GOD PLAYING
Sims gone bad
YOU TOO CAN BE OMNIPOTENT The best games of all time where you’re in charge
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Cosplay Special Page 124
Battlefield Hardline Full Preview! Page 58
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18 32 66 102 WELCOME TO LIVE! This month we’re taking control… we’ll some of us are, especially when we are playing “God games” such as The Sims, Civilisation etc. What makes us love taking control? The power? The joy of crafting a society or sim that you can create and then guide into situations vastly different from your own? Perhaps it’s that side of us that wants to cause mayhem? We take a look at the best and most popular God games over the years in August along with a huge amount of reviews, cosplay and more. We promise the article “When Sims go bad” will be a good laugh! We’re also excited about some hot titles coming out as always in the last quarter so check our previews out and see what you should be saving for. If you’re in Australia you’re probably doing your best to keep warm. Our northern friends are likely down the beach and enjoying the sunshine. Wherever you are, it’s always a good time for gaming, cosplay and everything else that we love. Rob Jenkins
Feature: “God Games”
Previews & Reviews
Anime & Manga
Cosplay interviews
THE LIVE TEAM Publisher: Rob Jenkins (Gametraders Operations Centre) Art Director: Giselle Capozza (Gametraders Operations Centre) Game Review & Preview Editors: Nick Getley & Kylie Tuttle (Sticky Trigger) Retro Writer: Paul Monopoli UK Writer: Elliott Buddo US Writer: Serwa Aboagye Sticky Trigger Writers: Kylie Tuttle Nick Getley Alex Holmes Sam Babu Nick Pearce Aaron Milligan Ben Rachow Elliott Buddo Bridget Sweeney Sean Fox Miranda Nelson Tim Arnold Matthew Raspe
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NVIDIA SHIELD Nvidia has announced a monster of a device ideal for gaming. It comes in two options - a 16 GB and 32 GB systems. They will feature the Nvidia Tegra K1 192 core Kepler GPU running at 2.2 GHz ARM Cortex A15 CPU … that’s a lot of technical stuff to say - it will be fast. It’s an 8 inch 1920x1200 multi-touch Full HD display with front facing stereo speakers, and built in mic. There is a DirectStylus 2 so you can write, draw or paint, plus an optional wireless controller for gaming. It promises to be one for the gamer - more details here www.shield.nvidia.com/gaming-tablet.
WHAT’S NEW?
GAMES TO WATCH OUT FOR There’s some amazing titles about to land on your new console including - Destiny, FIFA 15, Alien Isolation, The Evil Within and of course Battlefield Hardline (now expect 2015) and Call of Duty Advanced Warfare.
SOME TIME IN SEPTEMBER Watch out for iPhone 6 announcements… likely something in September or October. The rumour mill suggests 2 new screen sizes plus a whole bunch of cool stuff. Also Apple may announce a new Apple TV - very much overdue. Pssstttt.. will there be an iWatch?
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gaming in the US
MORTAL KOMBAT: THE GAME WHICH DEFINED AN INDUSTRY Since its iconic release over twenty years ago, Mortal Kombat has been arguably the most controversial video game of all time. With the announcement of Mortal Kombat X, there is no better time to reflect and discuss the influence this franchise has had on not only the industry but our culture as well. Released in an era when the video game industry was experiencing a considerable shift in target audience, Mortal Kombat ushered in waves of new players – most notably, adults and teenagers. Up until the early 90’s, video games had been viewed by our society as a children’s entertainment endeavor. Mortal Kombat instantly and radically changed that perception. The release of Mortal Kombat not only introduced video games as a new source of mature entertainment, but also thrust the industry into the political spotlight. Shortly after its
there were no laws or regulations in place preventing younger audiences from access. At that moment in time the largest video game retailer was Toys ‘R Us because, up until that point, video games had been aimed at younger target audiences. It was not difficult for children to get their hands on the game and parents were especially concerned. One parent in particular, however, turned his concern into legal action against the sale of Mortal Kombat and altered the video game industry forever; that parent’s name was Senator Joe Lieberman. After being asked to purchase the game for his son, Lieberman became aware of Mortal Kombat’s content and immediately began to lobby against the future publication of such violent and gory games. Less than two months after Mortal Kombat’s
ference, he chaired a subcommittee concerning the effects of violent video games and demanded the industry be held accountable for such publications with a system of selfregulation policies; thanks to feverous media coverage, the proposal was met with overwhelming social approval. Merely five months after Lieberman’s press conference, the video game industry pioneered the Entertainment Software Rating Board. Unsurprisingly, the ESRB’s first action was to assign Mortal Kombat a “Mature” rating, indicating it was illegal for minors to purchase the game. The events immediately following the release of Mortal Kombat combined with mild public panic, endorsed a stigma on video games which continues to follow the industry. However, out of the turmoil
“IT’S QUITE POSSIBLE GAMES SUCH AS GRAND THEFT AUTO, ASSASSIN’S CREED, AND CALL OF DUTY WOULD NOT BE A REALITY TODAY IF NOT FOR THE CRUCIFIXION OF THE ORIGINAL MORTAL KOMBAT.” successful launch, Mortal Kombat became the subject of social ire as the general public became increasingly aware of the game’s glorified violence. Despite Mortal Kombat being intended for mature audiences,
release, Lieberman conducted a press conference with the objective of exposing video games such as Mortal Kombat as a corrupting force on society’s impressionistic youth. A week after Lieberman’s press con-
came an established ratings code which is still observed today. And as much as the industry attempts to demonize it, the ESRB allows developers to create the games they want to create and publish said
games to the correct target audience with protection from government censorship and legislation. Read that sentence again. It’s important. Without Mortal Kombat and the ESRB its controversy birthed, there is no way to tell how successful or unsuccessful the video game industry would be today. It’s quite possible games such as Grand Theft Auto, Assassin’s Creed, and Call of Duty would not be a reality today if not for the crucifixion of the original Mortal Kombat. It’s even more possible the video games industry would not be the billion dollar industry it is today without the introduction of Mortal Kombat to the public as a game designed for mature audiences. So as Mortal Kombat prepares to celebrate its tenth installment, let’s all take a moment and remember the franchise as a monolith to this industry’s booming, albeit controversial, success.
Written by Serwa Aboagye Twitter: @serwaaboagye
gaming in the UK
MUST HAVE GAMES!
Now that the excitement over E3 has passed, let’s look at some of the disappointments that have come to light recently with changes to release dates. I know that I touched on this a few issues ago that changes releases can be a good thing as developers can then look to iron out any issues they find or make the game better, however the current list of release dates being pushed back seems to be expanding on a daily basis! Will it be worth the wait or will we be disappointed with the final product? Following the announcement last year that Watch Dogs was going to be released on the next gen consoles, gamer were buzzed with excitement after seeing the amazing gameplay and graphics. Following the announcement by Ubisoft that the delay was occurring to ensure they did the game justice and got it right, gamers waited patiently for one of the most anticipated and original games to be released. In my opin-
been anticipating. I was slightly disappointed and thought that the delay would have presented us with a much crisper looking game. Hopefully the delays following the E3 announcements are for the better and we are given some truly awesome gaming experiences for 2015! So here are a few off my list of ‘sads’ for being delayed. Batman: Arkham Knight I don’t think I’m the only person who is a little cut when this announcement came out. Batman is ALWAYS a front runner when it comes to gaming followers of the franchise, so when the announcement came out that it wasn’t going to be a 2014 release after all and more than likely an early 2015 release, I died a little on the inside as my wanting to drive the Batmobile for the first time ever has been taken away from me… for a few months! The Order: 1886 A Sony exclusive announce early on
credible based on the many trailers I’ve seen for it and the steam-punk themed world is going to be amazing! Story wise this game is going to combine mythical creatures and place them head to head against knights! This is something I want to get my hands on badly! Come on developers! Release it earlier! You have been working on it since 2010! : ( Last but not least… The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Why? Just why did CD Projekt RED build me up to then crush my dreams? My life is over! Ok, so im a little melodramatic, but The Witcher Franchise has always been a favourite of mine. Everyone had been anticipating the open world RPG to be out sometime near the end of 2014, to now be pushed back to a February 2015 release date. Credit where credit is due, the developers did state that they wanted to ensure that they were satisfied with the games quality before they released
“2015 LOOKS TO HAVE SOME VERY IMPRESSIVE TITLES..” ion, the final product from Ubisoft had changed from what we had all been anticipating. Sure the game play was still there, but graphically, it looked very different to what we had
in the year was slated to be released sometime towards the end of 2014. However, Sony recently announced that this game won’t be out until early 2015. Visually this game looks in-
it as gamers expect a high amount of quality from them. This is true, but to change the release date on us is like taking sweets from a baby!
2015 looks to have some very impressive titles to be released early on. And whilst I have moaned and complained about the release dates changing, we can only hope that the extra time gives us some brilliant game play, stunning visuals and game we can say were worth the wait! Check out next month’s issue where we will take a closer look at what you can expect from Batman: Arkham Knight and The Order: 1886 along with a stack of more previews on games coming at the end of 2014 and early 2015.
Written by Elliott Buddo www.stickytriggerentertainment.com
AVAILABLE 4TH NOVEMBER 2014!
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GOD G feature article
GOD GAMES
We all wish we could be God for a day, some of us even longer. In the videogame world that dream becomes a virtual reality. The ‘God game’ genre (also known as an artificial life games) allows gamers to have control of a game on a large scale
The first ‘God game’ created dates back to 1978 and appeared on an issue of SoftSide magazine as a cassette for the Apple II. Considered to be more of a strategy game, Santa Paravia en Fiumaccio (created by George Blanks) gave the player the opportunity to be the ruler of an Italian city in 1400’s. The player needed to manage their town in such a way where it would grow and prosper where the end result of the game was to become the King or Queen. Never heard of the game? Until recently, neither had I! Let’s take a look at some of the more popular titles in this genre.
THE SIMS
(MAXIS/EA GAMES - 2000, WINDOWS, MAC OS)
If you haven’t heard of The Sims, you must have been living under the rock! Released in early 2000 by EA Games, developer Maxis learnt fast that they were on to a hit after first rejecting the idea back in the early 90’s! After losing all of his possessions in a house fire, creator Will Wright had to start again and rebuild his life. This life experience influenced him to start creating a life-base game in conjunction with the ideas he had from SimCity – another game he had developed. After pitching the game to Maxis in 1993, they felt that PC’s at the time could not run the game and it game idea was rejected. Determined to see The Sims ‘come to life’, Wright was back on the door step of Maxis as well as EA games and in 1995, the game idea was ap-
proved and design and production started soon after. A single player game, players are in control of the day-to-day lives of their virtual person (or people if you are feeling adventurous) by giving them direction to ensure their virtual person/persons has their needs met. Much like a real human being, your Sim needs to eat, sleep, bath, make friends, get a job etc and the player has 100% control of whether these needs are fulfilled or not. The player can also be in charge of creating their Sim a home or take the easy option and find a pre made home. There really is no primary objective on The Sims. Instead of completing objectives like in other games, players have to make the choices and engage with their Sim. Whilst your
Sim has some ‘Free will’ to an extent, they are not completely independent and require you to make the right decisions for them to live long and happy lives. The Sims created a total of seven expansion packs for the first instalment of the game. Each expansion packs generally featured new characters, items and skins. The last expansion pack released in 2003. The Sims 4 is due out in September and the word is that this version will be the best yet! Considering The Sims sold a whopping 11.3 million copies of game worldwide in its first year and knocked Myst off the top spot at the time, I’m almost certain that EA and Maxis were more than happy with their decision to bring The Sims to life.
GAMES
GOD G POPULOUS
(BULLFROG/EA GAMES – 1989 - AMIGA, ATARI ST, MS DOS, MAC OS, MASTER SYSTEM, SEGA GENESIS, SNES, WINDOWS) Created in 1989 by eccentric gaming designer Peter Molyneux and released originally on the Amiga, many gamers regard Populous as THE first God game. Inspired by Bullfrog’s artist Glenn Corpe who was seen drawing isometric blocks after playing a first person shooter called ‘Zarch’, Molyneux soon set about creating an isometic landscape and filled it with characters which he nick named ‘peeps’, later referred to as followers. He watched as these followers wandered around the landscape and stall when they hit something such as water. Developing terrains, the gameplay mechanics of being able to raise and lower the terrain became the source of your power and the game started to
come to life. This soon followed with the introduction of ‘thoughts’ to the follower that if they found a sparse, empty landform that they could build a house. If they found a larger piece of land, they could build a bigger house. Comprising of a huge 500 levels, the sole objective of the game was to increase your number of followers to then allow you to take out enemy followers. Your main God like powers in this game were the ability to raise and lower land. Now whilst this sounds basic in this day and age, back in the late 80’s this game was cutting edge. The ability was to allow houses to be built, thus allowing for more followers. The more followers you had, the more power or mana
you had. By increasing your mana, you unlocked additional power levels which allowed the player to have further interaction with the land. The ability to cause earthquakes, flood the land, erupt volcanos and create swamps were just some of the additional powers available. Populous wasn’t without its fair share of controversy. Whilst it received worldwide critical acclaim, its release and game premise of ‘good vs evil’ occurred at the same time as a controversial religious spat was occurring with a UK newspaper warning of the possible ramifications. Nothing ever came of the warning and Populous was months later named ‘Strategy Game of the Year’ in 1990.
GAMES BLACK & WHITE
(LIONHEAD STUDIOS/EA GAMES – 2001 - WINDOWS, MAC OS)
2001 saw EA Games join forces with developers Lionhead Studios for the release of Black & White. Taking on the role of a God ruling over an island populated by various tribes, the objective of the game was to gain control over every village on the island. This was done by performing wondrous feats to win the islanders over and coerce them to believe in you, the player – God. These acts of coercion could include kind gestures such as helping them or on the other end of the scale, frightening them creating the conflict of good vs evil, thus the games name sake – Black or White.
Your control over the island rested with in the Hand – an on screen animated hand that was used for moving people around the island, casting miracles and many other things. Depending on whether you are on
the good God or an evil God, the environment changes based on your ‘moral’ decisions. If you were a good God, your environment will be white marble temple, full of light with happy villages and a shining white Hand. However, if you took the side of evil, you will have a surround yourself in a black and red poisonous temple, your villagers will be petrified and your Hand will resemble a burnt, claw-like hand. A player can fence sit and not pick a side of good or evil if they so wish and stay in the grey area of the game, however the decision on what side you use is 100% in the player’s hand. The game will not make you be good or bad – this decision is yours to choose. The game saw the introduction of the Creature – a pet like creation that could be trained to carry out the same actions as the player. Training
the Creature was done by the use of a leash and the Hand and over time, it can perform complex tasks. Over time, the Creature will mimic of sorts the players actions – be they good or bad. Lionhead Studios based the Creatures learning and decision making skill set on Stanford University professor Michael Bratman’s Belief-Desire-Intention model which was a theory and way of explaining human practical reasoning and intention. This model is widely used today in various artificial intelligence programs.
Whilst Black & White initially received high praise for its early gameplay, many critics and gamers felt that game was overrated and lacked the interaction that you would have expected to see in a God game.
GOD G DUNGEON KEEPER Bullfrog Productions, under the direction of Peter Molyneux, again teamed up with EA Games in 1997 for the PC release of Dungeon Keeper. Here players would attempt to build and maintain a dungeon or lair whilst guarding it from invading good characters who were hell-bent on stealing your treasure that had been accumulated and killing monsters along the way. Returning to his roots with Populous, Molyneux uses an isometric perspective in Dungeon Keeper. The player uses a mouses where the on screen pointer is a hand - the Hand of Evil. This hand can be used to interact with the menu bar to select rooms in which they want to build and for casting spells. The hand can also be to pick any creatures or objects that may appear in the dungeon. Us-
(BULLFROG/EA GAMES – 1997 – WINDOWS) ing the Hand of Evil can have rather alarming effects – if a creature is slapped for example as part of a tactic to move them on, this can result in some traps being activated and any prisoners who may be in the torture chamber being tortured. A single player game, you also have the ability of possessing one of the poor creatures which may come across your path. However, this comes with an added bonus. By carrying out the possession, you gain the ability to see the world through the creature’s eyes and also have the ability to use any powers that it may have. The goal for each level was fairly simple – eliminate the hero.
“..YOU GAIN THE ABILITY TO SEE THE WORLD THROUGH THE CREATURE’S EYES AND ALSO HAVE THE ABILITY TO USE ANY POWERS THAT IT MAY HAVE. THE GOAL FOR EACH LEVEL WAS FAIRLY SIMPLE – ELIMINATE THE HERO.”
GAMES SIMCITY (MAXIS – 1989 -
1989 saw the release of another EA/ Maxis partnership with SimCity – the brainchild of designer Will Wright. An open-ended city building game, players were given the task of developing a city whilst making sure their city’s residents were happy and the city maintained a profitable income. Using zoned areas such as commercial, industrial and residential, players are required to build structures, install power grids, and establish road ways and public transportation. Once infrastructure has been set in place, residents (known as Sims) will then guide you with respect to you their needs. Their needs may require you to build for houses, roads, churches, hospitals etc depending on their demands.
AMIGA, ATARI ST, DOS BASED PC’S, SNES) Players are presented with ‘real life’ challenges that one would expect when they are in control of the city such as crime, natural disasters such as fires or floods and your actions taken to react to these scenarios were pivotal with respect to the success or failure of your city. Originally released on for home PC’s (Amiga, Atari ST and DOS based PC’s) SimCity was ported over to other platforms such as the Commodore 64, Macintosh and even the Super Nintendo. The Super Nintendo version’s Godzilla event was an attack from Bowser - the boss from Super Mario Bros.
SimCity was incredibly successful and won a multitude of awards including game of the year and best simulation program in 1989. Needless to say, the success has proven a fruitful enterprise for EA Games A total of 5 ‘SimCity’ games have been released to date The other titles include SimCity 2000 (released in 1994), SimCity 3000 (released in 1999), SimCity4, SimCity Societies and the more recent release in 2013 returning back to the simple title of just SimCity. The SimCity franchise has fuelled a plethora of spin-offs such as SimFarm, SimCopter and SimsVille all using the same principals, guidelines and concepts as SimCity.
GOD G VIVA PIÑATA
(RARE/MICROSOFT GAME STUDIOS – 2006 – XBOX 360, WINDOWS)
One game that may not come to mind when the phrase ‘God games’ is thrown around is the 2006 release from Rare – Viva Piñata on the Xbox 360. Players are tasked with turning an empty and bare patch of land in to a beautiful garden which is then inhabited with animals – in this case piñata animals. A sandbox style game (open world or free roaming) there is no win or lose when it comes to playing Viva Pinata. However, this being said, if you don’t make the correct choices for your piñata’s such as providing food, water and shelter, your pinata’s can be met with an untimely passing of one of your favourites.
are met, the piñata may decide to become a permanent resident of your garden and when this occurs, it will shed away the boring black and white to become a vibrate multicolours piñata! With over 60 species of piñata in the game, including hybrids and kooky interbreeding of species, the options for how many piñata you can attract to your garden is endless! When playing, you must also watch out for the bad guys, known as Ruffians as well as sour piñata’s – angry, evil piñata who are hell bent at either eating your other piñatas or causing havoc. Purchasing items using in game points can help deter the sour piñata’s from visiting your garden, thus making for a happy confortable time for all.
Development of your garden is critical before you can introduce a piñata. If basics such as plant life and shelter are not available, you won’t be able to attract piñata’s to your garden. Once the basic requirements are met, your garden will attract a simple black and white piñata. Over time when additional requirements
If the unfortunate occurs and your piñata is ‘broken’ (Rare’s kinda way of referring to close to death) your prompt attention to call the doctor will be the only thing that will save them. It really is as true to the ‘animal kingdom’ as you can get – eat or be eaten. Some pinata’s being ‘piñatavores’ who must eat other
residents of the garden to become a resident or be able to reproduce. This subject matter could appear to be a little controversial to younger players, however it is part of the life cycle in nature and Rare’s approach to how the ‘eating’ occurs is done is not traumatising in anyway…. Unless you became overall attached to that particular piñata! Surprising, Viva Piñata is actually quite complex with regards to the constant needs and requirements that have to be met. Its colourful and fun game play makes for plenty of surprises and at time, brain boggling decision making. Viva Pinata was met with positive acclaim and many suggesting that it may have been one of Rare’s best games to date. Whilst sales were not as good as Rare had hoped for, this game in my opinion was incredibly underrated initially but has slowly but surely received a big following of fans and is definitely one that should be checked out.
GAMES SPORE
(MAXIS/EA GAMES – 2008 - WINDOWS, MAC OS X, IOS)
Another game from the ‘God game’ addict, Will Wright, is the 2008 release of Spore, again from Maxis and EA. Released on Windows and Mac, Spore allowed players to make a creation from a microscopic organism and develop it into an intelligent and social ‘creature’. Using not only the ‘God Games’ genre, Scope crosses in to the action, real-time strategy and role playing game genres as well. When broken down in to the multitude of components and stages your creation will go through, Spore is a rather complex and thought provoking game. Unlike the other titles from Will Wright (the Sims and SimCity) Spore does have a game objective when it comes to ‘winning’ – reach the black hole at the centre of the galaxy and collect your prize. Spore has varying levels of difficulties and is broken up in to stages for ‘life de-
velopment’. The outcome of each stage can alter the conditions you face when you level up. With each stage, different goals and experiences are presented to the player. Cell Stage, being the first level explains how your cell got to the planet and you get set at the task of guiding your microbe around a 3D water like environment similar to the game Flow on the PS3. Along the way you can chose if you want you creation to be a carnivore or a herbivore and ‘feed’ it either chucks of meat or plant materials. Once your microbe has found its way, this is where the fun begins. Players can begin to meticulously start to create their creature with ‘DNA Points’ collected in the game to which they can modify the shape, appearance and abilities of their Spore. The first stage along has a whopping 5 further levels of development to deal with before moving to the second stage. The other stages include Creature (further development of the arms, legs and brain
of your creature); Tribal (Introduction into a tribe of other creatures for which you are required to control, teach and nurture); Civilization (where the goal is to gain control of the entire planet) and Space (opportunity to explore neighbouring planets). I would honestly be here all day explaining each on in greater detail, but you can get the gist.
Spore is one game that will keep you entertained and can take some time to complete each stage, there is no time limit to the game itself. The evolution stages may not be everyone’s cup of tea as a lot of time is needed to get to the end game – the Space level. However, in saying that, Spore’s concept of the creation and evolution of a biological organism and execution, set this game high on the list for originality.
GOD G SIMLIFE: THE GENETIC PLAYGROUND (MAXIS – 1992 - AMIGA, DOS, WINDOWS 3, MACINTOSH) In 1992, Maxi released a game where the concept was to simulate an ecosystem in which players could modify the genetics of plants and animals that inhabited a virtual world trough experimentation. The end result – create a self-sustaining ecosystem. Originally released on the Amiga, DOS, Windows and Macintosh operating systems, SimLife allowed uses to manipulate genetics of animals and plants and figure of if their creations could survive on Earth. Players were also able to create their own worlds and use the ‘Frankenstein abominations’ they had created or Earths own species to also see if they could survive. Having the ability to create and modify worlds, alter plants and animals at a genetic level and tinker with environments and ecosystems, SimLife
was a ‘true biological’ simulator and right up the alley of anyone interested in the genetics, entertainment and in a slightly strange way, education. Featuring 19 ‘animal’ options for manipulation, such as a monkey, kangaroo, a toucan and rhino, the outcomes of splicing the DNA of two animals together had some rather hilarious and at times alarming results. Can you imagine a small kangaroo that laid eggs and ate bugs or a rhino’s head wandering around with a tigers body attached to it?!? SimLife was not a game that would have you sitting on the edge of your seat with excitement. Whist the game was received well by critics, the game was at times difficult to understand and required a lot of patience when it came to the game play.
“SIMLIFE WAS NOT A GAME THAT WOULD HAVE YOU SITTING ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT WITH EXCITEMENT.”
GAMES GODUS
(22CANS – 2014 - WINDOWS, OS X, IOS, LINUS AND ANDROID – DOWNLOADABLE GAME ONLY) After leaving Microsoft in 2012, Peter Molyneux created an independent game company, 22Cans. In December 2012, the company launched a crowd funded Kickstarter to raise funds to create a game which would be the spiritual successor to Populous. That game is Godus. Released as a beta on Steam in 2013, Godus’ full release will happen sometime in 2014. Taking on the role of God, you sculpt the world, inspire you’re your follows, possess powers, explore neighbouring lands and evolve. Presented with a piece of land, you will need to clear the land of trees and rock to enable followers (again with the followers Mr Molyneux?) to settle and build on your land. As you start to clear the land and carve into the landscape, this automatically creates plots for your followers to start building their homes. In this game, belief is what gives you your God powers. Your followers must believe in you to help you obtain great abilities.
Godus is still in the development stage and has the potential to ‘reinvent’ the ‘God Games’ genre, however to date the reception of Godus at the beta stage has been met with a great deal on controversy. Gamers have commented that Godus is nothing more than a mouse click fest and is a disappointment as they feel that more was to be expected from Moylneux. Whilst I can appreciate the frustration felt, the game in my opinion is beautifully presented and
takes a step back from the normal highly rendered 3D and detailed games we are used to seeing. The game at current build stage is just under 50% completed and yes, 22Can does have their work cut out for them if they want this game to be a success, however if they can work out the bugs and concerns expressed by players of the beta, the game does have potential in the niche that is the God games genre.
“TAKING ON THE ROLE OF GOD, YOU SCULPT THE WORLD, INSPIRE YOU’RE YOUR FOLLOWS, POSSESS POWERS, EXPLORE NEIGHBOURING LANDS AND EVOLVE.”
The God Game genre is not for everyone. It can be time consuming and at times down right frustrating. However, if you are prepared to stick with it, the concept of being in control and being able to create and mould your world can be incredibly rewarding, fun and entertaining. But be warned, God Games can be addictive and once you start your reign of power, you might never want to end.
Written by Kylie Tuttle
www.stickytriggerentertainment.com
FAVOURITE GOD GAME opinion
WE ASK INDUSTRY EXPERTS THEIR OPINION ON WHAT THEIR FAVOURITE ‘GOD GAME’ IS AND WHY? AND WHY DO THEY THINK GAMES LIKE THE SIMS AND CIVILISATION ARE SO POPULAR? My favourite “God game”, without a doubt, is Civilization II on PC (and the original PlayStation). Whilst I love all the Civ games, II stands out to me as the entry in the series that was responsible for establishing many elements central to the Civilization formula. In it, players compete against other civilizations for global domination, though you have much more in your arsenal than simply military weapons and soldiers. You can defeat your opponents in many ways, but my favourite thing to do is to simply fortify my defenses while rapidly expanding my empire. I keep my people happy by minimalising military conflict and building as many hospitals, churches and marketplaces as I can. I place culture and my people above all else, and the Civilization games offering this unique gameplay is what hooks me in instead of a title like Command and Conquer, where all that matters is military might. One of my favourite things to do in Civilization is to try and beat every other civilization to creating ancient and modern wonders of the world, thereby creating paradise in one nation or city that leaves all others behind. The Hanging Gardens of
Babylon sitting alongside the Statue of Liberty is quite a sight to behold, even with Civ II’s simple visuals. I would even go as far as to say that Civilization II is responsible for a lot of my knowledge of ancient civilizations, and that the game can be a tool to enlighten people, as it has a full encyclopedia with text and videos covering topics from theology and economics, to the importance of women’s rights and real-life future developments like nanotechnology. There are a number of reasons why people play god games, though not all god games are the same. Some players may want to experience what it’s like to be omnipotent and all powerful, so they might play Black and White. Others may wish to gain an insight into real-life roles such as mayors and city planners, so they might play Sim City. I believe the Civilization games offer a different take on strategy, which also educates the player on how civilizations, inventions, beliefs and other things came to be. It offers a peek inside our own history and evolution. An insight into mankind’s journey that is both massive and miniscule at the same time. After all, we are still very much at the start of our journey as a species.
“WHAT APPEALED TO ME ABOUT VEGA WAS HIS UNIQUE CHARACTER DESIGN AND MOVE SET WITHIN THE STREET FIGHTER UNIVERSE.” Written by Nick Getley
www.stickytriggerentertainment.com
“I LOVE THE WEIRD AND CRAZY THINGS YOUR SIMS OFTEN DO THE MUSIC, DESIGNING THEM A HOUSE AND WATCHING THEIR LIFE UNFOLD!” Viva Piñata – it’s not a game that people would think is considered a God Game, but when you break it down into what a God Game actually is (power to create, power to influence, power to change) it actually does fall under the God Game category. Whilst Viva Piñata was directed at the younger audience, the game is incredibly fun to play, bright and colourful and requires some brain power to play it! That’s why I love this game! I’m a naturally creative person and I like being able to see my creations ‘come to life’ based on the decisions I’ve made. I like that I have to be able to think about what effect my current decision on the game is and then think about what outcome it will have and how it will affect me moving forward. If I make the wrong decision, I have to then deal with the ramifications. I think God Games are so popular because they are not only fun, but they make people think. They make people turn on their moral compass so to speak and make the right decisions on the game to be able to progress to the next level. I mean sure, we have all had a laugh and done something stupid on The Sims’ (like create a swimming pool and while you Sim is in the pool, remove the ladder), but these actions often have a negative reaction on the game and set you back. I think God Games in a way teach right from wrong – if you do the right thing, you will progress more in the game.
I would have to say that my favourite God Game would have to be The Sims franchise. I don’t know what it is about that game, but every time I start playing it, hours and hours go by without me noticing and the next thing I know its dark outside and I’m at a loss for words as to where the day went! I love the weird and crazy things your Sims often do, the music, designing them a house and watching their life unfold! God Games offer an option for people to be able to play of all ages and skill levels to play games. I’m not a fan of the shoot-em ups or FPS so for me God Games offer the perfect option for me to still be able to enjoy a game without having to blow everything up! People like to be in control and God Games give gamers what they want – a sense of power. You can’t tell me that you wouldn’t want to play God if you had the option to do so!
Written by Kylie Tuttle
Written by Jade Raven
www.stickytriggerentertainment.com
www.stickytriggerentertainment.com
“MY FAVOURITE GOD GAME PROBABLY HAS TO BE BLACK & WHITE 2.”
My favourite God Game probably has to be Black & White 2. The trouble that I went to to play this game! Though it was plagued by compatibility issues, once you got the thing running it was a joy. A true ‘god game,’ complete with a sense of self-mocking fun. I can’t really put my finger on why I spent so many hours telling my giant, buff wolf to work out using trees, nor can I put my finger on the exact moment that I felt compelled to turn my sweet and fun-loving giant cow into an avatar of godly wrath and destruction, but at least I know I’m not alone. I suspect that god-games appeal to so many because they satisfy the ultimate escapism - giving you power over life, death, wars, peace, magical gigantic beasts, and share houses. Perhaps the Sims is so popular because you can trap an analogue of That Guy who never washes the dishes in a room with no doors, no windows, and four kitchen sinks. Or maybe that’s just me.
Written by Meghan Coles www.XXPgames.com
SIMS G WHEN feature
WHEN SIMS GO BAD
Any game you play will always have one or two glitches here or there. Gaming developers aren’t perfect and they would normally patch the bug, however when the game does glitch, some of the results are hilarious! Playing God and creating a life form in your own hands can also have some ramifications along the way! The Sims has more than its fair share and we scoured the internet and found a few of the millions of Sims glitches gamers have posted. Check em’ out!
ROCK A BYE BABY Isn’t that sweet? Mum rocking her baby to sleep. Mum seems to have fallen through the chair and is in a rather awkward position!
GO BAD WHAT THE...?!? One gamer had a baby born in their game and it was apparently a skin coloured line with no facial features or hands etc. Obvious glitch right there. Any way, they wanted to try and see what the baby actually looked like so they went in to the ‘create-a-sim’ option to manually increase the baby’s age. The end result was this! What lovely long fingers their baby has! Freaky!
SIMS G WHEN
EYE HEAR YOU?
Umm‌ so this is apparently happened to one user. No one has any explanation as to what happened here, but it’s interesting to say the least!
GO BAD IT’S IMPORTANT TO KEEP UP YOUR APPEARANCE This Sim wanted to make sure that his grooming was up to scratch and moved into the mirror closer to get a better look. He’s just a little too close!
SIMS G WHEN
ON TONIGHTS MENU... This Sim fancied a spot of cooking and is rather talented‌. For being able to chop a knife that creates a salad and by doing it with one arm behind their back!
GO BAD TAKING A CRUISE... Nothing like a nice dusk drive around town‌ until half your car gets engulfed by the road way! Oh! I think I was meant to turn back there!
SIMS G WHEN
WHY THE LONG FACE?
One simply doesn’t raise their spoon to eat on The Sims! One elongates their face to the spoon to not only taste test their meal but to all get an up-close and personal view of their food!
GO BAD HERE KITTY KITTY…ERRR KITTY? It should be known that unlike SimLife where you CAN mix breed and even cross breed animals, cross breeding pets on The Sims is not suggested… and this is why!
SIMS G WHEN
THE SIMS ALA TIM BURTON STYLE For those of you that are familiar with the 1988 Tim Burton classic, “Beetlejuice” there was a scene at the end of the movie where Beetlejuice’s head was shrunken. We think Tim Burton may have had some influence on this Sims look.
GO BAD WORKING ON MY FITNESS Working out at the gym on arm day can make you feel like your arms are on fire and in some cases, feel like they may drop off! We think this Sim has done far too many arm days this week as his arms have literally dropped off!
feature
SIMCITY - BUILDING YOUR DREAM
Before you worried about the relationships and day to life of your Sims, you built their homes, paved their roads and provided them power and entertainment…How? Maxis’ 1989 hit Sim City was the first iteration of the “Sim” franchise which still chugs along today. The brain child of Will Wright, it put the player in the role of lead builder and “uber” architect. The player at the beginning of the game is presented with a myriad of landscapes to choose from, from seaside views or mountains (in later versions) to just a simple flat piece of land to lay their creative juices onto. The challenge of SimCity was maintaining a happy balance of parklands, greenery, flowing water, amusements, law enforcement and electricity, to keep the residents (The
and dandy to make the world’s most beautiful city, but your locals got bored and naggy very quickly. See the thing is, although it was great to build everything perfectly, there was always something going wrong. Whether there wasn’t enough entertainment, too much crime, not enough Fire departments, too much pollution, there were only a few brief minutes where everything went swell. Watching your bustling city, with Sims going here and there, going about their day to day lives, there were moments of clarity when you looked over it all, and smiled. “This is my city! Everyone’s happy! Look at it in all its splendour!” you’d say to yourself.
Other elements which would make you tear your hair out, were the “Natural Disasters” which you could opt to either turn on or off in the menu. These entailed fires, floods, cyclones and yes…even Alien Invasion. All these Disasters really upped the difficulty of the game and kept you on your toes. SimCity spawned a slew of like-minded titles, all relating back to that “god game” formula. Titles such as Theme Park, where you had the task of building the world’s most amazing Theme Park! Chock full of Roller Coasters, Ghost trains and other amusements in order to keep the punters happy and potentially, make money. Much later, we assumed the role of the actual Sims. Building a home, designing its layout, getting a job, falling in love and much more. They’d literally put the whole series under a microscope and let us control not
“THE REWARDS FOR HAVING A SMOOTH RUNNING CITY IS AMAZING, YOU’LL FIND YOURSELF TAKING YOUR FRIENDS THROUGH A DIGITAL TOUR” Sims) happy, paying their taxes, attracting more residents, expanding the town and ultimately keeping your job. The beauty of SimCity, was that not only did it make you use your creativity, but also challenged you with problem solving. Sure it’s all nice
Then tragedy would strike and send you spiralling in debt whilst you tried to repair deteriorated waterways or provide more trains. So while it was wholly rewarding, it was also very distressing. Working out the ultimate balance, and still trying to expand was a tricky juggling act indeed.
only the city, but the lives of the people within. The Sims, really became quite a phenomenon. People losing themselves in the lives of their alter egos, or spending hours fine tuning the best Ferris wheel. Now, the gamer had total control over the full scope of the Sims existence.
So, reading this you’re wondering where you should start? Well Steam or your local GT store is a great place for obtaining most “Sim” titles. Just be warned, it’s very, very addictive. A simple town will turn into a thriving metropolis and more, and the best thing is, you’ve just looked at your watch and realised you’ve played for 3 hours straight. There’s no mistaking the fun of being creative in gaming. The rewards for having a smooth running city is amazing, you’ll find yourself taking your friends through a digital tour of your creation. “There’s the city, there’s the beach there, where they all like to swim, and that house right there…is my house…yes…it has moat...” It may not be the quick action of a modern title, but with patience and a creative mind, Sim City and its spin offs are uniquely rewarding…. now…. time to get me some more Zoo’s…and rollercoasters… and…
Written by Tim Arnold
www.stickytriggerentertainment.com
gaming
WHERE DID WE BEGIN? A LOOK BACK AT THE ORIGINALS Looking at today’s smash hits on current gen consoles, I thought it’d be fun to look all the way back to where their legacy began. They may look crude, play terribly or sound awful, but these old school gems paved the way for what you are enjoying today. So without further ado, lets step back in time and look at 3 landmark franchises that are still current today, firstly…..Metal Gear.
Metal Gear Hideo Kojimas Metal Gear series has impressed gamers not only with its recent games, but all the way back in 1987. Originally released on the MSX2 home computer, Metal Gear stood out from the crowd with its heavy storyline and using stealth as opposed to the usual “run and gun” tactics other shooters employed at that time. The story’s protagonist Solid Snake, soldier of Foxhound, is sent on his first mission into a heavily fortified enemy base called “Outer Heaven”, his mission, destroy the two legged walking, nuke launching death machine called Metal Gear! Snake starts his mission unarmed, and upon sneaking into the base via water and a wetsuit, pops sneakily inside, avoiding patrol groups, attack dogs and enemy guards. Later on the ability to pick up weapons allows Snake to progress more easily, and confront some familiar bosses you may recognise from the later sequels. The iconic exclamation mark makes its first appearance above enemies heads when they are noti-
fied of Snakes presence, so try to keep that one from appearing…it’s all stealth related, not Rambo inspired and can make life difficult with limited ammo. Gamers were a little ambivalent to Metal Gear at the time, as they were used to the usual blast fest, but as the game progressed, gamers knew this was something special. Aside from the MSX2, there was a heavily edited port on the NES that Kojima-san disregards completely, due to the heavy changes to the original game. So next time you’re on horseback trotting around bored with Snake in lush environments in the latest Metal Gear game, stop, dismount, save and maybe check out his origins on a classic system. Fun Fact: Metal Gear was originally intended to be an action shooter, but the hardware limitations impeded the amount of bullets on screen at a time, so, they opted for the stealthy option, and to great success too!
Grand Theft Auto Who remembers the old days of the overhead Grant Theft Auto games? Glorious, ultra violent and controversial. Not much has changed really. Released on the Playstation 1 in 1997 (whoa…really?!? I’m getting old…) GTA was an all-out crime fest that pitted you against pretty much everybody. The world was your oyster, steal this car, rob that bank, shoot that guy, and avoid the police hunting you down all whilst you listen to some awesome radio stations on your car stereo. Come to think of it… it really hasn’t changed that much. Prior to the 3D sandbox game in GTA 3 we were happy plugging away at our overhead view. Spanning 3 cities, the player had the option of choosing out of 4 characters to do their nefarious bidding. Working for the local crime syndicate and completing missions awarded you with points, other job offers and more areas to unlock. Getting caught by the police or dying (limited lives), caused you point loss and potential future promotions within the syndicate. Although crude by today’s standards, GTA was the beginning of a winning formula, that Rockstar have brought to perfection with the current GTA5 heading for the PS4 with a swish new graphical overhaul. Fun Fact: Prior to the name Grand Theft Auto, its working title was “Race n’ Chase”.
Final Fantasy Hironobu Sakaguchis Final Fantasy was indeed his “Final Fantasy” at the time. Squaresoft struggling within the software market was reluctant to let Hironobus dream come to life for fear of bankruptcy in an overpopulated market. The release of Dragons Quest in Japan, another RPG franchise, had just been released to high praise, so Squaresoft entrusted Hironobu to make a last ditch effort in bringing his tale to fruition. Luckily for Hironobu and his team, Final Fantasy enthralled gamers and the industry alike, and the rest is history. The game takes place in a fantasy setting. The heroes of the story, the Light Warriors are entrusted to return the worlds elemental forces back to their original state. Earth, Wind, Fire and Water which are all powered by 4 orbs that have mysteriously gone dark, and caused chaos across the lands. Any Final Fantasy fan will automatically recognise the typical JRPG turn based formula, as it’s been used en masse throughout the history of Eastern RPGs. The usual, “fetch me this” errands to unlock further gameplay is used as a staple as you slowly but surely level up your heroes by a lot (I mean A LOT) of level grinding.
Square introduced the now famous Job / class system for their characters, allowing them to switch from abilities as they progressed and learn new attributes. Black or White mages could upgrade and become more adept at other abilities, thus allowing for your team to suit your tactical needs. This Job system was explored much more in later sequels as well as in depth in the much later released Final Fantasy Tactics. More modern players may be turned off by the crude sprites and menu driven combat, but one must remember, this is where it all started, and if it wasn’t for the Squaresofts faith in Hironobus “Fantasy”, we’d never have the likes of Cloud Strife or Squall Lionheart leading us on amazing adventures. Fans, who are willing to check out where it all started, can easily track down a copy as its easily found on modern platforms. Either on the Gameboy Advance, Sony PSP, Virtual console or even on the PSN, there’s a myriad of ways you can experience what was the beginning of something beautiful for RPG fans. Fun Fact: The original name for the project was “Fighting Fantasy” but later dropped for what we know it as today.
Written by Tim Arnold
www.stickytriggerentertainment.com
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preview
BAYONETTA 2
Bayonetta has a small but solid and loyal fan base, the original sold around 2 million copies since its release on PS3 and the Xbox 360 in 2009 so when the sequel was announced as being cancelled by Sega, Nintendo swooped in and decided to fund Platinum games follow up exclusively for the Wii U. You think this would make fans happy, according to twitter and other online forums a lot of fans don’t want to buy a Wii U so to those fans who are still complaining they are about to miss out on one of the best action games of 2014. We wouldn’t be getting Bayonetta 2 at all if Nintendo didn’t fork up the cash. Hideki Kamiya of Platinum games has given the directing duties to Yusuke Hashimoto while still staying on in a supervising role of the project and giving fans lots of updates on his twitter account during the games development time. For anyone who hasn’t played Bayonetta, the game is about over the top crazy action, it borrows gameplay elements from the Devil May Cry series in the fashion of no blocking just dodging and countering attacks to keep the action as fast paced as possible. Playing as the Witch, compared to playing as Dante, Bayonetta has even more crazy-over-the-top set of attacks! Her hair becomes a weapon – creating massive fists, feet and even creatures from hell.
Just like most action hack and slash titles combos play a major party in succeeding along with using the witch’s magic and upgrading as you progress. We have known very little about the Sequel to Bayonetta besides her new haircut. E3 2014 has given us some more insight on the basic storyline. So without spoiling anything from the first game as it’s now included for everyone for free (along with some incredibly detailed Nintendo costumes of Samus, Link & Peach). Bayonetta 2 starts off in an unknown modern city whilst Bayonetta and Jeanne are fulfilling their obligations to Inferno something goes wrong with a demon summoning. The demonic dragon Gomorrah escapes, attacking Jeanne and causing her soul to be dragged down to Inferno. Bayonetta is now left with her friend
Wicked Weaves, Witch Time, Torture Attacks, and Climax attacks. All of which will be familiar to anyone who has played the original game. Bayonetta’s four new guns appear to function very similarly to the Scarborough Fair, but the combo animations have been completely re-done. Two more new weapons have been revealed: A pair of short rapier-like swords and vine-like whips that equip to her feet. In addition, a new mechanic called Umbran Climax was shown off for the first time. When Bayonetta’s magic gauge is full, she can activate Umbran Climax which puts her into Serious Mode. This allows all of her attacks for a short time to summon unique Wicked Weaves, such as Madama Butterfly’s torso and head, huge plant-like whips for the new feet-based whips, and white spectral blades for her two swords along
“THE BEST BIT OF INFORMATION FROM THE E3 DEMO WAS THE TECHNICAL SIDE, THE GAME RUNS INCREDIBLY SMOOTH..” trapped in the depths of Inferno and Bayonetta’s journey to Fimbulventr is to rescue her. E3 2014’s Gameplay reveal has confirmed the return of many of Bayonetta’s iconic game mechanics;
with summoning Infernal Demons for a short period of time. The best bit of information from the e3 demo was the technical side, the game runs incredibly smooth – not a single dip in the frame rate or any
FORMAT: WII U
RELEASE:
OCTOBER 2014
RATING: CTC
long loading screens that we have seen from some Wii U titles. Also, those worried that being on a Nintendo console would tone down the violence or sexual innuendos are wrong they are all there nothing been toned down considering this is a Nintendo exclusive. I for one cannot wait until October this is one of my most anticipated titles of 2014, and it is also coming with a two player online co-op mode just too top things off!
Written by Nick Pearce
www.stickytriggerentertainment.com
preview
STYX: MASTER OF SHADOWS To survive, you must find safety in the shadows. The story of Styx, the first goblin is the prequel to Of Orcs and Men (released in 2012) the fantasy role playing game developed by Cyanide Studios. The story behind Of Orcs and Men saw a battle between The Empire of Men over the territories populated by the Orcs and the Goblins. Goblins were captured and slaughtered, whereas the Orcs that were not killed in the battle were enslaved, tortured and then skilled. Styx: Master of Shadows takes place before the great battle. For those of you wanting a game with a challenge, Styx could be your answer. Requiring brain power, strategic action and reflection of those actions taken, players will need to pay close attention to their surroundings and intricate details if they want to proceed to the next level. A stealth game where the player needs to keep within the safety of the shadows, Styx is hell-bent on stealing the heart of a World-Tree (made off Amber) which is inside the Tower of Akenash. The only problem for Styx is that the heart is protected by humans and elves. The goblin assassin is incredibly cunning and will do anything to find a way to achieve his goal – obtain the Amber. Styx’s obsession with the Amber is
due to the fact that it gives him a myriad of magical powers, such as invisibility, the ability to clone himself and to summon and control these clones. However, his obsession does come at a cost as Styx slow succumbs to madness as he attempts to feed his addiction of seeking out the Amber. Gameplay will have you on a vertical plane and the smart design of the Tower will have players going up and down to try and out smart and outwit those residing in the tower. Styx is an open world game so you can explore where ever you want, when-
quite obvious, but those paths are not always the safest roads to travel so pay attention. In the shadows, Styx is safest and his stealth skills are at their peak. By hiding in the shadows he can’t be seen and can sneak past the occupants, hide in objects and explore his environment. Being crafty and the master of stealth, Styx will create diversions to get past guards in the light, yet still remain undetected. If Styx does get seen, its do or die and sadly for the residents of the tower, its normally the later!
“BY HIDING IN THE SHADOWS HE CAN’T BE SEEN AND CAN SNEAK PAST THE OCCUPANTS, HIDE IN OBJECTS..” ever you want. There are so many different paths to get from one point to another. Just by looking around and above you, paths are made
Styx: Master of Shadows is beautifully presented and incredibly detailed. With a great detail of attention and intricacy in the design of
Styx, his environment and movement, combined with the brain teaser of a strategy; Styx: Master of Shadows should not be overlooked when its released later this year on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Written by Kylie Tuttle
www.stickytriggerentertainment.com
FORMAT: PC
RELEASE: Q4 2014
RATING: CTC
preview
BATTLEFIELD HARDLINES HANDS ON BETA
Last year, EA Games and DICE released Battlefield 4, the latest entry in their long-running FPS series, Battlefield. All the marketing was on-target; DICE had addressed the single-player campaign’s weak story and execution, they talked about harnessing the power of nextgen consoles and they promised to strengthen the series’ best feature its multiplayer mode. The finished product accomplished hardly any of these. I myself started the single-player campaign four times, as I kept losing my progress repeatedly. The multiplayer was an absolute lag-fest, with players unable to connect to game sessions or play them without major problems. While the game became playable and quite enjoyable with gradual updates, the launch period of the game was absolutely disastrous, with
could start work on Battlefield 5, revisit Medal of Honor, abandon Battlefield entirely and create a new FPS IP altogether, or perhaps give fans what they have been clamouring for - a new game in the Battlefield: Bad Company series. Instead, EA and DICE revealed Battlefield: Hardline, an all-new Battlefield game that puts a “cops and robbers” spin on the classic Battlefield formula. Does it stand on its own feet with enough allnew content, or are newly-appointed developers Visceral playing it too safe? I’ve had some hands-on time with the beta and the answer falls somewhere in between. When EA announced Battlefield: Hardline and informed the public of the premise, I (and many others) couldn’t help but get giddy with excitement. Imagine the full Battlefield experience, but with cops, robbers
It wasn’t until I downloaded the beta that I actually stopped to think exactly how much of my imagination’s creations could be done in a Battlefield game. Think about it, the Battlefield games revolve around teamwork on an epic scale, with each individual unit only truly reaching its potential when it cooperates with others in a team. Real-life heists usually involves a small group of crims (usually a single carload) robbing a bank and then attempting a getaway, with hordes of police outnumbering the criminal outfit. While a “cops and robbers” Battlefield is possible, it wasn’t going to be easy and might not be what gamers would expect.
Classes
All the menus are standard Battlefield fare, which was great as I was
“THE GAME PLAYS THE SAME AS BATTLEFIELD 4, YOU’RE JUST DRESSED AS A COP INSTEAD..” many players left feeling alienated, betrayed and even outright infuriated by the sub-par Battlefield 4. DICE and EA were put in a dilemma: how to now proceed with what was one of the most beloved shooter franchises of all time. There were a number of options available, they
and heists? You could stop a bank robbery with your friends and apprehend a team of high-class thieves, you could re live some of the greatest action movies ever made like Die Hard, or you could simply commit as many crimes as possible in an online match of Battlefield!
able to jump into a match without having to learn how the matchmaking and lobbies work all over again. The matches consist of the usual two teams with four classes each, though the units have different names, as one would expect. The classes are pretty much identical to their Battlfield predecessors, only
they have a few new tricks they can use instead of their standard revives and repair tools. Here’s a quick intro to them: The Operator - The Operator is pretty much your standard BF soldier. He can revive people or heal them with a medkit. He can also use a variety of equipment available for purchase. He is able to use assault rifles and small sidearms, as well as revive syringes and a single use selfrevive. The Mechanic - The Mechanic is able to repair vehicles, as well as use submachine guns, side arms and explosives to bring down vehicles. The Enforcer - The Enforcer uses much heavier weaponry to get the job done, such as shotguns and heavy machien guns. He is also able to use a ballistic shield, the breaching charge (handy for disposing of destructble scenery and vehicles) as well as resupply ammunition to his teammates. The Professional - The Professional brings valuable pieces of tech into the battle, such as the decoy device (which plays sounds to give fake radar reading to your enemy), surveillance camera and laser tripmine. He’s also handy with a variety of ri-
fles, making him deadly even from a distance. All the classes in Hardline are able to use the equipment designed specifically for their class in addition to items such as the zipline shooter and grappling hook, meaning players are able to utilise a variety of items to execute their strategies. In this regard, Hardline feels a little more strategic than some previous Battlefield games.
Game Modes
There are a number of game modes available in Battlefield: Hardline, but the console beta only had two available: Heist - “Criminals are trying to steal the loot and get away, while the cops try to stop them”. What this means is at the start of a round, the criminals incapacitate two armoured money transportsand must then set demolition charges, steal the loot and then get away to an extraction point. Blood Money - “A huge pile of cash has been intercepted! Criminals fight
to steal and take home as much money as they can, while the cops try to secure the evidence”. Instead of cops trying to put an end to a criminalistic endeavour, it’s a frantic race to see who can acquire the most money. The game ends when one team reaches their limit, or the time limit is reached. There will no doubt be additional gameplay modes added and announced closer to Hardline’s release date, so don’t be put off by the limited experience offered in the beta.
So how does the game play?
Interestingly, to say the least. Hardline does make for some exciting moments that aren’t offered in any other FPS. At one point, half of my team were pinned down by a pair of SWAT, who were holding up behind a small wall and highway guard rail. One had a heavy machine gun with a bipod and the other was resupplying him with ammo as needed. The situation seemed hopeless, people were throwing themselves at the
enemy like lemmings in the hope that sheer numbers would win the day, but obviously this didn’t work. I quickly swapped out my rocket launcher in my equipment for a zipline shooter and asked my squad to cover me. I shot a grappling hook atop the wall, scaled it and reached the top of a small balcony. I then shot a zipline directly behind the enemy, used it and proceeded to bludgeon them from behind with a baseball bat. The team was then able to progress towards our objective. It felt fantastic and I really felt like I contributed to the team, thanks to the smaller environments and handy gadgets Hardline has to offer. With that being said, I also feel that at times, Hardline feels too much like a Battlefield game, only with smaller environments and sedans instead of tanks. The police and the criminals both use the same military-grade weapons and the tactics used by many gamers I encountered during the beta were identical to those found on any small Battlefield 3 or Battlefield 4 map. I
was still being run over with cars, I was still being sniped from afar and people still drive like idiots. The new gadgets are fun at first, but not nearly enough people use them, meaning it can often feel like you’re the only player helping out team mates. So much for honour among thieves. It might sound like I have mixed opinions on Hardline and that is 100% accurate. On one hand, I’m glad slipping into the boots of a SWAT member feels identical to the boots of a US soldier. Everything is accessible and I’m able to get the hang of Hardline’s game modes quickly. On the other hand, I would have liked a more varied approach to Hardline’s execution, as it feels like a hurried skin-change, meaning that the game plays the same as Battlefield 4, you’re just dressed as a cop instead. If you ask EA, DICE and Visceral Games who Battlefield: Hardline’s
target audience is, I’m sure they would tell you something like “both hardcore and casual gamers, fan of shooters and team-based games alike”. I know that EA, DICE and Visceral are making Hardline with good intentions, but I can’t shake the feeling that Battlefield: Hardline will appeal to a smaller audience than an entirely new Battlefield game possibly could. It isn’t helping matters that Visceral have admitted re-using several assets from Battlefield 4, which lends this game a DLC (downloadable content) feeling. While a full campaign is being promised (something Visceral do quite well), it’s going to take a lot to convince people this is a full game worth spending money on and that the game is more than fullpriced DLC.
Written by Nick Getley
www.stickytriggerentertainment.com
review
WORMS BATTLEGROUNDS
There was a time in my youth where I was a Worms addict. I spent countless hours on the PlayStation 1 version of the first Worms game, creating epic rivalries between my friends and I, and frequently introducing the game to those yet to play it. The quality of the original Worms and its numerous sequels made it one franchise I could always go back to – it was reliable. Team 17 have been making Worms games for 19 years, which is an astonishing achievement in the gaming industry. ‘Worms Battlegrounds’, is the first Worms game on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 and feels like classic Worms gameplay with a few new ideas thrown in for good measure. Is it another classic, or is it too much of the same old gameplay? When you first start Worms Battlegrounds, you are immediately thrown
whole process feels pointless as Worms‘ iconic gameplay really isn’t that difficult to grasp – you have fun combining random weapons with wind, gravity and other physics found in the game. Thankfully, the tutorial level is over relatively quickly and you are then left to play the game’s story missions, single player, Worm Ops, local multiplayer and online mode. It might be a minor complaint for most people, but I found the frame rate in Worms Battlegrounds to be fairly poor at the best of times, and even then it has moments where it decides to get worse. It’s hard to appreciate the sexy new worm designs (did I just say that?) when they’re jittering about or skipping their animations. Regardless of your chosen game
overpowered original weapons, such as the Concrete Donkey and the Holy Hand Grenade. Levels are deceptively simple looking, but are anything but. There’s a surface area, but also an almost labyrinthine network of tunnels and underground areas to explore and use as part of your strategies. The levels have a variety of themes including hellish caverns with flowing lava, WWII battlefields and other more bizarre themes. The levels in Worms Battlegrounds play differently to the older Worms games, in that they have water raining down on them, or they have bodies of water in them. You can’t drown your worm enemies, but you can use torrents of water to push them into mines, dangerous environmental features or even force
“THE STORY MODE COULD QUITE POSSIBLY BE THE BEST PART, OR THE WORST PART OF WORMS BATTLEGROUNDS...” into the first story mode mission, which also serves as the game’s tutorial. The tutorial places you in a level where the enemy doesn’t fight back, and you have unlimited ammunition and moves. You are then taught every move in the game, and tasked with demonstrating that you are capable of completing. The
mode, your mission will always be the same: eliminate rival teams of worms. Similar to the older Worms games, all gameplay is turn-based, and all movement is side-scrolling (traversing a lateral plane). You will find and utilise a massive amount of weapons, some real (shotguns, Uzi’s) and others are ridiculously
them off the map for an instant kill. The water physics are a great addition and really makes for some variety in the classic gameplay. Worms Battlegrounds has a variety of game are modes, and in addition to the local and online multiplayer (playing with friends on the
7/10
same console, or through the internet), there are Worm Ops and the Story mode. Worm Ops offers different missions that vary in approach. Essentially, Time Attack mode, but with specific ways of dispatching your enemies. The first mission, for example, has a number of enemies scattered around the map that you need to defeat quickly. The only way to do this is by skilfully using the two jetpacks you’re provided with. Worm Ops might not be the average gamer’s cup of tea, but gamers who want to hone their skills for the story and online modes will probably get a lot out of it. I certainly did. The Story Mode could quite possibly be the best part, or the worst part of Worms Battlegrounds, depending on what you’re after. Like Call of Duty, I get the feeling that the online game mode is what Team 17 really wants to sell with Worms Battlegrounds, and that the Story Mode is enjoy-
able distractions that like Worm Ops, will help players develop their skills. I was very impressed with the voice acting provided by Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd), but the story really doesn’t develop or move past the humourous-jokes-before-eachmission style it begins with. Nothing really matures, or offers any real explanations. I’m not wanting a serious story (this is a game about worm combat, after all), but I would like to know what I’m doing and why I’m doing it. Even Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare has more of a story, and it literally has no story mode! Worms Battlegrounds is a fun new addition to the classic 2D Strategy series. While it doesn’t quite deviate from its roots as much as I’d like, die hard Worms fans and those new to the series will appreciate the amount of refinement that went into this title.
Written by Nick Getley
www.stickytriggerentertainment.com
FORMAT: PS4, XB1
RATING: PG
WORMS BATTLEGROUNDS
PROS • • •
Classic Worms gameplay gets some impressive new features
Decent variety of game modes offers good value for money Katherine Parkinson is fantastic as the story narrator
CONS •
Shallow story
•
Repetitive gameplay
•
Awful frame rate
review
SNIPER ELITE III
The tale of a sniper is one hardly seen in video games. Sure, we’ve had plenty of snipers in video games, but there’s hardly been a game specifically aimed at recreating the experience of a sniper, or even one that tells a story involving a sniper as the protagonist. One such game was Sniper Elite (also known as Sniper Elite: Berlin 1945) for the original Xbox, released in 2005. Its developer, Rebellion Developments, realised the potential in Sniper Elite and developed a remake/sequel in 2012 called Sniper Elite V2. Despite its few flaws, Sniper Elite V2 proved to be an enjoyable title, particularly when playing with a friend. Now, Rebellion and 505 Games have released ‘Sniper Elite III’, a proper sequel to Sniper Elite and Sniper Elite V2. The gameplay is almost identical to V2, which will admittedly feel pretty tired to those who have expe-
that Rebellion took the series in a bolder direction. Sniper Elite III continues the story of Karl Fairburne, the elite OSS sniper from Sniper Elite/Sniper Elite V2. Now deployed in Africa, Fairburne must brave the sweltering heat and thwart the Nazis’ plans for the dark continent. There isn’t much more to the story than that; there are no surprises in store for the player (particularly if they’ve played military shooters before) and Fairburne does not grow as a character. I guess Rebellion felt as though the strength of the gameplay would be enough for the player, because in terms of a story and character, they have honestly offered the bare minimum. Fairburne is bland, with your standard shaved head, blank expression and face devoid of any particular features that stand out. He even has the gravelly
in the game helps cast a figurative shadow over the cardboard character. This is laziness that is also hard to ignore, like a half-mowed lawn. It sits there in you rear vision and irks you for what it could have been, regardless of the amount of effort or intent already put into it. Africa is a far cry from the streets and rubble of war-torn Europe, and one can tell that Rebellion have truly tried to shake up the Sniper Elite formula by offering an “open” world with many paths to explore and take advantage of. Buildings, flora and other features dot the landscape, as do the handful of Nazis in each area. While there are numerous aforementioned features in each level, the repetitive nature of the gameplay means that players won’t be exploring these environments, they will simply be lurking in any
“SHOULD THE PLAYER BE SPOTTED (AND ATTACKED) BY NAZIS, THE ENVIRONMENT CAN QUICKLY TURN FROM BEING YOUR BEST FRIEND TO YOUR WORST ENEMY” rienced a Sniper Elite game before. Even though some fun still lingers within the dated gameplay, the bland graphics and environments, repetitive gameplay and frustratingly cliché grunt protagonist make me wish
Christian Bale-esque Batman voice that every game protagonist apparently must have nowadays (ugh). I know Rebellion aren’t the only developers committing the sin of lazy character design but nothing else
area where their shots can be disguised amongst faulty generators and engine misfires. It’s actually more fun to hang out in the one area and see if you can snipe every Nazi within 500 metres or so, instead of
creeping from building to building. Should the player be spotted (and attacked) by Nazis, the environment can quickly turn from being your best friend to your worst enemy, though not from a deliberate design point. There are no death traps or hazards, it’s simply a case of the game’s protagonist being unable to vault over most objects, which causes frustration in emergencies. Even waist-high brick walls can be an absolute pain if you aren’t meant to be able to traverse them, and nobody wants to experiment with what can and can’t be hopped over by Karl. Now, here’s what Sniper Elite III does get right: the shooting. Yes, while Karl might not have any proper tools to sabotage Nazi equipments (he uses his elbows to loudly bludgeon generators and the like), he does have the right tools for amateur brain surgery and vasectomies (yes, you can shoot a Nazi through the testicles and be treated to a gruesomely cinematic X-ray camera of it). Depending on the difficulty, bullet physics are realistic or accessible and players will find themselves laughing manically as they shoot Nazi after Nazi in the head from a distance. Karl also has a number of traps and explosives to make use of, such as dynamite, grenades and even tripmines, which can be used to destroy supply trucks, kill enemies, create
distractions or even a combination of all three. During the second mission, I managed to deliberately leave a body near two trucks. When it was discovered by two more Nazis, they searched the interior of the building I was hiding on for any intruders. I rigged a trip mine between the two trucks and a land mine on the stairs I used to gain roof access. Sure enough, the Nazis split up and eventually found their way into my traps. Shortly after the second level though, I had an epiphany: Sniper Elite III relies on its one decent feature to carry the rest of the game. Sure, there are some brand new ideas not seen in a Sniper Elite game before, but these have been poorly-executed. The gameplay really does boil down to infiltrate and snap necks until you get to a sniper nest. Then you have to wait for a generator or engine to misfire and create a noise loud enough for you to snipe with undetected. There are also somehow less thrilling sniper sequences than in Sniper Elite V2. A few hours into Sniper Elite V2 and I had already assassinated high-level Nazis and completely destroyed truck convoys from shooting their fuel caps from over 300 metres away, whereas the “open” world approach in Sniper Elite III cheapens what should be the ultimate sniper fantasy.
I liked Sniper Elite V2 and I really had high hopes for Sniper Elite III. It’s a shame that the game relies on the slow-motion sniping to carry the rest of the game, as Sniper Elite III could have been amazing if done correctly. Hopefully if there’s another entry in the series, Rebellion will take the game out of WWII entirely, introducing a new protagonist and give us some new guns. This M1 Garand is getting rusty.
Written by Nick Getley
www.stickytriggerentertainment.com
SNIPER ELITE III
5/10
PROS • • •
Sniping is fun, and almost flawless. Gory X-ray cams
Multiple paths and approaches to completing the game’s missions
CONS •
• •
Bland graphics and textures (especially on current-gen consoles, which could handle a lot more) Bland character design Repetitive gameplay
FORMAT:
PC, PS3, PS4, XB3, XB1
RATING: MA15+
review
GRID AUTOSPORT
Steve McQueen once quoted that “anything in life other than racing is just…waiting.” Budding virtual racers around the world have been waiting over half a year for a new season of motorsport madness to begin. Enter the world of Grid Autosport, the newest title in Codemasters long running series of racing titles. I must admit I’m a big fan of them, going all the way back to the original TOCA in the 90’s. So, has the wait been worth it…? Jump behind the wheel and find out! Autosport sees you as a driver for hire in a highly competitive world of multi-tiered, multi discipline racing. There’s all the favourites you can expect from the Grid series; Open wheel, endurance racing, GT cars, touring cars, street racing and modified road car racing. Autosport delivers the biggest, most diverse career mode yet, with the opportunity to
Fear not, you don’t need to throw your steering wheel just yet. Each discipline has several series for you to try at a time, and even if that discipline is making you see Ferrari Red you can always try another discipline instead. It’s possible to simply concentrate on one group of cars, and make your way to the top there. As you progress you aim to race for Ravenwest-age old rivals from the older Grid games, who always have the best cars and the best drivers (enter Nathan McKane from the original V8 Supercars.) As you level up in disciplines you’ll be invited to the ‘Grand Slam’ championships, which feature the best of the best in grueling no holds bar encounters. I haven’t quite levelled to there yet, so I’m as keen as you to see where victory lane takes us from there. The vehicles and tracks are as beautiful as ever. Old favourites from
input, and endurance cars need to be smooth and steady if you want your tyres to last. Oh, and did I mention that the V8 Supercars are back? WITH BATHRUST! The AI is also more refined, and adjust to the discipline. Touring car races are brutal; expect paint, bodywork and rude gestures to be exchanged frequently. Open wheel cars won’t be as aggressive, but will
“MULTIPLAYER IS THE MOST DIVERSE AND COMPREHENSIVE ONLINE GRID EXPERIENCE YET..” build your career based off your favourite discipline. Each one is yours to explore-look at team offers, rise through the ranks, and play how you want, where you want. Stuck on that one open wheel race because Pastor Maldonado sent you off again?
previous Grid titles are back, along with flashy new locations like Dubai and Yas Marina. The car range is diverse as well-with handling to match. Street cars are very jumpy and easy to throw around, open wheel cars require the most delicate of handling
still try to cut in front and draft you. Street racing is just as big a bar fight as you’d think. Be particularly wary of opponents sneaking up trying to ‘dive bomb’ you into the corners. I call them ‘Stukas’. The AI reminds me very much of Forza; each one
unique, with its’ own style, and will adapt to your driving and your manoeuvres. It’s almost at times like playing with real people (with less 12 year olds screaming into their headsets.) Multiplayer is the most diverse and comprehensive online Grid experience yet, with the introduction of their new ‘RaceNet’ club. You can join anything from single races to entire online championships anytime (including the return of the highly requested demolition derbies). Joining up to RaceNet also gives you new challenges every week, with leader boards that measure who’s number one weekly and overall. You can start your own club, design your own livery, and invite your friends to race the world as a team. You can check each other’s stats, compare your progression, and share in game moments. RaceNet allows you to have up to 100 members in your team, and all XP you earn under that team goes towards a collective ranking. Each club has its own webpage to view and communicate with other team members, and is put into an overall online ranking system. Club members can check out their ranking within the team, and check out the team garages to see what cars everyone’s using to dominate the world. Simple and intuitive admin features
FORMAT: PS3, XB3
allow club management through their own owners and moderators. RaceNet was the type of thing that many fans were calling for, and for those who love to race with their friends it promises limitless possibilities. Not to mention plenty of in house rivalry. GRID Autosport’s launch also marks the start of new RaceNet Challenges, which give players six fresh new challenges every week. In RaceNet Challenges, players will earn XP and in-game cash to use in the game and will earn more for finishing higher on the leaderboard, which will feature all the participants in each challenge. The challenges that are live as of release day and are as follows: • • • • • •
Endurance Racing – Endurance GT cars at Spa-Francorchamps Street Racing – Hypercars at Washington, D.C. Touring Cars – V8 Super Tourers at Mount Panorama Open-Wheel – IndyCar racing at Indianapolis Tuner – Drift event at the custom designed Autosport Raceway Party – Demolition Derby at Detroit
RATING: G
Players can join RaceNet for free by visiting www.racenet.com. GRID Autosportplayers will experience five different styles of motorsport, each featuring different dedicated series. Players can choose to specialise in their favourite or conquer them all, online or in the game’s career mode. Each disciple gives players a uniquely different challenge and experience, and requires different racing skills. Codemasters have a long history of listening to their fans, and in Autosport you can really feel that. They’ve taken a lot of what made the original Grid such a runaway success, and built on it, refined it, and expanded it into a massive offline and online web of racing enjoyment. Whether you want to take the world by storm alone or as a team, Autosport is the place to be. So, what are you waiting for? Firesuit up, tighten your grip on the wheel and plant it!
Written by Ben Rachow
www.stickytriggerentertainment.com
8.5/10
GRID AUTOSPORT
PROS
• • •
The handling system is much the same as the other Grid titles. It’s not quite the arcade style that some are, but at the same time you can fine tune and tinker with the car until your heart’s content. The AI make for an exciting race. Push, adapt, counter attack. Expect these guys and girls to give no quarter. It really does feel like they want the win just as much as you do. Do not relax around them.
The career system is very well set up. Easy to navigate, multiple options to progress your career, and many more events mean you’ll be on the track for quite a while.
CONS • • • •
I do kind of miss the fact that you could build your own team, livery and identity in the older Grid titles. Online allows you to but I get a far better feeling from winning in a car that represents my own team an identity.
Each discipline has different rules at times. Some allow you to qualify, some don’t. It can be a little frustrating to be starting from last in every race with no say in it (especially with the fearsome AI going all Maldonado on you at times.)
A few little things that weren’t bad enough to be a con alone: No DTM, maybe a few more cars in some categories, no Australian tracks other than Bathurst, the drift-like handling of EVERY car can be a little annoying at times. AI can ‘rubber band’ at times and display mysterious boosts of speed at times when you’re trying to catch them, contact with opponents can send you flying into the wall or break your car whilst they continue as if nothing happened…but in all seriousness, I’m nit picking here!
app review
WORLD OF TANKS on iOS
“You should play World of Tanks” It wasn’t a suggestion, it was more of a statement of fact. Like if I wasn’t playing I was an idiot as this game is so good. So I told my brother that I couldn’t as I use a Mac for my work and leisure. My understanding is that I couldn’t run it on a Mac, however since then I’ve done some digging and there are some options. Just after our conversation however, I was browsing the App Store and came across World of Tanks Blitz for iOS. Hmmm… now I can update myself from idiot status to player I thought. I grabbed it - yes it’s free, and decided to give it a go. I noticed it has a lot of positive reviews and averages at 4 stars. A good start I thought. It’s described as “World of Tanks goes mobile!” It goes on to let me know how 80 million players worldwide are playing online and now mobile players’s have the opportunity to get in on the action. I’m starting to get a bit excited about playing now, so I wait patiently for my not so fast broadband to finish the install and a few minutes later I’m ready to roll… literally. This is the full game, no crippled freeware game here, it’s the full experience and brilliantly done too! Yes there are in app purchases available such
as a bag of gold, satchel of gold etc so you can update your equipment faster and get more powerful tanks. And the way the game is presented it doesn’t ram down your throat the need to buy stuff all the time. No, you can have a perfectly fine time playing free but in the back of my mind I’m starting to think about buying some gold so I can upgrade and scare the heck out of other players with my fully loaded up tank… So the game loads, I’m logged in and pick my tank and I’m ready to roll. The game starts similar to other online multiplayer shooting games with a short countdown and a list of teams. My team is green targets and the enemy is red. The game then starts and we all roll out, heading to the area so as to capture the base or where the enemy tanks are. The tanks are not fast, I guess in real life tanks are slow but powerful. Some tanks have a rotating turret, some don’t and you have to rotate your whole tank to line up a shot. First thing I notice is that tanks are not fast moving, but they can roll
over just about anything, crushing trees, cars and other bits of the environment as you head off on a mission. Battle is normally fairly quick with games lasting around 3 to 4 minutes depending on how well you do and in those early matches I found myself regularly exiting to the garage after getting myself blown to pieces. The good news is you don’t have to wait long for another game so you can be back in the action in a minute or two. You can upgrade your tanks by researching components to give you more fire power and speed - a must! Plus you can buy items that help with your tank crew. I’m still learning my way round having only played around a dozen times but I’m hooked. World of Tanks for iOS is highly recommended and reports are there will soon be versions for Android too.
Check it out here!
Written by Rob Jenkins
“THE TANKS ARE NOT FAST, I GUESS IN REAL LIFE TANKS A SLOW BUT POWERFUL. SOME TANKS HAVE A ROTATING TURRET, SOME DON’T AND YOU HAVE TO ROTATE YOUR WHOLE TANK TO LINE UP A SHOT.”
THE X-FILES Back in 1993 the X-Files hit the small screen and became one of the most popular sci-fi series of all time. Creator, Chris Carter, was inspired by the 70s TV series, Kolchak: The Night Stalker that told the story of newspaper reporter, Carl Kolchak (played by Darren McGavin) who investigated paranormal events. The X-Files sees FBI special agent Fox Mulder joined by special agent Dana Scully who is assigned to work with Mulder and file reports (“debunk?”, Scully asks her superior) on the cases they work on.
The series follows the agents as they investigate cases that are filed as X-files. Cases that don’t fit regular FBI investigations and are “filed” as X-files and end up in the too hard basket and that’s where Mulder and Scully come in. The pilot episode was written by Chris Carter in 1992, was produced in 1993 featuring two relatively unknown stars in the lead roles, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. The series combined stand alone stories featuring monsters, vampires and, of course, aliens and it also had a mythology story running throughout the series that had Mulder and Scully investigating aliens, abductions and the possibility of an alien invasion that was being planned with assistance from a government group known as “The Syndicate” As the series develops, Mulder and Scully learn of this planned invasion where aliens plan to infect humans with a “black oil” so as to turn the population into slaves of the aliens. The show was well received and won numerous awards over the nine
years including 62 Emmy nominations (source - Wikipedia) and 16 awards. In 1996 the show won five Emmys from eight nominations. The show was nominated for twelve Golden Globe awards and won five. Both Anderson and Duchovny won awards for Best Actress and Actor. Two movies were made and in this writers’ opinion the first film, Fight The Future was excellent and kept to the series’ underlying theme on track, digging deeper into The Syndicate and the invasion theme, but the second movie, I Want To Believe, wasn’t as well crafted, nor was it well received by critics and the public, with it receiving an average rating of 4.9 out of 10 on Rotten Tomatoes. The second movie just didn’t have the same connection with the characters, the fans and the mythology that the series and first movie did. Fans are hoping for a third movie with both Duchovny and Anderson saying they are ready should the project go ahead.
The series broke ground when it was aired with fans hooked on the conspiracies, the “monster of the week” theme, the alien invasion sub plot and the chemistry between the two leads. Strong secondary characters such as Mitch Pileggi’s FBI Assistant Director Skinner, the Lone Gunmen and of course the Smoking Man lifted the show to cult status that is still enjoyed today. The release of comics and now an X-Files board game gives fans and extension of the series while we patiently wait, hoping for a third and final movie that wraps up the story of agents Mulder and Scully.
TRIVIA According to IMDb, the series features alien believing Mulder and skeptical Scully. In real life the opposite is true with Gillian Anderson supposedly believing in alien life.
When Gillian Anderson became pregnant at the start of Season 2, some network execs wanted her role re-cast. Series creator, Chris Carter refused.. (thankfully) The role of Agent Scully was suppose to go to someone leggier, blond and … let’s say more well endowed according to network execs, but again series creator Chris Carter lobbied for Gillian Anderson In one episode where a movie based on they characters is being made, and Mulder and Scully are sent to help with the characters, Scully tells Mulder that the actress playing her, Tea Leoni has a crush on Mulder. Mulder responds with “how could Tea Leoni have a crush on me?” Funny enough Duchovny and Leoni were married in real life… The Lone Gunmen were so popular they had a spin off series made, sadly it didn’t last more then one season.
S THE TRUTH REVEALED..
X-FILES - BOARD GAME OUT AUGUST!
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The Raid: Redemption (also known as The Raid) was released in 2011 and is an Indonesian martial arts action movie starring Iko Uwais and written and directed by Gareth Evans. It was well received with positive reviews and has a score of 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. Now The Raid 2 is about to come out so we thought we’d take a look at what’s coming in the second instalment. The official synopsis gives us the background: “It’s not over yet He thought it was over. After fighting his way out of a building filled with gangsters and madmen - a fight that left the bodies of police and gangsters alike piled in the halls - rookie Jakarta cop Rama thought it was done and he could resume a normal life. He couldn’t have been more wrong. Formidable though they may have been, Rama’s opponents in that fateful building were nothing more than small fish swimming in a pond much larger than he ever dreamed possible. And his triumph over the small fry has attracted the attention of the predators farther up the food chain. His family at risk, Rama has only one choice to protect his infant son and wife: He must go
undercover to enter the criminal underworld himself and climb through the hierarchy of competing forces until it leads him to the corrupt politicians and police pulling the strings at the top of the heap. And so Rama begins a new odyssey of violence, a journey that will force him to set aside his own life and history and take on a new identity as the violent offender “Yuda.” In prison he must gain the confidence of Uco - the son of a prominent gang kingpin - to join the gang himself, laying his own life on the line in a desperate all-or-nothing gambit to bring the whole rotten enterprise to an end” The Raid 2 promises to be a full on martial arts action movie and will be in stores 20 August. Madman are the distributor and have given us a copy to giveaway …all you have to do to go in the running to win is head over to the Gametraders Facebook page and send us a message telling us your favourite martial arts movie and why. Enter before 20 August and we’ll then announce the winner once the movie is out and message the winner via Facebook. Must be 18+ to enter!
THE RAID 2 OUT 20 AUGUST!
CELEBRATING THE RAID 2 RELEASE.. LIVE MAGAZINE SPENT SOME TIME WITH MARTIAL ARTS INSTRUCTOR KADE MARSH
With The Raid 2 about to hit shelves we thought we would take a look at martial arts in movies versus real life versus games. To help us out, Kade Marsh, a martial arts instructor with the Nino Pilla International Academy of Martial Arts, dropped by to answer some of our questions.
Professor Jean Jacques Machado, Sensei Erik Paulson, Simo Valencia ‘Cookie’ Vassiliou, Sifu Francis Fong, Supreme Grand Master Cacoy Cañete and many more.
Kade, first up can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and how you got into martial arts.
I own a creative design studio called Alpha State working on local, national and international brands. We help our clients cultivate, guard and maintain strong and consistent brand messages across all media channels. <http://www.alphastate. com.au>
In my early 20s, I was physically assaulted at a nightclub by six men with knuckle dusters. I suddenly realised how vulnerable I was without any real training or experience. I asked a guy I worked with and he put me in contact with Nino Pilla I have been studying at Nino Pilla International Academy of Martial Arts since 2000 and I am currently ranked Black Belt Instructor under Sifu/Guro Nino Pilla, where we teach both empty hand and weapons based arts which include: Jeet Kuen (Jun Fan Gung Fu –Jeet Kune Do) / Muay Thai / Maphilindo Silat / Kickboxing / Tae Kwon Do / FMA (Kali/Eskrima/Arnis) and Trapping, Locking and Grappling. In this time, I have been very fortunate to train around the globe and under some of the world’s top instructors including Guro Dan Inosanto, Ajarn Surachai ‘Chai’ Sirisute,
You are an instructor with Nino Pilla’s Academy, what else do you do?
I also have a bubble soccer business hiring out giant inflatable balls where people knock over their friends in an attempt to play soccer <http://www. adelaidebubblesoccer.com> The Raid 2 is out in August, movies like this often portray a hero taking on multitudes of attackers, how real is that? Well the threat of multiple opponents is, unfortunately, real and genuine. Gone are the days of the gentlemen’s fight, one on one without weapons, tricks or low blows. Today’s street fights can involve multiple attackers and pretty much anything goes. Having said that, a trained and experienced Martial Artist has more chance of defending themselves
against multiple attackers by understanding the environment they are in and minimising the opponents possibilities. In doing so they can limit the amount of time they would need to deal with more than one person at a time. We often see the hero use amazing techniques to overcome an enemy, how effective are some of those leaping kicks in say something like MMA? All techniques in the martial arts can be effective, Its all about timing. Choosing the right technique for the situation. There is no doubt that an acrobatic kick can be devastating if it hits it’s target. Talking about MMA, is there much difference between what we see in a MMA event versus a street situation? Although many of the techniques and principles overlap, MMA and street self defence are vastly different environments. For a start, MMA events have rules, judges, referees and medical personnel on standby. The street does not. The street is a dangerous place where even a small, untrained person in the street can overcome a much larger opponent simply by poking them in the eye, where they wouldn’t stand a chance with MMA rules.
What about fighting games? EA Sports recently released UFC featuring the legendary Bruce Lee, how realistic are the moves in those games?
If someone is considering joining a club to learn self defence, what tips would you give them or their parents so that they get the right sort of instruction?
I guess there are two types of fighting games - the realistic ones such as EA Sports’ UFC and the fantasy games such as (Tekken/Street fighter/Mortal Kombat) that take obvious liberties with their power ups.
I think that you should go and have a look at a class and if the school allows it, have a free lesson. That way, you can get to see how the instructor teaches and the type of techniques they are teaching.
Back to movies, what do you feel are the best martial arts movies of all time and why?
I think lineage is important too - don’t be afraid to ask where your instructor has trained and where his techniques came from.
Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon has to be my personal favourite - Bruce Lee was so ahead of his time. You can watch that movie today, 41 years after it’s release, and it still stands up as one of the best martial arts movies of all time. Other movies worth watching are: Ip Man starring Donnie Yen’; Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon; Ong Bak starring Tony Jaa; Jet Li’s Hero and pretty much anything with Jackie Chan in it.
Finally Kade, where can readers go to find out more about you and the martial arts you’re involved with? Reader’s can call 08 8212 5606 or go to Nino Pilla International Academy of Martial Arts on Facebook at <http://www.facebook.com/npiama> or you can email the academy, info@ ninopilla.com
“BRUCE LEE’S ENTER THE DRAGON HAS TO BE MY PERSONAL FAVOURITE BRUCE LEE WAS SO AHEAD OF HIS TIME.”
CLASSIC MARTIAL ARTS MOVIE:
ENTER THE DRAGON
If you read our interview with martial artist Kade Marsh you will have read that one of his favourite martial arts movies is the iconic Enter the Dragon. Released in 1973, just six days after Bruce Lee’s death, Enter the Dragon is probably the most famous martial arts movie of all time. Directed by Robert Clouse, Enter the Dragon starred Bruce Lee, John Saxon and Jim Kelly and was Lee’s final film appearance. It was the first Chinese martial arts movie to be produced by a Hollywood studio (Warner Bros) in association with Golden Harvest and Lee’s own Concord Production Company. For those of you who don’t know the film, it centres around a martial arts tournament held on an island controlled by the mysterious Han. Lee plays a Shaolin martial arts master who is recruited by an intelligence agent to penetrate the island as Han is suspected of being involved in drug production and prostitution. Lee asks the agent, Braithwaite, why someone doesn’t simply go in with guns and take a look around? Braithwaite explains that the island is not totally in their jurisdiction and on top of that, Han does not allow guns on the island due to a past incident with them, after all, Braithwaite observes, “any bloody idiot can pull a trigger…”
The film goes on to showcase Lee’s fighting, along with both Jim Kelly and John Saxon’s abilities in the fighting arts and also expands on Bruce’s philosophy on fighting. The film was a hit at the box office and with critics, and being made for a small budget of just $850,000 and grossing an estimated $90 million world wide it was an amazing financial success. It holds a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes with Time Magazine’s review reflecting, “The only real disappointment about Enter the Dragon is that it is Bruce Lee’s last movie.” According to Wikipedia, Enter the Dragon also influenced video games such as Mortal Kombat and Double Dragon, we’re yet to see a serious attempt at a licensed game based on the movie, however the latest instalment of UFC features Bruce Lee as a selectable character to play as. If you’ve never seen the movie, do so. It’s an amazing film, that works well today and you’ll be hooked from the opening scenes and the powerful soundtrack composed by Lalo Schifrin that launches you into Hong Kong and onto a martial arts adventure.
TRIVIA Did you know Jackie Chan appeared in Enter the Dragon? In one scene Chan, a stuntman on the film, has his neck broken in the guard fight scene. In the fight scene where Bruce Lee is fighting Han’s bodyguard, played by Bob Wall, Bruce side kicks Wall sending him flying. The kick was so hard that one of the men behind Wall had both arms broken by the flying Wall. The movie was filmed without sound, it was all added in post production The “mirror” scene featured over 8,000 mirrors. Some alternative titles for the film were - Blood and Steel. The Deadly Three and Han’s Island… thankfully they chose Enter the Dragon!
CLASSIC FIGHTING G STREET FIGHTER MORTAL KOMBAT SMASHBROS TEKKEN BLAZE BLUE MARVEL VS CAMPCOM KING OF FIGHTERS SOUL CALIBER VIRTUAL FIGHTER DEAD OR ALIVE KILLER INSTINCT
GAMES OF ALL TIME!
The best fighting games of all time? Whenever you’re making a top 10 list it’s always bound to generate contreversy. We all have different opinions on what the best fighting games were, the best characters, the best moves, but for this list we checked in with resident expert Dustin Wilson, who in term, checked in with his fighting game buddies, and in no particular order, here’s their top 10 fighting games of all time.. We’d love to hear your top 10 fighting games so jump on our Facebook page and tell us what you think!
M WHOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S YOUR FAVOURITE ANIME CHARACTER? Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re calling on fans to tell us who their favourite anime character of all time is, and to vote for them at www.animechampions.com. Vote now for the chance to win a huge prize! Madman Entertainment will send the winners for a VIP pop culture experience at Brisbane Supanova in November this year! Winners will also receive an enormous DVD prize pack to satisfy all their anime tastes! To celebrate this awesome competition, Gametraders will be holding a MASSIVE Anime sale with all the hottest titles discounted! Check your local store for prices.
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©2002 MASASHI KISHIMOTO / 2007 SHIPPUDEN All Rights Reserved. © 1980-1981 Tezuka Productions Co., Ltd. All rights reserved ©Hajime Isayama, Kodansha/’’ATTACK ON TITAN’’ Production Committee. Licensed by Kodansha through FUNimation® Productions, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Film ©1999 Toei Animation Co., Ltd. ©Eiichiro Oda/Shueisha, Toei Animation. © SUNRISE This product is manufactured and distributed by Madman Entertainment under the license by Sunrise, Inc.
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Astro Boy is a powerful robot created by the head of the Ministry of Science, Doctor Tenma. With the strength of 100,000 horsepower, the ability to fly using his jet legs and arms and most importantly, his sense for what is just and right, Astro Boy is here to save the day!
Designated pilot of Evangelion Unit 02, Asuka is ¾ German and ¼ Japanese. Supremely confident in her abilities, though she has a tough exterior, she also faces many of her own hidden insecurities. Nonetheless, she is always the confident Evangelion pilot and is always out to prove she’s the best.
Kirito’s friend and a sub-leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath, one of the strongest clan’s in Aincrad. Asuna is a strong-willed, accomplished player known in-game as the “Flash” for her extremely well rounded sword skills.
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AVOURITE?
Alongside his brother Alphonse, Edward Elric is in search of the legendary Philosopherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Stone. Edward is always hot headed and a little short in height, yet also a very determined individual who wants nothing more than to restore his and his brotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own bodies.
Born and raised inside a walled city where the last of the human race live. Having tragically lost his mother to the wrath of the human eating Titans, Eren has vowed to take down every last one of them. Little does he know though that he holds a secret that he himself is yet to discover.
One of the most legendary characters of all time. Goku was raised human but born Saiyan. Throughout his lifetime he has grown to harness his immense powers and is always ready to train to get to the next level!
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Young and care-free, Kaneda is the leader of a bike gang and is also the best friend to Tetsuo. When his friend is abducted by government agencies, he is determined to rescue his friend no matter what.
Born into royalty, but banished into a foreign land, Lelouch is determined to overthrow the Britannia empire and with the power of the Geass, he will have absolute control of his and anyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s will.
AKA Kira. Light is a genius high school student who comes into possession of the Death Note and is determined to rid the world of crime and become a God.
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AVOURITE?
A beautiful singer from the space colony PLANT. She is the daughter of PLANT Supreme Council Chairman Siegel Clyne. A born leader and is seen in many situations to be able to negotiate peace with warring factions into peace.
Determined to be one of the greatest pirates of all time. Luffy has the ability to stretch his body extremely far after eating a mysterious “Gum Gum Fruit”. He like many of the pirates in the world of One Piece are chasing after Gold Roger’s treasure known as One Piece.
Young and innocent, Madoka is just a typical junior high school student, until she meets a mysterious transfer student named Homura Akemi. Madoka is always sweet and loves her friends very much.
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Head strong and commanding, this Cyborg cop is not to be messed with! One of the top guns of Section-9, Motoko Kusanagi is often the lead point for their missions.
A young man who loves to fight, Mugen’s past is shrouded in mystery. Rude, vulgar and lewd, Mugen can be best described as the anti-hero. His fighting style is unique to himself and because it is so random and made up as he goes along, his opponents tend to find this very hard to fight against.
The $$60 Billion man. He is the most feared outlaw on the planet Gunsmoke. Even with this reputation, he is actually a goofball who wouldn’t hurt a fly. He runs circles around most of his opponents and easily defeats them, though he has a strict policy against killing.
A mysterious creature that lives in the forest. Totoro is a friendly creature and helps out children when they are in dire need. Not much else is known about this creature but he is certainly one of the most iconic characters of all time, even appearing on Studio Ghibli’s logo as its mascot.
Even though Naruto is a goofball at the best of times, he is determined to become the village’s Hokage. He may not be the best ninja to begin with, but his journey is one that is destined for greatness.
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Even though he is raised by a dragon, Natsu is actually a Dragon Slayer able to harness magic of a dragon, Natsu is one of the most powerful members of the Fairy Tail Guild.
Half demon, half human, Rin is the son of Satan himself and a human mother. Raised as an orphan, he unlocks his demon abilities and swears to seek vengeance for the death of his foster father.
Always out to capture a bounty, Spike travels around the galaxy with his pal Jet to hunt for the next big one! A former member of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate, Spike is proficient in many weapon and hand-to-hand combat skills.
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collectibles
KOTOBUKIYA ARTFX+ AVENGERS HULK STATUE Late in 2013 Kotobukiya completed the release of their new ArtFX+ New 52 Justice League statues, which all looked sensational. At that time, I had no Marvel related statues, so was wondering if they would also start releasing Avengers or other comic characters. Almost as if reading my mind, Kotobukiya teased the first photos of their Avengers Now line of statues, starting with Hulk. As more and more prototypes were shown, it was pretty clear that the Avengers lineup would be just as awesome as their Justice League statues, so I preordered all of them! Recently Hulk was the first to be released, and he is an incredible statue to have in any collection!
PACKAGING The New 52 Justice League packaging was a stand out in that the boxes together formed a nice mural with artwork of the characters. I have to say that the Avengers Now packaging for this new line is not as nice, but still has some decent artwork. And being the Hulk, this first box is huge! Love the group artwork above, which I assume will be formed with the boxes once all the statues are released. Similar to the New 52 boxes, I think these will make for a very nice backdrop to the statues on display. The statue comes packaged in 3 separate parts - the head, upper body, and legs. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not sure why they had to package it like this, but perhaps the separate pieces are for ease of manufacture and painting. Either way, the assembly is pretty straight forward, with the pieces click together very easily.
STATUE Once put together, the size of Hulk really becomes apparent, and he is most impressive! The ArtFX+ line of statues is done in 1/10th scale, and Hulk stands about 22cm, resulting in a very impressive presence on display. He’s so big in fact that this time Kotobukiya have included two of their magnetic stands, where normally their statues fit onto a single stand. The magnets in the feet hold firmly to the base, although he has a wide enough stance that the stand isn’t strictly needed. The sculpting of the muscles on the statue are just phenomenal! The poses of the New 52 statues were all fairly museum-like and static, but it looks like Kotobukiya have gone for a more dynamic style with their Avengers line. It really pays off for the Hulk, with a pose that shows he is definitely ready for action. The paint app too is a standout, giving the awesome musculature the shading and nuance to really show it off. The proportions are just right too with everything you’d expect in a Hulk statue. The veins too are very nicely done and result in a sculpt that depicts the strength of the character in a nice subtle way.
The only real complaint about the sculpt that I have is that the mold lines just above the biceps, extending around to the triceps, are more visible than if the arm were one solid molded piece. This is a shame, as the prototype photo (as shown on the box art) does not have these mold separation lines. Similarly, the mold separation is visible just above the knee, however they are mostly covered by the torn pants. It’s strange that they decided to mold these as separate pieces, but then glue them in place to be packaged, considering some assembly was still required anyway. Either way, it is a pretty minor quibble, and one that is easily overlooked when looking at the statue from a normal viewing distance. The head sculpt is beautifully done, with a great fierce grimace with Hulk ready to smash. The teeth are nicely done, and the paint app in the face really brings out the detail in the teeth, eyes, and hair. Overall, another fantastic job by Kotobukiya sculpting a comic book likeness.
FINAL THOUGHTS For the size, sculpting detail, and sensational paint apps, these statues are actually really great value! I was hoping these Avengers statues would be as good as the New 52, and Kotobukiya has exceeded all expectations. Highly recommended! If you havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t already, check out the full video review of the Hulk statue on the Kool Kollectibles youtube channel! Hope you can subscribe, like, and comment with your own thoughts :) Written by Khai at Kool Kollectibles www.koolkollectibles.net www.facebook.com/KoolKollectibles www.youtube.com/user/ckly76
collectibles: tips & tricks
HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH YOUR COLLECTABLES! A big part of product photography is being familiar with your subject. This helps to capture the nature of the subject matter and portray it accurately. For “pop culture” product photography, this can become even more involved....and fun. For instance, when you think of Goku from Dragonball Z, a few thoughts will automatically run through a person’s mind; whether it be his bright orange battle attire, his trademark “kamehameha” attack or even the iconic super saiyan hairstyle....there are always elements that will be associated with the subject matter. Sometimes you can even make up your own, by extrapolating information from both the character’s history and your imagination; and the results can be quite fun...so long as it’s grounded in a degree of truth for the audience to connect with. Below is a photo I have taken of a Rockman (Megaman) “Zero” figure from D-Arts and I will be giving you a quick tutorial how I achieved this shot. *Note: Experience with Photoshop is necessary* I thought about the different ways to shoot this figure and I remembered that in a few of the older Megaman games, I had seen these guys in cryostasis tubes before, not to mention it’s one of those mecha cliché’s that just never gets old. :P
STEPS:
So we have the Megaman Zero figure
Some green food coloring and a plastic jug.
And an old gantry prop that had come with another of my collectables. Now if you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have any spare props thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fine, just be creative and remember that sometimes a good scenery and the right lighting can be the best addition to your photography.
Fill up the jug with water and experiment with just the right amount of food coloring. (If it’s too much then Megaman will be very hard to see) Now just because it still looks a little dark and murky, don’t fret; remember that photography in general is all about lighting. So let’s see what happens when we shine a torch into the jug...
That’s much better, the light bouncing off the plastic and the water gives off the illusion that the chemical liquid is glowing.
Now just tie some fishing line or string around Megaman’s shoulder’s and attach it to a ruler, this will allow him to float off the floor of the container and hold him in place. Submerge our Megaman into the water, place the container into the gantry for that workshop effect and BAM...you have your photo! But we aren’t done “just” yet.... Alot of photography will require a degree of editing in creative programs such as Adobe Photoshop. After I adjusted the image’s tone, contrast and color balance, it’s time for a few special effects and voila, you have a completed product photo.
WRITTEN BY
TY HANSON
FINCHZERO
PHOTOGRAPHY
retro
THEORIES ON TOP SELLING RETRO TITLES
This month I thought I would have a look at some of the top selling retro titles of all time, as well as the reasons why these games became so popular. It’s a simple topic, but one that is worth exploring, as it’s interesting to see what makes a game achieve high sales. Let’s take a look! Let’s start at the top!. The largest selling title ever is that amazing Russian puzzler Tetris. It has such a basic formula, but so do all puzzle games and they are a dime a dozen. This begs the question, why? Of all the puzzle games that have ever been released, why is Tetris considered to be one of the greatest and the highest selling ever at over 140 million copies sold? I mean, over the years there have been plenty of
has been ported to just about every system known to man, and probably many unknown to man! It has had the chance to build a larger fan base and to incur a larger amount of sales. Next on the list, at 100 million sales LESS (yes Tetris really IS that popular) is the first Super Mario Brothers. One of the original side scrolling platform games, SMB is considered to be the title that sold a fair few million Nintendo Entertainment Systems, just as Tetris is said to be responsible for the success of the Gameboy. For a game that was restricted to a single console it’s amazing that it had such high sales. When you think about it though, at the time it was released the NES was really only up
Pokemon also marks the only RPG in our list, making it the largest selling retro game of its genre. Why is Pokemon so popular though? Well it could be down to the fact that you have 151 characters to use in your battles, or that fact that the Gameboy was already a huge success thanks to earlier releases such as Tetris. I personally believe, however, that the main reason could be thanks to the clever way in which Nintendo released three versions of the same game. All three games had different Pokemon, and the only way you could get all of them was by linking your consoles and trading. You could also link your games to battle other people, so Pokemon really expanded on the basic RPG
“IF WE LOOK PAST THESE MARIO AND POKEMON ENTRIES WE CAN FIND ONE SINGLE, SOLITARY SEGA TITLE.” amazing puzzle games, like Sokoban, Puzznic and Plotting. While it is often heralded as the greatest puzzle game known to man, if I had the choice I would play Plotting (also known as Flipull) before Tetris. Don’t get me wrong, it is a great game, but I believe the problem here is the lack of exposure those other games have had. Tetris
against the Atari 2600, though the Sega Master System would soon be entering the fight. If you almost halve the sales of Super Mario Bros you get a rough estimate of what the original Pokemon games managed to achieve. Released in Japan in 3 flavours, red, blue and green, only the first two were released in the Western world.
genre. I know people who have multiple Gameboys with multiple different versions of Pokemon, so consumers were purchasing both Red and Blue versions which would have increased sales substantially. From here on the list is dominated with more Pokemon and Mario, including Super Mario World, which most regular readers would know
as being the greatest game ever! If we look past these Mario and Pokemon entries we can find one single, solitary Sega title. Sonic the Hedgehog has managed to clock up in excess of 15 million copies, which is another fantastic effort. At the time of release Sonic the Hedgehog was an extremely hyped game, which advertised platforming action with the speed you don’t get from a Mario title. Double page spreads appears in magazines such as C+VG, one of the highest selling publications in the early 90s. Sega wanted to push Sonic as the next big thing, and sales of the first title in the series reflect this. Though while the game was a success, Sonic always lived in Mario’s shadow. It’s OK now however, as they’re besties who like to play sports together! The list goes on, though to be honest I could fill the whole magazine with top selling titles and theories on why they sold so well. If you want to know more, hit up your favourite search engine and see what you can find. Some of the stories out there may surprise you!
Written by Paul Monopoli
retro
WAR OF THE 90’S- SEGA VS NINTENDO
Sega, a shadow of their former selves. Once a threat to Nintendo during the 16 bit era, they were brash, cocky and full of confidence. But behind the brave face was a company struggling to come out on top financially, and after some bad decisions, the once mighty opponent of Nintendo, fell from grace, so far that it became Nintendo’s whipping boy. Nintendo themselves are having a few issues lately, poor sales from the WiiU, titles constantly getting pushed back by their developers, suffering huge financial losses, one might be inclined to think Nintendo was also on the downward spiral. Is there anything they could do? Could they learn from Sega’s mistakes?
Sega versus Nintendo. Either you were with the Megadrive/ Genesis army or the Super Nintendo soldiers. There was seldom a player who had both or sat on the fence about their preference. Gaming magazines churned out pro Sega or Pro Nintendo articles en masse, coupled with either companies “Propaganda” advertisements assuring the gamer that “Sega does what Nintendont” and other nifty catchphrases. And here’s me, a 13 year old kid at the time revelling in all its glory. It was an exciting time for sure, and despite me being a staunch Sega supporter, I couldn’t help but be dazzled by the wonders the “enemy” had to offer. “That sound chip! Phwoaaar!
sional friend had the Nintendo Entertainment System, and there was that one kid who was still clutching on to his Atari 2600 as his folks hadn’t been nagged enough to fall in line and grab them the next machine (This was the kid that was always at your place wanting to play your Sega.) So the ratio as I and my close friends at the time saw it was Sega outweighed the NES 70% to 30%. Whether it was marketed better here I’m not sure, as in North America as we all know the NES reigned supreme, so much so that most had no idea what a Master System was…..and still don’t. It wasn’t until news started stirring that the next flashy new system was on its way that the avid fanboyism
“INSTEAD OF THE 80TH MARIO GAME FOR THE YEAR I’D RATHER SEE NINTENDO GO BACK TO ITS ROOTS AND BRING BACK GAMES THAT MADE THEM WHAT THEY ARE TODAY.” Before we get to that, let’s take a step back to learn of the bitter rival’s finest days.
Look at those mode 7 graphics!!” It was a veritable treasure trove for any gamer.
In the 1990s there was a war. A war so bitter, so underhanded and so passionately fought. And no gamer who went through it will ever forget.
In Australia, prior to the 2 heavy hitters being released (Megadrive and Super Nintendo), it was a lot tamer, a lot of kids had the Sega’s trusty Sega Master System and the occa-
started. Sega got in first with their release of their 16 bit console, the Sega Megadrive. Its sleek black design, stereo enhanced sound and arcade quality graphics (sort of..) blew the average 8 bit gamer away. Kids “ooooohd and aaaaaaahd” as they saw Altered Beast fire up for the first time. Arcade ports of clas-
“SO, WITH THE HISTORY LESSON ASIDE. WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE NINTENDO IN THE MODERN ERA OF GAMING? WHAT DO THEY NEED TO CHANGE? HAVE THEY LEARNED FROM SEGA’S MISTAKES? NO.”
sic Sega games such as Golden Axe, Afterburner 2, Outrun and more were lovingly ported on to this beast, providing the “Arcade in your Lounge room”, as this was the ultimate goal of any kid at the time, bringing the arcade to you. It wasn’t until 2 years later that Nintendo released its follow up to the NES in Australia. By then, Sega had a strong foothold in the market and forced Nintendo to play catch up. But the SNES sold in droves. We’d been teased by its power in all the magazines for so long. Drooling over screenshots in the latest Mean Machines magazine, and reading at how the reviewers all adored the new wave of games. Nintendo stuck to their guns, with solid titles to impress the masses. Super Mario World, Super Castlevania, Super Metroid, Super Punch Out!!! Everything the SNES touched was literally…Super! For years the 2 companies tried to outdo each other, Sega had a Sonic for their Mario, Nintendo had a better Street Fighter port, Sega had Streets of Rage, Nintendo had Final Fight… the war raged on. Now the turning point where Sega started to falter is when all their fancy add ons came into play. Firstly they delivered the Mega CD add on. Allowing you to experience games on cd with amazing sound quality
and full motion video (albeit horribly grainy). Final Fight was actually arcade perfect, and even featured all the selectable characters and was able to be played with 2 players, unlike the SNES port, which was a heavily edited single player affair. This was it. Sega had done it. They’ve got the upper hand again…. or had they? Poor third party support and a myriad of lacklustre titles couldn’t help sell the new add on. And the gamers, who had forked out the money for it, got a bitter aftertaste with the price point and lack of quality titles. Mind you, the CD attachment did strike fear into the Nintendo crew, as they started researching a CD add on for the Super Nintendo initially and heavily considered using the medium for their next console. This resulted in an angry Phillips and a very disgruntled Sony, who were so disgruntled by Nintendo’s time wasting that they decided to throw themselves into the console market with the Sony Playstation….but that’s another story, but is interesting to note, considering Sony’s current position over Nintendo in the current market. So, where were we? Terrible add ons, that’s it..ehem! So after the poor reception of the Mega CD, Sega decided to pop on another add on to
support the ageing Megadrive. This was the 32X, another gimmicky thing to plug into the system that allowed your humble Sega go 32 bit! Wow!! Games such as Primal Rage, Star Wars Arcade and Space Harrier were lovingly ported on to the next “amazing thing” in the Megadrives lifespan. But, much like the Mega Cd, the 32X was yet another expensive add on, whence purchased, really didn’t offer that much in return. The American and Japanese regions got a healthier spread of games, but here, it fell flat. Sega fans were getting angry fast. All the while the Nintendo chugged out classics on its good old SNES. By the time the proper 32 bit CD era came around, Sony was on the market with their fancy Playstation, and Sega had their Saturn. The step up from last generation was considerably noticeable. Gamers were overly cautious by this stage. Fed up with Sega’s silly add on choices, many decided to opt for the shiny new competitor in the market. Sony lapped it up, and delivered some amazing games. Not to discredit the Saturn, it’s a great machine and has an amazing back catalogue. During this phase Nintendo had held off. Waiting, watching, until it dropped its latest system, the Nintendo 64,
it’s now is the item you can see stacked the highest in your local pawn shop.
which was still a cartridge based system oddly enough. Despite this, Nintendo persisted with its classic franchises to the fans delight. But I and others at this time, who were older gamers now, felt it was directed towards kids more so than us teens or twentysomethings. The next Generation came along, with the Sega Dreamcast first, then the Playstation 2, Nintendo Gamecube then the new lad in town, the XBOX. Personally, I’d gone the Sony route during the last gen, and skipped the Saturn, so I was willing to give the Dreamcast one more chance. And I’m glad I did, albeit it being amazingly underrated, the system still surprises me to this day. Arcade perfect titles finally! They’d done it! Gone were the jagged polygons we’d endured in the 32 bit era, along came lush textures, thousands of colours and amazing sound. The Dreamcast spewed rainbows. Sadly, many still were bitter from Sega’s past , and were apprehensive about this new system. Most, waited that little bit longer.. and went down the Sony path. They’d been so amazing first time around, why not do it again eh? Soon after Sega announced they were dropping out of the hardware
market, with huge financial losses crippling the company, they were solely going to stick to software. Sadly enough, we started to see, terrible sports games where Sonic the hedgehog was competing with Mario. If anyone had seen that in the 90’s they would have sworn that hell had frozen over. It was sad, as the once proud company was reduced to playing second fiddle to Nintendo and their moustached mascot. So, with the history lesson aside. Where does this leave Nintendo in the modern era of gaming? What do they need to change? Have they learned from Sega’s mistakes? No. The Wii was a fantastic system, and “Fun for the whole family” and sold like hotcakes. With its motion sensor controls, it was a gimmick that won over the masses, for a short while. But the amount of horrid shovel ware during the latter part of the Wiis life did hurt, as parents struggled to sift through the piles of stuff like “pony fun virtual time” and “Dog Doctor”, and find anything of decent quality. Sure, it had its A1 titles, but the shovel ware far outweighed them. Another gimmicky add on was the Wii fit, a board that weighed you and had you churn out simple exercises in order to keep you active! Yay! And
With the WiiU, the controller itself is once again is another gimmicky selling point. Sure some were impressed by it at that E3 when it was unveiled, but most saw through its sharp sales pitch. Another point is over reliance in their franchises/mascots. Mario is an amazing game. Everyone loves Mario. But there’s such a thing as too much Mario. Instead of the 80th Mario game for the year I’d rather see Nintendo go back to its roots and bring back games that made them what they are today. Metroid, Castlevania, Contra, MegaMan, you name it. The fans would lap it up. Gamers at the end of the day just want to play games. All they ask for is for a TV, a comfortable controller and a solid game to keep them entertained til the wee hours of the morning. Nifty doo-dads, 3D screens and jumping around in your lounge room like a monkey is not what I class as a standard gaming session. So fingers crossed Nintendo pulls their way out of the current slump it’s in. The handheld side of things is cruising nicely, let’s just get that main one down and stable eh? Don’t let another childhood friend die.
Written by Tim Arnold
www.stickytriggerentertainment.com
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WINTER CITY comic books
WINTER CITY VOL. 1 BY SCOTT F. SOWTER
Savage, sharp, twisted, edgy, harsh. Just some of the words that jump to mind when reading Patrick and Carl Purcell’s Winter City. I had the great pleasure of reading this comic when it was in single issue form, now the first six issues come collected in one stunning trade paperback that you NEED TO OWN! Winter City tells two stories. One is of the horrific upbringing of a young man named Sam Winters. Abandoned by his mother to the savage clutches of his abusive uncle, we see Sam’s life slowly spiral out of control. At the same time in present day we see the story of a serial killer who slaughters rich businessmen. The one thing to note about this killer is that he dresses like the Grim Reaper. The police race against time to try and stop this monster who shows no remorse when it comes to dispatching people left and right.
purpose. Every frame is as beautiful as it is dirty and filled with carnage. I recall being blown away the first time I had read it. Being able to jump back into it has been the same visual feast I recalled from a few years back. As soon as you start reading this comic the quality of the Purcell brothers work becomes all the more clear. Here are two guys who know how to write a story. The plot moves at spectacular pace but you never feel as though you are being ripped off in any of the details. The quality of dialogue between characters is outstanding. Everything feels like it fits and nothing feels out of place or wasted. The other important thing to note is, this comic is Australian owned and made. It is astounding to see such quality in the medium come out of our own backyards. It dispenses
One detractor for Winter City could be that it is certainly not for everyone. It is harsh, hard-hitting and not for the faint of heart! It comes with a “Parental Advisory” on the front for a reason. It is one of the most violent comic books I have ever read. I guess this limits the audience of Winter City somewhat. Thankfully I don’t have a problem with ultra-violence, so bring it on I say, but you have been warned. Certainly not for the squeamish. In all Winter City has quickly become one of my favourite comics.
“THANKFULLY I DON’T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH ULTRA-VIOLENCE, SO BRING IT ON I SAY, BUT YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. CERTAINLY NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH.” The first thing you will notice with Winter City when you pick it up is the art by Pablo Verdugo Munoz. Wow. The art in this comic is simply stunning. It flares up at you with vicious
with wasted and outdated notions of Australiana and focuses on a good comic that can be enjoyed, no matter where you are from.
It delivers on everything I expected from it and brings plenty of hurt. Sometimes I just want to kick back and see some hard-core horror violence and Winter City delivers!
WINTER CITY PRODUCTIONS WRITTEN BY: PATRICK AND CARL PURCELL ART BY: PABLO VERDUGO MUNOZ COLOUR BY: DAVID ARAVENA RIQUELME
10/10
WINTER CITY comic books
INTERVIEW WITH WINTER CITY PRODUCTIONS: PATRICK AND CARL PURCELL BY SCOTT F. SOWTER I have had the great pleasure over the last few years to get to know Patrick and Carl Purcell, the minds behind Winter City Productions. I first met them several Supanovas ago, they were selling the first few issues of their first comic Winter City. I instantly fell in love with their work. Not only is Winter City a top notch comic book series, it’s also home grown here in Australia. That’s right these two home town favourites came good! Now at Supanova 2014 they are representing their own comic book company. With two additional titles to add to the impressive line up. I got the chance to sit down with the boys at their booth and have a chat about everything going on at Winter City Productions. Scott: I’m here once again with the Winter City Productions boys, I always end up here. Give me a quick pitch guys, what is Winter City Productions all about?
Patrick: As most of you know we launched Winter City three years ago and it was an experimental time for us. We want to become professional comic book creators and we want to really make something of the Australian comic book industry. We want to improve the impression a lot of Australian readers have of what a lot of Australian comics are about. Three years latter pretty much to the day we are here at Supanova
launching our first graphic novel. 148 pages collecting Winter City 1-6 together. We are launching a new series Mechanical Knight, something that’s a bit more all age appropriate and friendly for the younger readers. And a full on horror/black-comedy called The Left Hand Path, which is very appealing for anyone who liked Winter City but thought their ought to be a bit more demonic action going on. So it’s been a big weekend so far! It’s our third anniversary and what an amazing way to be celebrating what we are doing by moving into a bigger position in the Australian publishing scene. Scott: There’s nothing else like this in the Australian comic book scene. What are you guys doing differently that is making you stand out?
Patrick: The import thing is to look at what comic book readers are reading. What are they buying? We are importing hundreds of thousands of comics from overseas publishers and the issue is that Australian creators do not create books that appeal to those people reading those foreign and typically American comic books. So our strategy is simple, make comic books that people want to read! Scott: That’s a great strategy! Tell me more about Mechanical Knight.
You mentioned to me earlier that it was a book that you thought you could share with your children.
Patrick: It is a cliché thing to write something you can share with your children, but that’s really what it’s about. My kids are young, seven and three and they always want to look at Winter City, you know, see what dads up too. But of course it’s not appropriate for them, it’s a very adult book. So I’ve had a concept in my mind for a while now and that was my Mechanical Knight concept. I’ve finally, over the last few years, worked out the plot points, where I want the story to go and what I want to do with it. I feel really confident about where it’s going to go and the world that I can build. I went out looking and found an artist, who has a really beautiful style, it’s very animated, he has frames that look like an animated cartoon or Disney movie. So yeah, we put it together! So the premise is, it’s a science fiction/fantasy set in a medieval time period in a fantasy location we call Losstaria. It’s a normal day in the town of Drameer when a giant fireball explodes in the sky, sending wreckage and rubble all over the land. A young boy called Marcus and his old crippled father Hector discover a piece of the wreckage on their property. When Marcus investigates it he discovers it is some kind of device. Again
“WE ARE LAUNCHING A NEW SERIES MECHANICAL KNIGHT, SOMETHING THAT’S A BIT MORE ALL AGE APPROPRIATE AND FRIENDLY FOR THE YOUNGER READERS. AND A FULL ON HORROR/BLACK-COMEDY CALLED THE LEFT HAND PATH, WHICH IS VERY APPEALING FOR ANYONE WHO LIKED WINTER CITY BUT THOUGHT THEIR OUGHT TO BE A BIT MORE DEMONIC ACTION GOING ON. SO IT’S BEEN A BIG WEEKEND SO FAR!”
- PATRICK through their curiosity they activate the device and it sort of merges with Marcus and becomes a fantastic and invulnerable suit of armour. This sets off a chain reaction of events which leads to a large civil war and almost a weapons race in Losstaria. And for some strange reason all these hideous monsters and beasts star appearing in Losstaria shortly after the crash. So Marcus and Hector have to put an end to the civil war, unite all the feuding lords and put and then go to war against all the monsters and beasts. So yeah, that’s the synopsis. Scott: Nice! So Carl, you co-wrote Winter City, which is phenomenal. What are your opinions on Mechanical Knight?
Carl: I really like Mechanical Knight! I’ve looked at it, I’ve been looking at it as Pat’s been doing it. I really like the idea, I really like the artwork. I think it’s got huge potential, the same way Winter City did, but for a much bigger audience. I think it’s going to be just as big. Scott: Excellent. When I first met you guys, it was pretty much just Winter City. Now you guys are pushing other publications as well. So with Left Hand Path, you guys have no creator credits on it at all?
Patrick: Well no, other than I made the logo. (laughs) I just like to put that out there. Scott: Nice. It’s a beautiful logo.
Patrick: I was proud of it you see. Blood splatter! I want to move into a leadership position within the Australian comic book industry. I can’t afford to just produce all my own books all the time. When I say “afford”, it’s not a matter of money, it’s a matter of getting the momentum and the scale to deliver to deliver comic books for all readers. Not everyone likes Crime drama thrillers like Winter City, or fantasy adventure like Mechanical Knight. Not everyone likes brutal horror comedy like Left Hand Path. But the more of these books we add on by talented creators like Jason Franks, Paul Abstruse and Eddie Swan, the bigger our line is going to be. The more fans we can get in, those fans will understand our work and our quality and they will be willing to try our other books. From there we can get a great fan base that believes in what we do. At the end of the day is getting as many great creators on board with our mission and helping them get the results and fans they deserve. Scott: I guess the end result is some sort of home grown, Australian, comic book empire?
Patrick: Empire is a big word. We want to create a viable business model here that creates good comic books that are bought by Australian readers! We as Australias should have a slice of our own pie! Scott: So Winter City Productions, is it all creator owned? Patrick: Correct! We will be a production house as well as a publishing house. We’ll continue to build our own properties as we come up with them. Lets just say a writer comes to me with a script for a project they can’t do themselves, and I find it compelling I’ll bankroll that. Otherwise if you want to have your own IP, we’ll charge a small fee for facilitating the marketing, the branding, the conventions, the selling, but it’s all yours ultimately. If you want to get yourself a movie deal, get yourself one! If you want to make a line of toys, go for it! If you want us to help you with those things, we’ll do that as well and charge a consulting or publishing fee. That’s the model we’re going for. Scott: That’s great. It’s good to see someone here with the balls to give that a go, so props to you guys! So Winter City #8 has been released here today at Supanova. It’s a twelve issue run. So what’s after Winter City?
Patrick: I’ve had a few questions about that today. I think we will give Winter City a rest for a while. I would like to come back to it, I’ve got big ideas for those characters and that world. But I think I will let Winter City take a break for a while. Hopefully I’ll get to work with other creators on their projects and help them take those books as far as they can go with them. Scott: Thanks so much guys! It was a great interview! Patrick: Pleasure as always. Carl: Happy to do it!
Winter City the graphic novel as well as subsequent issues are now available in good comic book stores and expect to see Mechanical Knight and Left Hand Path in stores soon!
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Inside: Interview with: Fae La Blanche Elo Cosplay Logan-V + more! Special Report: Cosplay does not equal consent AVCon wrap up What is Cosplay Live?
Photographer: Greencat | www.facebook.com/photogreencat Cosplayers: Applejack: Narga-chan Cosplay | www.facebook.com/Narga.chan Twilight Sparkle: Kristina Steiner | www.facebook.com/pages/Kristina-Steiner-Make-up-Artist-Hairstylist Rainbow Dash: Haruhiism Cosplay | www.facebook.com/haruhiism00
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/FAE.LA.BLANCHE.COSPLAY
Rarity: Fae La Blanche | www.facebook.com/fae.la.blanche.cosplay Fluttershy: Skeggjรถld Cosplay | www.facebook.com/SkeggjoldCosplay Pinky Pie: Snii | sniisel.tumblr.com
FAE LA BLANCHE cosplay
FAE LA BLANCHE COSPLAY COSPLAYER FROM AUSTRIA!
This month we’re talking to Fae La Blanche Cosplay who’s an amazing Austrian based cosplayer. Fae - tell us a bit about you and how you got into cosplay.
Well, first off I’m 21 years old and am currently living in Austria’s capital city Vienna. I started cosplaying in summer 2012, but after already having been a big fan of Mangas and Animes for quite some years a friend from school took me to my first convention in summer 2009. Funny as it seems, it was in 2010, at the same convention, that I kinda turned into something of a little admirer of my, now best friend, Haruhiism Cosplay. In 2011 I got to know her personally without even having a clue, that she was the cosplayer I had seen the year before. Not only is she the one who ultimatively got me into cosplay, but she also is my partner-in-crime for a better part of them up until today. You recently headed over to Paris for the Japan Expo - tell us a bit about that. To be honest it still feels like some kind of lucid dream! It was simply breathtaking and I am still amazed, by the sheer mass of great cosplayers I’ve encountered. Not only the ones participating in the ECG and WCS contests put up a great show, but there was a wide variety of great costumes, many of Animes and
Mangas, quite a few gaming-cosplays and there also were some of the most hilarious ones, which I have seen so far, like a crossdressing Freddie Mercury of “The show must go on”. But not only the cosplayers themselves were great, but also what I could note about the french community, is that they are overall very, very sweet and welcoming. I’m lucky that I am able to speak french on a somewhat decent level, so it was rather easy to communicate. If you don’t speak french, they’d try to commute what they want to tell you just as nicely. It really gave me the feeling, that most are really glad to share and exchange their experiences! Other than that everything was very well organized and they covered a lot of different interests, like they had some wrestling showcases, I still don’t know why, but it was great fun, and I can’t think about one bad thing.... except for the super high level of exhaustion I experienced after five days of excitement and last-minute-finishing-touches on cosplays :D You’re the first Austrian cosplayer we’ve interviewed, what’s the cosplay scene like over there? Are there many events for you to attend? First off: the Austrian community is rather small, which is not too surprising, as Austria itself is a rather
small country. The biggest convention so far was able to count about 9.000 people scattered over three days. But that is only the biggest one. Most events tend to count up to 1.000-3.000 people over two days, which is why most people know each other personally. Rather than having to search for each other, you mostly don’t really have to wait until you bump into the ones you were looking for. Most locations have rather nice surroundings, which is a great thing that Austria offers. Beautiful sceneries and backgrounds are easily found, so most cosplay-shootings tend to happen at conventions them-
Photographer: Greencat | www.facebook.com/photogreencat
selves. Whereas a lot of Cons in Australia and the US seem to revolve around comics, Austria and most other European countries rather tend to base on Anime and Manga. We’ve got around four conventions per year, if I’m not forgetting any, but most are taking place in summer, so we kind of have something like a convention-season and to be honest I probably attend more events in other countries, than in Austria. :) What about your costumes and characters - how do you choose what you’ll cosplay?
To be honest, most cosplays so far have been chosen on a whim. I only remember very seldom costumes, which were planned for a long time already and to be honest, I don’t like to plan. It’s like you set something up and force yourself to follow a certain schedule... There’s a lot more motivation backing the whole thing up, if you decide and directly start working on it, rather than planning ahead. :) Back to my choosing system. A lot of the characters I did were chosen with the help of Haru. For example Nariko of Heavenly Sword was something she literally brainwashed me to do,
but in the end I really appreciated it... I really hope that doesn’t sound to masochistic XD Other than that, there are certain questions I ask myself, like: Does she fit me optically? Will I be able to pull it off overall? There are so many awesome characters out there, but I know that there are those, that fit me and those, which I won’t ever be able to get right, so I also tend to ask people who know me very well, like my mother, what they think of a character I am a attempting to cosplay.
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/FAE.LA.BLANCHE.COSPLAY
Photographer: Greencat | www.facebook.com/photogreencat
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/FAE.LA.BLANCHE.COSPLAY
Photographer: Greencat | www.facebook.com/photogreencat
Photographer: Greencat | www.facebook.com/photogreencat
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/FAE.LA.BLANCHE.COSPLAY
Photographer: Steeve Li Lun Yuk Photography | www.facebook.com/steeveliphoto
Photographer: Greencat | www.facebook.com/photogreencat
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/FAE.LA.BLANCHE.COSPLAY
Photographer: Greencat | www.facebook.com/photogreencat
ELO COSPLAY cosplay
ELO COSPLAY
COSPLAYER FROM CANADA!
This month we’re talking to Elo Cosplay about her amazing cosplay and her creative costumes she makes. Tell us a bit about you and where you are based. My name is Samantha, I was born and raised on a small island called Price Edward Island in Canada but I have since moved to Calgary, Alberta where I am currently based. Cosplaying is a big passion of mine and spreading that passion is something I love doing as well. When I am not studying or traveling you can find me playing an MMO, RPG game or binge watching Anime. You’re a regular attendee at the various “cons”, what are your favourites and what ones are you looking forward to this year? I guess you can say I am a little bias since my favorite would be my first convention called “Otafest”, Calgary’s main Anime Convention where I live. I know I will have lots of favorites but Otafest will always be my first favorite Convention. I have quite a few Cons this summer but I am most excited for Mecha Con in New Orleans and Anime Fest in Dallas. You make a lot of costumes and they are quite complex, can you tell us how you go about deciding
and then making your costume? Most of my costume decisions start off based on how much I love a character from an anime or game and how I would like to portray them. From there I can look at the material needed - do they have a prop or armor I need to build? For the most part any costume is a challenge and I like to challenge myself – I never give up on a costume even if it takes months to make. Why did you get into cosplay in the first place? What is the attraction? Growing up I have always loved Anime and when I had the opportunity to attend a convention for the first time I wanted to be in full Cosplay. I had no idea how Cosplay worked – so liked anyone else I bought a beloved character costume from eBay which did not fit and I had to alter it. During the convention I loved seeing everyone’s hard work and dedication! I wanted to be able to make beautiful armor like them and sew anything imaginable. I fell in love with craftsmanship from the moment I got my entry badge to the Convention and have been setting goals ever since to improve my skills, not only as a hobby but as a personal goal too. Cosplay seems to be going through a growth phase, how do
you see it at the cons you visit? Is there a larger number of people going to events in costume? Cosplay has grown a lot even in the past couple years alone. Each convention I go to seems to have even more people than the previous year, I love that this is growing and I hope it continues! Each event always has a lot of Cosplayers but there are a ton of people who don’t Cosplay or just like to show off merchandise clothing they own. Everyone has their own style and they attend a convention for multiple reasons such as panels, AMV’s, game interaction, making friends etc. What advice do you have for those Cosplayers just starting out? Attending events, making costumes etc? The internet is your best friend! Seriously – there are so many tutorials on youtube, deviantart, cosplay.com etc that you can find almost anything to help a beginner to the experienced. You can even contact Cosplayers or use forums to ask questions or advice and they will be more than willing to help! We are such a friendly community so there is no need to be shy. Events are also special, you can find out lots of information online or through a friend. Attending one is always different -you can go with
Y Photographer: Mercury Labs | www.facebook.com/MercuryLab
friends or alone, in cosplay or regular clothes. Cosplay and photography go hand in hand, have you been involved with any photo shoots? I have done a couple shoots and I can say Cosplay Photography is like a whole new level of fun. Each photographer has his or her own unique style and personality. Even working with the same photographer a couple times if always different experience. I love it because both the Cosplayers and the photographers have their own unique view on what they want so you must work together to discover the true beauty behind
each shot. I have noticed sometimes the most beautiful shots are the most random and unplanned. Finally where can people go to find out more about you? They can find me at: www.facebook.com/EloCosplay where I post progress picture and photo shoots. When I have time I will make tutorials as well. They can also find me on Instagram @EloCosplay I am currently working on my Deviant art page but it is: www.elocosplay.deviantart.com
“THE INTERNET IS YOUR BEST FRIEND! SERIOUSLY – THERE ARE SO MANY TUTORIALS ON YOUTUBE, DEVIANTART, COSPLAY.COM ETC THAT YOU CAN FIND ALMOST ANYTHING TO HELP A BEGINNER...”
Photographer: SeyeCO Images | www.facebook.com/pages/SeyeCO-Images/181615431856948
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/ELOCOSPLAY
Photographer: SeyeCO Images | www.facebook.com/pages/SeyeCO-Images/181615431856948
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/ELOCOSPLAY
Photographer: Soltography | www.facebook.com/Soltography.Inc Editing: Bosslogic Inc | www.facebook.com/BossLogicInc
LOGAN-V cosplay
LOGAN-V
COSPLAYER FROM MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA!
Hi Logan, first up tell us a bit about you and where you are from. Firstly thank you for this opportunity! I got into gaming as early as Sega master system II, and then Mega Drive II, one stand out game of all time: Streets of Rage II. Literally played that hundreds if not a thousand times - Max was my favourite character. Also played some early strategy games on PC e.g. Warcraft 2, Dune 2000, Warlords 2. Early online FPS: Red Faction was awesome at the time - I used to be a top ranked player. As time went on there was less time for games, still got hooked on GTA San Andreas, and played Gears of War and COD on Xbox. Now I still try fitting some Battlefield in sometimes, which I personally rate highly especially on multiplayer. I was always into sports during/after school; soccer (mostly indoor) became my main interest. Also gym, weight training was always an interest and is now an extremely serious hobby/addiction, with food/supplement preparation and the whole gym / healthy eating lifestyle. Though love an occasional pizza and Nandos to power my current 200KG Dead Lift. Logan-V was born in Melbourne, and is currently still there.. ha. I’m happy-go-lucky, love to joke around, having a larger than life overtone, a
more humble undertone, love to see people smiling and laughing Cosplay is becoming more popular worldwide, where do you think it’s headed? Cosplay is becoming popular and will continue to grow into something more mainstream. I think secretly most people like to dress up, even though they might not admit it. As it becomes more mainstream, a greater amount of people will accept and participate. In doing so, I think competition will grow and there may be clashes of ego, haha. I hope everybody can keep a level head and remember why they first started out in cosplay, and respect each other, always! There are already competitions held at conventions and I see some extremely awesome costumes and talented cosplayers! People love seeing characters come to real life… especially the kids, seeing their favourite Disney princess or a character from a game… You bring joy to people’s lives, and that is one thing that I love. (Personally when you get a few kids asking if you’re the ‘Real’ Wolverine – And some people doing double takes - That’s awesome).
There seems to be more female then male cosplayers, why do you think that is? Honestly I didn’t notice. I would be guessing, maybe the ladies like dressing up more than the gents? Or maybe they are quicker at picking up trends than guys? Either way I’m sure it will even out in the long run. Doesn’t really matter if there are more of one than the other as long as everybody is having fun. Did you find it hard to start out in cosplay? When people ask me this question, I’m unsure how to answer it. I like to say I woke up one morning with the beard, my hair was spiked up on each side and my cuts had healed. I looked into the mirror and Bang! I realised that I was actually The Wolverine! (haha). It is something I sort of fell into, I had no plans to cosplay. Some of this is attributed to my good friend Ali ‘X’ from Shadowloo, who is a Pro gamer. I did attend a couple of events with him. However even though I saw everybody dressed up having fun, never thought I would get into it as well. I am so happy I did, as I have a lot of passion embodying the Wolverine character, and have met copious amounts of awesome people doing what I love.
“IT IS SOMETHING I SORT OF FELL INTO, I HAD NO PLANS TO COSPLAY.” WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/XLOGANV
I basically wanted the claws when I saw them, so I got some custom claws made, and then thought I’d get a tailored leather jacket made. A short while later I just thought I might as well get the rest of the costume together, hoping somebody would invite me to a dress up party. I actually just grew the beard as muck around/joke for the release of ‘The Wolverine’ 2013. Manifest was my first convention I attended, and things just blew up from there. Time is the biggest issue for me, being extremely busy. I would love to get a few more cosplays together. I like to study the character so I can embody and portray it with greater accuracy. I started reading to find out more information about the Wolverine, that I didn’t know even rereading things to refresh my memory. Like being fluent in 8 different languages (which I now have to learn haha), and mastered virtually every fighting style. I also started watching video clips, extracts from movies, cartoon clips, and re-reading more about the personality. I can actually relate to the Wolverine character on so many different levels, which I think helps a lot. If you can relate to a character, you will tend to have more passion; therefore you can perform, portray and embody the character with greater intensity and accuracy. It becomes more enjoyable. What “cons” are you attending?
I will be attending most Melbourne Cons, hopefully going to EB Games Expo again and really looking forward to PAX in Melbourne. I am hoping to get to Qld and Perth cons in the future. It appears that conventions in the U.S. seem to be huge and a lot of fun, so eventually looking to get over there too - I just scored a ticket to SDCC: San Diego Comic Con! What do you find is the best way to connect with fans and followers? Main page is on Facebook. One can easily post pictures, comments and gain followers. I am also on Instagram which is my secondary avenue. Twitter third, though hardly have time to maintain all social media sites. I am LoganV, though if you type in @XLoganV you will find me across all my social media sites. I have also registered XLoganV on YouTube for when I eventually have some videos to post currently only have a photo slide show. Also at conventions is great, you can talk face to face.
few photo shoots on there, cons I attend, events such as the X-men DOFP official Australian Premiere and at Village Cinemas for the Xmen DOFP release.
If readers would like to know a bit more about you, where can they go to see more of your work?
I am excited about this so I will just mention you can also see my selfie with Stan Lee on my FB page.
On my Facebook page you will find most of my pictures, I also have a
www.instagram.com/xloganv www.twitter.com/XLoganV www.youtube.com/user/XLoganV
www.facebook.com/XLoganV
Photographer: Soltography | www.facebook.com/Soltography.Inc
Editing: Bosslogic Inc | www.facebook.com/BossLogicInc
“I LIKE TO STUDY THE CHARACTER SO I CAN EMBODY AND PORTRAY IT WITH GREATER ACCURACY. I STARTED READING TO FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE WOLVERINE..” WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/XLOGANV
EMMA STAN cosplay
EMMA STANLEY
COSPLAYER FROM THE UK!
Emma, tell us a bit about you and where you are from. I’m a cosplayer from the UK and I am based in Scotland, Aberdeen, and have been cosplaying for just under a year now. I tend to cosplay characters from things I like and I choose characters that I can relate to, or really like the clothes of and think it would be fun to cosplay and try to make. I try not to wear costumes that show off a lot of skin as I’m not the most confident with my body, but that may change in the future. I try to stick to characters I know well. When did you start getting involved with cosplay? I started getting interested in cosplay last year in August – when I found out there was a convention nearby I was desperate to cosplay for it. My friend had told me what cosplay was in August and I really wanted to try it out, so I began to look online for things that would help. I then developed a big passion for it that led me to where I am now. As a relatively new cosplayer, what character or costume was your first? My first costume was Fem!America from Hetalia, but it was mainly closet cosplay so I prefer to think that my Hatsune Miku one was my proper first cosplay.
You say you really like the clothes, is this to do with the character or the style of the clothing itself? It’s to do with both really – I love the way the character looks in them and I want to try recreating it as best as I can, and I love the way the clothes are designed, I just want them so badly! Do you attend events? I attend as many `cons` as I can. I tend to go to MCM a lot. I really love meeting new people and going to all the fandom meet-ups, as it is a great way to gain friends. Everyone is so polite and that is what makes the experience so enjoyable. I love meeting all the famous people that attend too – that’s one of the best parts for me, and seeing all the other amazing cosplays! Tell us a bit about your first “con” experience. Were you nervous? What character did you go as and how long did it take to prepare? I wasn’t that nervous as I was with a friend and I knew a lot of other people going. My main concern was the amount of people who would be there but I quickly got used to it. I went as Belarus from Hetalia, it didn’t take too long to prepare. I had to wake up early to get my makeup done and brush my wig out though – this took about 3 hours.
“I TEND TO COSPLAY CHARACTERS FROM THINGS I LIKE AND I CHOOSE CHARACTERS THAT I CAN RELATE TO..” We hear that a lot about cosplay - that it’s the community that can make it so much fun. Are there clubs or groups that you’ve met up with or is more of a relaxed get together at an event? I go to a lot of meet-ups that happen on weekends, I go to as many as I can. Some are themed and some are just general cosplay. I am part of a cosplay group, but it’s very small at the moment as we have only just created it. Thanks Emma - where can readers find out more about you? People can find out more about me on my: Facebook Page – Emma Cosplays Tumblr – queen-junkoenoshima And DeviantART – lovejuliet4427
NLEY
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/EMMA.COSPLAY6739
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/EMMA.COSPLAY6739
COSPLAY=CONSENT
COSPLAY=CONS cosplay
COSPLAY DOES NOT EQUAL CONSENT INTERVIEW WITH COSPLAYER SUSHI KILLER
Welcome to Live Magazine Ellie (should we call you Sushi Killer?). Hahaha, Sushi or Ellie. I respond to either :) You contribute for 16 Bit Sirens, what else are you involved with regarding cosplay? Sometimes I compete in local masquerades, sometimes I take photos... I used to make videos too. I feel like I dabble in most avenues of cosplay. When did you start and what got you into cosplay? I first cosplayed in 2005 at Anime Expo in California. My “friend” at the time actually bullied me into doing it because she thought, as a shy, unconfident person, it would make me miserable. It turned out that I loved it and it gave me a lot of confidence and really lead to a self-transformation through my teenage years. Tell us what are your favourite characters and do you create the costumes yourself? I love to wear the ones I can act goofy and still be in character with... So for me, that’s Sailor Moon, Misato Katsuragi from Evangelion, and Disney’s Snow White. I make most of my costumes, but now that I am working a full-time “grown-up” job, I find that I have more money and
less time for cosplay, so I commission quite a few too. It’s not a bad situation to be in! Your article on 16 Bit Sirens about Cosplay does not equal Consent got a lot of comment. Tell us about that. First of all, I don’t think any of us at the Sirens expected it to take off like it did... We were pretty much immediately flooded with comments, both positive and negative. We got countless stories of people’s harassment experiences and most of those people thanked us for starting the CONsent project. Even so, we got a lot of people who disagreed or misunderstood our message and I even got a few rape/death threats and anonymous tumblr messages telling me I should be ashamed or go kill myself. Overall, I am glad I wrote the article and had such a great platform to talk about the issue, but I don’t think I was properly prepared for the aftermath. Do you feel this is a growing problem and how would you suggest cosplayers deal with it? The problem has always been present and it’s just a part of life, to a certain extent. Most people will experience harassment in their lifetime, especially women, and as such it’s a problem that’s become a part of cosplay culture. Each person will
have a different way of handling harassment -- some might be sarcastic, some non-confrontational and quiet -- but my recommendation for what has worked is a clear, vocal expression of the lack of consent. Just yelling “NO!” or “Leave me alone!” can go a long way, as it establishes to everyone around you that A) you do not want the harassment to occur, and B) that you have made it clear to the person harassing you. That way there’s no “Well I didn’t know they didn’t like it” excuses and it will hopefully bring attention to your situation. What do you feel is ok and what isn’t ok? What I mean here is many people enjoy getting photos with cosplayers at the various events and cons, how should someone approach someone they’d either like a photo of or like to be photographed with? Really, I think that’s an individual decision. Personally, I am fine with posing with a stranger while in cosplay (or even out of it) as long as they ASK first. I really appreciate when someone asks if they can pose with me, put their hand on my back/ shoulder, or even just take a photo in general. Even if someone asked me for a panty shot, I wouldn’t be offended by it because some cosplayers might be comfortable with it even if I’m not, so as long as a photographer or fan respects my wish not to
SENT be photographed that way, there’s no harm done. If someone wants a photo with a cosplayer, the best they can do is ask respectfully or compliment their costume in a way that doesn’t objectify them (e.g. not commenting on their body.) Perhaps you could give our readers some tips on dealing with over enthusiastic fans. Again, the best thing you can do is express yourself clearly and vocally. This can be really uncomfortable sometimes, but many people at conventions are too socially awkward to get subtlety. Just say “I don’t want to be glomped/hugged/touched” or “Please don’t say that, it’s making me uncomfortable.” If they’re a good person and a true fan, they won’t be upset and they’d probably rather not upset you. You’re a photographer too, tell us about some of your favourite shoots. My best shoots have usually just been with my friends. You make a lot of friends through cosplay, but sometimes, if you’re not dressed from the same thing as them, it can be hard to carve out time to spend together. I do cosplay shoots so that I can spend time with my friends and give them something they will love -memories of our hangout time!
Any advice for new photographers attending their first “con”? How should they approach someone they want to photograph? Be confident! Be open to shooting with anyone and try to approach all levels of cosplayers. Just simply walk up to someone and ask if you can take their picture. Then, if you think they seem pretty comfortable with you, ask them if they’d be up for shooting more. It also might help to show them the picture you just took of them, since they will know exactly what you’re getting.
Ellie - where can our readers go to find our more about you? You can check out my photography/ cosplay work on facebook on my pages: www.facebook.com/sushikiller and www.facebook.com/SushiKillerPhotography
and of course keep up with my con reports and game/comic reviews at www.16bitSirens.com!
ALL PHOTOS TAKEN BY ELLIE: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/SUSHIKILLERPHOTOGRAPHY
AVCON cosplay
AVCON ADELAIDE 2014 WRAP UP! More Cosplays than you can poke an Enchanted (+10 Critical Strike) Mage Staff at! AVCon 2014 goes down in Adelaide history as the largest yet, once again holding the title of largest Anime and Video Game festival in all of Australia. But what’s the secret formula in AVCon’s Mana jar, how has this convention grown so big, so fast to become one of Australia’s most beloved events? The answer, my friends, is colour and community. AVCon’s combination of the culture it pulls out of the woodwork and the community that rallies behind it is the secret to AVCon’s success. If AVCon were a living body, one side of the brain would be Video Games, the other side Anime; and Cosplay is the blood that fuels the entire system. Over 19,000 AVConites turned up to the Adelaide Convention Centre to celebrate AVCon 2014, and the cosplayers were there in force; with nearly 70% of attendees donning some form of Cosplay, from a Minecraft helmet to a hulking 10 foot tall Optimus Prime. Video Games, Anime and Cosplay have certainly come a long way in becoming a respected form of art and culture; if anyone was lucky enough to find a seat at the Opening Ceremony, you were granted a chance to see the Mayor of Adelaide, Stephen Yarwood, tell the world the importance of the culture and passion that pop culture fans bring to a city’s personality.
N 2014
AVCON 2014
AVCON 2014
AVCON 2014 Images by Charlie Nicholson and Rob Jenkins Photo www.facebook.com/robjenkinsphotography
AVCON 2014
COSPLA cosplay
WHAT IS COSPLAY LIVE? BROUGHT TO YOU BY GAMETRADERS
On March the 7th, 2015 at the Adelaide Convention Centre a new Cosplay expo, brought to you by Gametraders, hits the Australian convention scene. However, this is not your ordinary convention, this is Cosplay Live. Cosplay Live is a one day expo dedicated to all things Cosplay, followed by an interactive-special effects-live acts-afterparty show.
THE COSPLAY LIVE EXPO When we say dedicated to Cosplay, we mean every word of it. This is an expo that is not only designed to celebrate Cosplayers and their passion, this is an expo jam packed with workshops, tutorials, panels and stage shows to enhance everything about your cosplay presence! We’re embracing the new range of thermodynamic plastics (A Cosplayer’s raw material) now available at Gametraders and bringing you tutorials and workshops on how to work the materials to form that elusive Cosplay piece ready for its next adventure. These sessions are sorted from beginner to advanced levels; Cosplay Live has you set from basic forming to cosplay painting to LED Light insertion AND MORE!
Cosplay Live will also be offering sessions that go beyond the standard cosplay and prop making, Cosplay is more than just wearing your creation, it’s also about putting on a show, so we’ve entailed the help of our professionals to teach you the secrets of catwalk posing in Cosplay. And for those who want to look stunning in every photo taken, we’ve arranged for photography sessions to teach you the best way to pose in front of a camera. The Cosplay Live Cosplay Competition is set to give you all that you’ve ever wanted in a Cosplay Competition, with our lucky finalists showing off all that they’ve learnt in the day. With massive prizes on the line, we’ll be finding Cosplay Live’s best and putting them on show for the whole world to see. All of this is just a taste of the Expo, because once the day gets dark the Afterparty kicks in.
COSPLAY LIVE AFTERPARTY Take a moment to relax and think about what would be the ultimate Cosplay Party. This is what we did when it came time to plan the Cosplay Live Afterparty. We envisioned not just a party, but a Cosplay show
with live acts, constant prize giveaways, and songs that you can dance to.
This is the dream we will be bringing to you. The Cosplay Live Afterparty will not have a moment of lull with a stage constantly entertaining with live acts while you kick back with a drink in hand and food at your bidding. You will choose your own level of involvement, but find it hard not to get moving on the dance floor as prizes are handed out like there’s no tomorrow. Our Cosplay Live team of photographers will immortalise one of the happiest nights of your life for eternity. The Cosplay Live Afterparty offers Cosplayers this simple and very powerful promise, be seen at the coolest party in Australian Cosplay history. The Cosplay Expo is limited to 3,000 and the Afterparty will have an exclusive run of only 1,000 tickets. To make sure you don’t miss out on these life changing events, head to www.cosplaylive.com.au/#!pre-register/c16xy
to reserve your ticket today. Be sure to check out
www.cosplaylive.com.au for more information.
AYLIVE COSPLAYLIVE
cosplay: tips & tricks
DON’T GIVE UP!
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TIP BY SUZANNE FROM COSPLAY LIVE
I see many 1st time cosplayers attempting to make their own costumes and end up giving up after the 1st one or part way through making it purely because it doesn’t look like a costume a big name cosplayer or it doesn’t look EXACTLY like the characters drawn costume. The more you practice the more skills you acquire and better at your craft you get! If you truly want to show your love for your character via cosplay, don’t let your self-doubt get in the way. You can always go back and re-do or fix the character when you have learned new and improved skills. We all have to start somewhere and picking up that fabric or that glue gun is just the 1st step leading into the wonderful and creative world that is cosplay.
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COSPLAYLIVE
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PRE-ORDER NOW!
CTC
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HAVEN HAVEN VIDEO GAME & POP CULTURE INTERVIEW WITH OZ - CREATER AND OWNER
Haven Video Game and Pop Culture is the fresh new event in Mackay. Gametraders Mackay was one of the sponsors of this amazing event and reports are that it was a huge success. This month we talk to the event owner and creator, Oz Prosser.
Oz, welcome to Live Magazine. Firstly can you tell us why you decided Mackay needed an event like Haven? The team at Haven wanted to bring something to Mackay that had never been done before. Queensland has seen a fair share of pop-culture events however they are almost always in the south-east corner. Haven allows central and north Queensland video game and popculture fans to enjoy and celebrate their interests locally rather than having to travel outside of our local community. Haven will be offering adults of Mackay and the surrounding regions a night out unlike anything they have experienced before. Haven will give locals an opportunity to have loads of fun with and meet like minded people. Thanks to our amazing sponsors we could bring Haven to life. You got some big names to attend, tell us a bit about who came along and why you chose them…
Haven’s MC for the night was the delightful and hilarious Mr Paul Verhoeven. Paul has previously hosted Breakfast, Weekend Breakfast, and produced The Graveyard Shift for Dave Callan on Triple J, he was also a panelist on Good Game Live, a host on Steampunks and writes a video games column for The Vine. Paul was perfect for the role because he has a passion for Video Games and Pop Culture. Our next guest was Alanah ‘ Charalanahzard Pearce and the guests of Haven loved her. She helped with our Video Games Trivia Competition and our Cosplay Competition. Alanah is a pop culture enthusiast, videogame journalist and game reviewer on a daily digital TV show. She’s the gaming and events correspondent for Triple J and hosts a weekly gaming radio show on Triple Z, as well as presenting for a variety of international YouTube channels and companies, including Xbox Australia. Haven also be hosted the beautiful and not camera shy, Miss Eve Beauregard. Eve Beauregard is a world renowned cosplayer, model and writer from Sydney. Having been involved in the cosplay world for over 7 years, Eve is an outspoken advocate for creating a welcome cosplay community. Eve has judged cosplay competitions internation-
ally and regularly speaks to fans at conventions the world over about the many aspects of being a cosplayer. Describing herself as a “Professional Nerd”, Eve is passionate about video games, film, telivision and comic books, writing for several media outlets about her geeky passion. Eve was the official judge of the 2014 Haven Video Game and Pop-Culture Expo Cosplay Competition.
What was popular with attendees cause you had quite a bit going on during the night. What got people most excited? What made the crowd roar was definitely the Mortal Kombat 2014 Ultimate Champion Competition. Not only wear the contests held on 60” plasmas for the fight but we had them live feeded to 2 massive 9 metre projectors so no matter where you were in the convention room, you could see all the blood splatter and broken bones in Xray vision mode. Our Haven Mk Tournament winner went home with $100 cash prize and a $200 goodie bag as well as a beautiful engraved glass trophy. He plans on coming back next year to be the winner for 2015. Tell us a bit about your cosplay event, who won and why? Haven Video Game and Pop Culture 2014 had a massive turn out for cosplayers. With the prize pool includ-
N ing $500 cash to the best male and female cosplayer, $50 give vouchers provided by Madman plus a further $200 goodie bag each and a trophy for best male and female cosplayer 2014. Our two lucky winners were Marius Van Staden who spent a huge amount of effort to create Yojimbo from Final Fantasy 10 and Dallandra Green as a female Barbarian from Diablo 3. We heard there was some light sabre displays happening on the night - was there a lot of practise to get it right? Haven had many cosplayers with their lightsabers out that night. Unlike taking a Force FX Lightsaber to any other day convention, Haven had a dim lit room so Jedi’s and Sith could show off their lightsaber duels in all their glory.
What’s big in gaming now and what’s coming up that gets you excited? There is definitely a drought in the gaming world at the moment. I am looking forward to Cyberpunk 2077 and Batman Arkham Knight but I do pray every night to the Bethesda gods they will announce a Fallout 4. Any thoughts on what might be game of the year for 2014? Batman Arkham Knight. We can all finally drive the Batmobile so its a instant winner. And the big question is, can we expect a Haven 2015? You can expect Haven 2015 and next year its going to be mind blowing!
“THE TEAM AT HAVEN WANTED TO BRING SOMETHING TO MACKAY THAT HAD NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE. QUEENSLAND HAS SEEN A FAIR SHARE OF POPCULTURE EVENTS HOWEVER THEY ARE ALMOST ALWAYS IN THE SOUTH-EAST CORNER.”
“HAVEN WILL BE OFFERING ADULTS OF MACKAY AND THE SURROUNDING REGIONS A NIGHT OUT UNLIKE ANYTHING THEY HAVE EXPERIENCED BEFORE. HAVEN WILL GIVE LOCALS AN OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE LOADS OF FUN WITH AND MEET LIKE MINDED PEOPLE. THANKS TO OUR AMAZING SPONSORS WE COULD BRING HAVEN TO LIFE.”
TRADING CARD
TOURNAMENTS
FARM SA INGLE No current tournaments.
NSW BLACKTOWN Advanced Yu-Gi-Oh - Saturday & Sunday 10am Pokémon - Saturday 2pm
MARION
Magic the Gathering - Thursday 6:30pm
Pokémon - Monday 6pm
Cardfight!! Vanguard - Sunday 2pm
Cardfight!! Vanguard - Tuesday 6pm Yu-Gi-Oh - Wednesday 6pm
MACARTHUR SQUARE (CAMPBELLTOWN)
Magic the Gathering - Friday 6pm (Arrive 5:30)
Yu-Gi-Oh - Wednesday 5:30pm
MT. BARKER
PARRAMATTA
Yu-Gi-Oh - Saturday 4:00pm
Yu-Gi-Oh - Thursday 6pm, Saturday 2pm
Magic the Gathering - Monday 3:30pm
Magic the Gathering - Sunday 11am Cardfight!! Vanguard - Sunday 2pm
SEAFORD
Weiss Schwarz - Saturday 10am
Yu-Gi-Oh - Thursday 6pm (5:30pm registration)
School Holiday Additional Tournaments:
Cardfight!! Vanguard - Friday 4:30pm
Yu-Gi-Oh - Monday, Wednesday & Friday 2pm
Pokémon - Monday 4pm Magic the Gathering - Monday 6pm
Cardfight!! Vanguard - Tuesday & Thursday 2pm
My Little Pony - Tuesday 5pm (4:30pm registration)
GAMETRADERS LIVE PENRITH
Future Card Buddyfight - Thursday 5:30pm
Cardfight!! Vanguard - Saturday 2pm Yu-Gi-Oh - Tags: Friday 6:30pm
SALISBURY
Yu-Gi-Oh - Singles/Normal Tournament: Sunday 11:30am
Yu-Gi-Oh - Saturday 12.30pm
QLD CHERMSIDE Yu-Gi-Oh - Sunday 3pm Cardfight!! Vanguard - Wednesday 6:30pm Pokémon - Saturday 3pm
Magic the Gathering - Please check our Facebook page for event details.
MARSH VIC BACCHUS Magic the Gathering - Thursday 5:30pm
Magic the Gathering - Tuesday & Friday 6:30pm
HIGHPOINT
LOGAN HYPERDOME
Yu-Gi-Oh - Sunday 3pm Magic the Gathering - Sunday 3pm
Magic the Gathering - Friday 7pm (doors open 6pm)
MILDURA
Yu-Gi-Oh - Sunday 2pm (doors open 1pm) Cardfight!! Vanguard - Fortnightly (Check FB)
Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Magic the Gathering and Cardfight!! Vanguard every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Check their Facebook page for times and event details.
Tournaments held at: Unit 5 20-22 Ellerslie Road, Meadowbrook Qld 4131. Pre-Releases and sneak preview events announced on Facebook.
MACKAY Yu-Gi-Oh - Sundays 3:45pm
HYPERDOME ACT Yu-Gi-Oh - Saturday 10am, Tuesday 6pm
Cardfight!! Vanguard - Monday 5:45pm Magic the Gathering - Friday 6:15pm
MORAYFIELD Magic the Gathering - Friday 6:30pm (5:30pm registration) Yu-Gi-Oh - Sunday 2pm (1pm registration)
Pokémon - Saturday 2pm
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South Australia Ingle Farm.................................. (08) 8265 7283 Marion....................................... (08) 8296 1144 Mt Barker................................... (08) 8391 6300 Salisbury.................................... (08) 8281 0966 Seaford...................................... (08) 8327 1966 ACT Hyperdome................................ (02) 6293 3751
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Queensland Chermside................................. (07) 3861 5000 Logan Hyperdome..................... (07) 3801 5599 Mackay...................................... (07) 4944 0998 Morayfield.................................. (07) 5495 7705