Mel Croucher is a British writer and video games pioneer. Originally an architect, he moved into multi-media and in 1977 set up Automata as the first computer games company in England, broadcasting his video game software over FM radio. During the early boom years of home computers, he published several Number One titles before turning his back on the video gaming industry he helped create, to concentrate on writing books and comedy. Behind the scenes, Croucher has masterminded online campaigns for some of the biggest names in music, cinema and publishing. Today he is a popular journalist and magazine columnist, and in recent years has returned to creating his beloved non-violent video games for a new generation of players.