rignall's career as a gaming journalist began in london in the early 1980s as a student competing in video game tournaments. during his teenage years, rignall held the uk and world record high scores on video games such as "defender", "pole position" and "crossfire". he also won "computer and video games" magazine's 1983 uk video arcade game championship, beating more than 500 of the country's top arcade players to win the title. rignall's success at winning international video game tournaments launched his career as a video game journalist writing gaming hints and tips for magazines such as "computer and video games" and "personal computer games".