Chris manages a few of the leading game portals, such as MMO Square, Virtual Worlds Land and Gamesparkles Free Casual Games, and we're grateful that he has taken the time to interview with us.

Q: When did start playing computer games?
A: I guess is started when I was about 11 years old, and my parents got hold of a Spectrum ZX 64 Bit tape loading system. I plugged it into the tv and would play for hours, after that I had an Amiga PC, and then kept on upgrading from there.

Q: Was it love at first sight? Did you know right away it will be a significant part of your life?
A: Not really, as a child I read a lot of books, the Spectrum went into the television so I had to share. My real gaming experience game when I got my first computer to myself, I would have been about 15 or 16, at that time some of my friends were playing MUD games, text based role play games on the University network. That was when I got hooked. This is before the days of mass internet too when we played on closed networks.

Q: Did you focus mostly on digital games, or other types of games as well?
A: I did a lot of different gaming, I am a roleplayer, and used to play with miniatures too and also collectible card games, I think you could say i’m a little geeky. Though when I was not playing any of these games with friends, I was playing games on my computer.

Q: Based on your rich experience, what do you think makes games so attractive?
A: Top of the list has to be the fun factor, games are fun, no matter what type you play, you enjoy it. How a game looks is also important, but its what you actually do that makes a good game. Whether you play socially or single player each person, me especially will pick a game that appeals to them. I prefer MMO games, and escaping into fantastic realms. But I also like match 3 games a lot.

It is now also pretty simple to find and play a good game for free, having this easy access is brilliant, it gives you fun at the tips of your fingers, coupled with a bit of a challenge and the chance to just sit back and relax, on any device, has made gamers out of many people who may never have even looked at them, my mother plays casual games on her Ipad.

Q: Can you tell about your work as a content manager of game portals? What does it include?
A: Well, as a gamer, I love this job. The biggest part of what I do is to find games, play and review them, and then place those reviews on the website. While playing I take screenshots of the gameplay, and bring all kinds of pictures together that represent the game, and I provide a way for you to find and enjoy these games too.

As well as the games themselves, I bring updates and information on games we already have, or just some nice looking places, or items that I find on a variety of games. I also enjoy writing articles, about gaming in general, or a particular niche of games, like MMO or Virtual Worlds. These articles also let me write about what I enjoy, so do the blog posts which brings a nice personal touch too. I hope that they are also useful and informative, I try to write things that I would find interesting, or what I would look for when finding a new game to play.

Q: You lead a World of Warcraft raiding guild, can you tell us about the game and your experience there?
A: I have been playing WoW since it came out, through all of the expansions, and I still find it fun and interesting to play, In essence you have 2 factions, competing for resources, factions that have been at war for decades on and off. Add in greater evil threats and long character development and storylines and you have a pretty immersive and fun world to play in.

I joined the guild I am currently in eight and a half years ago, starting as a grunt recruit I played with and made friends in the guild, learned a lot about the game, and eventually became an officer then guild leader. With a good group of officers around me we are a guild that manages to run both socially and have a core raid team that, while not one of the best guilds has still managed to clear the majority of content, and even get some heroic raid bosses killed (the hardest level of raids in the game)

I am very much a horde player, and I have some great friends in the game, people I know outside of the game too. It manages to be both compelling and social at the same time, you can come in, do your own thing, or play with friends. And it looks good, plays great, there is new content coming soon and it is just a fun place to be.

As for my experience, I have been playing for, as of November 2014, 10 years. That is a huge amount of time to be in just one game, sure I played others, but I just keep coming back. I enjoy fighting dragons, necromancers, and occasionally other players on the alliance faction. But there is just something brilliant about that game that keeps me coming back, and mostly that is the people I play with in my guild.

Q: World of Warcraft has changed your life in more than one way, can you tell us about that?
A: I was wondering if that would come up. I was very fortunate to have met a beautiful lady in WoW, and now we are married and living happily ever after. We have been together a for over 5 years, and it is an amazing story, one with 2 countries a big distance apart and the persistence on both sides to make it work, and me leaving the shores of England behind to be here today.

Without a mutual friend that played WoW I would not be as happy as I am or have this job, so I guess that this game has changed my life, in so many good ways. Not everyone can share the same story as me, but for something that was just a game to play on the weekend, it worked out pretty well.

Q: Can you tell us about specific games you enjoyed reviewing?
A: There are a few games that I took away with me to play at home, more of the MMO type than anything else, but there have been others. Black Gold is a new, Steampunk MMO game that just looked beautiful, with a brilliant world setting too. I am not normally a management type, but I also played, and still play United Eleven, a pretty cool new football game, or soccer as it may be known.

When I am out and about, I still play Candy Crush, Pengle and Indy Cat, all match 3 games that I just found fun to play. Though being a married man I get an awful lot less gaming time than I used to. The thing about this job is I see so many games that I want to play, I actually have a list of games written down, I just never seem to find the time to play them in sadly.

Q: After reviewing so many games, you have a broad perspective of the gaming industry. Did you notice any changes? What do you expect to see in the future?
A: That is a pretty good, and tough question in some ways. I think one of the first things to say is how much the audience has changed. Gamers used to be seen as spotty teenagers sitting on front of a monitor (I was one too back then) but as time has gone on the type of players has become so diverse you can’t just pick a specific group of people and say they are a gamer, anyone you walk past could be.

That is especially true for casual games. Nowadays there are games that cater to all ages, from children all the way up to middle age, and beyond. I know for a fact that there are grandparents playing Facebook games, and I think that is brilliant. The market is so open now, and gaming is not seen as a strange or weird thing anymore

With the advent of the internet, mobile devices and just more computers being around it gave people access to games that may never have had it before. Throw in social media platforms and suddenly there is space to create a game for anything, and anyone. One of the things I love is the rise of Indie Developers, small groups of talented people creating some amazing games.

But as the demand grows, so does the desire for new things, new styles or types of games. That can be seen across all Genres, earlier I mentioned Black Gold, this game seeks to do something new and unique, and took a couple of risks doing so. But in creating what they have there is now a new experience available. This creative drive is fueling the games industry, and it is exciting.

As for the future, I see a lot of new technologies, and programming languages that just continue to push developers in new ways. The improvement in graphics has been, and will continue to create some very special games, not just the big ones but also those little bubble shooter games, or match 3 games that are so popular.

I think there is a bright future for games, and gamers alike. The market continues to grow at a fast pace, there are more and more people wanting to play games and more than a few developers being innovative and creative. Competition is fierce out there, and that pushes creativity and invention, and I can't wait to see what the next year holds for us.

Q: Thanks Chris, this has been very interesting, anything you would like to add?
A: You are welcome. I just want to say how fascinating, and interesting it is to work in the gaming industry, seeing so many different games, and players has been enlightening. I never knew there were horse games until I started reviewing them, just the sheer variety of niches is staggering. I think it is wonderful, and exciting to be around in this era of technology, and development. I am very passionate about the games I love and gaming in general, and I hope that comes through in my reviews.

And to all of you reading this, I hope you enjoy every game you play. There is big wide world full of them out there, set out and find what you want and most of all, have fun!