Gavin Lane

Gavin Lane

Editor, Nintendo Life

Author Profile

Gavin first wrote for Nintendo Life in 2018 before joining the site full-time the following year, rising through the ranks to become Editor. He can currently be found squashed beneath a Switch backlog the size of Normandy.

Ever since I was devouring N64 Magazine every month in the late '90s, the idea of writing about video games for a living had been floating in the back of my mind. Joining Nintendo Life in 2019 meant I could finally combine my love of games and writing, and get to interact with lovely, like-minded people every single day. Video games have the ability to constantly surprise you with something new, even when you think you've seen it all.

Experience

Gavin started contributing to Nintendo Life as a freelance reviewer and features writer in 2018. In 2019 he became Features Editor, and then Editor in 2021.

He continues to contribute articles across the site’s sections including news, reviews, features and guides.

Aside from getting to work with a fantastic team, the variety is the most enjoyable part of the job. Whether it's delving into a specific game, hearing from a developer, considering how best to help players/readers, or unearthing and shining a light on exciting tidbits from the Nintendo sphere, there's always something fresh to discover and write about.

Timeline

  • 2018: Starts contributing to Nintendo Life as a freelance reviewer & features writer
  • 2019: Joins Nintendo Life as Features Editor
  • 2021: Becomes Editor at Nintendo Life

Expertise

Gavin’s first gaming console was the Mega Drive. Since then he’s owned just about every Sega, Nintendo, Xbox and PlayStation console you can think of. Oh, and don’t forget the Playdate either!

His favourite console of all time is the N64 - a window into a new world of Nintendo, multiplayer and 3D gaming.

It's variety that keeps me ticking. I'd get sick of the same thing over and over, so I don't have a favourite genre as such. How many roguelike deckbuilders can one person take?

Gavin’s Favourite Games

From the Archive

We asked Gavin to pick out his three favourite pieces of work from across his personal archive, and tell us why he picked them!

Feature: Banjo-Tooie Turns 20 - The Rare Team Tells The Story Of Bombs, Bugs And Bottles

Getting to speak to the Banjo-Tooie team for the 20th anniversary was a huge honour.

Feature: How David Lynch’s Twin Peaks Influenced The Legend Of Zelda Series

As a huge Twin Peaks fan, my piece on the connections between the Zelda series and David Lynch is a personal favourite.

Feature: "It's Fun, So It's Okay!" - Celebrating Takashi Tezuka's Astonishing 40-Year Nintendo Career

I don't get to deep-dive into a specific developer or piece of hardware as much as I'd like, but it was a joy researching and writing about Takashi Tezuka's 40-year Nintendo career.

Username
dartmonkey
Articles
2,447 (88 reviews)
First Article
Sun 2nd, April 2017
Avg. Review Score
7.3
Find Them On
LinkedIn • Muck Rack •
  • Smoke And Sacrifice (Switch eShop)

    24

    Review Smoke And Sacrifice (Switch eShop)

    Drear, there and everywhere

    Sachi lives in a perfect, pastoral village. The inhabitants worship a mechanical Sun Tree that powers the community with its benevolent light. Everything’s hunky dory except for one thing: prosperity depends on firstborn children being sacrificed to the Sun God via a big laser. Sachi accepted this when she surrendered...

  • Battle Chasers: Nightwar (Switch)

    60

    Review Battle Chasers: Nightwar (Switch)

    Mana up

    Seven months after arriving on other platforms, and nearly three years after its Kickstarter success, Battle Chasers: Nightwar finally brings its brand of classic turn-based combat to your favourite ‘homeheld’ console. While this is firmly in the JRPG mold, it streamlines features and makes life easier for busy gamers who lack the time...

  • Garage (Switch eShop)

    21

    Review Garage (Switch eShop)

    Marriage or mirage?

    Deadbeat drug dealer Butch wakes up in the trunk of a car and climbs out into a top-down urban hellscape. It’s up to him, with the help of his mysterious handler ‘Anaconda’, to battle through the Garage, an underground mall formerly owned by shady corporation Smith Investments. Cue horrific encounters with mutated vermin,...

  • Late Shift (Switch eShop)

    26

    Review Late Shift (Switch eShop)

    Tuck your shirt in, mate!

    That grandiose term ‘interactive entertainment’ has been bandied around for decades, usually rolled out when the word ‘game’ feels too throwaway or restrictive. Sure, it’s highfalutin, but sometimes it’s simply a more accurate descriptor. FMV release Late Shift is a case in point – it’s likely to garner...

  • Agatha Knife (Switch eShop)

    15

    Review Agatha Knife (Switch eShop)

    That's not a knife

    Remember back when Nintendo censored crosses on tombstones and changed blood from red to green? How times change. While blood and gore have been fair game for a while now, religion has remained a sensitive area until relatively recently, as evidenced by The Binding of Isaac’s long journey to Nintendo platforms. Mango...

  • The Way Remastered (Switch eShop)

    37

    Review The Way Remastered (Switch eShop)

    The way we were

    Originally released for PC back in 2016, The Way’s Kickstarter success was fuelled by an affection for iconic puzzle-platformers Another World and Flashback. Those Delphine Software games appeared on multiple platforms in the early '90s and drew attention with cinematic narratives and a distinctive art style. Following an...

  • Sling Ming (Switch eShop)

    18

    Review Sling Ming (Switch eShop)

    Sling when you're winning

    Another day, another eShop release. Sling Ming joins the swelling ranks of the online storefront at a time when Nintendo itself has acknowledged increasing discoverability issues. Coming from ‘twindie’ developer Good Night Brave Warrior, does this 2D swinger have what it takes to stand out in the crowd of charming...

  • The Bunker (Switch eShop)

    16

    Review The Bunker (Switch eShop)

    Underground in Siberia, James?

    If you’re old enough to remember the sound of dial-up modems with fondness, you probably have a similar wistful nostalgia for full motion Video games. The mention of Night Trap or Wing Commander III will elicit memories of an era when new-fangled CD-ROMs enabled actual video in our video games, and FMV seemed somehow...