For the past 49 Roundtables we've discussed gaming events, recent news, big issues and the games that matter. But for our 50th edition, our staff will be describing their gaming life; the consoles they began with, the games they've loved and the formats they've went through to get to Gamecube.

Also, here's a list of the past Roundtables so you can amuse yourself with our incoherent ramblings. Strangely, numbers 13 and 18 have vanished off the face of the earth. Did they ever even exist? Or is our server being oddly selective? Who knows.

1. What did you all think of this years E3 show?
2. Sales low, few games in the charts, do this spell doom for GameCube in Japan?
3. What do you make of Satoru Iwatas recent comments?
4. How bad is Nintendos decision to cancel Spaceworld? Or is it even bad?
5. With no big games till September, how are you going to tide over this dry Summer?
6. With Sonic Mega Collection on the way, do you really want to see retro games on Gamecube?
7. As the latest Mario game is released, what are your thoughts on the series?
8. What games on other systems would you like to see on Gamecube?
9. What are your thoughts on the games industry currently? Do we need to move forward, and if so, how?
10. What do you think are the differences between Nintendo's different markets at the moment?
11. Are Mikes words true about your local retailers?
12. This Fridays Turok release sees the start of many FPS'. How do they compare with eachother?
14. What are your thoughts on the Resident Evil series? How excited are you about it on Gamecube?
15. Will you be getting Mario Sunshine this Friday?
16. What should Nintendo do with the money they got from the Rare deal?
17. What could Nintendos so-called "BIG" announcement be?
19. Is gaming cool, or are we all just a bunch of geeks?
20. With two people already dead, is it time we realised how dangerous games can be?
21. What are your thoughts on the recent Nintendo finings, and what do they mean for us gamers?
22. How can Nintendo combat the overtaking Xbox sales in the UK?
23. What affect do you think the GameCube GBA Player will have on Nintendo games-playing?
24. Square and Enix together!? What does this mean for Gamecube owners
25. Who will win the Xmas battle between the three consoles this year?
27. Is Miyamoto keeping Nintendo stuck in the past, or can he leading the way forward?
28. Is realism boring? Or does it enhance the gaming experience?
29. What are you looking forward to in 2003?
30. What did you make of the recently-released European release dates?
31. What Konami games do you think we'll be getting? And what ones do you want?
32. Gamecube 2 in 2005? Will it make it, and is it too early?
33. Acclaim announces new games! But can they claw themselves back from the horrible state they're in?
34. Have games developers been wasting licences?
35. Gamecube piracy in China!? What do you make of it?
36. With Codemasters cancelling their Gamecube games, should we expect another N64 situation with publishers?
37. Apart from the big games (Zelda, Metroid, F-Zero, Final Fantasy etc.) what are you looking forward to this year?
38. Should Nintendo games contain violence?
39. Games - art, entertainment, or both?
40. We all have them. What are your pet peeves in games?
41. Are Nintendo sticking with worn-out fanchises too much, do they need to come up with new ones?
42. Sony Playstation. Was it a breath of life for the games industry or an injection of mainstream ignorance?
43. Mario Kart. On Gamecube. 7 screens. What do you think
44. After a day or two with Wind Waker, do you agree with Nintendo's decision to go with cel-shadng? Or should they have settled on the realistic one we saw at Spaceworld?
45. E3. What do you want to see and what do you think you will see?
46. Is a 3 year lifespan for Gamecube a worthy sacrifice for an early launch for Gamecube 2?
47. How has your favourites genre(s) been represented on Gamecube?
48. Sequel syndrome. Attack of the Clones. Whatever you want to call it, are copycat games the developers' fault for making them, or gamers' fault for buying them?
49. Gaming as a sport? Could it really work?

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Could you describe your gaming life?

er-no: I first got into gaming when I was the mere age of two years old. I was terrible at it then but I loved the bright colours shown on the BBC's screen! Pengu, Chuckie Egg and Mr E all got me into gaming I suppose.... and since that tender age. I haven't slowed down.

Gaming for me was more a way of escapism than a form of entertainment. I enjoyed the games which allowed me to escape from reality. Every sort of game appealed to me in my younger years. Marble Madness, Duck Hunt and Time Lord were three of my favorites on the NES. Slowly this gaming progressed into more of an interest. I didn't play as much and preferred to buy only the games which had been recommended through friends.

At this age now and finishing my A Levels I have a summer of late mornings and late night gaming sessions to look forward too. I still buy only the best games (although I try a lot of them through work) and now its better than ever because I make money selling video games as a part-time job. I don't play games as much as I used to, but I still know everything there is to know.

Bas: My first gaming experience was on my uncle's Philips G7000 console. I played games like Pac-man etc. When it broke down I first wanted to get an Atari, but changed my mind and bought a NES. I have been playing on Nintendo systems ever since, only missing out on the Game Boy Color. I played most of the Nintendo classics from Super Mario Bros. to The Wind Waker.

A couple of years after my purchase of the NES I also got a PC. Though I don't really consider myself a PC-gamer, Stunts, Transport Tycoon, Sam & Max and Duke Nukem 3D are among my favourite games.

Now that I can afford it, I also own a PS2 to complement my Cube games library. Pro Evolution Soccer, Colin McRae Rally 3, Grand Theft Auto III, Rez and Ico are games I didn't want to miss.

Lamsh: My first games were on the Atari ST my mother bought for the store she had with my father, I was about six years old I guess. We played a lot of freeware games at first, but also just about every Lucasarts (was still called Lucasfilm then) adventure that was playable on a black and white Atari ST.

My first console was a NES. I got it as a soothing present because we were moving to another city when I was 9. I can tell you that having a NES is a perfect way to make new friends! I was completely addicted to Kirby and Mario 2 on my NES. When I was 12, my mother bought my brother, my sister and me a SNES, one of the best gifts I ever got. I spent a LOT of time playing Streetfighter 2 Turbo, Mario Kart, Secret of Mana, Zelda and countless other games. Now almost 10 years later I still buy and play SNES games.

When I was about 15 I stopped playing console games for a while. I don't have a N64 and my Playstation is barely ever used. When my brother bought a Gamecube on the release date I got interested again. When he wanted to sell it to buy an X-Box I immediatly got some money together and bought it. The Cube gets played here almost every day, lots of Monkey Ball and Smash Brothers multiplaying with my friends and before and afterwards some single player fun for me.

After the Cube came my GBA SP. I never really played a lot of GB games (only Wario land on my sisters old GB), so I planned to make up for this with my GBA. I really like playing on it, but my Cube always comes first. I try to buy every Cube game I like, I have about 20 now and plan to buy a lot more in the future :)

James: I've been a Nintendo boy all my life. I started off with the good old NES, my favourite game on which was Duck Hunt. I was very little at the time and used to go right up to the screen with the lightgun so I didn't miss any of the ducks!

Back then I also had the good old-fashioned Game Boy (I've had all previous iterations of the Game Boy bar the Pocket), and my favourite GB game was, perhaps surprisingly, Wario and Bomberman. That game stayed in my GB for a very long time.

Then on to the SNES a few years later, and though I had it for about 2-3 years before my N64, I only bought about 8 games in total (but one of those was Super Mario All Stars, so I suppose that counts as a few more games). It was through All Stars that I came to play one of my all-time favourites, and one of the Best Games Ever, Super Mario Bros 3. Another game I enjoyed on the SNES was Plok. For those who haven't heard of it, Plok was a platform game in which the main character could throw his arms and legs at enemies. I loved all my SNES games, but particularly DKC2, SMB3 and Plok.

Then onto the N64. I bought my console in 1996, and accumulated a wealth of games in the years to come (around 30 in total), some of which were real stinkers (*cough* Mission: Impossible *cough* Bomberman 64) but many were true classics. I owned all the Rare games bar Blast Corps and Banjo Tooie, and all the in-house Nintendo games, as well as a few other classic titles. Out of these, my faves had to be Goldeneye and Mario Kart 64.

Ash: We had a NES when I was young, having an elder brother came in good for once (and not again since then may I add) as it was for him. We had an odd random mix of games, mostly I cant remember. I can remember having a SNES aswell, I used to go on that a far bit but I think I played the Master System more (I was young, Sonic's speed impressed me and the games were easier).

I really got into gaming when the PlayStation came out, we got one, it broke, we got it replaced, it broke, we got another, it broke, we got an N64. I got two games at launch, PilotWings and Star Wars and shortly after a second hand Mario 64 (which I think somebody had used a cheat cartridge on or something as it had 168 stars). I can remember that 168 star file being wiped by one of my brothers little friends on his birthday and I was really angry. I continued to get games as often as I could going for the "big releases" normally.

I became more and more aware of the gaming scene and started getting magazines and looking at websites. C-E became a favourite as it was Euro-centric so it was helpful for me. When the Game Boy Advance came out I got one early in the morning as I had a dentist appointment. They failed to notice something wrong with my teeth and I couldnt concentrate that weekend (they were shut all weekend) so I couldnt play it. When May 3rd rolled around I raced home and got to the local Comet (was getting it for cheap as brother's friend worked there) and waited for my parents (they didnt want me having �300 by myself). They took their merry old time and finally they got there and I raced in and grabbed everything and on the ride home I looked at everything, admiring it's smallness.

I then got various games when I could afford it and at the end of September I became a news writer here and I was really happy. Then two months ago I was promoted to Co-Head of News with Walty when ModoX resigned and then suddenly so did Walty so I was left on my own. And here I am, Head of News Department and I'm loving it!

Ben: My love affair with gaming started way back in '96 when a second-hand Sega Megadrive complete with 16 games was presented to me on Christmas Day. As soon as I slid one of those thick black carts into the innards of the 16-bit machine, I fell in love. Pure entertainment was but a button's push away. At the age of 7, my life was being invaded by the force that is gaming. My gaming life had begun.

For a year or so I was content with Sega's machine, churning out endless boring sequels, but to an 8 year old it was bliss. The local computer store became my heaven, my beady eyes scanning the huge boxes for the latest exciting titles. Games, and indeed, obsessions, came and went.

As I became older, I started to get into the gaming world, rather than just play the games, I took an interest in the industry, and the goings on in the gaming world. I did this by looking around the various stores, checking out the new games, and eventually the new consoles. This was a premeture stage of what I have become now, a gaming fanatic, interested in not only the games but the world which they are surrounded by.

As a young one, I was of a chatty nature, talking to the assistants while my mum bought the groceries. I was informed of the new consoles by one particularly helpful spotty young chap, and I became hysterical by the thought of a spanking new console. If I recall, I had seen the playstation stands, but the boring games I had played on the Sega seemed to have re-collected on that particular consoles. I had my sights set on a lovely new n64. And I never looked back.

On the day before my birthday that very year I dragged my mother into said store, and showed her the nintendo consoles. She liked the fact that it had "kiddy" games. Although I was denyed the oppurtunity to purchase Goldeneye with the platform, because of the violence, I went home toting a N64, with a splendid copy of Super Mario 64. A huge grin adorned my face.

That night, the day before my birthday, I lay awake in bed. I lay there daydreaming of the delight which awaited me the next morning. As I lay there, I heared a noise, "Its-a-me Mario!". Startled, I went down to investigate. I peered around the corner, into the living room, and my mother and father were sat there, both engrossed in their game of SM64. My parents had got the bug. I smiled to myself and crept back up to bed, the fun had only just started.

I woke up the next morning and escaped near-death on my trip down the stairs due to the speed I was demonstrating. I played SM64 for months. Those months turned me into a Nintendo gamer. I had found my place.

The following Christmas, a small bulge appeared in my stocking. that bulge changed my life forever. That bulge was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time. That day, as I sat playing the most wondrous game, my sister's newly-aquired Bewitched CD playing sweetly to my left, I relaised that I had been taken over by the phenomenon that is gaming. And I liked it.

The following week a trip to the supermarket was in order. To my delight my mother threw a copy of "N64" magazine in the trolley. That magazine was my portal to what I am now, a video game journalist. I religiously bought, and will, buy this magazine, now known as NGC. It kept me in touch with the nintendo world. It was my theoretical second home. From now on, I was inside gaming, I was an insider. I knew everything there was to know about the state of play in the industry at any given time. I had been kidnapped. Nintendo was the culprit.

A few years, and 40 games, later, the GameCube was announced. At the same time, my family moved house, and we aquired a spanking new computer complete with internet access. It turned out that this feature would be an entrance to gaming heaven. Where I could express my opinions with others, where I could capture my love for nintendo with others.

And the rest is history. In early 2003 I joined the Cube-Europe team as a news reporter, a department led by the splendid Ash, thanks to Tim Symons, CE's director, who encouraged me to apply. I am now happily married to CE, I plunge most of my time into the website, reporting news, and doing other articles and features. Much like the Linkin Park song, I have found somewhere I belong.

Link: I have to say that I am a relatively 'young' gamer. I wasn't really a gamer until 1998. Up until that point I enjoyed watching my brother play games more than I liked to play games myself. Because of this I started playing games on the N64 before other consoles. As I got more into games I went back to my SNES and NES to play games that I had missed. Unfortunately there are tons of RPGs that I missed.

Now, videogames for me are mostly GameCube games. I like the Final Fantasy games for the PSX and one of my favourite games of all time is still Vagrant's Story for the PSX. I have played some PS2 games and a couple of XBOX games, but I have been sticking with the GameCube for the most part.

Some (perhaps) interesting tidbits about my gaming 'life' is that the game that I waited the longest for was most likely Eternal Darkness. Since it was announced at E3 of 1996 (or 97 or maybe even 98) I knew that I was going to get that game. I waited and waited and had nearly forgotten about it when I came across, and was blown away by, some GC screens of it. It remains one of my favourite games of all time (up there with Vagrant's Story and OoT which is the game that was second longest that I waited for). Interestingly enough, the game that I am waiting for the most right now, and which I think I'll be waiting for it a while, is also by Silicon Knights: Too Human.

Hmmm...I guess that's it. Right now I'm revisiting Perfect Dark and I would say that I play games as little as an hour per week or up to 18 hours/week if I have a new game. And that's my gaming life.

Blackbird: March 1982, Blackbird was born. These years were some of the darkest in my entire life (I even can't remember much of them). After 3 or 4 years living in this condition, my father thought it was nice to add a computer to our household: the C64 became part of the family.

In my opinion, this C64 is still the best platform around. Back in the ages, it was class, nowadays it's considered very retro. I spend most of my time playing games on the C64. Games such as Java Jim, Boulderdash and Wonderboy weren't even graphically meager (on todays terms), but still they were able to please me.

After a few years (age 8), I decided it was time for something new: I bought myself a Gameboy. After a few weeks, I mastered Tetris so I thought it would be nice to get some GB games for my birthdays. This GB madness continued for a couple of years, while I tried moving on to the NES.

The NES was great, it even had a lightgun to shoot digitalised ducks with. Unfortunately, I realised that consoles aren't really my way of gaming. I tried using a SNES, but even that wasn't enough for me: back to the C64 and the GB.

8 years after the entrance of the first C64 (in the meantime, the amount had risen to 3 C64's and 2 GB's), my father came home with a few big boxes: A 80486-DX2 took the place where my beloved C64 once stood. The 'PC' was here to stay!

Years passed, many PC's came and went. Until 'it' happened...

I was on my way to an exam in uni. I came along Tim (the owner of this site), he was holding some purple object. Obviously, this was something big, since a number of people were watching him, while he stood the, watching at the purple object... It was a Gameboy Advance. Tim got this gadget imported from Japan. That day, I decided my gaming-life needed a new twist: a color handheld (I missed out on the GBC).

Ever since I've been playing more games than ever before. I actually have to stop writing now, my GBA SP is calling me. *Mario*... *Mario*...

Tim: For me gaming started many years ago when I was 8. I started playing these classic PC games on my dad's Computer. Paratroopers and these old adventure games where you had to type in text to do stuff ("Look in closet")interested me.

I started my console life two years later. I bought my very own Atari 2600. After two years I had three of them and over 25 games. I also bought this old light-gun console, which had one games on it - shoot a square moving around over the screen.

After bugging my parents for ages, I finally got my first Game Boy during christmas. I don't remember exactly what year it was, but it couldn't have been long after it's original release as it remember it was the newest thing.

The NES I always played at my cousins house. The SNES I always played at my friend's (Jelle) house. The first console I personally owned after my Atari 2600 would be my N64. I got that and loved it so much I decided to launch a website covering it. And from there on you can figure what happened...

GameCube, GBA, GBA SP... GameCube 2?

Kevin: I live my life in the games industry pretty much 24 hours a day, looking at new games, thing=king what to buy, even writing freelance for great places like cube-europe.

My first console was a NES which broke after 3 days and my parents swopped it for a Master System (EVIL)which was'nt what I wanted. The master system then was followed by the GB and a SNES. But my first console which I could afford to buy games for was the N64 which took me over a year to pay for from the catalouge. Then came the GBA which I had only 1 game for over a year.

This takes me upto April last year when just by chance I found CE and since the GC launch, I have made fantasic friends around here and spent over �1000 including 2 cubes and a lot of games !

Conor: Well, my gaming life began a long time ago with a little console called the NES. You may remember it. The NES and Super Mario Bros 3, that's how I spent my younger years. I had a bunch of other games, but they didn't matter. SMB 3 was king, the undisputed champion of gaming, it was just absolutely brilliant. I must've played that for years. Still play it sometimes even today, talk about longetevity!

I wasn't very clued into gaming at the time, but heard about the Super Nintendo eventually from a friend. I sold my NES (oh dear god why!?) and used the money to buy a SNES and a copy of Super Mario All-Stars. Much time was spent on that game, believe me. I had some other good games, but missed out on a lot of classics because of my gaming ignorance.

Again, I heard about the N64 from a friend later on. God I was excited about it. I received an N64 and Lylat Wars for Christmas 97, and soon got Goldeneye, Diddy Kong Racing and a host of other class games. With the N64 I started buying magasines and eventually went on the internet, so became more educated in gaming. I'm sorely sorry that I missed out on so many great games in the past, but intend to make that up. The N64 was my favourite console, because of all the memorable games, moments and memories that can with it. You can read more about my love for the N64 in The King Is Dead, Long Live The King. And with the arrival of Pokemania I purchased my first handheld, the GB Pocket, just to play Pokemon on. One of the best games I've ever played, definitely.

During the N64 era I enjoyed playing games on my PC a lot. I was really into RTS games like Command and Conquer and Age of Empires 2. And, of course, one of the best games ever made; Half-Life. Unfortunately, after a marathon Half-Life session on my mate's high-end PC I just couldn't go back to it on my slow PC. Eventually I drifted out of PC gaming because I couldn't keep up with the rising specifications needed to run the new games.

With new N64 games practically non-existant on Xmas 2001, I went for a Game Boy Advance and a copy of Mario Kart: Super Circuit. I still regularly buy GBA games, there's some crackers about. And then there was May 3rd, and the launch of Gamecube. Been playing it ever since then, and will undoubtedly be getting it's successor on launch day. I've never owned a non-Nintendo console; Playstation and Sega's earlier console didn't interest me much. Although I am slightly ashamed that I didn't buy a Dreamcast.