What’s Denkiphile?

“Denki” in Japanese means electricity or electronic goods. The suffix “-phile” modifies a word to form a word meaning one who has a penchant for something or likes something in particular over others. Hence, Denkiphile means one who has an affinity for electronic goods.

Denkiphile was established in 2011 and composed of a group of veteran gamers. Here are their stories:

Davis Fan (Editor-in-chief):

Like most gamers from my era (the 90′s), I started with Super Nintendo and just never stopped playing. I had the blisters, or battle wounds as some called them, from playing Street Fighter II and endured the annoying load times fromPlaystation games. As I got older, I stepped out and began to play fighting games competitively, joining tournaments for games such as Guilty Gear XX Accent Core and Street Fighter IV, all the while I was also engulfed in the world of video game journalism and blogging; after the Evolution Fighting Game Championships 2009, I quit playing fighting games competitively and focused the bulk of my gaming time on blogging. Occasionally, I’ll still head out to the local arcade or fire up Super Street Fighter IV and look for the same thrill I used to get facing off some unknown player.

Matt Kartanata (Casual Games Editor):

I like to think all literature, film, and arts—video games included—are deliberately complex masterpieces that begin with the virtue of entertainment in some shape or form. So when I was called a “nerd” for the first time, I took it in stride—because I think we’re all nerds in some capacity. Competitive sports, stamp collecting, and video games all share in common an individual fanbase waiting to be dazzled, enchanted, and above all, captivated—and that’s exactly what I’ve been with gaming since an early age. From Pokemon to Kingdom Hearts to Neopets, I went full circle from the Gameboy to consoles to the PC, and haven’t stopped moving between the cycle ever since.

Jhonny Crespo (Senior Vice President of iOS Reviews)

I remember being the only kid on the block with a Sega Genesis. This had all of the neighborhood kids in my house – something that my parents were never really fans of. What ended up changing my life however was Nintendo’s Game Boy Color. From then on out, I was all about mobile gaming. This fit perfectly for my on-the-go lifestyle and allowed me to keep up with games that otherwise would be collecting dust by my TV. Now with the App Store, I can keep on gaming without carrying an extra device around. With people always asking me about different games, I finally decided that maybe I should start blogging instead of repeating my recommendations to people. Now I can just copy and paste my links.

Justin Chen (Writer)

My first true taste of gaming came a bit later in my life than for most. It began with a brief experience with Starcraft on a friend’s computer, but as soon as I played a single game, I became absolutely embroiled in it. After purchasing my own copy, I played it to an almost religious fanaticism, vowing to become as dominant as possible. Admittedly, that became a bit more complicated since most gamers were far better than my inexperienced 11-year-old self. However, Starcraft would forever cement my interest in multiplayer games in the future. While I enjoy the occasional single player game, multiplayer will always be my sanctuary. Regardless of the genre, whether it be RTS, FPS, or anything in between, one can always find me engaged as long as there is some good multiplayer action.

Kevin Kartanata (Writer)

Of the few abilities I pride myself on, complaining about the things I love probably takes the top spot, and I am in disgusting, embarrassing love with video games – the kind of love that receives disapproving looks in public or gets oddly specific legislation passed. I owe much to video games, not the least of which include the friends I have made, the greatest highs and lows a human being could ever experience, and mountains of sub-average report cards. There is no doubt in my mind that video games will become as accepted as an art form on par with movies and books in our lifetimes, and when this happens, you can bet that I will have some choice words for whatever title a wannabe game developer auteur has pumped out.

Eldon Tsan (Writer)

I love playing video games. I know what you’re thinking to yourselves, “How outrageous! Eldon doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would play video games,” but believe me when I say that video games are one of the things I am most passionate about. The beginning of my journey into the magical lands of vidya begins with the Game Boy. As a five year old, I was absolutely enamored with the system despite only owning a meager amount of games such as Tetris or Pokémon Red. From then on, I have owned and played nearly every single system since the fourth generation of consoles, culminating in my ascension into PC gaming. Whether playing a first-person shooter, an RTS, or even a casual mobile phone game, I am always in a state of comfort when gaming. Though I am much more jaded and cynical about new releases now than my younger self, I still hold hope for the future and will never be ashamed to utter the following sentence in public: I love playing video games.

Entertainment

In 2012, we launched Denkiphile Entertainment to bring the same editorial capacity to forms of entertainment including, but not limited to television, movies, and anime. Here are some of the staff’s stories:

Carla Northy (Entertainment Editor):

My favorite movie growing up was The Lion King. When I was little, I would carry the VHS tape in my backpack and pop it in what ever VCR I could find (Jesus, I feel old). I have loved movies ever since I was a child and my favorite thing to do on the weekend was go to the movies with my dad and watch the newest releases, always leaving with a smile. Now I am a broke college student: jaded, cynical, sarcastic… the mandatory attitude for a student. Despite the attitude, there is still something I love to do on the weekends: go to the movies and come out with a smile.

Kevin Chu (Writer):

Saturday mornings, when I was a kid, were like church – every weekend, like clockwork, I got up at 7 AM to see the new episodes of Power Rangers, Digimon, and Pokémon. I stayed glued to the TV until noon when the kids’ segment ended and golf, which made (and still makes) me sleepy, came on. In high school, it expanded to watching Reba and What I Like About You reruns after school until I heard the garage door open and I would scramble to make it look like I had been doing homework home alone. The first series I can remember actively keeping up with was Heroes, which fed into my earlier sci-fi/superhero roots. From there I spread through networks like wildfire, and I’ve never stopped loving TV since.

Grant Mikuriya (Writer):

My first encounter with anime happened when I was about seven, my first series being Rurouni Kenshin. I watched a few series here and there, but pretty much didn’t touch the stuff after that. If you had talked to me about it in high school, I probably would have labeled you a turbonerd and proceeded to pants you. It wasn’t until my ex broke up with me about a year and a half ago that I really got into anime thanks to a friend of mine suggesting a few series to cheer me up. Now, I am keeping up to date with new series every season.