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Live Magazine Christmas 2016 Edition

Want gift ideas? We've got almost 200 pages of gift ideas, reviews and pics - plus our "Board Games for the Family" special feature - take a look at what you can play as a family this Christmas. And if you like to WIN stuff - we've got movie tickets thanks to Sony, plus a whole lot more!

Want gift ideas? We've got almost 200 pages of gift ideas, reviews and pics - plus our "Board Games for the Family" special feature - take a look at what you can play as a family this Christmas. And if you like to WIN stuff - we've got movie tickets thanks to Sony, plus a whole lot more!

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LIVE<br />

DECEMBER/JANUARY <strong>2016</strong> ISSUE<br />

SPECIAL CHRISTMAS EDITION!<br />

WIN<br />

RESIDENT EVIL : THE FINAL<br />

CHAPTER MOVIE TICKETS<br />

UNDERWORLD: BLOOD WARS<br />

MOVIE TICKETS<br />

PICKTORIAL APP<br />

+ MORE!<br />

GAME REVIEWS<br />

MOVIES & TV<br />

POP CULTURE<br />

COSPLAY<br />

+ MORE!<br />

BOARD GAMES<br />

for the whole family!<br />

TONS OF<br />

GIFT IDEAS<br />

INSIDE!


WELCOME<br />

Merry <strong>Christmas</strong>!<br />

<strong>Christmas</strong> is a time for giving. Gifts, love and time.<br />

What I mean is you make time to catch up with friends and family. You give gifts and you take time off for holidays - nothing like<br />

summer holidays right?<br />

For our <strong>Christmas</strong> issue we covered a bunch of family game ideas as last month our Adults game issue was hugely popular. Plus<br />

we asked readers what they wanted for <strong>Christmas</strong> and some answers were awesome… including the reader who wants a job with<br />

Gametraders…<br />

With a new year around the corner we also asked what you wanted from game developers and the console makers.. some very<br />

interesting suggestions from readers, take a look on page 20.<br />

But back to that I started with and that is <strong>Christmas</strong> is about giving and we’re giving lots. We’ve got tix to the new Underworld Blood<br />

Wars movie to win, tix to the new Resident Evil - Final Chapter movie plus a printed artwork, and a chance to win some free software<br />

if you’re a photographer and use a Mac - the developers at Picktorial gave us a download to give away - check page 186.<br />

The team at <strong>Live</strong> wish you and your family a wonderful <strong>Christmas</strong> and a great 2017!<br />

Published by


INSIDE<br />

4<br />

Feature:<br />

Fun Board<br />

Games<br />

14<br />

Geek Out<br />

70<br />

Gametraders Products<br />

138<br />

Video Games<br />

166<br />

Cosplay<br />

THE LIVE TEAM<br />

Publisher: Rob Jenkins<br />

(GTHQ)<br />

Art Director: Giselle Capozza<br />

(GTHQ)<br />

Game Review & Preview<br />

Contributors:<br />

Nick Getley & Kylie Tuttle<br />

(Sticky Trigger)<br />

VGChartz<br />

Retro Editor: Paul Monopoli<br />

Comics: Scott Sowter


FEATURE<br />

FUN BOARD<br />

GAMES FOR<br />

THE WHOLE<br />

FAMILY THESE<br />

CHRISTMAS<br />

HOLIDAYS!<br />

Oh - they’re great gift ideas too!<br />

Last issue we discovered that there was a bunch of great adult party games with strange names and strange rules that were<br />

actually a lot of fun to play with friends. But they were for our older readers. So this month we are taking a look at games for the<br />

whole family. Many are simple to learn and a lot of fun to play. So let’s get to it!


Ticket To Ride First Journey<br />

Ticket to Ride: First Journey takes<br />

the gameplay of the Ticket to Ride<br />

series and scales it down for a<br />

younger audience.<br />

In general, players collect train<br />

cards, claim routes on the map, and<br />

try to connect the cities shown on<br />

their tickets. In more detail, the game<br />

board shows a map of the United<br />

States with certain cities being connect<br />

by colored paths. Each player<br />

starts with four colored train cards<br />

in hand and two tickets; each ticket<br />

shows two cities, and you’re trying to<br />

connect those two cities with a contiguous<br />

path of your trains in order to<br />

complete the ticket.<br />

On a turn, you either draw two train<br />

cards from the deck or discard train<br />

cards to claim a route between two<br />

cities; for this latter option, you must<br />

discard cards matching the color<br />

and number of spaces on that route<br />

(e.g., two yellow cards for a yellow<br />

route that’s two spaces long). If you<br />

connect the two cities shown on a<br />

ticket with a path of your trains, reveal<br />

the ticket, place it face up in<br />

front of you, then draw a new ticket.<br />

(If you can’t connect cities on either<br />

ticket because the paths are<br />

blocked, you can take your entire<br />

turn to discard those tickets and<br />

draw two new ones.)<br />

If you connect one of the West<br />

Coast cities to one of the East Coast<br />

cities with a path of your turns, you<br />

immediately claim a Coast-to-Coast<br />

ticket.<br />

The first player to complete six tickets<br />

wins! Alternatively, if someone<br />

has placed all twenty of their trains<br />

on the game board, then whoever<br />

has completed the most tickets<br />

wins!


My First Carcassonne<br />

Story: On 14 July, the national holiday<br />

in France, the sheep, chickens<br />

and cows are set free in the town<br />

of Carcassonne. The children have<br />

great fun to catch the animals before<br />

dusk.<br />

The players in turn draw a landscape<br />

tile and place it; unlike in normal<br />

Carcassonne, they always match.<br />

Amongst other features, the tiles<br />

show children in the player colors<br />

on the roads. Whenever a road is<br />

finished, every player places one of<br />

his meeples on each appropriate<br />

picture.<br />

The first player who manages to<br />

place all of his meeples wins the<br />

game.


Catan Junior<br />

Explore the seas! Catan: Junior introduces<br />

a modified playing style of<br />

the classic Settlers of Catan, giving<br />

players as young as five a perfect<br />

introduction to the Catan series of<br />

games.<br />

Catan: Junior takes place on a ring<br />

of islands where 2 to 4 players build<br />

hideouts and encounter the mysterious<br />

Spooky Island, where the Ghost<br />

Captain lives. Each island generates<br />

a specific resource: wood, goats,<br />

molasses or swords, and players<br />

can acquire gold. Each player starts<br />

with two pirate hideouts on different<br />

islands, and they can use the resources<br />

they acquire to build ships,<br />

hideouts or get help from Coco the<br />

Parrot. By building ships, they can<br />

expand their network; the more hideouts<br />

they build, the more resources<br />

they may receive. Just watch out for<br />

the dreaded Ghost Captain!<br />

Be the first player to control seven<br />

pirate hideouts, and you win!


King of Tokyo<br />

In King of Tokyo, you play mutant<br />

monsters, gigantic robots, and other<br />

aliens – all of whom are happily<br />

whacking each other in a joyous atmosphere<br />

in order to become the<br />

one and only King of Tokyo.<br />

At the start of each turn, you roll six<br />

dice. The dice show the following six<br />

symbols: 1, 2 or 3 Points of Destruction,<br />

Energy, Healing and Whack.<br />

Over three successive throws,<br />

choose whether to keep or discard<br />

each die in order to win destruction<br />

points, hoard energy, restore health,<br />

or whack other players into understanding<br />

that Tokyo is YOUR territory.<br />

The fiercest player will be crowned<br />

King of Tokyo... and will end up facing<br />

all the other monsters alone!<br />

Top this off with special cards purchased<br />

with energy that have a permanent<br />

or temporary effect, such as<br />

the growing of a second head which<br />

grants you an additional die, body armor,<br />

nova death ray, and more.... and<br />

it’s one of the most explosive games<br />

of the year!<br />

In order to win the game, one must<br />

either destroy Tokyo by accumulating<br />

20 destruction points, or be the<br />

only surviving monster once the<br />

fighting has ended.


Catan Family <strong>Edition</strong><br />

This New edition of the “Settlers of<br />

Catan – Board Game” features a six<br />

piece reversible board allowing for<br />

more replay value than the previous<br />

Gallery <strong>Edition</strong>.<br />

Get together with friends or family.<br />

Learn to play in about 15 minutes.<br />

Then enjoy countless hours of fastpaced<br />

fun!<br />

Begin a quest to settle the island of<br />

Catan! Guide your brave settlers to<br />

victory by using clever trading and<br />

shrewd development. Use resources<br />

– grain, wool, ore, lumber, and<br />

brick – to build roads, settlements,<br />

cities and key cultural milestones.<br />

Get resources by rolling the dice or<br />

by trading with other players.<br />

But beware! You never know when<br />

someone will block your way or if the<br />

robber will strike and steal your hardearned<br />

goods! Are you the best trader,<br />

builder, or settler? Will you master<br />

Catan?


Agricola<br />

Family <strong>Edition</strong><br />

In Agricola, you’re a farmer in a wooden<br />

shack with your spouse and little<br />

else. On a turn, you get to take only<br />

two actions, one for you and one for<br />

the spouse, from all the possibilities<br />

you’ll find on a farm: collecting resources;<br />

building meadows; and so<br />

on. You might think about having kids<br />

in order to get more work accomplished,<br />

but first you need to expand<br />

your house. And what are you going<br />

to feed all the little rugrats?<br />

Agricola is a turn-based game. There<br />

are 14 game rounds occurring in 6<br />

stages, with a Harvest at the end of<br />

each stage (after Rounds 4, 7, 9, 11,<br />

13, and 14).<br />

Each player starts with two meeples<br />

that can each take an action<br />

per round. There are multiple options,<br />

and while the game progresses,<br />

you’ll have more: each round a<br />

(fixed) additional option becomes<br />

available. Each action can be taken<br />

by only one player each round, so<br />

it’s important to do some things with<br />

high preference.<br />

In comparison with the family game<br />

of the predecessor, much has<br />

changed: the new action each round<br />

is fixed, and the game has been<br />

simplified by removing stone and<br />

vegetables. Similar to Agricola: Die<br />

Bauern und das liebe Vieh, there are<br />

now buildings (replacing the major<br />

improvements) that score points for<br />

leftover resources at the end of the<br />

game.<br />

Also, there are no building restrictions<br />

(nor player boards). And finally,<br />

there are no negative points or point<br />

limits anymore, each player simply<br />

scores for all he has achieved.


Takenoko<br />

A long time ago at the Japanese<br />

Imperial court, the Chinese Emperor<br />

offered a giant panda bear as a<br />

symbol of peace to the Japanese<br />

Emperor. Since then, the Japanese<br />

Emperor has entrusted his court<br />

members (the players) with the difficult<br />

task of caring for the animal by<br />

tending to his bamboo garden.<br />

In Takenoko, the players will cultivate<br />

land plots, irrigate them, and grow<br />

one of the three species of bamboo<br />

(Green, Yellow, and Pink) with<br />

the help of the Imperial gardener to<br />

maintain this bamboo garden. They<br />

will have to bear with the immoderate<br />

hunger of this sacred animal for<br />

the juicy and tender bamboo. The<br />

player who manages his land plots<br />

best, growing the most bamboo<br />

while feeding the delicate appetite<br />

of the panda, will win the game.


Munchkin Deluxe<br />

What makes this edition “deluxe”?<br />

It’s got a big gameboard to keep<br />

your cards in place, and six colored<br />

pawns that you move on the gameboard<br />

as you level up! Plus a card to<br />

go with each pawn, to make it easy<br />

to remember who is what color and<br />

whose sex has changed!<br />

Go down in the dungeon. Kill everything<br />

you meet. Backstab your<br />

friends and steal their stuff. Grab the<br />

treasure and run.<br />

Dismemberment. Start by slaughtering<br />

the Potted Plant and the Drooling<br />

Slime, and work your way up to the<br />

Plutonium Dragon . . .<br />

And it’s illustrated (in full color!) by<br />

John Kovalic!<br />

Fast-playing and silly, Munchkin can<br />

reduce any roleplaying group to hysteria.<br />

And, while they’re laughing, you<br />

can steal their stuff.<br />

Admit it. You love it.<br />

Munchkin is the mega-hit card game<br />

about dungeon adventure . . . with<br />

none of that stupid roleplaying stuff.<br />

You and your friends compete to<br />

kill monsters and grab magic items.<br />

And what magic items! Don the<br />

Horny Helmet and the Boots of Butt-<br />

Kicking. Wield the Staff of Napalm .<br />

. . or maybe the Chainsaw of Bloody


GET 'EM ALL AT<br />

GAMETRADERS!


geek o<br />

WHAT do you GAMING IS<br />

want for GOOD FOR<br />

christmas &<br />

YOU<br />

why?<br />

VIDEO GAMES<br />

your say<br />

WHAT YOU<br />

WANT FROM<br />

GAMES &<br />

CONSOLES<br />

your say<br />

GAMES & POP<br />

CULTURE<br />

TRIVIA<br />

DID YOU KNOW<br />

HISTORY OF<br />

FINAL FANTASY<br />

RETRO<br />

THE GAMER<br />

DIARIES:<br />

1995-1996<br />

RETRO<br />

THE WESTERN<br />

IS BACK<br />

VIDEO GAMES


ut<br />

TOP<br />

WESTERN<br />

MOVIES<br />

MOVIES<br />

TV FEST <strong>2016</strong><br />

TELEVISION:<br />

BINGE TIME<br />

CHRISTMAS<br />

EVE RECIPE<br />

CHRISTMAS EVE<br />

UNDERWORLD:<br />

BLOOD WARS<br />

SONY PICTURES<br />

RESIDENT EVIL:<br />

THE FINAL<br />

CHAPTER<br />

SONY PICTURES<br />

KIT10<br />

ILLUSTRATIONS<br />

INTERVIEW<br />

LOCAL ARTIST<br />

TY HANSON<br />

INTERVIEW<br />

LOCAL ARTIST


YOUR SAY<br />

WHAT DO YOU WANT FO<br />

“A job with Gametraders.”<br />

- Mikal Mokbel<br />

“I would like to have my student<br />

debts erased because it is a neverending<br />

cycle of anxiety for me.”<br />

- Liam Martin<br />

“I want my PS3 and just a few of my<br />

games returned from the person<br />

who stole them.”<br />

- Brendyne Conway<br />

“I love getting pops from my boys<br />

for xmas im always loving things like<br />

that from them.”<br />

- Barry Peel<br />

“The games I’m still dreaming about<br />

playing... Shenmue & Chrono Trigger.<br />

I have a few on the gaming bucket<br />

list that are rare to find these days. I<br />

want to play them because they are<br />

important in the history of gaming.<br />

Unlike movies which you can generally<br />

find them again in some way<br />

and a format to play them on. Gaming<br />

needs to be preserved and I’m<br />

happy to play Retro any way I can.<br />

- Simon Che Rodriguez<br />

“A ps4 virtual head set<br />

Omg these things exist!<br />

#thefutureishere”<br />

- Benny Bukchoy Hall<br />

“What i’d want for christmas is more<br />

anime figurines and an xbox one with<br />

forza horizon 3. #gameon #anime”<br />

- Taylor Christiansen<br />

“All I want for <strong>Christmas</strong> is my self<br />

esteem to not be shattered by family<br />

interactions and questionings over<br />

the holidays...”<br />

- TeiJay Jackson<br />

“Cards Against Humanity is the best<br />

present, and everyone knows why”<br />

- Ben Rachow<br />

“I’ve got my kids, I’m good. Got the<br />

best presents I could ever want!”<br />

- Matthew Zessin<br />

“ I want my own Gametraders store<br />

for Chistmas! I love the franchise &<br />

want to open one with more of a<br />

video game focus than the others<br />

currently have, even if I have to buy<br />

stock from eBay & Play Asia to carry<br />

as much video games as possible!”<br />

- Jean-Paul Bartolomei


R CHRISTMAS & WHY?<br />

“I LOVE CHRISTMAS, and have already<br />

started shopping!!! I want a a<br />

few of the new Rose Collection from<br />

PANDORA!”<br />

- Angie Flanagan<br />

“Two sets of the Lego Spider-Man<br />

Bridge Battle set, so I can make a full<br />

section of the bridge, and combine<br />

all the Spider-Man villains and allies<br />

I’ve collected from previous sets and<br />

make an epic battle scene worthy of<br />

the Spider-Man legend.”<br />

- Benson Pearson<br />

“Socks....Because of my Medical<br />

Condition i have to Wear socks<br />

around the house. -__- Slippery<br />

Tiles are not fun, but make every day<br />

a Risky Business ;)”<br />

- Paul Noddy Ballard<br />

“A tes: oblivion remaster/remake<br />

would have been nice.”<br />

- Bevan Sholdas<br />

“An official Game of Thrones expansion/mod<br />

for civ VI - so Sean Bean<br />

can narrate his own tech progression/<br />

inevitable death.”<br />

- Michael Gartland<br />

“Well my sister has been wanting<br />

Pokemon moon lately and unfortunately,<br />

we are unable to buy it for<br />

her due to our tight budget. So what<br />

I want for <strong>Christmas</strong> is for my sister<br />

to receive her own copy of Pokemon<br />

moon. I don’t really care about<br />

myself, I just love seeing my siblings<br />

happy.”<br />

- Micah Fede<br />

“A headset compatible with Xbox<br />

one.<br />

Been waiting nearly a year to get internet<br />

put in because we live in the<br />

middle of no where (Gympie/Curra)<br />

Now we are so close to getting Internet<br />

(just a few weeks, have to wait to<br />

get new cables put in)<br />

Then we can play on Xbox live with<br />

our friends!!<br />

So a headset is a must!!<br />

- Sarah Chancellor<br />

“The Genesect 20th Anniversary<br />

Pokemon card box. And probably<br />

Sun/Moon and Zelda merchandise.”<br />

- Samui Monahan<br />

“I just want to see my daughter for<br />

<strong>Christmas</strong>, so we can watch supernatural,<br />

play lego games and eat<br />

ourselves stupid.”<br />

- Holden Kelly<br />

“The kids to get santa to give me a<br />

holiday or even an hour by myself.”<br />

- Claire H Simmons<br />

“Im pretty much almost done my<br />

xmas shopping! (Thank you afterpay<br />

and layby lol) i really want the harry<br />

potter hard cover illustrated books!<br />

Ahh one can dream.”<br />

- Renae Donohue<br />

“The Mini-NES! Fingers crossed we<br />

manage to get one before Xmas. :)”<br />

- Fern Brassington


YOUR SAY<br />

WHAT DO YOU WANT FO<br />

“Crash bandicoot on ps1....<br />

Still waiting for a copy to magically<br />

appear.”<br />

- Sebaztian TheRangasaurusrex<br />

Barns<br />

“Lego! My Toddler has become obsessed,<br />

and it’s fun building with him,<br />

but I’ve got the urge for some more<br />

complicated stuff for myself ;)”<br />

- Simm Beeston<br />

“Batman - Return to Arkham, I’m late<br />

the the Arkham series and so excited<br />

I can finally get around to playing<br />

my favorite superhero on my PS4.<br />

Fingers crossed Santa is listening,<br />

I’ve been good this year.”<br />

- Jade O’Shea<br />

“I am happy with anything I receive<br />

;)”<br />

- Christine Morris<br />

“ I would love to get new headphones<br />

after snapping mune when<br />

raging at cs. Right now im using<br />

ear buds which work but hey i need<br />

headphones.”<br />

- Logan Xavier Skilling<br />

“As above, I would love new head<br />

phones to give Logan Xavier Skilling<br />

so he stops asking me for some! :P<br />

But any prize would be awesome!!”<br />

- Jodie Crazycatlady Skilling<br />

“An Xbox Scorpio? No? How about a<br />

Nintendo Switch? Still no?? Ok, then<br />

what I really would want for <strong>Christmas</strong><br />

is a custom designed Xbox One<br />

controller from their Design Labs,<br />

decked out with my favorite colours<br />

and etched with my gamertag, so<br />

everybody knows ‘it doesn’t belong<br />

to you, so don’t you touch it’!!”<br />

- Chris McHugh<br />

“I want a job for <strong>Christmas</strong>, that isn’t<br />

just a <strong>Christmas</strong> job, so that I can<br />

spend my money on delicious delicious<br />

games<br />

- Aleida Niamh McCluskey<br />

“I want a dream cast as its such an<br />

underrated console and brings back<br />

some fond memories of simpler<br />

times.”<br />

- Josh Durbidge<br />

“A Boba Fett statue/helmet because<br />

every year I want to get one for my<br />

dad but can never afford it.”<br />

- Brad Meehan<br />

“2 foam swords for a whacking good<br />

<strong>Christmas</strong> when the family debates<br />

get heated.”<br />

- Dash Starkey<br />

“I would like a magnavox odyssey for<br />

<strong>Christmas</strong>, I would like to experience<br />

how it is to play the first console to<br />

ever come out.”<br />

- Sinan Akdag<br />

“I would love the new version of the<br />

old NES. It would be soooo much fun<br />

reliving my teenage years by playing<br />

some awesome old school games!”<br />

- Nicole Woods


R CHRISTMAS & WHY?<br />

“Anything besides a plastic world<br />

globe from the reject shop that still<br />

has the 2 dollar sticker attached to<br />

the box from my older brother. Im going<br />

to buy him a light up street fighter<br />

figurine to make him feel bad about<br />

himself this christmas.”<br />

- Nathan Evans<br />

“If they made Archer Pops and released<br />

for Xmas. I would sploosh<br />

with excitement.”<br />

- Kristin Buzanko<br />

“Well I’ve already gotten a present<br />

for <strong>Christmas</strong> from my girlfriend<br />

bought from Gametraders-Chermside.<br />

Dead of Winter - The Long<br />

Night, it is agonizing not being able<br />

to open it until <strong>Christmas</strong> though! For<br />

something for myself, I think id love<br />

either some more packs for Imperial<br />

Assault or some of the new army<br />

releases for Halo: Ground Command<br />

which I picked up the same time as<br />

DoW.”<br />

- Cameron Edwards<br />

“New book series. Or stationery.”<br />

- Jake Hicks<br />

“ A <strong>Christmas</strong> holiday to clear my<br />

shameful backlog of games. I’ll wear<br />

a Santa hat while playing too haha.”<br />

- Liam Aldridge<br />

“ I would love a LARP Dark Repulser<br />

from Sword Art Online to go with my<br />

Elucidator! Also loads of Copic Markers.”<br />

- Emma Vince<br />

“Like i’d want an PS Vita because<br />

well I wanted to get into persona<br />

and Gravity Rush. I’ve been a huge<br />

fan since borrowing person 4 from<br />

a friend and just can’t get enough of<br />

the PS Vita. Though it is getting old. It<br />

would be amazing to just whip it out<br />

when travelling or more importantly<br />

on vacation. So excited to see if i<br />

even get it for christmas.”<br />

- Jeremy Naupay<br />

“The creepy tongue thing that you<br />

can lick your cat with. I don’t know<br />

who would want one to actually use<br />

on their cat but I’d love to freak out<br />

my boyfriend by waking him up licking<br />

his face with it :P”<br />

- Kirsty Johnstone<br />

“I know it’s not available yet, but<br />

the Nintendo Switch. Nintendo has<br />

always gone for innovation, with<br />

varying levels of success. But the<br />

Switch looks like it will really change<br />

the way we think about gaming, and<br />

I’m so excited to try it out for myself.<br />

Maybe someone could pay for my<br />

preorder.”<br />

- Matthew Whittingham<br />

“OoO ...as I am on Disabilty I can<br />

never afford any of your amazingly<br />

beautiful figurines that I always visit<br />

with anytime I am near your stores<br />

(which is often given my gamer-nutzmenfolk!<br />

O.o )To be able to surprise<br />

them all (Hugely!! ) would be incredible<br />

:D ..Husband is particularly fond<br />

of anything dragon-related.... Adult<br />

son no:1 is a DZ nut to the extreme<br />

and Adult son no: 2 is boardgame<br />

crazy! :D Just saiyan! O.o....”<br />

- Fiona Bottorff<br />

GET ‘EM A GAMETRADERS GIFT CARD!


YOUR SAY<br />

Tell us what YOU WANT FROM<br />

GAMES AND C<br />

“I would like this Gen of consoles to<br />

man up. So far the best games of<br />

this gen are mainly last gen titles.<br />

People saying they look forward to<br />

play Skyrim or Bioshock. Think it is<br />

time to make a new Elder Scrolls.”<br />

- Michael Peterson<br />

“I would love to see Archer pops.<br />

Archer is one of the best shows<br />

out there. If they made pops I would<br />

have to get them all. Just think of<br />

the differ types they could make of<br />

Pam?? Pam with the dolphin, fight<br />

club Pam, trucker Pam from archer<br />

vice!! Sploosh! And don’t forget the<br />

rest ,Ray in a wheelchair pop.....the<br />

possibilities.”<br />

- Kristin Buzanko<br />

“VR - <strong>Christmas</strong> time is coming out<br />

and no doubt there are going to be<br />

parents looking at VR hardware as a<br />

possible gift idea.<br />

Maybe a piece discussing the pros<br />

and cons of PSVR - and what games<br />

you’d recommend if any”<br />

What do you think about VR? What<br />

would like to see it become?<br />

First and foremost, not for it to be a<br />

gimmick. For years we’ve seen stuff<br />

like 3D technology, Kinect and Motion<br />

Controls praised as the next<br />

evolution in gaming. My biggest fear<br />

is that Sony will cut their losses (like<br />

what they did to the Wonder Book,<br />

PSMove, Vita) and abandon the peripheral<br />

in a year or so, leaving thousands<br />

of gamers stuck with some<br />

lousy on rail shooter titles.<br />

Next, which kinda ties back to my<br />

first point, I want to see developers<br />

be brave enough to make interesting<br />

titles for the system. Think of<br />

interesting ways on how to use the<br />

system, and support it as much as<br />

they can.”<br />

- Jason English<br />

“The Return of JRPGS - It’s been<br />

a fantastic year for the genre with<br />

some minor missteps (Star Ocean 5<br />

anyone?). We’ve had a great year of<br />

some really strong titles like Bravely<br />

Second, Digimon Cyber Sleuth,<br />

Trails of Cold Steel, I am Setsuna<br />

and World of Final Fantasy.<br />

Who knows if Final Fantasy XV will<br />

be worth the wait but if not there’ll be<br />

Persona 5 waiting for us early next<br />

year!”<br />

- Nige Margetts<br />

“I just want more talk of games being<br />

made or brought back rather<br />

than hardware. There has been a recent<br />

trend in the industry obsessively<br />

talking hardware, 4k etc... what<br />

happened to good games or telling<br />

a story?”<br />

- Simon Che Rodriguez


ONSOLES!<br />

“The Nintendo Classic Mini while being<br />

a great little plug ‘n’ play console,<br />

isn’t all what it’s cracked up to be.<br />

Don’t let this deter you from buying<br />

it, just look at this as the fine print/<br />

asterisks on the box... also it’s sort of<br />

a review too.<br />

The cords are criminally short! All<br />

of them! The HDMI & Micro USB for<br />

power are barely long enough to allow<br />

it in an entertainment unit & the<br />

controller cord is as small as the Wii<br />

Classic controllers & Wii nunchuks...<br />

which means unless your TV is no<br />

bigger than a 26 inch, your gonna<br />

need some longer cables!<br />

The versions of games on it in some<br />

cases (like SMB) are revisions & will<br />

have alterations that most won’t notice<br />

but I certainly did. Then there’s<br />

the input lag... which admittedly is<br />

the HDTV’s fault, but since this is a<br />

HDMI device... it should have been<br />

compensated for via the Mini NES<br />

itself. The CRT filter is also fuzzier<br />

than the games on a CRT via the old<br />

NES & can actually cause eye strain<br />

after prolonged use so just stick to<br />

4:3 since pixel perfect is squished<br />

too much & adds no performance<br />

whatsoever to the games.<br />

As for the game selection... it’s pretty<br />

good... but some choices aren’t very<br />

good. Now this will be on a person by<br />

person basis, but I personally found a<br />

few games quite boring or pointless<br />

like Tecmo Bowl for me personally is<br />

both pointless & boring... but again,<br />

this is subjective. Most people will<br />

want this for the NES golden roster<br />

of Zelda, Metroid & Mario, but it’s variety<br />

is really good. Sadly there is no<br />

way to expand the library of games<br />

on the Mini NES so don’t expect an<br />

eShop for it.<br />

The Nintendo Classic Mini NES is excellent<br />

value. The same games via<br />

the Wii U Virtual Console is valued<br />

at $180 so this only being $100 is a<br />

much better choice(when it’s available<br />

again, Preorder asap!). There’s<br />

guaranteed more than enough of the<br />

games here to warrant the purchase<br />

for young or old & most definitely<br />

cheaper than the original hardware<br />

& games... but if you already own all<br />

or most of them on the original hardware...<br />

you wouldn’t be missing anything.”<br />

- Jean-Paul Bartolomei<br />

“I really wish new gen games would<br />

have spilt screen. It has always been<br />

a kind of bonding for my brother and<br />

I to sit down and play the Halo campaign<br />

together, and it was highly disappointing<br />

that I couldn’t do it with<br />

halo 5. I would quite happily sacrifice<br />

some of the graphics if it meant<br />

I could enjoy the story mode with<br />

someone in the same room.”<br />

- Brad Meehan<br />

“I’d like to see evolution through<br />

gaming and how we have arrived<br />

from PONG to things like watchdogs<br />

2. Being a “retro” gaming franchise,<br />

it would be interesting to see your<br />

take on what games made the revolutionary<br />

mark in history.”<br />

- Kodi Willems


THE<br />

TRUTH<br />

DID YO<br />

GAME & POP CULTURE FU<br />

Mario was named after the landlord<br />

of Nintendo’s warehouse. The<br />

gent’s name - Mr Mario Segale.<br />

Nintendo was sued because kids<br />

were getting blisters for playing<br />

games - they offered to give gloves<br />

to the owners of Mario Party after<br />

reports of injuries!<br />

www.cnet.com/au/news/nintendo-offers-glove-to-prevent-joystick-injuries<br />

All the cast of the TV series, Friends, are in their 40s!<br />

Lisa Kudrow - Phoebe, is the oldest, she was born<br />

in 1963.<br />

The original Playstation was designed<br />

by Sony as a Nintendo console,<br />

but when Nintendo changed<br />

their mind, Sony went ahead alone!


U KNOW...<br />

N FACTS & TRIVIA<br />

<strong>Live</strong> found a time machine...<br />

for gamers!<br />

Facebook was originally called Thefacebook<br />

and was initially limited to<br />

Harvard students.<br />

It’s not often you come across a<br />

free book that is a must read when<br />

it comes to video games. Halycon<br />

Days is just that. Author, James<br />

Hague, tracked down and interviewed<br />

the people who created<br />

games for arcades, early game<br />

systems and personal computers.<br />

With a forward by gaming legend,<br />

John Romero, Halycon Days has interviews<br />

with some of the creators<br />

of the video game industry, people<br />

that John Romero describes as<br />

“gods”.<br />

If you’ve ever had any interest in<br />

how those early games got made<br />

or just want to take a trip back in<br />

time to the 80s and earlier, this is a<br />

must read.<br />

YOU CAN READ<br />

IT ONLINE -<br />

FREE - RIGHT<br />

HERE:<br />

http://www.dadgum.com/halcyon/index.html<br />

This is not the editor of <strong>Live</strong>... he has more hair.


video GAMES<br />

GAMING<br />

IS GOOD<br />

FOR YOU!<br />

Remember back in the good old days<br />

when ma and pa said something like,<br />

“Don’t waste your time playing those<br />

dang games!”<br />

Well they’d be wrong. You see playing<br />

video games is actually very<br />

good for you, in the right amounts<br />

of course. You don’t want to stay<br />

up for 24 hours and exhaust yourself<br />

or worse. Playing has a number<br />

of benefits. For example, a study of<br />

laparoscopic (small incision) specialists<br />

with ongoing video game<br />

experience had superior laparoscopic<br />

skills and fewer errors. The<br />

Science Direct websitestated that<br />

this may be due to better psychomotor<br />

skills in gamers... If you like<br />

a good read and don’t mind scientific<br />

terms, take a look at the article.<br />

(sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1743919113000599)<br />

Playing video games also teaches<br />

problem solving skills and creativity<br />

according to Parents website:<br />

parents.com/kids/development/benefits-of-video-games/?slideId=37205<br />

Researchers from Deakin University<br />

in Melbourne, did a study that examined<br />

the development of 53 preschool<br />

aged children and found that<br />

those kids who played interactive<br />

games had “better object control<br />

motor skills” then those who’d didn’t.<br />

Another study by 2009 Annual Review<br />

of Cybertherapy and Telemedicine<br />

found games could help with<br />

stress and depression. Physical pain<br />

too is something that has been studied<br />

with two psychologists, Dr David<br />

Patterson and Dr. Hunter Hoffman<br />

from the University of Washington<br />

dreaming up a game called Snow-<br />

World that puts the player in an alternate<br />

world and through that distraction,<br />

their focus on the physical pain<br />

was lessened. You can read about<br />

it here:<br />

rockcenter.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/24/14648057-groundbreaking-experiment-in-virtual-reality-uses-video-game-to-treat-pain?lite<br />

While theres quite a few more benefits<br />

according to different studies,<br />

one important one is that games<br />

can keep you happy in old age. Researchers<br />

from North Carolina State<br />

University asked 140 people aged<br />

63 and older how often they played<br />

games. The found that those people<br />

who played video games, even occasionally,<br />

reported higher levels of<br />

happiness or well-being - take a look<br />

here for more and then convince<br />

mum, dad, the grandparents to get<br />

playing and keep smiling!<br />

psychcentral.com/news/2013/03/06/playing-video-games-tied-to-happiness-emotional-wellness-in-seniors/52267.html


“Yessss I knew it!”


YOUR RETROSAY<br />

History of Fi<br />

Between Classics<br />

With the release of Final Fantasy IV in<br />

1991 the series had found its greatest<br />

success to-date with sales of<br />

almost two million units across all regions.<br />

Encouraged by this continued<br />

growth the development team once<br />

again went immediately to work on<br />

a sequel. Just as IV had been less<br />

about experimenting with new design<br />

elements and more about improving<br />

already existing ones, Final<br />

Fantasy V had a very similar ethos,<br />

albeit one with a very different focus.<br />

While Final Fantasy IV had been all<br />

about creating a captivating story<br />

and memorable characters for players<br />

to become attached to, in V the<br />

goal was to improve upon the series’<br />

gameplay, making it more complex<br />

and compelling. As a result the game<br />

is in strong contrast to its predecessor;<br />

the strengths and weaknesses<br />

of the two are almost completely<br />

opposite from one other.<br />

Switching Focus:<br />

Final Fantasy V<br />

Hironobu Sakaguchi was once again<br />

at the center of the game’s development.<br />

He created the basic story<br />

and directed the game, while many<br />

other familiar names returned, reprising<br />

their roles, including Nobuo<br />

Uematsu, Yoshitaka Amano, and Hiroyuki.<br />

Additionally, Tetsuya Nomura<br />

made his first significant contribution<br />

to the series as a monster designer,<br />

while Yoshinori Kitase made his<br />

debut as a scenario writer, working<br />

closely together with Sakaguchi to<br />

create the game’s event script.<br />

All in all, 45 people worked on the<br />

game’s development at various<br />

times - a significant increase over<br />

the team of 14 that had worked on<br />

FF IV. Final Fantasy V was released<br />

in Japan for the Super Famicom on<br />

December 6, 1992, but unlike its<br />

predecessor was not released in the<br />

west despite there being plans to do<br />

so at the time. The reason cited for<br />

the cancelled localization was that<br />

the game was considered too difficult<br />

for western gamers at the time.<br />

It wouldn’t be until 1999 that Final<br />

Fantasy V would makes its way to<br />

the west as part of the Final Fantasy<br />

Anthology collection on the PlayStation,<br />

although a fan translation of the<br />

Super Famicom version had been<br />

created in 1997. The PlayStation<br />

version was otherwise well received,<br />

but its translation was critisized for<br />

being of poor quality and this resulted<br />

in subsequent releases of the<br />

game using an entirely new English<br />

translation, starting with the GBA<br />

version that came out in 2006.<br />

The game’s narrative centers on<br />

four crystals that control the four<br />

elements, and which have suddenly<br />

begun to shatter for unknown reasons.<br />

After a chance encounter the<br />

four main characters decide to band<br />

together to investigate the mystery.<br />

After it is revealed that the crystals<br />

act as seals for an evil sorcerer<br />

named Exdeath, who is plotting to<br />

take control of the unlimited power<br />

of the void and control the world with<br />

it, the four begin working towards<br />

defeating Exdeath and saving the<br />

world from him.<br />

Final Fantasy V’s most significant<br />

change over its predecessor was<br />

in bringing back the job system that<br />

had been introduced in FF III, but in<br />

a significantly improved state. Many<br />

of the systems’ issues were fixed,<br />

and the rest of it was expanded and<br />

improved. The game introduced aspects<br />

such as ability points which<br />

the player earned in battle alongside<br />

normal experience points. They<br />

were then used to learn new abilities<br />

by using the various jobs.<br />

In addition, Final Fantasy V expanded<br />

upon the jobs themselves, allowing<br />

a character to learn multiple abilities<br />

from each job, as well as use their<br />

already learned skills as secondary<br />

commands with other jobs. For<br />

example, a Thief who had gained<br />

levels as a White Mage could use<br />

white magic while still being a Thief.<br />

This allowed for much greater freedom<br />

for players in developing their<br />

characters, especially as the jobs<br />

themselves were also much more


nal Fantasy:<br />

(Final Fantasy V)<br />

BY TANELI PALOLA FROM VGCHARTZ.COM


varied than the ones found in Final<br />

Fantasy III. There were no more advanced<br />

versions of earlier jobs, such<br />

as a Black Wizard update for a Black<br />

Mage, instead the jobs simply improved<br />

as they were used in battle.<br />

The ATB system was also improved<br />

over its original incarnation in FF IV.<br />

Most notably, the game introduced a<br />

visible time gauge in battle that filled<br />

based on the character’s speed<br />

and allowed the player to see which<br />

character’s turn would be coming up<br />

next. This gauge would become another<br />

series staple, going on to appear<br />

in numerous later Final Fantasy<br />

games in some form.<br />

Final Fantasy V also featured numerous<br />

new elements first seen here.<br />

Among these were various jobs<br />

that would become staples of the<br />

series, including Blue Mage, Samurai,<br />

and Mime. Another new element<br />

that would become a key part of the<br />

series was the concept of a recurring<br />

minor villain, who in this case<br />

was one of the series’ most beloved<br />

minor characters – Gilgamesh, who<br />

himself would later go on to appear<br />

in numerous other Final Fantasy<br />

games.<br />

While the gameplay received numerous<br />

notable improvements, the<br />

story and characters were much<br />

more linear and simplified compared<br />

to Final Fantasy IV. The character<br />

development is much more subdued<br />

and lacking in depth, as the game<br />

is largely devoid of events that truly<br />

change any of the characters. The<br />

story’s main problem is very similar,<br />

as it holds very few genuine surprises<br />

that would greatly affect the narrative<br />

in the long run. Generally, the<br />

narrative feels a lot like a simplified<br />

version of the more popular parts of<br />

Final Fantasy IV.<br />

The music is, as usual, one of the<br />

game’s true highlights, featuring<br />

numerous excellent pieces of music<br />

that have become classics of<br />

the series. However, amidst excellent<br />

songs such as Clash on the Big<br />

Bridge and Dear Friends there were<br />

also quite a few forgettable tracks<br />

that weren’t quite on par with Uematsu’s<br />

usual standards.<br />

Graphically, the improvements over<br />

the previous game weren’t nearly<br />

as clear as they had been in Final<br />

Fantasy IV. Minor updates to various<br />

visual elements, such as the number<br />

of details on the character sprites,<br />

were made, but the jump between<br />

the previous two games, as well that<br />

between this one and Final Fantasy<br />

VI, was much greater due to change<br />

in hardware in the first case and a<br />

better understanding of the SNES’s<br />

capabilities in the second.<br />

The Best Part<br />

The job system. It offers a huge<br />

amount of freedom and flexibility to<br />

the player, thanks in large part to the<br />

improvements made to the system<br />

from its original version in Final Fantasy<br />

III. There are countless different<br />

ways to organize and customize<br />

your party, and often you’ll have to<br />

experiment with various job classes<br />

to find the best way to defeat a difficult<br />

boss, for example. It opens up a<br />

lot of tactical elements for the battle<br />

system and makes them much more<br />

engaging than in previous Final Fantasy<br />

games.<br />

The Worst Part<br />

In general, I’d say the story and characters,<br />

but more specifically I’d have<br />

to say the main villain. Exdeath is just<br />

a boring bad guy, with vague, largely<br />

unexplained motivations for his actions.<br />

His design is silly and overall<br />

the storyline surrounding him is<br />

quite bland and uninteresting. Even<br />

his final battle theme is fairly lacklustre<br />

compared to most other final<br />

boss themes in the series. It’s really<br />

a shame because the game also<br />

features one of the most memorable<br />

minor villains in series’ history in<br />

Gilgamesh.<br />

Does Final Fantasy<br />

V Still Hold Up?<br />

Mostly, yes. There are many genuinely<br />

great elements in Final Fantasy<br />

V, but also some that, while not<br />

necessarily bad, are forgettable or<br />

average. Still, most of these are minor<br />

issues in an otherwise very good<br />

game that is still a lot of fun to play.<br />

The improved job and the Active-<br />

Time Battle systems are a joy to use<br />

and experiment with, the music for<br />

the most part is great, and visually<br />

it still has a certain charm to it, despite<br />

now being almost 25 years old.<br />

Even the story and characters, with<br />

their shortcomings and all, are good<br />

enough to never feel annoying.<br />

Of course, there are certain aspects<br />

that don’t hold up quite as well. As<br />

already mentioned, the game’s main<br />

villain is fairly lacklustre. Exdeath<br />

is among the weaker villains in the<br />

series in general, although I suppose<br />

him being an ancient tree that<br />

became sentient and decided to<br />

take over the world is at least quite<br />

unique. It does lend itself to quite a<br />

memorable boss design in the final<br />

battle, if nothing else.<br />

Final Fantasy V is also very clearly<br />

an old-school RPG. There are times<br />

when the encounter rate gets fairly<br />

ridiculous, and the difficulty level<br />

goes through some pretty excessive<br />

spikes. The final boss is a very


good example of a tortuous increase<br />

in difficulty; one which makes<br />

the end of the game feel needlessly<br />

stretched out through mandatory<br />

grinding for levels.<br />

If you’re interested in playing Final<br />

Fantasy V there are various different<br />

platforms you can find it on. The<br />

best version of the game is probably<br />

the one on the Gameboy Advance,<br />

but naturally that might be difficult to<br />

get your hands on. The PlayStation<br />

version can be found on PSN, but its<br />

translation is quite poor compared<br />

to GBA version.<br />

The mobile and Steam versions<br />

would be highly recommended, as<br />

they contain basically all of the elements<br />

from the GBA version as<br />

well as various gameplay updates,<br />

but unfortunately they represent a<br />

significant visual downgrade due to<br />

the poor work that was done with<br />

the character sprites in the process<br />

of porting. You’ll get used to the flat<br />

and blurry look of the sprites after<br />

a while, and the gameplay is still as<br />

good as it has always been, but it’s<br />

a regrettable aspect of a port that<br />

could have been the definitive version<br />

of the game.<br />

Ultimately, I feel that Final Fantasy<br />

V is a very good game that doesn’t<br />

quite reach the same level as Final<br />

Fantasy IV. Although the gameplay<br />

side is the best the series had seen<br />

up to that point, the story and characters<br />

simply took too many steps<br />

backwards and this hurt the game’s<br />

overall quality.<br />

Fun Fact<br />

Some designs for new job classes<br />

that were originally created for Final<br />

Fantasy V, but which were unused<br />

in the game, would later serve as inspirations<br />

for two characters in Final<br />

Fantasy VI. These two inspirations<br />

were a gambler who would fight using<br />

dice and cards in combat, and<br />

a ninja with a dog, which of course<br />

became Setzer and Shadow in FF<br />

VI, respectively. These two particular<br />

ones were thought up by none other<br />

than Tetsuya Nomura, who would<br />

later become the franchise’s main<br />

character designer.<br />

Nomura was also able to impress his<br />

superiors during the game’s development<br />

with his design book, which<br />

not only contained his ideas and<br />

notes for the game but also various<br />

sketches and artwork that he had<br />

created for his ideas. This made his<br />

book stand out from everyone else’s,<br />

and led to Sakaguchi and Kitase often<br />

asking for his book during design<br />

meetings.<br />

Additional Sources:<br />

- Wikia<br />

- Weekly Famitsu<br />

BY TANELI PALOLA<br />

FROM VGCHARTZ.COM VGCHARTZ.COM


Read <strong>Live</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

Anywhere...<br />

issuu.com/gametraders


THE CONTINUING STORY OF RETRO EDITOR, PAUL MONOPOLI’S GAMING JO<br />

The Gamer dia<br />

YOUR RETROSAY<br />

The Super Nintendo was about to<br />

make a big impact on my gaming<br />

life as James had acquired a Super<br />

Wildcard unit, something I was more<br />

than a little envious of. The Super<br />

Wildcard was a cartridge backup<br />

device for the Super Nintendo. It<br />

meant that James could hire a cartridge<br />

from a video shop, bring it<br />

home, copy it to a 3 1/2” disc, then<br />

return it the next day. There was a<br />

parallel port in the back of the unit<br />

that would allow the device to connect<br />

to a PC, though we were never<br />

able to figure out how that was supposed<br />

to work. I had a parallel cable,<br />

but I never found the software<br />

needed for the PC to interface with<br />

the Wildcard.<br />

James ended up selling the Super<br />

Nintendo games that he owned,<br />

with the exception of Super Mario<br />

Kart. The Super Wildcard did not<br />

support any extra hardware used<br />

in games like Mario Kart or Starfox,<br />

so these games were unable<br />

to be backed up. He sold his copy<br />

of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4:<br />

Turtles in Time to Carmelo, though I<br />

ended up finding it in my collection<br />

with no idea how it got there. Maybe<br />

I borrowed it and forgot to return it<br />

or maybe I bought it off him at a later<br />

date. Either way, I still have it in a<br />

VHS case with a butchered TMNT4<br />

SNES box for a label.<br />

While I had always enjoyed the<br />

original TMNT arcade game, in my<br />

opinion it never received a worthy<br />

port. While the NES version has a<br />

hardcore fanbase, I never really<br />

felt that Nintendo’s humble 8-bit<br />

console was able to do the game<br />

justice, and I didn’t enjoy playing it.<br />

Turtles in Time was a very different<br />

story, and being ported to 16 bit<br />

hardware meant that Konami were<br />

able to provide a more definitive<br />

arcade experience. The lack of 4<br />

player support wasn’t a problem for<br />

James and I, and we played through<br />

the game many times. The graphics<br />

were fantastic and well animated,<br />

the controls perfect and the music<br />

was just amazing. The only problem<br />

I had with the game was that it only<br />

lasted around 20 - 30 minutes.<br />

I was starting to become obsessed<br />

with side scrolling beat em ups.<br />

Though I had played a few of them<br />

over the years, game developers<br />

really seemed to be pumping them<br />

out in the early to mid 90s. A few<br />

years earlier Double Dragon on the<br />

Amstrad CPC had been a favourite<br />

of mine, and it was the first of its<br />

genre that I played repeatedly. Actually,<br />

I preferred the smooth, 128k<br />

CPC version of the game over the<br />

jerky arcade original, but I digress…<br />

The original Final Fight had been<br />

released on home systems a few<br />

years earlier, and while the Super<br />

Nintendo version was to be found<br />

lacking, the sequel was not. Final<br />

fight 2 disposed of Guy and Cody,<br />

and featured Carlos and Maki, the<br />

latter of whom has appeared in


URNEY...<br />

ries:<br />

other Capcom titles including Capcom<br />

vs SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium<br />

2001. Poor Carlos doesn’t appear<br />

to have shown up in any other<br />

games since. Unlike the Super Nintendo<br />

version of Final Fight 1, the<br />

sequel allows 2 players, and the visuals<br />

appear to have been refined.<br />

The Mad Gear gang have reformed<br />

and kidnapped Guy’s fiancee. Guy<br />

is way on a training journey and<br />

cannot be reached, so Haggar, Carlos<br />

and Maki team up to defeat the<br />

Mad Gears once again. The music<br />

is as good as the original, as are<br />

the controls. I’m not sure whether<br />

James and I ever completed the<br />

game, but we played it many times.<br />

Earlier James and I had played a<br />

game called Rival Turf. Everything<br />

about this side scrolling beat em<br />

up just felt very average. I think that<br />

we may have completed it with the<br />

aid of an Action Replay, though this<br />

was the only way we could beat it.<br />

The gameplay was very ‘cheap’,<br />

and you could be in the middle of attacking<br />

an enemy, when out of nowhere<br />

they would be attacking you<br />

back with no means of stopping it.<br />

Collision detection was also a little<br />

questionable, but we persevered.<br />

The sequel, Brawl Brothers, was<br />

greatly improved over the original.<br />

It was James who informed me that<br />

the Rival Turf went by the name<br />

Rushing Beat in Japan, and that<br />

Brawl Brothers was the sequel,<br />

also known as Rushing Beat Run.<br />

At the time James was far more<br />

savvy on video game trivia than I,<br />

as I was always more interested in<br />

playing the games. Brawl Brothers<br />

featured 5 characters, and James<br />

1995 - 1996


favoured the ninja, Kazan. I would<br />

alternate between Hack, a character<br />

from Rival Turf, and Wendy, who<br />

had a speed advantage. The game<br />

featured puzzle elements, though<br />

these were a bit annoying at times.<br />

The sewer stage is a maze, and<br />

going through the wrong door can<br />

take you right back to the beginning<br />

of the level. While we enjoyed this<br />

a lot more than its predecessor,<br />

we never did end up playing the final<br />

game in the series, The Peace<br />

Keepers.<br />

Having grown up with Double Dragon<br />

1 and 2 on the Amstrad CPC,<br />

James and I were excited to continue<br />

the story with Super Double<br />

Dragon 4. I had previously played<br />

the third game in the series on the<br />

Amiga, and was far from impressed.<br />

Double Dragon 3 felt like a cash in<br />

on the popular franchise, and the<br />

media were scathing of both the arcade<br />

and home ports of the game.<br />

Redemption was to be found in Super<br />

Double Dragon 4. The graphics<br />

were your average Super Nintendo<br />

fare, though there were nice visual<br />

affects used. The soundtrack was<br />

a high point, with remixes of the<br />

original Double Dragon theme song<br />

being used. The controls were spot<br />

on, and the only problem I could find<br />

with the game was the slow down<br />

when there were too many enemies<br />

on the screen.<br />

James had earlier purchased a<br />

Nintendo Entertainment System at<br />

a garage sale. It had come with a<br />

variety of games, one of which was<br />

called Ufouria. I was already become<br />

a fan of Wonderboy 3: The Dragon’s<br />

Trap a few years earlier when<br />

Clinton had rented a Sega Master<br />

System with the game. Ufouria, like


Wonderboy 3, is a restrictive platforming<br />

adventure that opens up<br />

as you unlock new characters. You<br />

begin the game with a single character,<br />

Bop Louie, who has to rescue<br />

his brainwashed friends. You rescue<br />

them by battling, which restores<br />

their memories and they become<br />

part of your team. While Bop Louie<br />

can jump, he is restricted by water<br />

and large jumps. This is where your<br />

rescued friends come in handy, as<br />

Freeon Leon can swim on the water’s<br />

surface, Gill can go under the<br />

water, and Shades can float. James<br />

and I would take it in turns playing<br />

through the adventure, and Ufouria<br />

quickly became one of my favourite<br />

games of all time.<br />

The Virtual Boy was a console that<br />

James and I would read about in<br />

Nintendo magazines, and while we<br />

were curious about the technology<br />

we were put off by the lack of<br />

colours. By 1996 it was clear that<br />

this console would never make it<br />

to our shores, but the Nintendo 64<br />

was on the horizon. The Playstation<br />

and Saturn didn’t make much of an<br />

impact on me. I’m not sure about<br />

James, but I was fiercely loyal to<br />

the Big N. As it was, the Nintendo<br />

64 was still a fair way off its Australian<br />

release, and we had so many<br />

more Super Nintendo games to get<br />

through.<br />

I remember James not being too<br />

fond of Run Saber, though he did<br />

enjoy playing Strider on the Amstrad<br />

CPC years earlier. I thought<br />

that the game was an above average<br />

Strider clone, with an option for<br />

2 players. The graphics were nothing<br />

special, but the game moved at<br />

a brisk pace, and the controls were<br />

precise. The music was appropriate,<br />

but hardly memorable. We did<br />

end up playing this one to the end,<br />

though we may have been using<br />

cheat codes to do so.<br />

The Super Wildcard has a feature<br />

called “Goldfinger”, which is a cheat<br />

system that’s similar to the Action<br />

Replay. Before you can use the<br />

cheat codes you have to load the<br />

game into the Wildcard’s memory,<br />

then you can enter your codes before<br />

executing the game. James<br />

was given a select number of<br />

codes with the unit, but there was<br />

supposed to be a way of converting<br />

Action Replay codes to be used<br />

with Goldfinger. This process was<br />

a bit hit and miss, as sometimes<br />

the codes would work, sometimes<br />

they would do nothing, and sometimes<br />

they would crash the game. I<br />

have since learned that some SNES<br />

games received multiple releases,<br />

with different revisions of the game<br />

code. This was mainly done to fix<br />

bugs, though it may have been one<br />

of the contributing factors as to<br />

why these codes didn’t work half<br />

the time.<br />

Though the likes of Ninja Scroll and<br />

Akira were already well known, anime<br />

as a form of entertainment was<br />

still only starting to gain ground.<br />

Anime had been around for years,<br />

but the public didn’t really associate<br />

shows like Astroboy or Battle of the<br />

Planets with Japanese animation.<br />

Super Play magazine was where I<br />

received my anime education, and I<br />

was fascinated with this more adult<br />

form of animation. One film that<br />

caught my attention was Street<br />

Fighter 2: The Animated Movie. I<br />

didn’t read about it in Super Play,<br />

but someone told me about it… I forget<br />

who. As soon as I heard about<br />

1995 - 1996


it I went to Alpha Video in the Ingle<br />

Farm Shopping Centre and rented<br />

it during a lunch break. That night I<br />

went to see James and we watched<br />

the movie, while making bootleg<br />

copies of it for ourselves. I had previously<br />

seen the Van Damme Street<br />

Fighter movie in the cinema and had<br />

been disappointed. In my mind this<br />

animated movie was how a Street<br />

Fighter film should be made.<br />

After reading Super Play and watching<br />

Street Fighter 2 I decided that I<br />

wanted to watch more anime. Luckily<br />

I found that there were other like<br />

minded people at school. Through<br />

them I managed to source copies<br />

of Space Adventure Cobra, Akira,<br />

Ninja Scroll, Legend of the Overfiend,<br />

Fist of the North Star and<br />

more. Some of the tapes I watched<br />

were of questionable quality, having<br />

been watched many times or<br />

copied again and again. Another<br />

title I stumbled upon was Samurai<br />

Shodown: The Motion Picture.<br />

Having played the Neo Geo titles,<br />

I was quite excited by this one. At<br />

the time I remember it being a lot of<br />

fun, but having recently purchased<br />

it on DVD I find that it hasn’t aged<br />

well. The dubbing is ordinary, and<br />

the story is a bit simplistic.<br />

Clinton was also developing an interest<br />

in anime, and he introduced<br />

me to the Fatal Fury OVA specials<br />

and movie. Seeking revenge for<br />

the death of their adoptive father,<br />

a young Terry and Andy Bogard<br />

go their separate ways to develop<br />

their martial arts training. 10 years<br />

later they reunite to defeat Geese<br />

Howard, their father’s killer. Terry<br />

defeats Geese, but doesn’t kill<br />

him. While I was puzzled over Andy<br />

Bogard having silver hair in the first<br />

OVA, this was corrected in the second<br />

OVA and movie.<br />

The second OVA follows the events<br />

of the second game, with Geese’s<br />

brother, Wolfgang Krauser, attempting<br />

to avenge his defeat.<br />

Krauser beats Terry who falls into<br />

a pit of depression, drinking himself<br />

senseless and getting beaten<br />

up in pub fights. Terry is stalked by<br />

a young wannabe fighter named<br />

Tony, who eventually gets through<br />

to him. Terry trains to develop a new<br />

technique that he uses to defeat<br />

Krauser.<br />

The movie is a part of the same series,<br />

but doesn’t follow the storyline<br />

of any of the games. It appears that<br />

this could have led into an adaptation<br />

of Fatal Fury 3, as one of the<br />

scenes shows Geese developing<br />

his raging storm technique. Sadly it<br />

was never to be, and no further sequels<br />

were made.<br />

That’s all the space I have this<br />

month. Join me next month as I discover<br />

emulation, and take my first<br />

steps into the world of Azeroth!<br />

If you want to follow me on Twitter<br />

I can be found @dizrythmia or at<br />

www.retrospekt.com.au<br />

1995 - 1996<br />

WRITTEN BY PAUL MONOPOLI


YOUR VIDEO SAY GAMES<br />

the wester<br />

the king of the wild west: looking forward to<br />

red dead redemption 2<br />

In case you missed it, Rockstar<br />

Games officially announced that<br />

Red Dead Redemption 2 is in development.<br />

Even better, they’ve<br />

even let us know the release period:<br />

Fall 2017 (that’s Spring 2017<br />

for us Aussies!). That’s right gamers,<br />

one of the greatest openworld<br />

action games is getting a sequel<br />

in 2017 and will be available<br />

on all current-gen consoles. So<br />

what do we know about the game<br />

so far and what can we expect?<br />

Here’s what we think, but please<br />

note, that as very little is known<br />

about red Dead Redemption 2 at<br />

this point, some of this article will<br />

be simple speculation.<br />

A Massive and<br />

Gorgeous<br />

Open-world<br />

Rockstar Games have a penchant<br />

for creating massive detailed<br />

worlds such as the ones seen in<br />

Red Dead Redemption and Grand<br />

Theft Auto V. In fact, they are considered<br />

by many to be the pioneers<br />

of the open-world genre, as Rockstar’s<br />

own Grand Theft Auto III set<br />

the standard when it was released<br />

for the PlayStation 2 in 2001.<br />

The original Red Dead Redemption<br />

released on the PlayStation 3 and<br />

Xbox 360 in 2010 – roughly two<br />

and a half years before the current<br />

generation of consoles. It was built<br />

on Rockstar’s RAGE (Rockstar Advanced<br />

Game Engine), the same<br />

game engine that powered titles<br />

such as Grand Theft Auto IV and<br />

Max Payne 3. Whilst Rockstar’s<br />

games pushed the last generation<br />

of consoles’ hardware to the limit,<br />

they were still a couple of years<br />

ahead of the next console generation.<br />

A lot has changed since 2010,<br />

and today’s consoles are more<br />

much more powerful than that of<br />

the last generation – and there<br />

are even more powerful versions<br />

of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4<br />

on the way.<br />

While Red Dead Redemption 2’s<br />

trailer didn’t reveal anything about<br />

the game’s story, the one thing it<br />

did show was an immense and<br />

breathtaking world. Lush, green<br />

fields, craggy cliffs, dusty deserts<br />

and bustling towns were all on<br />

display. Deer and bison roam the<br />

landscape, with steam-trains roaring<br />

along heavy iron tracks. From<br />

a more technological standpoint,<br />

the game utilises more advanced<br />

visual techniques as well, such as<br />

crepuscular rays (AKA God rays).<br />

It’s fair to assume that there will be<br />

other modern design techniques<br />

in the final game as well, such as<br />

more advanced particle effects<br />

for dust and debris. One this is for<br />

certain, this is bound to be the best<br />

looking version of the Wild West<br />

we’ve ever seen.<br />

A Layered and<br />

Rich Story<br />

The original Red Dead Redemption<br />

had a fantastic story, and featured<br />

one of the most popular protagonists<br />

in gaming history. Playing as<br />

John Marsten, gamers experienced<br />

the story of a man who needed to<br />

bury his past, only to have it catch<br />

up with him. Travelling across the<br />

land, Marsten encounters a host of<br />

colourful characters, and goes on<br />

a number of thrilling adventures.<br />

He’ll take on the Mexican army, defeat<br />

a gang of bandits, and even<br />

face corrupt lawmen in his quest<br />

for a new life with his family.<br />

Red Dead Redemption captivated<br />

players with its enthralling story,<br />

and while it was unmistakably a<br />

Rockstar game, it had a more cohesive<br />

and emotive narrative than<br />

that of Grand Theft Auto IV, Bully<br />

and the Max Payne games. As far<br />

as Rockstar game plots go, it was<br />

the cream of the crop.


n is back!<br />

Screenshot from Rockstar Games official site.


All we know about Red Dead Redemption<br />

2’s story is that it is set in<br />

the Wild West and features a posse<br />

of seven men. Who these men<br />

are and what their roles will be, is<br />

anybody’s guess. Are they a gang<br />

of bandits? Have they been riding<br />

together for years, or have they<br />

just formed a posse recently?<br />

If Grand Theft Auto V is anything<br />

to go by, we could see a return<br />

of multiple protagonists. Rockstar<br />

surprised the world with story missions<br />

that saw the player switch<br />

between multiple roles on the fly,<br />

and some of GTA V’s best missions<br />

were easily its heists, where<br />

co-ordinating multiple characters<br />

was essential to success. Could<br />

Red Dead Redemption 2 feature<br />

a similar mechanic? Will players<br />

use one character to snipe guards<br />

while another plants dynamite to<br />

blow open a safe? Will they sneak<br />

into an enemy camp with one<br />

character while others engage in<br />

a fire-fight with the Mexican Army?<br />

With the seven riders featuring in<br />

the game’s trailer and concept art,<br />

anything is possible.<br />

More Missions<br />

Than You Have<br />

Bullets<br />

If there’s one thing the original RDR<br />

had, it was missions. There were<br />

57 story missions, 18 Stranger<br />

missions, 20 bounty locations, as<br />

well as outfits, rare weapons and<br />

more. Not only that, but there were<br />

side activities including Poker to<br />

play. Not only was the player spoilt<br />

for choice, but the game’s quality<br />

ran consistently throughout –<br />

there was no padding, just quality<br />

activities.<br />

Red Dead Redemption 2 is likely to<br />

have even more missions and side<br />

activities in its single-player campaign,<br />

as Rockstar’s more recent<br />

GTA V has over 69 story missions.<br />

An Exciting<br />

Online<br />

Component<br />

Rockstar’s most recent game,<br />

Grand Theft Auto, has seen a very<br />

healthy post-launch lifespan because<br />

of its online mode. Rockstar<br />

are frequently updating GTA<br />

V’s online mode with free content,<br />

whether it’s more missions, clothing,<br />

vehicles and game modes, or<br />

something different altogether.<br />

It’s unusual for a game that isn’t an<br />

FPS or MMO to have the longevity<br />

that GTA V has had, and most FPS<br />

games drop support for a game<br />

after the first 12 months (when<br />

the next game in the franchise<br />

releases). It’s a credit to Rockstar<br />

Games that players are still hungry<br />

for more GTA Online three years<br />

after GTA V’s release.<br />

It’s safe to assume that Rockstar<br />

will be aim for similar success with<br />

an online mode for Red Dead Redemption<br />

2. It will be more difficult<br />

to fill an online Wild West with as<br />

many activities as GTA V’s Los<br />

Santos (there will definitely not be<br />

any parachuting or jet races!) but<br />

we’re hoping we will have riverboat<br />

casinos, saloons, heists, and<br />

heck, maybe even some farming<br />

or gold panning. Let’s have a balance<br />

between the chaotic and the<br />

authentic!<br />

An<br />

Atmospheric<br />

Soundtrack<br />

Red Dead Redemption had a fantastic<br />

soundtrack, which helped<br />

provide the player with an amazing<br />

atmosphere. Whether you were<br />

riding through the desert, tracking<br />

animals in the forest on a hunt, or<br />

playing through an intense story<br />

mission, the soundtrack was integral<br />

to the experience.<br />

It was one of the first games from<br />

Rockstar Games to have an original<br />

score, which was composed by<br />

Bill Elms and Woody Jackson. Elms<br />

and Jackson aimed for a similar<br />

sound to popular Western films<br />

of the 1960’s, such as A Fistful of<br />

Dollars. Making a soundtrack for a<br />

two hour film and a forty plus hour<br />

video game are two very different<br />

things, however, with Elms and<br />

Jackson achieving something truly<br />

special with the RDR soundtrack.<br />

At certain points in the game, Red<br />

Dead Redemption’s story played<br />

very real music from Jose Gonzalez,<br />

perfectly capturing the mood<br />

of the story’s current state. They<br />

were two of the very few times in<br />

modern video games where music<br />

and gameplay fuse together<br />

to become art, and we’re hoping<br />

that something similar pops up in<br />

RDR 2.<br />

A Musthave<br />

Game<br />

Regardless of what direction<br />

Rockstar Games takes Red Dead<br />

Redemption 2 – whether it has<br />

more of a focus on an online<br />

mode, whether it has a staggering


The original Red<br />

Dead Redemption<br />

scored highly with<br />

gamers and critics.<br />

It has a score of 95<br />

on metacritic, and a<br />

user score of 8.8.<br />

amount of single-player content<br />

or even (fingers crossed) if it has<br />

a co-operative multi-player campaign,<br />

one thing is for certain: it’s<br />

going to be an amazing game. This<br />

is a studio with the Midas touch,<br />

with a string of hits dating all the<br />

way back to 1991 with their smash<br />

hit Lemmings (back then Rockstar<br />

North was called DMA Design).<br />

They’ve pioneered the open-world<br />

action game sub-genre and created<br />

some of the best video games<br />

in history, and Red Dead Redemption<br />

2 can’t come quick enough.<br />

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE:<br />

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmA6MrX81z4<br />

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmA6MrX81z4<br />

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmA6MrX81z4<br />

WRITTEN BY nick getley<br />

www.stickytrigger.com


YOUR MOVIESAY<br />

The trailer for Red Dead Redemption<br />

2 recently dropped onto our<br />

screens getting fans excited for<br />

what might be. The original game,<br />

Red Dead Redemption developed<br />

by Rockstar Games was released<br />

for the PS3 and Xbox 360 back in<br />

2010 (the first of the franchise was<br />

Red Dead Revolver). It sits on a<br />

score of 95 at Metacritic from critics<br />

and is probably the best westerner<br />

themed video game released.<br />

Coincidently our “Friends in Podcasting”<br />

Phil and Dean over at Chillpak<br />

Hollywood did a show on the top<br />

10 western movies of all time. We’ll<br />

take a look at their picks in a minute<br />

or two but first I’m sitting here<br />

on a spring Adelaide morning wondering<br />

what is it about the western<br />

genre that we love..? There’s been<br />

some brilliant western movies, like<br />

one of my favourites, The Outlaw<br />

Josie Wales, with Clint Eastwood<br />

as director and star. (Philip Kaufman<br />

was the original director and<br />

had completed much of the work<br />

on the film’s pre-production). So as<br />

I’m sitting in my comfortable office,<br />

I’m trying to imagine what it was<br />

like back in the 1800s, no airconditioning,<br />

no cars to quickly run down<br />

the shop and grab milk and bread.<br />

No TV, game consoles or mobiles<br />

to keep you amused whilst hanging<br />

around... it was a very different<br />

world.<br />

speaking of wes<br />

OUR FRIEND<br />

SHARE THEIR T<br />

(If you don’t know much about Chillpak,<br />

check out their website here<br />

http://www.chillpakhollywood.com/)<br />

Phil is an independent film maker<br />

and and Dean is a comic and actor<br />

who you’ve seen as Langly in the X-<br />

Files...<br />

As Phil says, westerns matter... you<br />

need to listen and appreciate how<br />

well thought out this list is and to<br />

simply get some ideas for great<br />

movie watching over the <strong>Christmas</strong><br />

break.<br />

So to get a feel for the west, Phil<br />

and Dean have a list of their favourite<br />

western movies that we highly<br />

recommend you take a look at over<br />

the <strong>Christmas</strong> holidays. Let’s take a<br />

look...<br />

ONLINE:<br />

www.chillpakhollywood.com/<br />

www.instagram.com/deanandphil/<br />

itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/chillpak-hollywood-hour-podcast/id265851882?mt=2


terns...<br />

S IN PODCASTING<br />

OP WESTERN MOVIES<br />

Deans top 6:<br />

10 - (a flawed western) One Eyed Jacks, a 1961 film directed<br />

by Marlon Brando and was originally directed by Stanley Kubrick.<br />

Brando is the lead character and it also features Karl Malden<br />

and Katy Jurado.<br />

9 - The Magnificent Seven made in 1960 with a huge cast including<br />

Yul Brynner, Eli Wallach, Steve McQueen and Charles<br />

Bronson plus a ton more. Directed by John Sturges and also<br />

added to the U.S National Film Registry for preservation. As<br />

Phil says, it wasn’t originally a hit in the U.S until they changed<br />

the marketing campaign, which it then became a hit. Based<br />

on a Japanese movie - Samurai Seven, it’s not only a great<br />

movie but has a great musical score! (listen here : https://youtu.<br />

be/9iteRKvRKFA)<br />

8 - Cowboys featuring Jack Lemon and Glenn Ford, the film<br />

is about a Chicago hotel clerk who falls for the daughter of a<br />

hotel guest and dreams about being a cowboy. The director is<br />

Delmer Davis.<br />

7 - Blazing Saddles - the 1974 satirical western directed by<br />

Mel Brooks and starring Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder ( who<br />

recently passed away) it’s a classic comedy that features a<br />

bunch of moments you have to see as they’ve now become<br />

classics!<br />

6 - High Noon directed by Fred Zinnemann in 1952 and starring<br />

Gary Cooper. Interestingly it’s almost told in real time - as the<br />

clock counts down to high noon. It’s the story of a town marshal<br />

forced to face a gang of killers by himself.<br />

phils top 6:<br />

For number 10, Phil has two pics:<br />

10 - The Oxbo Incident 1943, directed by William A. Wellman<br />

and starring Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews and Mary Beth<br />

Hughes. In 1988 this film was selected for preservation in the<br />

U.S National Film Registry.<br />

10 - The Professional directed by Richard Brooks and starring<br />

Burt Lancaster. It’s based on the novel by Frank O’Rourke - A<br />

Mule for the Marquesa.<br />

9 - 3.10 to Yuma (1957 version) with Glenn Ford and Van Heflin<br />

and directed by Delmer Davis. Based on a short story by<br />

Elmore Leonard, and has been remade in 2007 and it too, was<br />

selected for preservation by the U.S National Film Registry.<br />

8 - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance made in 1962 and featured<br />

James Stewart, John Wayne, Vera Miles and Lee Marvin.<br />

Directed by John Ford it is also preserved in the Film Registry.<br />

The story is about the myth and the truth behind the myth<br />

7 - The Magnificent Seven - already mentioned by Dean.<br />

6 - Rio Bravo from 1959 features John Wayne, Dean Martin,<br />

Ricky Nelso and Angie Dickinson, it’s directed by Howard<br />

Hawks and is based on the short story by B.H. McCampbell.<br />

Unlike High Noon, in Rio Bravo the towns folk offer to help the<br />

sheriff but he declines.<br />

For the rest of the list you’ll need to head on over to the podcast for the top 5. In fact if you’re into<br />

movies and humour get over to iTunes and subscribe, it’s one of the most refreshing and funny podcasts<br />

around and it’s been on air for 10 years!


YOUR television: SAY BINGE TIME<br />

TV FEST <strong>2016</strong><br />

Ahh, the holidays. A time where you really have nothing but time to kill. It can<br />

lead us to catching up on a lot of things we missed out on. Thus, I present to<br />

you, four top notch TV shows to catch up on in this holiday period.<br />

WESTWORLD<br />

HBO brings us this thrilling adaptation<br />

of the 1973 film of the same<br />

name. That said, if you have seen<br />

the film you ain’t seen nothing yet.<br />

The TV show explores the theme<br />

park Westworld. A painstaking recreation<br />

of the American frontier.<br />

However not all is what meets the<br />

eye, the theme back is populated<br />

by what people call “hosts”, highly<br />

advanced robots that meet the<br />

every need, wish and desire of the<br />

park’s guests. In a story where average<br />

people get broken down and<br />

begin to indulge their darkest fantasies<br />

you watch a story where you<br />

begin to feel more and more sympathy<br />

for the robots who are seemingly<br />

real people. Sometimes to the<br />

point where you don’t know who is<br />

a guest and who is a host.<br />

Things slowly begin to take darker<br />

and darker turns as the hosts begin<br />

to learn and evolve. Season one is<br />

nearly over but I’m sure it’s not going<br />

to end well for the guests of Westworld.<br />

Catch this one on iTunes or<br />

on HBO services or even on Foxtel,<br />

but it is a must watch!<br />

ASH VS EVIL DEAD<br />

Wow! For any fans of the 80’s masterpiece<br />

Evil Dead and it’s subsequent<br />

sequels Ash Vs Evil Dead is a<br />

dream come true. The series picks<br />

up some twenty years after Army of<br />

Darkness and we once again follow<br />

Bruce Campbell’s Ash Williams into<br />

the dark and twisted world of the<br />

Necronomicon. Deadites, insane<br />

violence and returns to some of the<br />

series best locations ensues. This<br />

show is just a breath of fresh air. So<br />

insane and over the top it is simply<br />

a joy to behold. That said not for<br />

the faint of heart or for the younger<br />

viewers. This show is violent! Like<br />

full tilt 80’s horror splendour violent.<br />

Just blood everywhere... Just...<br />

Wow... But for the horror fans or for<br />

fans of Three Stooges slapstick<br />

comedy this show was made for<br />

you. Evil Dead and Ash himself have<br />

become pop culture icons and this<br />

show is a warm reminder that not all<br />

things that die are dead.<br />

STAR WARS: REBELS<br />

Star Wars Rebels is a fantastic<br />

example of good child based television.<br />

This show is for the whole<br />

family. The show is set between<br />

Episode Three and Episode Four<br />

of the Star Wars films and introduces<br />

us to one of the first bands<br />

of rebels that would become the<br />

Rebel Alliance from the films of old.<br />

We get some wonderfully complex<br />

characters for a children’s television<br />

show as well as some fairly mature<br />

plots that have wonderful payoffs.<br />

We also get the return of some of<br />

our favourite Star Wars characters,<br />

Darth Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin,<br />

Darth Maul, Lando just to name<br />

a few. For a fan of Star Wars this<br />

show is simply a treat. It rises mush<br />

higher than the clone wars series<br />

and it really feels like a great deal of<br />

love and care went into making this<br />

show a reality.<br />

There you have it, three fantastic shows to keep you busy this coming holiday’s! Each show has some super cool merchandise<br />

available too! So if you love them don’t forget to check out the awesome toys you can get yourselves aswell!<br />

WRITTEN BY scott sowter<br />

twitter: @ ScottFSowter


YOUR CHRISTMAS SAY EVE<br />

CHRISTMAS<br />

INGREDIENTS<br />

1 Handful of Friends<br />

1 Serve of Social Lubricant<br />

4 Pizzas from a Reputable Pizza Establishment<br />

(Recommended serve more is always better)<br />

1 DVD (Or Bluray) of The Muppets <strong>Christmas</strong> Carol<br />

1 DVD (Or Bluray) of Gremlins<br />

1 DVD (Or Bluray) of Die Hard<br />

? Serve of Presents (Remember to work to a budget!)<br />

EVE<br />

RECIPE<br />

Step 1: Invite over your closest friends, this can be done via tools such as Facebook, instant messaging or you<br />

could even experiment with calling them on the telephone and asking them with your words! The old fashioned way<br />

we call it.<br />

Step 2: Ask your guests to bring a social lubricant of their choice. Don’t forget to get some for yourself!<br />

Step 3: Order pizza. Don’t forget to ask your guests what kind of pizza they like. Not everyone likes meatlovers, so<br />

remember to get a selection, we recommend a peperoni or even the simple yet elegant margarita. Remember that<br />

smaller pizza joints usually make bigger and better pizza’s than their corporate rivals.<br />

Step 4: Insert DVD or Bluray of Gremlins. Enjoy the <strong>Christmas</strong> classic from horror director Joe Dante and Steven<br />

Spielberg. This gem will shock and delight with it’s insane use of puppets that tear a town apart on <strong>Christmas</strong>. Keep<br />

an eye out for Gizmo, that guy is just the cutest. Yes he is, he’s so cute!<br />

Step 5: The Muppets <strong>Christmas</strong> Carol. This one will bring the group together with classic songs put together and<br />

sung by our favourite furry puppets, the Muppets! It will also get everyone in the <strong>Christmas</strong> spirit and remind everyone<br />

why you are all together at this special time of year. The message is important, as is Gonzo the great, THE BEST<br />

MUPPET!<br />

Step 6: Presents!<br />

Step 7: DIE HARD! BOOM! EXPLOSIONS! Bruce Willis shooting terrorists yeah!!!! This one is the ultimate <strong>Christmas</strong><br />

movie and the ultimate end to your ultimate <strong>Christmas</strong> Eve party, filled with explosions and epic one liners like Yippie<br />

Ki Yay Mother F*&$@!<br />

Remember to <strong>Christmas</strong> Responsibly.<br />

WRITTEN BY scott sowter<br />

twitter: @ ScottFSowter


YOUR SONY SAY PICTURES<br />

UNDERWORLD: BLOOD WARS<br />

Cast:<br />

Genre:<br />

Director:<br />

Kate Beckinsale, Theo James, Lara Pulver, Tobias Menzies,<br />

Bradley James, James Faulkner, Charles Dance<br />

Action / Supernatural<br />

Anna Foerster<br />

The next instalment in the blockbuster franchise, Underworld: Blood Wars follows Vampire death dealer,<br />

Selene (Kate Beckinsale) as she fends off brutal attacks from both the Lycan clan and the Vampire faction<br />

that betrayed her.<br />

With her only allies, David (Theo James) and his father Thomas (Charles Dance), she must stop the eternal<br />

war between Lycans and Vampires, even if it means she has to make the ultimate sacrifice. Only at the<br />

movies! December 1.<br />

Watch the trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5ahjVsOn4M<br />

© <strong>2016</strong> Screen Gems Inc. All Rights Reserved.<br />

want to win 1 of 5 merch packs<br />

including a double pass to<br />

the movie?<br />

15 runner ups will also win a double pass!<br />

Watch the trailer above, and tell us what Kate<br />

Beckinsale says after co-star Theo James says<br />

"There are too many of them..."?<br />

Facebook Inbox us your answer here:<br />

www.facebook.com/Gametraders.Australia


UNDERWORLD<br />

Kate’s back as Selene in Underworld<br />

Blood Wars!<br />

Like Resident Evil, the Underworld<br />

film started out in the early part of<br />

2000 and featured a strong female<br />

lead. Rather then zombies, we see<br />

vampires and werewolves featured,<br />

with Kate Beckinsale as Selene,<br />

a Death Dealer who kills Lycans<br />

(werewolves) who she believes<br />

killed her family.<br />

The first film, Underworld, directed<br />

by Len Wiseman and written by<br />

Danny McBride sees Selene hunting<br />

Lycans. With a budget of just<br />

$22 million the film went on to gross<br />

$95 million, although critics generally<br />

were negative. The rich visuals<br />

and gothic stylings, however, stood<br />

out and were praised.<br />

The film delves deeply into vampire<br />

and werewolf lore and as critic Andrew<br />

O’Hehir conceded that despite<br />

the movie’s flaws, the complex<br />

vampire-werewolf mythology<br />

back-story “has been meticulously<br />

worked out.”<br />

There’s a lot of gothic architecture,<br />

lots of leather wearing and drama<br />

by the vampires with gory fight<br />

scenes. Beckinsale is spot on as<br />

Selene and moves with grace and<br />

determination according to her<br />

character.<br />

In 2006 Underworld: Evolution was<br />

released and again featured Beckinsale<br />

as Selene. The plot is detailed<br />

and complex, take a look here:<br />

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underworld:_Evolution<br />

With a budget of $45 million it went<br />

to to make $111.3 million but again<br />

was not well received by critics.<br />

Fans loved it and this led to Underworld<br />

: Rise of the Lycans in 2009<br />

- a prequel to the original and did<br />

not feature Beckinsale as the story<br />

was not based on her character<br />

but was narrated by her. Instead we<br />

see Rhona Mitra as Sonja, Viktor’s<br />

daughter who falls in love with Lucian,<br />

the first werewolf capable of<br />

taking human form.<br />

With a budget of $35 million, it went<br />

on to make $91 million at the box<br />

office.<br />

In 2012 Beckinsale reprised her role<br />

as Selene in Underworld : Awakening.<br />

Filmed in 3D, IMAX 3D and 2D.<br />

The story is set six months after<br />

Evolution and in this film the general<br />

public and government are now<br />

aware of the existence of werewolves<br />

and vampires. The government<br />

commences a program to<br />

harness the powers of both and Selene<br />

is then imprisoned in cryogenic<br />

suspension. Twelve years later, she<br />

manages to escape, fighting her<br />

way through tunnels infested with<br />

Lycans.<br />

The film had a budget of $70 million<br />

and made $160 million at the box<br />

office. It’s a fast paced action film,<br />

again with lot’s of leather costumes<br />

and blood and gore.<br />

The success of the series sees<br />

the next title about to be released:<br />

Underworld Blood Wars. Again with<br />

Kate Beckinsale as Selene. The film<br />

is due for release in January 2017.<br />

There’s a bunch of clips here:<br />

instagram.com/underworldmovie/<br />

and look out for ticket giveaways in<br />

this issue of <strong>Live</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong>.


UNDERWORLD<br />

COSPLAY TRIBUTE<br />

With the new Underworld Blood<br />

Wars film about to hit we got together<br />

with a local cosplayer and<br />

fan of the series to have some fun<br />

creating some photos inspired by<br />

the movie. Megan (Yaniv Cosplay)<br />

and I sat and talked about the new<br />

movie and I first asked what she<br />

loved about the Underworld films.<br />

“I love that they are so in depth,<br />

there’s a lot of underlaying history,<br />

characters and events that are<br />

happening during the movies and<br />

before the movies which makes<br />

them feel more in depth and detailed,<br />

making them feel more realistic<br />

to me.”<br />

What about the sets used and the<br />

mood they create? Do you think<br />

they capture the whole feeling and<br />

drama of the story?<br />

Definitely, I think the darkness mixed<br />

in with the rain and gothic costumes<br />

make the story feel so much more<br />

intense and add this edge of drama<br />

which I love! It draws me into the<br />

movies more and makes me feel as<br />

though I want to be a part of it.<br />

Kate Beckinsale is perfect as Selene<br />

- What did you think of “Rise of<br />

the Lycans” and Rhona Mitra in the<br />

key role as Sonja?<br />

Kate Beckinsale is my ultimate female<br />

crush and is perfect for the<br />

role of Selene! I don’t think anyone<br />

else would’ve been better suited<br />

for the job.<br />

Out of all the movies, Rise of Lycans<br />

is my favorite. I like how the<br />

producers of the film really wanted<br />

to tell the story of how the war between<br />

the lycans and vampires<br />

(death dealers) started.<br />

I think that Rhona was the perfect<br />

for the role of Sonja. She is a fantastic<br />

actress and really made me<br />

feel like her love for Lucian was real<br />

and that she would do anything just<br />

so that she could be with him. I also<br />

think that her sharp features made<br />

her look intense and perfect for the<br />

role as a vampire.<br />

Which movie is your favourite?<br />

The first film is my favourite, but<br />

they are all fantastic!<br />

Thanks for the chat Megan! If you’d<br />

like to see more of her Cosplay,<br />

head on over to:<br />

facebook.com/yanivcosplay


YOUR SONY SAY PICTURES<br />

RESIDENT EVIL: THE FINAL CHAPTER<br />

Cast:<br />

Genre:<br />

Director:<br />

Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Ruby Rose, Iain Glen, William Levy, Shawn<br />

Roberts, Rola Lee Joon-Gi<br />

Action / Sci-Fi<br />

Paul W.S. Anderson<br />

Based on Capcom’s hugely popular video game series Resident Evil comes the final instalment in the most<br />

successful video game film franchise ever, which has grossed over $1 billion worldwide to date.<br />

Picking up immediately after the events in Resident Evil: Retribution, Alice (Milla Jovovich) is the only survivor<br />

of what was meant to be humanity’s final stand against the undead. Now, she must return to where the<br />

nightmare began – The Hive in Raccoon City, where the Umbrella Corporation is gathering its forces for a<br />

final strike against the only remaining survivors of the apocalypse.<br />

Only at the movies! January 26.<br />

Watch the trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-epkDvc1PlE<br />

© <strong>2016</strong> Screen Gems Inc. All Rights Reserved.<br />

want to win a double pass?<br />

Watch the trailer above, and tell us what Mila<br />

Jovovich says after “My name is Alice...”<br />

Facebook Inbox us your answer here:<br />

www.facebook.com/Gametraders.Australia


Art<br />

Residen<br />

become<br />

imitating Art<br />

When Constantin Film bought the<br />

rights to the first Resident Evil film in<br />

1997, the original choice for writer<br />

and director was George A. Romero<br />

- he of Night of the Living Dead<br />

fame. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_A._Romero)<br />

Capcom producer, Yoshiki Okamoto<br />

stated that “Romero’s script<br />

wasn’t good, so Romero was fired.”<br />

A new script was written by Paul W.<br />

S. Anderson and in 2000 he was announced<br />

by Sony as writer and director.<br />

A key point by Anderson was<br />

that the movie would not include<br />

tie-ins with the game as he felt the<br />

movie deserved a good “celluloid<br />

representation”. Milla Jovovich was<br />

announced as the key character,<br />

Alice.<br />

She was also in the Fifth Element<br />

as Leeloo, and previous to that<br />

was a super model who quit school<br />

at age 12 to focus full time on her<br />

modelling.<br />

Synopsosi (source: Wikipedia)<br />

The first film, simply titled Resident<br />

Evil, sees us introduced to the Umbrella<br />

Corporation and Alice, The<br />

Red Queen and the T-Virus:<br />

In the film, the Umbrella Corporation<br />

operates a top-secret genetic research<br />

facility named The Hive. Located<br />

deep beneath Raccoon City,<br />

The Hive has been sealed by The<br />

Red Queen (the AI that controls the<br />

Hive) due to the release of the T-Virus<br />

into the facility. The Red Queen<br />

kills every living thing in the facility<br />

to ensure that the T-Virus doesn’t<br />

reach the surface, but the T-Virus<br />

reanimates them, transforming the<br />

humans into ravenous zombies<br />

and the animals into highly aggressive<br />

mutants. Alice (Milla Jovovich),<br />

once a security operative working<br />

for the Corporation until her memory<br />

was wiped by the Red Queen’s<br />

nerve gas. As the team attempts to<br />

escape The Hive, an Umbrella test<br />

subject, a huge monster called the<br />

Licker, escapes and pursues the<br />

team. When they reach the train<br />

that leads them to the exit, the<br />

Licker attacks and scratches Matt<br />

before Alice can kill it. When they<br />

reach the surface, Matt is taken<br />

away by Umbrella workers and he<br />

eventually transforms into Nemesis.<br />

Alice wakes from a coma to a ravaged<br />

Raccoon City after a T-Virus<br />

outbreak.<br />

With a budget of $40million, the film<br />

did borrow elements of the game<br />

and went on to make $102 million<br />

worldwide. While not all critics liked<br />

the film, fans did, including James<br />

Cameron (Terminator and Aliens)<br />

stating “You don’t have to defend<br />

a guilty pleasure.” There’s a bunch<br />

of references to the game that you<br />

can find in the detailed article on<br />

Wikipedia including the the wedding<br />

picture Alice finds and the newspaper<br />

headline.<br />

In 2004 Resident Evil: Apocalypse,<br />

again featuring Jovovich in the lead<br />

was released and made even more<br />

at the box office than the original<br />

film but again critics were mainly<br />

negative. Fans however proved<br />

that they would decide the success<br />

of the film.<br />

In 2007 Resident Evil Extinction<br />

was released. Alice (Jovovich)<br />

leads a group of survivors across<br />

the desert to Alaska to escape the<br />

zombies. The film was number one<br />

at the North American box office<br />

on its opening weekend and made<br />

$147 million worldwide. Again critics<br />

were negative with the film gaining<br />

a rating of just 22% on Rotten<br />

Tomatoes.<br />

The next title, Resident Evil: Afterlife<br />

hit screen ins 2010 and featured<br />

Jovovich again as Alice.<br />

The synopsis from Wikipedia:<br />

Set after the events of Extinction,<br />

Alice and her clones attack the


t Evil : The game<br />

s a 6 MOVIE SERIES


Umbrella Headquarters in Tokyo.<br />

Wesker escapes and destroys the<br />

facility, killing the clones. Wesker is<br />

confronted by Alice aboard his helicopter.<br />

He injects Alice with a serum<br />

that removes her super-human abilities.<br />

The helicopter crashes, and<br />

only Alice is seen emerging from<br />

the rubble. After months of a failed<br />

aerial search for other survivors, Alice<br />

heads toward the supposed location<br />

of Arcadia. She lands on an<br />

airfield in Alaska, where she finds<br />

Claire in a different state.<br />

Claire has an Umbrella controlling<br />

device attached to her chest and<br />

her memory has been wiped. Claire<br />

and Alice fly to Los Angeles, where<br />

they stumble on a prison where<br />

they meet Luther West and Chris<br />

Redfield, Claire’s brother. The survivors<br />

explain that Arcadia is really a<br />

tanker off the coast that has been<br />

broadcasting a looped message<br />

and is picking up survivors. During<br />

an attempted escape, Alice, Claire<br />

and Chris are the only ones to<br />

emerge and they reach the tanker<br />

only to find it abandoned. Claire’s<br />

memory begins to return when she<br />

remembers Umbrella workers attacking<br />

her group of survivors and<br />

moving them to the tanker. They<br />

learn that the ship is an Umbrella<br />

research facility, which is conducting<br />

experiments on the survivors.<br />

The three then meet Wesker, who<br />

has been granted super-human<br />

abilities due to the T-Virus. After the<br />

fight, Alice transmits a message to<br />

survivors calling them to the tanker<br />

and hopes to create a new and true<br />

safe haven. As the film closes, a<br />

fleet of Umbrella Corporation gunships<br />

led by Valentine prepares to<br />

lead an assault on the survivors.<br />

In 2012 Resident Evil Retribution<br />

arrived featuring Milla Jovovich in<br />

the lead, Michelle Rodriguez (who<br />

played Rain Ocampo in the first<br />

film) and 3 characters from the<br />

video game not previously seen in<br />

the movies. - Leon S Kennedy, Barry<br />

Burton and Ada Wong.<br />

In the film, Alice awakens in an Umbrella<br />

base where she is interrogated<br />

by Valentine. During a power<br />

failure orchestrated by Ada Wong,<br />

Alice escapes from her cell and encounters<br />

her. Wong explains that<br />

Wesker plans to aid Alice’s escape<br />

and battle the base’s supercomputer<br />

Red Queen, in order to save<br />

what’s left of mankind. Wesker has<br />

organized a team of freelance operatives<br />

to infiltrate the base and<br />

help Alice and Ada escape, including<br />

Leon S. Kennedy, Barry Burton,<br />

and Luther West. Along the way,<br />

Alice finds a clone of a girl named<br />

Becky. They also face clone versions<br />

of Carlos Olivera, One, and<br />

Rain Ocampo, who are all under the<br />

direction of Valentine. After Alice<br />

meets up with the rescue team, Valentine’s<br />

soldiers catch up to them,<br />

resulting in a shootout that kills Burton,<br />

Olivera and One. Alice, West,<br />

Kennedy, and Becky reach the surface<br />

and are met by a submarine,<br />

from which Valentine, the clone<br />

Rain, and a captured Ada emerge.<br />

With new orders from the Red<br />

Queen to kill Alice, Valentine battles<br />

Alice while Rain fights Kennedy and<br />

West. Alice manages to remove<br />

the scarab device from Valentine,<br />

returning her back to normal. Alice<br />

joins Kennedy in defeating Rain. Alice,<br />

Ada, Becky, Leon, and Valentine<br />

travel to Wesker’s base. Wesker injects<br />

Alice with the T-virus, returning<br />

her former superhuman powers<br />

in order to enact his plan, then tells<br />

her that she is responsible for saving<br />

the remaining humans from extinction.[22]<br />

(source Wikipedia)<br />

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter - is<br />

released in December and again<br />

sees Paul W. S. Anderson at the<br />

helm as writer / director and Milla<br />

Jovovich as Alice. According to<br />

Sony, the film:<br />

Picks “up immediately after the<br />

events in Resident Evil: Retribution,<br />

Alice (Milla Jovovich) is the only<br />

survivor of what was meant to be<br />

humanity’s final stand against the<br />

undead. Now, she must return to<br />

where the nightmare began – The<br />

Hive in Raccoon City, where the<br />

Umbrella Corporation is gathering<br />

its forces for a final strike against<br />

the only remaining survivors of the<br />

apocalypse.”<br />

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY:<br />

Paul W.S. Anderson<br />

PRODUCED BY:<br />

Jeremy Bolt, Paul W.S. Anderson,<br />

Robert Kulzer, Samuel Hadida<br />

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS:<br />

Martin Moszkowicz, Victor Hadida<br />

CAST:<br />

Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Shawn<br />

Roberts, Ruby Rose, Eoin Macken,<br />

Fraser James, Rola, Lee Joon-Gi<br />

with William Levy and Iain Glen<br />

We at <strong>Live</strong> are looking forward to<br />

the latest and last instalment, fingers<br />

crossed this one will be awesome!


All images courtesy Sony Pictures Australia


Resident Evil<br />

COSPLAY TRIBUTE


Resident Evil<br />

COSPLAY TRIBUTE


YOUR local SAY artist<br />

INTERVIEW WITH ARTIST Kit10<br />

illustrations<br />

One thing that crosses all our interests,<br />

whether it’s video games,<br />

board games, anime, figurines,<br />

comics etc, is the amazing artwork.<br />

Without the artists creating characters<br />

and backdrops we see in our<br />

entertainment our enjoyment would<br />

be no where near the same.<br />

In fact it’s that artwork, whether it’s<br />

realistic as in a racing sim or a fantasy<br />

quest of some sort, that suspends<br />

our disbelief enough for us<br />

to forget about the real world and<br />

all it’s troubles and stresses and be<br />

immersed in an alternate world of<br />

enjoyment.<br />

Continuing our support of Australian<br />

artists from last month, we<br />

caught up with another local artist<br />

with amazing skills, Kit10 Illustrations,<br />

who’s based in Adelaide and<br />

we think has a tremendous future<br />

ahead.<br />

Welcome to <strong>Live</strong>, tell us a bit about<br />

yourself:<br />

I’m an 18-year-old artist who comes<br />

from the country town of Whyalla,<br />

SA. I moved to Adelaide early this<br />

year and I’m currently studying an<br />

Advanced Diploma of Professional<br />

Game Development, with a specialisation<br />

in Game Art, at the Academy<br />

of Interactive Entertainment.<br />

How did you get into art?<br />

I’ve loved creating art for as long<br />

as I can remember; even as a child<br />

I was always drawing and painting.<br />

In the third grade of school, I had a<br />

teacher named Matt Mallee, who<br />

worked painting backdrops for the<br />

local cinema, and was a freelance<br />

artist in his own time. He taught<br />

me so many different methods of<br />

drawing and colouring, which really<br />

helped develop my love and interest<br />

for art!<br />

And what’s your favourite type of<br />

art?<br />

My favourite kind of art at the moment<br />

is digital art. I love drawing<br />

people and characters - both fullbody<br />

and portraiture. My art style<br />

fluctuates a lot, but I usually try to<br />

stick to semi-realism.<br />

Who inspires you?<br />

I’m not sure who directly inspired<br />

me to get into art. I’ve been doing it<br />

for so long I can barely remember,<br />

but I know Matt definitely played a<br />

part. I’ve had a lot of different artistic<br />

influences and inspirations<br />

throughout the years. When I was<br />

younger, I used to enjoy creating<br />

anime-styled pieces and fanart - I<br />

remember looking up to artists like<br />

Tite Kubo and Yana Toboso.<br />

Now, I can easily say my single biggest<br />

influence is Wenqing Yan; otherwise<br />

known under her pen name<br />

Yuumei.<br />

What’s been your biggest<br />

challenges?<br />

So far, my biggest challenge has<br />

been working with mediums I’m not<br />

used to. I generally try to avoid the<br />

areas I’m not good at rather than<br />

trying to improve them, unfortunately!<br />

I tend to give up on pictures<br />

that are proving to be out of my skill<br />

level.<br />

That being said, I struggled a lot<br />

with a picture of Orta from the<br />

game Panzer Dragoon: Orta. The<br />

green of her dragon against the<br />

peach-coloured background wasn’t<br />

working out, and the perspective of<br />

the image was too difficult for me to<br />

work with. I only managed to get it<br />

half-finished.<br />

I also have a ridiculous amount of<br />

struggle with drawing hands!<br />

What tools do you use to create?<br />

For my art, I’m using a Wacom Intuos<br />

Pen and Touch (Medium) tablet.<br />

The art program I use is called<br />

FireAlpaca; which seems to be almost<br />

completely unheard of. It’s a<br />

free to download program that can<br />

be found online, and I love working<br />

with it!


I used to use Painttool SAI, but it<br />

didn’t really agree with my laptop so<br />

I ended up having to change.<br />

When I work traditionally, I just use a<br />

normal, spiral-bound A4 book from<br />

Cheap as Chips. At the moment, I<br />

just swear by my Faber Castell Tri-<br />

Grip pencils - but I one day hope to<br />

be able to save up for some Copic<br />

markers or Faber Castell Polychromos.<br />

Whats next for you?<br />

I am hoping for the opportunity to<br />

study a tattoo apprenticeship next<br />

year, as I won’t be continuing my<br />

studies at AIE in 2017.<br />

On the side, I’ll probably continue<br />

taking art commissions online.<br />

Any advice for people wanting to<br />

get into art?<br />

My advice for people who are<br />

wanting to pursue art as a hobby<br />

or career would be to never stop<br />

trying. I know it sounds cliche, but<br />

it’s the truth. Sometimes your art<br />

won’t look as good as you want it<br />

to - but that’s okay. If you can stick<br />

with it long enough and work hard<br />

every day, you’ll get past it. When it<br />

comes to art, there is always room<br />

for improvement!<br />

Try not to compare yourself to others<br />

because your art is unique.<br />

Lastly, never throw away old drawings.<br />

You can look back on them to<br />

see how far you’ve come! They’re<br />

also great to have around for when<br />

you’re feeling disheartened about<br />

your work - looking back on old stuff<br />

helps you appreciate what you can<br />

do now.<br />

Hey where can we see more of your<br />

work?<br />

To see more of my work, you can<br />

check out my Facebook Page;<br />

Kit10 Illustrations -<br />

www.facebook.com/kit10.illustrations/


Artist: Kit10 Illustrations<br />

illustrations<br />

Kit10


YOUR local SAY artist<br />

INTERVIEW WITH ARTIST<br />

TY HANSON<br />

Millennium Exile is an Australian<br />

based project by Ty Hanson. Working<br />

with artists from around the<br />

world, Ty plans for his title to one<br />

day become a Japanese Anime. Ty,<br />

how did you get started in art? Who<br />

inspired you to begin?<br />

I have always been drawing for as<br />

long as I can remember and I grew<br />

up watching Anime such as Astroboy,<br />

Mazinger Z, Macross and<br />

Tekkaman Blade. However at the<br />

age of 11 my mother passed away<br />

from cancer. I never had many<br />

friends growing up and I was bullied<br />

rather severely.<br />

Anime was an ‘escape’ for me back<br />

then. I was so fascinated with the<br />

art style and the stories that were<br />

being told.....I found Anime so much<br />

deeper than a cat chasing a mouse,<br />

or a rabbit messing with a duck for<br />

30 minutes. I guess you could say<br />

that when things got darkest for<br />

me, it was my passion for Anime<br />

that quite literally saved my life.<br />

As I grew older, my passion for Anime<br />

turned into a great respect and<br />

I wanted to be a part of the industry<br />

that saved me - to be able to entertain<br />

and fascinate others the way I<br />

had been. In 2008 I decided to start<br />

writing my own story which actually<br />

started from a simple character design<br />

assignment.<br />

Many, many Anime have inspired<br />

me along the way.<br />

Titles such as Cowboy Bebop,<br />

Evangelion, Soul Eater and Full Metal<br />

Alchemist were always among<br />

the most watched on my Television,<br />

however it was Gainax’s “Tengen<br />

Toppa Gurren Lagann” that really<br />

changed my perspective.<br />

Gurren Lagann’s story was so bizarre<br />

and insane, yet it gripped my<br />

imagination with both hands and<br />

made me feel as though a fire was<br />

burning within my chest.<br />

It quite literally made me realise<br />

that no matter what the premise,<br />

any story can be made if it is well<br />

written.<br />

While my story is certainly no Gurren<br />

Lagann, it was definitely my biggest<br />

inspiration and I would consider<br />

myself one of the shows biggest<br />

fans.<br />

What tools do you use to create?<br />

Is it digital or do you use paper and<br />

inks or paints?<br />

I use pencil on paper sketching and<br />

then transfer everything into Photoshop<br />

where it is re-drawn.<br />

That being said however, most of<br />

the art you see here is from artists<br />

from around the world who I have<br />

commissioned to draw my designs.<br />

While I am a pretty decent artist,<br />

there are those in the world who<br />

make my work look like a fifth graders.<br />

In order to get noticed, I needed to<br />

start taking the project more seriously<br />

and decided to start hiring<br />

and paying artists to draw for me.<br />

Back in 2009 I reached out to a<br />

young Indonesian artist named<br />

Hary Istiyoso who was not only my<br />

first artist but is still drawing with me<br />

today and has embarked upon this<br />

long journey with me with such enthusiasm<br />

and loyalty.<br />

From there I started contacting other<br />

amazingly talented artists, from<br />

freelancers to artists who work in<br />

the gaming industry for some rather<br />

large companies.


To my knowledge, most of them use<br />

Photoshop, Sai and drawing tablets<br />

as their preferred tools for drawing.<br />

The artwork we’ve seen is amazing<br />

- extremely moody in some scenes<br />

and captures an almost 3D feel - on<br />

average how long does each page<br />

of the art book take?<br />

Thanks, The design process is a<br />

long one....we go through several<br />

stages before a finished product,<br />

and it varies depending on the type<br />

of image (character profile, battle,<br />

environment etc).<br />

Usually it starts with my initial design<br />

coupled with a bunch of notes<br />

explaining the mood / vibe I want<br />

from the image as well as any extra<br />

requirements, but I’m always careful<br />

to allow the artists plenty of room<br />

for their creativity in each piece.<br />

When do you think the project will<br />

be finished?<br />

The project has been going for so<br />

long, it’s strange to ever think of it<br />

being completed lol.<br />

That being said however, I am coming<br />

to the “pointy end” of things with<br />

most of my artwork for the book<br />

having been completed and a few<br />

more scenes still being drawn up<br />

for the demo reel.<br />

Although I technically have enough<br />

to start pitching to studios now, If<br />

I’m taking the time to travel to their<br />

offices, I would prefer to have a<br />

completed art-book and demo reel<br />

in hand to convey professionalism.<br />

I’m hoping to speak with Netflix in<br />

Los Angeles mid 2017 as I would<br />

love to have Millennium Exile conceived<br />

in Australia, funded by the<br />

United States and animated in Japan.<br />

I wish to break down the borders<br />

and boundaries set by conventional<br />

methods so that love, respect and<br />

hard work can allow for creations<br />

within the industries we love.<br />

Sounds great! Finally, where can<br />

our readers go to see your work?<br />

You can find my project online at the<br />

following locations:<br />

Official Website:<br />

www.millenniumexile.com<br />

Facebook:<br />

www.facebook.com/MillenniumExile<br />

Instagram: @Millennium_Exile


Win<br />

this Millennium Exile<br />

print by ty hanson!<br />

Simply tell us your favourite Anime or Manga and<br />

why - inbox us on Facebook:<br />

www.facebook.com/Gametraders.Australia<br />

Winner announced 10 th December!


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ameS<br />

A LOOK BACK<br />

AT TITANFALL<br />

OPINION<br />

forza<br />

horizon 3<br />

news<br />

BATMAN:<br />

RETURN TO<br />

ARKHAM<br />

REVIEW<br />

BATTLEFIELD 1<br />

REVIEW<br />

mafia 3<br />

review


NOVEMBER GAME RELEASES!<br />

DATE<br />

1 November<br />

4 November<br />

4 November<br />

4 November<br />

10 November<br />

10 November<br />

11 November<br />

15 November<br />

15 November<br />

15 November<br />

16 November<br />

16 November<br />

16 November<br />

17 November<br />

18 November<br />

18 November<br />

18 November<br />

21 November<br />

22 November<br />

24 November<br />

29 November<br />

30 November<br />

TITLE<br />

Super Dungeon Bros<br />

Call of Duty Infinite Warfare<br />

SEGA 3D Classic Collection<br />

Minecraft Story Mode The Complete Adventure<br />

Nintendo New 3DS XL Console Orange and Black<br />

Nintendo New 3DS XL Console Pink and White<br />

Disonored 2<br />

Watch Dogs 2<br />

Watch Dogs 2 Gold <strong>Edition</strong><br />

Moto Racer 4<br />

Uncharted 3 Drakes Deception Remastered<br />

Uncharted 2 Among Thieves Remastered<br />

Uncharted Drakes Fortune Remastered<br />

Assassins Creed The Ezio Collection<br />

Pokemon Sun<br />

Pokemon Moon<br />

Killing Floor 2<br />

Final Fantasy XV Day One <strong>Edition</strong><br />

We Sing (Microphone Bundle)<br />

Animal Crossing New Leaf Welcome amiibo<br />

Final Fantasy XV Day One <strong>Edition</strong><br />

Gravity Rush 2<br />

FORMATS<br />

PS4, XB1<br />

PC, PS4, XB1<br />

3DS<br />

PS4, XB1, 360, PS3<br />

3DS<br />

3DS<br />

PS4, XB1<br />

PS4, XB1<br />

PS4, XB1<br />

PS4, XB1<br />

PS4<br />

PS4<br />

PS4<br />

XB1, PS4<br />

3DS<br />

3DS<br />

PS4<br />

PS4, XB1<br />

PS4, XB1<br />

3DS<br />

PS4, XB1<br />

PS4<br />

Dates are correct at time of publishing. Ask staff for details.


DECEMBER GAME RELEASES!<br />

DATE<br />

1 December<br />

2 December<br />

3 December<br />

6 December<br />

7 December<br />

TITLE<br />

Nintendo 2DS Console Pokemon Sun Special <strong>Edition</strong><br />

Steep<br />

Super Mario Maker<br />

Dead Rising 4<br />

The Last Guardian<br />

FORMATS<br />

3DS<br />

PS4, XB1<br />

3DS<br />

XB1<br />

PS4<br />

JANUARY GAME RELEASES!<br />

DATE<br />

19 January<br />

21 January<br />

24 January<br />

24 January<br />

31 January<br />

TITLE<br />

Gravity Rush 2<br />

Dragon Quest 8 Journey of the Cursed King<br />

Resident Evil 7<br />

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue<br />

Hitman The Complete First Season<br />

FORMATS<br />

PS4<br />

3DS<br />

PS4, XB1<br />

PS4<br />

PS4, XB1


OPINION<br />

A Look Back<br />

the Best (and Most Polarizi<br />

With Titanfall 2 due out tomorrow, it<br />

seems like a good excuse to revisit<br />

the 2014 title that started it all. The<br />

original Titanfall first appeared on<br />

the national radar at E3 2013, where<br />

it quickly became a critical darling. It<br />

won over 60 awards, including an unprecedented<br />

six E3 Critics Awards.<br />

Amongst the gaming community,<br />

though, the reactions were more<br />

mixed. Some saw it as deliverance<br />

from an increasingly stale and safe<br />

genre. Others dismissed it superciliously<br />

as “Call of Duty with mechs.”<br />

What explains the divergence in<br />

opinion? First-person shooter fatigue<br />

surely played a part. Yet just<br />

as real estate is all about “location,<br />

location, location,” all too often video<br />

games are about exclusives, exclusives,<br />

exclusives. The fact that Titanfall<br />

found a home on PC, Xbox<br />

One, and Xbox 360 — and not PS4<br />

— rubbed some fans the wrong way.<br />

As a result we saw many Xbox fans<br />

championing the game as the Second<br />

Coming, and many PlayStation<br />

fans doubting its quality and appeal.<br />

So, over two years later, who was<br />

right? Well, both sides in a way. On<br />

the commercial front, Titanfall failed<br />

to capitalize on the enormous level<br />

of hype surrounding the title in the<br />

months leading to launch in March<br />

2014. Forbes’ Paul Tassi wrote in<br />

April that “very shortly after release,<br />

the buzz seemed to fade abnormally<br />

quickly.”<br />

The exact number of units sold<br />

across three platforms is difficult<br />

to discern — developer Respawn<br />

boasted of 10 million unique players<br />

and Electronic Arts CFO Blake<br />

Jorgensen stated “a little more than<br />

7 million units”. Our estimates currently<br />

put it just shy of 5 million sold<br />

at retail. Regardless of the actual<br />

figure it’s safe to say that Titanfall<br />

was neither the blockbuster hit nor<br />

the Xbox One “killer app” that many<br />

anticipated.<br />

Why did Titanfall’s buzz drop precipitously<br />

in the months after launch? I’d<br />

argue it hinged on two factors: lack<br />

of modes and zero offline content.<br />

Although a large number of modern<br />

gamers enjoy broadband internet<br />

and are accustomed to playing online,<br />

many remain wary of onlineonly<br />

games. Server support is finite<br />

and can end suddenly. Look at Dead<br />

Star, which is losing server support<br />

on November 1 after only seven<br />

months on the market, leaving only<br />

the tutorial playable.<br />

The fact that Titanfall launched with<br />

only five modes — all multiplayer —<br />

also hurt post-launch momentum.<br />

A proper single-player campaign<br />

would have done wonders, as would<br />

a co-op mode or a free-for-all com-


at Titanfall,<br />

ng) Shooter of the 8th Gen<br />

BY evan norris FROM VGCHARTZ.COM


petitive mode. Extra content, including<br />

“Frontier Defense” — an addictive<br />

co-op mode inspired by Gears of<br />

War’s “Horde” mode — and “Deadly<br />

Ground” did arrive eight months after<br />

launch, but it was a case of too<br />

little, too late.<br />

So on the commercial side of things,<br />

the Titanfall detractors were more<br />

or less correct. In terms of quality,<br />

though, the Titanfall believers found<br />

their faith justified. Put simply, Titanfall<br />

is one of the most inventive and<br />

engaging shooters in years, a musthave<br />

title for Xbox One owners,<br />

and the all-around best first-person<br />

shooter of the eighth generation (so<br />

far). Why is it so good? Well, the answer,<br />

paradoxically, has a lot to do<br />

with why many players ignored or<br />

forgot the game: the singular focus<br />

on competitive multiplayer.<br />

Respawn’s deep focus on multiplayer<br />

allowed the studio to forge one of<br />

the most accessible and balanced<br />

shooters in a generation. Staffed<br />

with industry veterans who had<br />

worked previously on Call of Duty 4:<br />

Modern Warfare and its sequel, Respawn<br />

was able to draw on its past<br />

experiences and pave a road toward<br />

the future of the genre, focusing on<br />

player mobility, survivability, and the<br />

merger of single-player tropes with<br />

multiplayer action.<br />

On the mobility front, Respawn<br />

scored a home run. Titanfall’s pilots<br />

are fast, agile, and capable of dashing<br />

across maps like a ring-tailed lemur.<br />

The game features maps that<br />

are impressively large, vertical, and<br />

open for exploration — a far cry<br />

from the plodding, mostly-flat maps<br />

in rival shooters. Titans are of course<br />

bulkier and slower but add even more<br />

flavor to each match.<br />

Equally important was survivability.<br />

Titanfall producer Drew McCoy explained<br />

a few months after the game<br />

launched that Respawn “looked at<br />

how you increase a player’s life span<br />

without reducing the lethality of it,<br />

because that time from to kill to kill<br />

is one of the big hooks. Players like<br />

getting constant kills — they don’t like<br />

being killed constantly.” Enter Titanfall’s<br />

much-maligned AI bots, which<br />

ease novice players into the game<br />

and act as a buffer of sorts between<br />

opposing pilots.<br />

Last but not least, Respawn infused<br />

elements common to single-player<br />

campaigns into Titanfall’s competitive<br />

multiplayer. With cinematic introductions,<br />

AI soldiers dotting the landscape,<br />

and an epilogue that follows<br />

every victory and defeat, each match<br />

feels like a small battle in a much<br />

larger war. Even a loss can feel like<br />

a live-to-fight-another-day scenario.<br />

Although Titanfall failed to reach EA’s<br />

lofty sales expectations and moved<br />

far fewer Xbox One units than anticipated,<br />

it stands today as a shining<br />

example of the first-person shooting<br />

genre. By drawing in creative minds<br />

and focusing deeply and intently on<br />

a single concept — competitive multiplayer<br />

— Respawn created the heir<br />

apparent to Modern Warfare, and by<br />

prioritizing mobility, survivability, and<br />

immersive single-player “moments,”<br />

forged the most disruptive shooter<br />

since 2007.


VGCHARTZ.COM<br />

BY evan norris<br />

FROM VGCHARTZ.COM


NEWS<br />

Forza Horizon<br />

3 First<br />

Expansion to<br />

Feature Snow<br />

BY WILLIAM D'ANGELO FROM VGCHARTZ.COM<br />

Microsoft has teased the first expansion for Forza Horizon 3. The<br />

expansion will be taking racers to some “less-than-ideal road conditions”<br />

with snow.<br />

VGCHARTZ.COM


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BATMAN: RETUR


N TO ARKHAM<br />

review


REVIEW<br />

batman: return<br />

There is little doubt that the<br />

Arkham games are some of the<br />

best gaming experiences that last<br />

generation had to offer. With a 92<br />

and 96 on Metacritic respectively,<br />

2009’s Arkham Asylum and 2011’s<br />

Arkham City received widespread<br />

critical acclaim from both gamers<br />

and Batman fans alike, thanks to<br />

developer Rocksteady’s superb<br />

polish and the games’ outstanding<br />

voice cast, storytelling, and combat<br />

system. Last week saw the<br />

release of Return to Arkham; a remastered<br />

collection of these two<br />

games which includes all of their<br />

DLC, and the promise of updated<br />

visuals making use of the superior<br />

specs of current-gen hardware.<br />

The first major update by Virtuos,<br />

the development team behind the<br />

remastered collection, was porting<br />

both games from Unreal Engine 3<br />

over to Unreal Engine 4. This is relatively<br />

uncommon for the remastered<br />

space, as other re-releases<br />

(such as the Bioshock Collection)<br />

continue to use their original engines,<br />

just with updated graphics,<br />

1080p resolution, and an improved<br />

frame rate.<br />

The main changes you will see in<br />

Return to Arkham are favoured<br />

towards improved graphics rather<br />

than improved performance. Updated<br />

character models are the<br />

most notable difference, specifically,<br />

the textures of their clothing<br />

and skin. While their hairstyles are<br />

still pretty stiff and unnatural look-<br />

to arkham<br />

ing, the clothing textures of characters<br />

now show significant detail – a 30fps cap, yet still experiences<br />

60fps. Asylum differs in that it has<br />

you can even identify fabric types performance stuttering at certain<br />

on an insignificant, deceased security<br />

guard. Batman himself looks<br />

points throughout the game.<br />

incredible, with his suit, cowl and<br />

cape all looking their best.<br />

Unreal Engine 4 also brings with<br />

it updated lighting, with noticeable<br />

changes in the colouring of<br />

cutscenes, lighting models, and<br />

the overall mood of both games.<br />

While this lighting is technically<br />

better, its effect can be a little hit<br />

or miss throughout the games.<br />

There are improved shadows and<br />

reflections, but the brighter atmosphere<br />

can reveal other graphical<br />

shortcomings, and at times can be<br />

conflicting with the dark and gritty<br />

aesthetic we’ve come to associate<br />

with the series. Again, this is<br />

most noticeable on the character<br />

models, which are sometimes so<br />

vibrant that they can look out of<br />

place amongst their surroundings.<br />

While overall, the improvements<br />

made to graphics are welcome,<br />

they may have been at an expense<br />

to the games’ performance. Frame<br />

rate looks to be an issue for both<br />

Asylum and City, with City’s performance<br />

on PS4 hovering around<br />

30-35fps, with performance<br />

spikes from around 20fps up to<br />

The increased computing power<br />

of current-gen hardware has at<br />

least improved the loading time for<br />

Asylum. Walking through automatic<br />

doors around the island (particularly<br />

the ones that scan you in the<br />

Penitentiary) used to bring gameplay<br />

to a halt as the game repeated<br />

animations until the next area<br />

loaded. Now, these transitions are<br />

near flawless and Asylum experiences<br />

very minimal loading times.<br />

When a game gets remastered for<br />

a newer console, I think it’s reasonable<br />

to assume that the better<br />

specs will see an improvement<br />

in performance over the original<br />

game running on older hardware.<br />

Unfortunately, this does not appear<br />

to be the case with Return to<br />

Arkham. While there are definitely<br />

improvements in some areas, ultimately<br />

the game runs best in its<br />

original PS3 and Xbox 360 state.<br />

While I’m very thankful for this<br />

rerelease (Asylum is my favourite<br />

game of all time), I’m somewhat<br />

confused why they’ve decided to<br />

remaster the series if it was not<br />

going to reach a decent performance.


4.1 /5<br />

Whether or not you purchase Return<br />

to Arkham will depend on how<br />

you parted with last-gen. If you’ve<br />

completely moved on and no longer<br />

own the older hardware, this<br />

may be a good opportunity to carry<br />

over some of the best games<br />

available to those consoles. And<br />

if you’ve not played an Arkham<br />

game before, this is definitely the<br />

time to start.<br />

However if you main PC, you’re<br />

not missing much here apart from<br />

some improved textures and more<br />

vibrant palettes. Unfortunately<br />

there is no content exclusive to this<br />

release that has not been released<br />

before, which I think is a missed<br />

opportunity. I’m also disappointed<br />

that Asylum saw no upgrades to<br />

its FreeFlow combat system, as it<br />

was quite jarring using the original<br />

tech, which did have some flaws<br />

before it was updated for Arkham<br />

City.<br />

On a personal level, the Arhkam<br />

series has had a huge influence on<br />

my life – they got me into Batman,<br />

collecting, and gaming! These<br />

games have never been anything<br />

short of fantastic, so for these reasons<br />

I’m glad that their lifetimes<br />

have been extended and I don’t<br />

have to leave them behind on lastgen.<br />

I’m sure I’ll be replaying these<br />

games for many years to come.<br />

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7LukOVD5Os<br />

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE TRAILER!<br />

WRITTEN BY<br />

MADDIE MCKENCHNIE<br />

WWW.STICKYTRIGGER.COM


BATTLE


FIELD 1<br />

review


REVIEW<br />

BATTLEFIELD 1<br />

I was admittedly late to board the<br />

Battlefield train, only first jumping<br />

into the series with both Battlefield<br />

4 and Hardline earlier this year<br />

when they were going for $6.50<br />

each. Despite not really being the<br />

biggest fan of FPS games, I soon<br />

found myself addicted to the series,<br />

relishing the ability to play in a<br />

variety of different ways and commandeer<br />

assault vehicles, racking<br />

up points in ways other than simply<br />

having the fastest trigger finger.<br />

Battlefield, above all else, rewards<br />

teamwork, and there’s no better<br />

feeling than when you form a<br />

squad with a few buddies and try<br />

to make a difference in the fullscale<br />

war exploding around you,<br />

as opposed to the more lone wolf<br />

style of gameplay that the Call of<br />

Duty series has devolved into over<br />

the years.<br />

So, I came to Battlefield 1 with<br />

extremely high expectations; despite<br />

missing out on the multiplayer<br />

Beta, initial gameplay reveals<br />

looked promising and the prospect<br />

of waging a miniature battle in the<br />

new multiplayer mode “Operations”<br />

seemed to naturally expand<br />

upon the point capturing chaos of<br />

the series’ hallmark “Conquest”<br />

mode.<br />

Another appealing aspect was<br />

the focus on the first World War,<br />

albeit in a heavily revisionist way.<br />

Shooter fans had been crying out<br />

for a return to the classic “bootson-the-ground”<br />

gameplay of<br />

yesteryear as the genre had increasingly<br />

branched out into scifi<br />

influenced futuristic directions,<br />

adding boost jumps and robo-legs<br />

to what should arguably be a more<br />

straightforward affair.<br />

Battlefield, as a series, has never<br />

really suffered from deviating from<br />

its proven formula, preferring to instead<br />

take chances on moderately<br />

successful spin-offs like Hardline<br />

(Hey, I thought it had its moments!).<br />

By remaining focused on the core<br />

elements of the genre DICE have<br />

been able to refine the mechanics<br />

to almost perfect precision,<br />

offering up shooter fans one of<br />

the most surprisingly robust and<br />

rewarding multiplayer experiences<br />

of the year.<br />

But first, the campaign – Despite<br />

many finding the single player<br />

campaign for both Battlefield 4<br />

and Hardline to be lacklustre, personally<br />

I thought they each had<br />

their merits, particularly Hardline’s<br />

episodic structure.<br />

Unlike these previous efforts, however,<br />

DICE has decided to present<br />

a series of five vignettes rather<br />

than a singular cohesive campaign.<br />

Things kick off in spectacular style<br />

with a tutorial sequence that manages<br />

to reach the same dizzying<br />

levels of pandemonium felt when<br />

storming the beaches of Normandy<br />

in that pinnacle of classic FPS<br />

opening sequences from Medal of<br />

Honour: Frontline.<br />

Not only does this first introduction<br />

to the game effectively capture<br />

the brutality of combat and give<br />

players the opportunity to get to<br />

grips with the basic mechanics, but<br />

it also serves as a somewhat sombre<br />

reminder of the ultimate futility<br />

of war and the human cost associated<br />

with it, something that’s all<br />

too often glossed over with the<br />

jingoistic “Ooh-Rah!” mentality of<br />

most modern shooters.<br />

The five short stories vary in length<br />

and quality, although for the most<br />

part they’re fun to breeze through.<br />

Whether you’re darting around the<br />

beaches of Gallipoli as an Australian<br />

Runner, donning a suit of armour<br />

as an Italian soldier or soaring<br />

through the skies in search of<br />

glory, each vignette feels authentic<br />

and also doubles as a pressurefree<br />

way to get to grips with the<br />

controls and different vehicles for<br />

multiplayer.<br />

Battlefield 1’s campaign effortlessly<br />

captures the aesthetic of<br />

being thrust face-first into a bloody<br />

conflict, forcing your character to<br />

make morally dubious decisions


as you pick your way through the<br />

crumbling buildings littered with the<br />

corpses of fallen comrades. The<br />

attention to detail is commendable<br />

and the atmosphere is bolstered<br />

by the almost photorealistic quality<br />

of the graphics, with DICE squeezing<br />

every drop of potential out of<br />

the Frostbite engine to make for<br />

the most realistic depiction of large<br />

scale warfare to date. You’ll often<br />

notice little incidental touches that<br />

the game won’t draw your eye to<br />

but help to serve to flesh out the<br />

world.<br />

The sound design is similarly accomplished,<br />

making for even more<br />

immersive battles with dynamic<br />

explosion and gunfire effects<br />

that’ll almost cause you to instinctively<br />

duck for cover, particularly<br />

with a decent sound system or set<br />

of headphones hooked up.<br />

But, as surprisingly decent as the<br />

single player portion has turned<br />

out, the real meat and potatoes<br />

of any Battlefield game is its multiplayer,<br />

and I’m glad to announce<br />

that Battlefield 1 is pretty much<br />

free of the many netcode and myriad<br />

of other issues that plagued<br />

the launch of 4. Throughout my<br />

time with the online component<br />

I’ve not encountered any connection<br />

issues or loss of progression<br />

glitches and, without exception,<br />

every match I’ve jumped into has<br />

been smooth and lag free.<br />

The biggest addition to multiplayer<br />

is the aforementioned “Operations”<br />

mode and, boy, is it a doozy.<br />

Each team attempts to capture a<br />

sector by simultaneously holding<br />

two points, forcing the other team<br />

to retreat to another sector of the<br />

map; it’s a complex and exhausting<br />

battle of attrition as each side<br />

push against each other, making<br />

that eventual victory all the more<br />

satisfying. The tide of war can turn<br />

on a dime and it feels like you’re<br />

actually waging a concerted battle,<br />

added all the more weight due to<br />

the history that comes attached to<br />

the maps.<br />

War Pigeons is the other new mode<br />

and it plays out almost exactly as it<br />

sounds – you hunt down pigeons.<br />

Each much would descend into<br />

chaotic hilarity and makes for a<br />

nice change from the more traditional<br />

gameplay modes. At launch<br />

players also get access to the tried<br />

and true Conquest, Rush, Domination<br />

and Team Deathmatch modes<br />

but it’s the newest additions that<br />

make for the most fun this time<br />

around.<br />

The maps are well designed, for<br />

the most part, although spawn<br />

points can feel a little off at times,<br />

sending you face down in the dirt<br />

seconds after hitting the battleground.<br />

There are nine maps at the<br />

moment, with a tenth to be added<br />

via free DLC in December: Fao


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwSFUNMrWvk<br />

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE TRAILER!


4.4/10<br />

Fortress, Ballroom Blitz, Argonne<br />

Forest, St. Quentin Scar, Empire’s<br />

Edge, Suez, Sinai Desert, Amiens<br />

and Monte Grappa, with Giant’s<br />

Shadow to come later.<br />

Allowing for battles on a grand<br />

scale, nothing beats taking down<br />

an enemy tank equipped only with<br />

a handful of dynamite and a pair<br />

of brass balls, and watching iconic<br />

landmarks crumble as the battle<br />

wages on never loses its charm;<br />

the destructible environments on<br />

offer here are among some of the<br />

best I’ve ever seen. Each map is<br />

best suited to a particular mode<br />

but offers up enough versatility<br />

so as to be effective across the<br />

board.<br />

There’s a wide variety of loadout<br />

options to unlock and equip and,<br />

playing to its strengths, Battlefield<br />

1 lets players engage in the battle<br />

in whichever manner they desire<br />

– Better at darting about and providing<br />

support fire and medic assistance?<br />

Go for it? Feel like strapping<br />

on a machine gun, barging a<br />

tank and then leaping in to a fighter<br />

plane for some inspired dogfighting?<br />

The world (War) is your oyster.<br />

The Assault, Medic, Scout and<br />

Support classes all make a return<br />

with tweaks to balance them out,<br />

although one might argue that the<br />

Scout is a little overpowered in its<br />

current state.<br />

With a gripping, if slightly short,<br />

campaign and the most satisfying<br />

multiplayer to date, DICE has really<br />

knocked it out of the park with this<br />

latest entry in the Battlefield series.<br />

Maintaining a respectful tone<br />

whilst also offering up high-octane<br />

gunplay is a fine line to tread<br />

but Battlefield 1 pulls it off with<br />

aplomb, giving gamers the most<br />

cohesive and action packed entry<br />

in the franchise yet.<br />

Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition,<br />

DICE wants you to go to<br />

War.<br />

WRITTEN BY Sean Warhurst<br />

WWW.STICKYTRIGGER.COM


maf


ia 3<br />

review


REVIEW<br />

Fun fact: Mafia II holds the dubious<br />

honour of having the most swearwords<br />

spoken in any game. 397<br />

F-bombs alone litter Vito’s bloodsoaked<br />

journey through Empire<br />

Bay, boosted up even further with<br />

various other curses and racial epithets<br />

we won’t discuss here.<br />

mafia 3<br />

It’s almost refreshing. There’s<br />

nothing more jarring than watching<br />

some movie and seeing a warrior,<br />

blood-soaked and panting, turn to<br />

his colleague. The gun is gripped<br />

in his friend’s hand, still smoking.<br />

He’d shot that man right between<br />

the eyes. You’d seen the blood<br />

splatter; heard his death rattle as<br />

he dropped to the ground.<br />

Then the protagonist, painted with<br />

the blood of a dead man, shouts,<br />

“What the heck?!”<br />

Mafia II kept it real. With that kind<br />

of foul-mouthed pedigree, Mafia<br />

III really has to step it up. Rather<br />

than the pastiche of 1950’s bigcity<br />

America that was Empire<br />

Bay, Mafia III occurs a little further<br />

south: New Bordeaux, Louisiana,<br />

1968. Touted as a “modern town<br />

with traditional Southern values”,<br />

it’s no surprise that New Bordeaux<br />

is a rough place to be for a young<br />

black veteran. As Lincoln Clay, a<br />

young man just back from the Vietnam<br />

War, you are facing the kind<br />

of prejudice any black man might<br />

face at that point in history. To do<br />

otherwise would be to pretend that<br />

such prejudice never existed.<br />

Lincoln’s story takes place within a<br />

documentary framework. Missions<br />

are punctuated by interviews with<br />

historians and people who knew<br />

him, discussing Lincoln’s actions,<br />

character and his place in history.<br />

It gives the whole game a very<br />

unique feeling, letting the game focus<br />

on the human element – loyalty,<br />

family, strength of character<br />

– while not sacrificing the big-picture<br />

shootouts the previous games<br />

were known for. All the exposition<br />

needed to set up late-60s America<br />

flows naturally through these little<br />

interviews, saving players the<br />

chore of poring over database entries<br />

or enduring hamfisted exposition.<br />

The actual story is simple, but effective.<br />

Just returned from the<br />

Vietnam war, Lincoln Clay heads<br />

back to his adoptive family, leaders<br />

of the local black mob, Sammy<br />

and Ellis. Lincoln fully intends only<br />

to stop in before leaving the crime<br />

life and taking a real job, but things<br />

– as they always do – go awry. Too<br />

spoil too much would be to do the<br />

game a disservice. Suffice to say<br />

that this is very much a revenge<br />

tale. We know as soon as Lincoln<br />

promises to take everything from<br />

the man who murdered his family<br />

that this is not going to be a story<br />

of half-measures.<br />

It’s not all grim depression, though.<br />

The Mafia games have always excelled<br />

at big, bombastic set-pieces,<br />

and the third entry is no different.<br />

Intense shootouts, high-speed<br />

chases and harrowing escapes<br />

are littered throughout the story,<br />

all without ever having to introduce<br />

a single laser gun or superpower.<br />

Mafia goes big, but it keeps its feet<br />

on the ground.<br />

There are no virtuous reasons behind<br />

Lincoln’s story, either. What<br />

he wants is revenge, total and<br />

crushing, on the mob that took his<br />

people away. This opens up possibilities<br />

for the kinds of activities a<br />

‘hero’ could not usually do. Lincoln<br />

is a man on the warpath, trained in<br />

psychological warfare and fresh<br />

from the battlefield. The things he<br />

does and the effects he suffers<br />

from them fit that to a T.<br />

The gameplay is nothing you<br />

haven’t seen before. Mafia III basically<br />

represents a collection<br />

of all the successful open-world<br />

features that came before it.<br />

‘Hacking’ junction boxes to reveal<br />

details on the nearby map is<br />

straightup Watch_Dogs. Sneaking<br />

around and performing cover kills<br />

and takedowns mix in Assassins’<br />

Creed and Arkham in equal measure.<br />

Lockpicking is charmingly lowfi<br />

in its use of a crowbar and combat<br />

knife, similar to Fallout. There’s<br />

nothing new in Mafia III‘s toolbox,<br />

but none of it is done poorly. The<br />

developers have clearly gone for


a strong, competent sort of gameplay<br />

rather than wild innovation,<br />

and that’s just fine.<br />

Lincoln’s particular path of vengeance<br />

is a methodical one, too.<br />

Obviously, you can’t just plug one<br />

between the killer’s eyes and be<br />

done with it. To bust up a particular<br />

racket, Lincoln must complete<br />

activities in that area until he has<br />

caused enough ‘damage’ to lure<br />

the lieutenant out. Once that’s<br />

done, he can either kill or recruit<br />

that lieutenant to his side. Do that<br />

to all the rackets in the area and<br />

Lincoln’s true target will come out,<br />

allowing him to be dealt with. The<br />

way that most things can cause<br />

damage – stealing money from<br />

areas, killing guys, destroying contraband,<br />

or just plain ol’ completing<br />

the objectives – allows for a much<br />

more free-form experience. If you<br />

don’t want to do certain activities,<br />

that’s just fine! There’s more than<br />

enough stuff to damage that you<br />

can mostly avoid the parts that<br />

bore you.<br />

Taking over these rackets allows<br />

you to assign them to your own<br />

people. The associates you gather<br />

end up being some of the strongest<br />

characters in the game: do extra<br />

tasks for them and increase both<br />

their earnings and their loyalty. It’s<br />

a nice little detail which keeps you<br />

returning to earlier areas, stopping<br />

that feeling of finishing an area and<br />

never visiting it again, or feeling<br />

as if your closest confidantes are<br />

people you’ve known for maybe<br />

five minutes total.


don’t catch them first – unless it’s<br />

a convertible. Then, without having<br />

smashed a window to get in, you<br />

can cruise off scot-free. The game<br />

takes pains to avoid the tired of ‘all<br />

white people are racist’, but the<br />

reality of the time still sits there,<br />

harsh and real thanks to these little<br />

moments. That gives Mafia its<br />

character above all else.<br />

3.9/5<br />

Where Mafia III shines brightest is in<br />

these little details. Police respond<br />

slower to crimes in poor or black<br />

neighbourhoods, if at all; going into<br />

whites-only stores or into employee-only<br />

areas anywhere can get<br />

Lincoln quickly into trouble. Even if<br />

you’re only walking down the street,<br />

any passing police will immediately<br />

be aware of you. Similarly, if people<br />

see you stealing a car, a witness<br />

will run off to tell the police if you<br />

There are bugs too, of course,<br />

but none game-breaking. Mafia III<br />

more has the ones that make for<br />

perfect GIFs. Lincoln flipping out<br />

of an upturned boat onto the top<br />

in a split-second, crashed cars falling<br />

into the ground or floating into<br />

the sky – funny stuff that doesn’t<br />

impact your actual progress. In any<br />

open world game, these things are<br />

bound to happen and will no doubt<br />

be addressed in later patches, as<br />

it always is.<br />

This isn’t to say it’s a perfect game,<br />

of course. No game is. While Mafia<br />

III lets you skip a lot of the boring<br />

side-mission stuff if you’re not in a<br />

mood, there’s still plenty that can<br />

really drag down the pace. Wiretapping<br />

junction boxes, for example,<br />

requires you to collect fuses<br />

scattered around the map. Each<br />

box requires several fuses, though.<br />

If you’re not diligent in stopping to<br />

grab them when you see them,<br />

it can easily lead to having to<br />

scrounge around the map when<br />

you’d much rather be shooting.<br />

Add in that cars have an irritating<br />

habit of despawning or relocating<br />

and there’s a lot of time when<br />

you’re just running down the street,<br />

searching for convertibles to steal.<br />

Also: there are not one, not two,<br />

but six different kinds of collectibles<br />

to grab on your way through<br />

New Bordeaux. It’s a reflection of<br />

the time and a call back to previous<br />

Mafia games, but having Playboy<br />

magazines and actual nude<br />

pinups being things to collect is a<br />

little on the nose in <strong>2016</strong>. Even if<br />

the Playboys do, in fact, contain<br />

articles. I hadn’t expected to see<br />

a 1968 interview with Stanley Kubrick<br />

in my gangster game – but<br />

there it is!<br />

Mafia III is one of those rare games<br />

which excels in one area without<br />

failing in others. New Bordeaux<br />

feels like a real place, filled with real<br />

people. It responds to your actions<br />

and does not flinch away from portraying<br />

the brutality of Lincoln’s actions<br />

or the social injustices of the<br />

time. It may not rewrite the book<br />

and the missions might get repetitive,<br />

but it does what it sets out to<br />

do: present a story of loyalty and<br />

revenge, and present it well.<br />

Turn back the clock and take a<br />

look.<br />

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE TRAILER!<br />

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNiHOpHbCzM<br />

WRITTEN BY aaron milligan<br />

WWW.STICKYTRIGGER.COM


C O S P LA<br />

skyler jean<br />

cosplay<br />

interview<br />

PAX<br />

AUSTRALIA<br />

events<br />

TIPS. TIPS. TIPS<br />

PHOTO TIPS<br />

WIN<br />

PICKTORIAL<br />

APP<br />

PHOTOGRAPHY<br />

WHY TAKING<br />

TIME AWAY FROM<br />

SHOOTING<br />

COSPLAY CAN<br />

MAKE YOU A BETTER<br />

PHOTOGRAPHER<br />

PHOTO TIPS


Y


interview<br />

SKYLER J<br />

Welcome to <strong>Live</strong> Skyler Jean!<br />

Can you tell us a bit about yourself<br />

and where you’re based.<br />

In my free time I love to play video<br />

games and work on new cosplay<br />

ideas. I also volunteer at a Humane<br />

Society where I help cats<br />

get adopted. I love volunteering<br />

for non profit organizations and<br />

doing things to help improve the<br />

community.<br />

Growing up I was very much of<br />

a tom boy, loving superheros<br />

and comic books. I also grew up<br />

around mostly boys; one of which<br />

was my brother who is 5 years<br />

older then me. He introduced to<br />

me video games at a very young<br />

age and never let me win or went<br />

easy on me. This made me try<br />

even harder to become better<br />

then him.I was born and raised in<br />

California (in San Diego County).<br />

I am now working towards a degree<br />

in hospitality and management.<br />

How did you get into cosplay and<br />

when was that?<br />

Most girl’s fairy tales are about<br />

a princess finding her prince, yet<br />

mine where about superheros<br />

and characters in games coming<br />

to life. Later on I discovered cosplaying<br />

and I had always wanted<br />

to try it. A little over a year ago<br />

I had finally created my first cosplay.<br />

Do you visit cons and what’s been<br />

your favorite so far?<br />

I love to visit as many conventions<br />

as I can. My favorite so far<br />

has been Nerdcon <strong>2016</strong>. It was<br />

a smaller convention but I loved<br />

how nice and interactive everyone<br />

was.<br />

Speaking of favourites - what’s<br />

been your favourite cosplay?<br />

Based of off the character I would<br />

have to say Samus, but if we are<br />

going off of comfort it would be<br />

Supergirl. Plus the cape was fun<br />

to take photos with.<br />

Who inspires you?<br />

Honestly meeting genuine people<br />

in the cosplay community and<br />

seeing how much they love what<br />

they do really inspires me. Even<br />

meeting children that are so excited<br />

to see a character makes<br />

me want to go to even more conventions<br />

and make new outfits.<br />

What cosplay’s are you working<br />

on next?<br />

That is top secret information. ;)<br />

I am currently working on several<br />

different cosplays.<br />

Do you have some tips for new<br />

cosplayers attending their first<br />

con?<br />

I would say definitely go with<br />

someone who you are comfortable<br />

with (like a friend or family<br />

member). Also the night before<br />

think up some poses and practice<br />

them in front of a mirror so you<br />

see what you would like in photos.<br />

It doesn’t matter how many<br />

photos are taken of you or if any<br />

are taken of you. Just remember<br />

to have fun and make friends with<br />

like minded people.<br />

Ok, 5 quick questions for fun:<br />

1 - Who would you love to sit and<br />

have dinner with - past or present?<br />

My best friend because<br />

she will never judge me for what<br />

I eat.<br />

2 - Your heading off into space for<br />

a year long journey - what book,<br />

movie and music do you take?<br />

For a book I would say Harry Potter<br />

because I have never had the<br />

time to read it. The movie would<br />

be ether Pirates of the Caribbean<br />

or Grease. The music would defiantly<br />

be any of Michael Jackson’s<br />

albums.<br />

3 - What sci fi character would<br />

you love to be? If it had to be a girl<br />

then Princess Leia, but if I could I


EAN COSPLAY<br />

www.instagram.com/skylerjeancosplay<br />

Brian Calilung | www.instagram.com/briancalilung<br />

would be Han Solo. I most relate<br />

to him.<br />

4 - What super power would you<br />

wish for if you could have just<br />

one? Shape shifting would be the<br />

best.<br />

5 - You’re going on holiday - what<br />

destination would you choose if<br />

money were no object? I have always<br />

wanted to go to the U.K.<br />

Finally where can our readers go<br />

to find out more about you?<br />

I have an Instagram which is:<br />

Skylerjeancosplay<br />

I will soon be making a facebook<br />

page for my cosplay.<br />

ONLINE:<br />

www.instagram/skylerjeancosplay


Brian Calilung | www.instagram.com/briancalilung


Brian Calilung | www.instagram.com/briancalilung


PAX AUS<br />

PAX (Penny Arcade Expo) returned<br />

in <strong>2016</strong> enticing those of<br />

the gaming community out for 3<br />

days of celebrating gaming culture.<br />

Many we spoke to were<br />

returning attendees, proving the<br />

PAX community is growing strong<br />

after 4 years on the Australian<br />

convention circuit.<br />

PAX provides a unique space for<br />

this community to connect the<br />

players and the fans with game<br />

publishers, eSports stars, developers<br />

and industry representatives.<br />

From indie developers to industry<br />

heavyweights all have the<br />

chance to showcase and connect<br />

with the people that make<br />

their games great – those who<br />

love, adore and most importantly<br />

play their games. This is what<br />

makes PAX special and a unique<br />

event for the Australian stage of<br />

gaming.<br />

However you play PAX wants you.<br />

From the huge stands of PS4 and<br />

Xbox, Tech giants and big ticket<br />

games as you moved through the<br />

excited crowds past the flashing<br />

lights to the stage of the Arena,<br />

people gathered squeezing into<br />

seats all wearing their favourite<br />

eSports team jerseys they<br />

purchased from PAX. Here PAX<br />

hosted the ESL Counter-Strike:<br />

Global Offensive AU & NZ Championship<br />

Finals and many tournaments<br />

throughout the weekend,<br />

highlighting the local talent and<br />

giving their fans the opportunity<br />

to meet and cheer them on.<br />

Moving on from the Arena you are<br />

met with a real treat – and I’m not<br />

talking about the Skyrim sweet<br />

rolls that were so highly sought<br />

after each day. The Indie developers<br />

have a serious stamp on the<br />

PAX map. A great chunk of floor<br />

space is dedicated to the colourful<br />

and often swamped booths<br />

of games like Mallow Drops, Orwell<br />

and Hyper Jam. Most gamers<br />

know the big titles – they’ve<br />

pre-ordered them, have seen<br />

walkthroughs, trailers and previewed<br />

the game before playing<br />

it at PAX. This is where the Indies<br />

win. You don’t know what you’re<br />

going to find and are often pleasantly<br />

surprised – the journey from<br />

booth to booth is part of the fun.<br />

When you move through to the<br />

next hall you really find where<br />

PAX shows its heart. The tabletop<br />

area is huge- I mean you<br />

probably won’t find an Australian<br />

event where there is such a<br />

large gathering of players playing<br />

this variety of games. Magic the<br />

Gathering ran events all weekend<br />

– decks of Kaladesh selling like<br />

hotcakes. The fun was brought by<br />

games like The Ultimate Drinking<br />

Game, expansion packs of Cards<br />

against humanity and the games<br />

that were likely to come out at<br />

night after a full day of shopping<br />

and playing. New card games like<br />

Final Fantasy were being taught<br />

in their own tabletop areas, multiple<br />

booths selling every board<br />

game you can think of, precious<br />

stone D20 sets, miniatures with a<br />

painting area – this was tabletop<br />

mecca.<br />

The really amazing part of this<br />

is that there was barely a spare<br />

seat. The players were coming<br />

together with people that shared<br />

the same love of the game –<br />

complete strangers outside PAX,<br />

but here they were friends playing<br />

their favourite game. A place<br />

for players – whatever your game<br />

- PAX is where you come to play.<br />

Every person can find their place<br />

at PAX. You have the free to play<br />

PC areas, crowds watching the<br />

speedruns, retro gaming area,<br />

tabletop, pinball, console – and<br />

of course this year you couldn’t<br />

miss the next dimension of gaming<br />

– VR.<br />

There was a VR set up on most of<br />

the major booths. From HTC Vive<br />

to Playstation VR the lengthy lines<br />

for these experiences showed<br />

that this is not a fad. The next level<br />

of gaming was seen as players<br />

walked around ducking, turning<br />

and shooting with their headsets<br />

on. It didn’t really make sense un-


TRALIA<br />

til you started watching what was<br />

happening on the player’s screen<br />

– then you could see just how immersive<br />

the VR experience is.<br />

After a full day of gaming PAX<br />

continues into the night. The<br />

Panels go until 10:30pm and are<br />

as varied as you can imagine.<br />

BethesDA Trivia, How to become<br />

a Streamer, Game Development<br />

Explained with Sock Puppets –<br />

yes sock puppets. Seats filled<br />

out with the events running all day<br />

giving everything from advice for<br />

young developers, those seeking<br />

a career in the gaming industry<br />

and those for your pure entertainment.<br />

PAX AUSTRALIA<br />

4-6 nov, <strong>2016</strong><br />

melbourne, vic<br />

photos by<br />

blake robertson<br />

The streaming community was<br />

no better represented by the<br />

Twitch booth which was busy all<br />

weekend. Popular guest streamers<br />

made appearance for photo<br />

opportunities and the crowd enjoyed<br />

the opportunity to jump in<br />

behind the camera and feature<br />

on their favourite channel through<br />

the viewing screens. Twitch didn’t<br />

have all the fun though as many<br />

tech booths were streaming live<br />

all weekend from competitive<br />

matches to creative minecraft<br />

builds.<br />

The latest games and the opportunity<br />

to play them sometimes<br />

before release is one of the


PAX AUS


TRALIA<br />

benefits of attending PAX. The<br />

long waiting lines didn’t daunt<br />

players that were keen to have<br />

their turn. Yes the newest titles<br />

were there to play – Final Fantasy<br />

XV, The Last Guardian, South<br />

Park: The Fractured But Whole,<br />

Watchdogs 2, Dishonored 2 –<br />

the list goes on but the competitions<br />

like time trials on Forza,<br />

highest score on classic arcade<br />

games to win a PS4 pro added<br />

some extra fun for the competitive<br />

gamers.<br />

Many gamers love sharing their<br />

fandom through t-shirts, collectibles<br />

and the ever popular pop<br />

vinyls. There is plenty on offer<br />

when someone visits PAX to bolster<br />

their collection. Shopping for<br />

tech is one of the great things<br />

you can do as there are great<br />

specials for your gaming set up<br />

– many attendees walking away<br />

with bags of purchases and mad<br />

smiles as they excitedly recounted<br />

their haul to friends.<br />

PAX <strong>2016</strong> brought again what<br />

every gamer wants – no matter<br />

how you play – but sharing and<br />

experiencing gaming culture is<br />

what this event is all about. From<br />

the people attending you can<br />

see that this PAX community is<br />

at the centre of the Australian<br />

gaming scene. No wonder the<br />

welcoming iconic yellow banner<br />

reading “Welcome Home” resonates<br />

with everyone who walks<br />

in those doors. The real question<br />

is, will you join them next year for<br />

PAX 2017? Everyone who came<br />

would tell you “DO IT!”<br />

written<br />

by<br />

IMOGEN<br />

hubber


PAX AUSTRA


LIA<br />

ONLINE:<br />

www.facebook.com/theblakeimage<br />

www.theblakeimage.com.au<br />

www.instagram.com/theblakeimage


PAX AUSTRA


LIA<br />

ONLINE:<br />

www.facebook.com/theblakeimage<br />

www.theblakeimage.com.au<br />

www.instagram.com/theblakeimage


PAX AUSTRA


LIA<br />

ONLINE:<br />

www.facebook.com/theblakeimage<br />

www.theblakeimage.com.au<br />

www.instagram.com/theblakeimage


PAX AUSTRA


LIA<br />

ONLINE:<br />

www.facebook.com/theblakeimage<br />

www.theblakeimage.com.au<br />

www.instagram.com/theblakeimage


PHOTO TIPS<br />

WHY TAKING TIME FROM SHOOTING COSP<br />

BETTER PHO<br />

This article isn’t for the casual photographer<br />

that loves to go along<br />

to XYZ Con and shoot some cool<br />

photos of cosplayers and that’s<br />

them done for the month and or<br />

year. No, this is for the photographer<br />

that wants to get better.<br />

Wants to improve themselves as<br />

an artist. Firstly though, I want to<br />

explain how cosplay can help you<br />

become better as an artist. The<br />

main benefits of cosplay photography<br />

is you don’t have to worry<br />

about make up, hair styling and<br />

even models - if you know some<br />

cosplayers they’ll usually happily<br />

organise a shoot with you. What<br />

you do need to do though, is ensure<br />

your location matches the<br />

character or mood of the shoot.<br />

If you’re at a “con” the challenge<br />

is that the background is often a<br />

bunch of people walking around<br />

having fun. So, what I tend to do<br />

is treat a con shoot as almost a<br />

journalistic style shoot - capturing<br />

the day and the colour and<br />

costumes of the event. Cosplayers<br />

know their characters and<br />

generally know how to pose to<br />

suit. So you end up with much of<br />

the photo worked out before you<br />

even shoot.<br />

So how does other genre’s help<br />

you improve? Some time back,<br />

on a cold winters day, I was walking<br />

the city streets wanting to do<br />

some street photography and<br />

after a while I noticed myself<br />

exploring angles and shadows. I<br />

took the time to seek out these<br />

subjects as I walked. I forced myself<br />

to try getting lower down, to<br />

climb higher places and to really<br />

look at how shadows intersected<br />

walls or even people. Taking notice<br />

of these things got me thinking<br />

about applying more drama in<br />

my portrait work, using shadows<br />

more creatively. Angles reminded<br />

me how if I’m up high shooting<br />

down, you can make a subject<br />

look a bit submissive. Shoot from<br />

a lower angle and the subject<br />

grows taller and more dominant.<br />

Characters like Batman are<br />

strong characters and perhaps<br />

a slight angle shooting up toward<br />

them will give them a stronger<br />

more dominant and powerful feel.<br />

Also shadows can really enhance<br />

the mood of the Dark Knight.<br />

Experiment with light, colour, angles<br />

and mood and then apply it<br />

to your next cosplay shoot so that<br />

you may grow in your art. Take a<br />

look at some of the most creative<br />

photographers on the web and<br />

you’ll see experiments in light and<br />

angles that can make a mundane<br />

photo become a photo that pops<br />

off the screen and grabs your attention.


LAY CAN MAKE YOU A<br />

TOGRAPHER<br />

Experimenting with<br />

portrait, landscape,<br />

street photography &<br />

other genres can help<br />

improve your eye as a<br />

photographer.<br />

ONLINE:<br />

www.facebook.com/robjenkinsphotography<br />

www.instagram.com/robjenkinsphoto


PHOTO TIPS<br />

TIPS. TIP<br />

Photos for this art<br />

This photo shows good use of angles<br />

to create a dynamic feel. The<br />

character is looking off screen so<br />

your eye is drawn to her and you<br />

wonder what she’s seeing. Then<br />

you notice the weapon and combined<br />

with the costume and angle<br />

you get a feel for the story the image<br />

is telling.<br />

This picture from above is shot<br />

to capture the whole scene from<br />

a top down perspective and the<br />

subject not making eye contact<br />

adds to the story.


S. TIPS!<br />

icle courtesy of Peck Photography<br />

The Last of Us image shows good<br />

use of shadows with just one light<br />

beam lighting the character. The<br />

simple but effective light adds<br />

mood. What do you think when<br />

you see this image? Do you start<br />

to imagine the story of the character?


PHOTOGRAPHY<br />

IN<br />

Hey there’s a new software app<br />

that we’ve been trying out and we<br />

really like it!<br />

It’s called Picktorial and it’s a simple<br />

app that works on the Mac<br />

platform and is a doddle to use.<br />

The development team is based<br />

in Jerusalem and is a young startup<br />

founded by three entrepreneurs<br />

who are really into photographic<br />

software and it shows.<br />

Picktorial is very simple once you<br />

get use to the controls.<br />

It has an advanced processing<br />

engine with the ability to undo edits<br />

at any time and in any order.<br />

And yes … it works with RAW images.<br />

I used it on an old MacBook Pro<br />

and it ran quickly allowing me to<br />

clean up a portrait, airbrush some<br />

textures, patch some spots out<br />

and fix shadows, add contrast<br />

and even defocus - check the<br />

sample images for all Picktorial’s<br />

tools.<br />

Picktorial also has a bunch of<br />

cool presets that most photo<br />

apps offer these days including...<br />

well we won’t say cause there’s a<br />

competition!<br />

Giveaway - the Picktorial team<br />

have given us a free copy to<br />

giveaway (valued at $24.99 in the<br />

App Store).<br />

Want to win it? Simply tell us one<br />

of the presets that Picktorial offers<br />

- visit their website : http://<br />

picktorial.com/index#filters<br />

And tell us the name of the preset<br />

you like best and we’ll pick a<br />

random winner to get a free copy.<br />

Here’s the competition form:<br />

app.e2ma.net/app2/audience/signup/1788382/1750786/


HOW RATINGS WO<br />

The Australian Classification<br />

CTC - Check the classification.<br />

CTC<br />

The content has been assessed and approved for advertising unclassified films and<br />

computer games.<br />

Any advertising of unclassified films and games must display the CTC message on<br />

posters, trailers, on the internet, and any other types of advertising.<br />

G - General.<br />

The content is very mild in impact.<br />

The G classification is suitable for everyone. G products may contain classifiable elements<br />

such as language and themes that are very mild in impact.<br />

However, some G-classified films or computer games may contain content that is not<br />

of interest to children.<br />

PG - Parental Guidance.<br />

The content is mild in impact.<br />

The impact of PG (Parental Guidance) classified films and computer games should be<br />

no higher than mild, but they may contain content that children find confusing or upsetting<br />

and may require the guidance of parents and guardians. They may, for example,<br />

contain classifiable elements such as language and themes that are mild in impact.<br />

It is not recommended for viewing or playing by persons under 15 without guidance<br />

from parents or guardians.<br />

M - Mature.<br />

The content is moderate in impact.<br />

Films and computer games classified M (Mature) contain content of a moderate impact<br />

and are recommended for teenagers aged 15 years and over.<br />

Children under 15 may legally access this material because it is an advisory category.<br />

However, M classified films and computer games may include classifiable elements<br />

such as violence and nudity of moderate impact that are not recommended for children<br />

under 15 years. Parents and guardians may need to find out more about the film or<br />

computer game’s specific content, before deciding whether the material is suitable for<br />

their child.


RK:<br />

Board<br />

There are two separate Boards that are independent from the government and from<br />

each other. There is the full time Classification Board that decides the classifications of<br />

films, video games and certain publications and the Classification Review Board that<br />

meets only to review a decision of the Classification Board when there is a valid application<br />

for review.<br />

The Board bases its’ classifications on six elements:<br />

Themes, Violence, Sex, Language, Drug Use & Nudity<br />

Below are a list of classifications you’ll find on games and movies:<br />

MA 15+ - Mature Accompanied 15+.<br />

The content is strong in impact.<br />

MA 15+ classified material contains strong content and is legally restricted to persons<br />

15 years and over. It may contain classifiable elements such as sex scenes and drug<br />

use that are strong in impact.<br />

A person may be asked to show proof of their age before hiring or purchasing an MA<br />

15+ film or computer game. Cinema staff may also request that the person show proof<br />

of their age before allowing them to watch an MA 15+ film. Children under the age of<br />

15 may not legally watch, buy or hire MA 15+ classified material unless they are in<br />

the company of a parent or adult guardian. Children under 15 who go to the cinema<br />

to see an MA 15+ film must be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian for the<br />

duration of the film. The parent or adult guardian must also purchase the movie<br />

ticket for the child. The guardian must be an adult exercising parental control over<br />

the person under 15 years of age. The guardian needs to be 18 years or older.<br />

Parents and guardians may need to find out more about the film or computer game’s<br />

specific content, before deciding whether the material is suitable for their child.<br />

R 18+ - Restricted to 18+.<br />

The content is high in impact.<br />

R 18+ material is restricted to adults. Such material may contain classifiable elements<br />

such as sex scenes and drug use that are high in impact. Some material classified<br />

R18+ may be offensive to sections of the adult community. A person may be asked for<br />

proof of their age before purchasing, hiring or viewing R18+ films and computer games<br />

at a retail store or cinema.<br />

There is also an X 18+ for adult films and these titles are only available for sale in the<br />

ACT and the Northern Territory.<br />

Sometimes games are refused classification. This can cause gamers to be frustrated,<br />

citing that the R18+ classification should take care of adult content. But still some<br />

games don’t get classified until the publishers/developers have addressed the concerns<br />

of the Classification Board.<br />

Want to know more? Visit the Australian Classification website -<br />

www.classification.gov.au<br />

CTC


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