has enjoyed virtual worlds more than the real one since the moment he discovered none of his favorite animals were actually real. He now spends most of his spare time in agonizing over moral choices in RPGs and occasionally checking to see if he has spontaneously developed any superpowers. (He still hasn't)

Freddie Tresidder / sheepOCE

Contributor - NZ

Freddie Tresidder / sheepOCE : Sheep is all about eSports and has no idea what life is like without it, having been involved since he started high school in 2011. He’d like to think he’s well known in the general eSports scene, specifically for his work with New Zealand powerhouse Let’s Play Live, and is excited to be able to cover one of the most exciting Australasian communities. He now spends his time wiping on World of Warcraft bosses, and losing Overwatch games.

Grant Cheetham

Grant Cheetham has been a passionate gamer since he first picked up a controller. Based in Sydney, Grant decided to take his passion for games a step further and start writing about them. When not trying to improve his Gamerscore he is often found in Minecraft building monuments to himself.

Harris Dowson

Contributor - NZ

Harris’ love of videogames began watching his dad play through Metal Gear Solid as a child and then playing/struggling along with ParRappa the Rappa. Now days he spends entirely too much of his time wandering the wasteland and slaughtering zombies.

Jedi Misa

Jed (The Jedi) Misa has a long history within the gaming world. Since his conception his father attempted to call him Jedi but his mother was not cool enough (at the time) and offered a compromise. From birth Jed has had a passion for technology and built his own gaming desktop at the age of 12. Starting out on the original online FPS of Counter Strike - he moved between various MMOs and excelled through all, to the point of boredom - he has a passion for MMO, RPG, FPS and strategy type gaming.

Jordan Lilley

Life long movie buff and pop culture nerd, Jordan mostly voices his opinions in lengthy rants on podcasts and live streams. Barely literate, and probably the worst speller in NZ, it’s a wonder how he writes reviews at all.

Judalene Cheetham

Judalene Cheetham loves dressing up freaky geek style at nerdy conventions and when not creating costumes is gaming it up on all manner of consoles 'til the early hours of the morning. This is one addiction she aint going to rehab for, that, coffee and Pokémon.

Judalene and Grant Cheetham

When Grant and Judalene aren't scouting around trying to catch rare Pokemon and then debating over who is the better Pokemon Master, this gaming duo can be seen trying to mow eachother down in a first person bullet fest of marital bliss.

Kaleb Greaves

Contributor - NZ

My name is Kaleb and I am a 22 year old Maori Boy from Auckland, New Zealand. Interests include Film and Television, Photography, Social Media and Music. During my spare time, I enjoy sleeping, shopping, reading, writing and the occasional beer or two. I have a slight tendency to speak my mind but at large, I'm just a nice guy out to please the world and have fun.

Kalif Purcell

Kalif is a gaming enthusiast, having started gaming from a very young age and has been hooked ever since. Over the course of a few years Kalif has amassed quite the gaming collection with 300+ games and several consoles and he is still making an effort to collect the classic consoles and games (64's,SNES, Dreamcasts etc.). His aim is to contribute to the future generation of gamers and also continue to feed his hunger/passion for all things gaming!

Kerin White

Kerin White is blogger and content creator. On her site, Kerin’s Korner, she creates makeup tutorials, writes film reviews, and more! She is currently in school majoring in Mathematics with a minor in Computer Science. When she’s not at school or work, she’s most likely at the movie theater. Kerin is fully aware of her movie watching addiction, but she is not looking for an intervention because there are always new films to see and possibly fall in love with! You can find her at www.kerinskorner.com

Lauren Hutchinson

Contributor - NZ

Lauren has always had a thing for the art of storytelling. Whether it be film, television or gaming, Lauren can usually be found scanning YouTube for the latest film trailer or becoming too emotionally invested in a video game or TV show.

Lynnaire MacDonald

Contributor - NZ

A former film publicist, social media marketer and crowdfunding consultant, I have had a lifelong passion for film with a focus on the incredibly strange and disturbing. I have a penchant for the films of Gaspar Noe, Lars von Trier and Dario Argento. Being part-Australian I have a particular passion for Australian films. I am co-producing my first short film in 2022, with principal photography set for December.

Mark Arnold

Mark Arnold’s gaming adventures spans back to the 80’s, with Vic 20’s and Commodore 64’s an almost permanent fixture in the household. Since then, he has sauntered through the evolution of consoles, fascinated by the progression in gaming technology and narrative quality.

Matt Ross

Contributor - NZ

I’m a huge nerd culture enthusiast. Always keeping up with the latest movies, games and tv shows when I’m not working in esports. When I am working I spend a lot of time commentating video games and running high school leagues.

Michael Cuzner-Davis

Michael Cuzner-Davis grew up on a staple diet of Age of Empires and Yoshi’s Story. When he isn’t at the lab generating SCIENCE he can usually be found at his PC killing whoever will let him online. Recently Michael has given up the ‘master race’ title and expanded his gaming with a shiny PS4.

Mika Basco

My mission in life is to observe and document the world around me. I enjoy movies, listen to music, love taking photographs and follow my own unique sense of fashion taste, I search seek and explore. Follow me on my blog www.mikabasco.blogspot.com

Nathan Smith

Contributor - NZ

Nathan has been trying to master games since being owned by his brother in Shane Warne cricket and wont stop until he has his revenge. You’ll probably find him on Destiny 2 grinding for shaders or in his menu looking at shaders.

Norman Douglas Plume

Norm enjoys cuddles, a good thick book and long walks on the beach. And by that he really means headshots, teabagging and insulting your mother over TeamSpeak. We think he needs to get out more.

Prerna Singh

Prerna loves a good podcast, stand up comedy routine, film or documentary. She has a deep appreciation for a well told story, and an appropriately millennial fascination with all things digital and tech, as well as with psych-fiction and anything that contemplates the state of the human race. Prerna has seen an unfortunate number of terrible films and tv shows, which makes it easier for her to spot the good ones.

Sky Lo

Contributor - NZ

I'm Sky, a 31 year old city girl and multi-media artist with plenty of unwarranted but well-meaning opinions with a splash of dark humour, for good measure and perhaps a lil too many interests... The main ones being art obviously, fashion, makeup and DJ'ing. But wait there's more! I probably have just as many "irrational" fears, the worst of them being cockroaches, trucks and peanut butter. The irrational part is debatable if you ask me. Love horror movies, hate horror games (will still play them tho), psyche thrillers, mystery, comedy and the occasional indie film.

Sophie Touch

Contributor - NZ

As a stylist, Sophie lives and breathes fashion, beauty & aesthetics. Living her life in snapshots, you will find her on instagram @x_sophy as she chronicles the inspiration that defines her own unique style (maybe a few selfies too).

Jack D

Jack Dowson is a lifelong gamer, after being sucked into the culture at a young age by the bright colours and flashing symbols of PaRappa the Rapper. In 2010, Jack finally found a purpose for his gaming passion, once having been Games Editor for a National NZ Magazine, and eventually Editor-in-Chief in 2011. Jack is a multiple time, and current, WWE champion in his Xbox 360 WWE'12 league, and proud holder of the Big Boss medal in Metal Gear Solid 4.

Stan McGuigan

Contributor (NZ)

First introduced to gaming in the video arcades with the likes of Space Invaders and Pacman. Had a crack at the ZX81 before moving onto the Spectrum then Commodore Amiga, but was blown away by Resident Evil on the Playstation One and instantly became a Playstation fanboy, although I have dabbled with Gameboy, Xbox, PC gaming, and Wii, my heart belongs to Sony. I am a fan of all things Marvel and have been known to cross to the dark side of DC. I have been writing gaming reviews for over 10 years. I have a military background (NZ Army), have worked as a paramedic and currently studying to become a secondary teacher in Health Sciences.

STG News

News Correspondent - NZ | AUS | Global

All the news bits and maybe some other stuff too.

T

“They asked me how well I understood Theoretical Physics. I said I had a theoretical degree in Physics. They said ‘Welcome aboard’”