Editor

Head honcho. Numero One. Tim is the idiot who thought up this whole idea in the first place!

Having previously worked on chart topping iOS apps (anyone remember Pocket Alan?), the occasional game, and a YouTube channel. Tim has finally settled on magazine creation as his main hobby.

He lives in South Somerset with his wife and daughter, but often yearns for his hometown of Newcastle Upon Tyne (we think he just wants to be closer to Rob).

In his little spare time, he likes collecting, restoring and fixing old ‘90s games consoles.

Writer

Simon is a writer and video game enthusiast from Somerset. He started gaming when he acquired a Commodore 16 in prehistoric times, but soon became a Sega fan during the 8-bit and 16-bit console generations. He now plays games across all platforms and genres, but is especially partial to a nice, comfy RPG or an immersive strategy or simulation game.

He has been writing for his whole life, but until recently mostly concentrated on fiction in the sci-fi, fantasy and action genres. He also writes scripts for the popular gaming YouTube channel TripleJump, and when not maintaining his own blog simfiction.co.uk, has even been known to dip his toes into the murky waters of art and illustration.

Outside of these endeavours, Simon likes to go on days out with his wife and daughter (both of whom enjoy gaming too), and has been known to paint entire armies of tiny Orcs and Goblins. He also likes to stick some wrestling on the television, often to send him soundly off to sleep. His dreams are to make a living by entertaining people with his writing, and to one day have his very own rumpus room.

Writer

Rob is an avid gamer, and has played games, almost every day, for the last 35 years. His first system was a Sinclair Spectrum +2, but his first console was a Sega Mega Drive that his brother and he received from Santa for the Christmas of 1991. 

Rob has written a number of books, with his 12th due to be released in the spring of 2023. He has also written articles for his local newspaper, and wrote a five-page article for the Halloween issue of Front Magazine in 2012. 

In 2022, Rob started a brand-new podcast called ‘How Haunted?’. Each episode takes an extended look at spooky locations across the country to find out how haunted they really are.

When he isn’t gaming or writing for the magazine he divides his time between spending time with friends and family, walking his two Cocker Spaniels, and talking about fish and ill-fated book signings and that on the Sega Mania podcast.

Writer

Steve joined Sega Mania in issue 3.  He has four older brothers who introduced him to gaming from a very young age.  In retrospect, too young, as he proceeded to destroy the family’s Intellivision at just three years old.  By the way of BBC Micro and C64, he finally graduated to a Sega Mega Drive in the Christmas of ’92, when the love affair began in earnest.

He lives in Devon with his 10-year-old daughter and his Rough Collie, Tails.  He insists his daughter was responsible for naming the dog after her favourite computer game character, but it’s a lie that’s fooling no-one. Before being enticed to the glamorous world of single parenthood, Steve was a jobbing actor and occasional stand-up.  Rumour has it there are numerous embarrassing clips of him littered across the darkest corners of the internet, but as yet, no-one from Sega Mania has been able to locate them, so for all we know, that might be a lie too.  Come to think of it, we’re not even sure his name is Steve.  Please get in touch if you can help identify this guy who just wondered into our office one day and refused to leave. 

Writer/Podcast Host

Alex has been gaming since 1990 and has let his obsession grow into an arm full of video game tattoos. His first console was the Sega Game Gear, followed by a Multi Mega once he was allowed to play on a TV like a big boy.

He's been part of the enthusiast games press for 13 years having started his own website and podcast, A Winner Is You, back in 2009 - a podcast you can still listen to today. He's since written for Goombastomp.com and reported on Gamescom in Germany for that website back in 2018.

Alex hosts Sega Mania's official podcast, and recently became the Games Bastard - setting challenges for our readers to win prizes with their gaming skill. When not gaming, writing and podcasting, Alex plays electric guitar (alone in his room), watches pro wrestling and helps his wife look after their new baby. Sleep is not part of this agenda.

Writer

The newest member of the Sega Mania team, Tom is venturing into the gaming press for the first time having joined Sega Mania for issue 7.

A gamer from a young age, Tom's first foray into video games was on a 2nd hand Commodore-16 that his sister and he got for Christmas that year. It's safe to say that this was the catalyst for his love of gaming and the Commodore was soon replaced with a Sega Master System the following year.

So began a long journey into gaming, first with Sega, then Nintendo and everything else that followed. There are very few systems Tom doesn't own or has played over the course of his 36 years. This love of gaming has led to Tom having a fairly large collection of consoles and games, which he decided he wanted to share with other gamers a few years back.

Starting his Instagram page, @classic_console_wars, Tom shares pictures of his collection and anything he picks up while out and about. This is also where he discovered Sega Mania. Tom is also an occasional contributor to Retrogearcustoms.com, writing reviews of Game Gear Games and other posts on Sega's 8-bit handheld. However since joing Sega Mania, Tom's full focus has been on contributing to the mag and trying to spread the word via social media as much as possible.

Blogger

David can’t remember a time in his life when he wasn’t into gaming. If he’s not playing games, he's almost certainly thinking, writing or speaking about them to anyone who will stand still long enough to listen.

His first real console memory is sitting with his Dad on the floor playing Sonic, Gain ground and that weird snail-maze game that was built into the Sega Master System.

David has been hovering around the gaming press for well over a decade now. Starting life with the A Winner Is You podcast, before having brief stints with a number of games sites over years. In 2018 he achieved his lifelong ambition to attend a major gaming event as a member of the press (Gamescom).

The biggest stain on his gaming life is that to this day he has no idea what the first game he played is. He can remember playing the game and thinks it might have been on a Commodore 64, but he isn’t sure. He’s spent years trying to solve this mystery with no reprieve. Please help him.