Marc Johnson grew up with video games. The bleeps and bloops that leaked from his Mum and Dad’s black and white set (thanks to the attached Binatone) accompanied his own similarly embryonic cheeps and chirps. He took his first steps as Jumpman leapt barrels in Donkey Kong, and he was a little disappointed that his first day at school was not in the least like Skool Daze.

Puberty, as is its wont, shook his world to its core, revealing a richness and depth never before experienced. Bringing with it an awkward self-awareness, it felt more like displacement than growth. Simultaneously, video games struggled to reconcile its new position of maturity amongst the mainstream entertainment media, just as it endeavoured to incorporate traditional gameplay mechanics into a new 3D aesthetic.

It was only a matter of time. Marc learned to adapt to adulthood, finding a professional niche and affirming his place amongst the ‘grown-ups’ as a husband and father. Games overcame the early hiccups and now XBoxes, Playstation 3s and Wiis snuggle up alongside TV decoders and DVD players in homes belonging to people of all backgrounds and persuasions. Even the mainstream press occasionally acknowledge gaming as a worthy pursuit for an adult.

Marc approves of this change in attitude towards video games. He looks forwards to a time when they are treated with the same reverence as cinema; written about with the same verve and wit as popular music; given the appropriate amount of air-time and column-inches.

Here in his little corner of the blogosphere (the blogosphere being the only sphere to have corners), Marc will contribute to this shift in attitude by writing about games in a way which is insightful and erudite. He has only one problem: he is not sure that his written English is up to the task. He has played games all of his life, but his last English lesson was in 1996. He will play, he will write, and he will read. He will improve.