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Live Magazine June Edition - Spider-Man!

Spider-Man: Homecoming is going to be big. We feature an interview with director Jon Watts plus we look at Wonder Woman, Board Games, Trading Cards, Video Games, Cosplay and so much more - it's an issue bursting with super fun!

Spider-Man: Homecoming is going to be big. We feature an interview with director Jon Watts plus we look at Wonder Woman, Board Games, Trading Cards, Video Games, Cosplay and so much more - it's an issue bursting with super fun!

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LIVE<br />

JUNE/JULY 2017 ISSUE<br />

SUPER<br />

HERO<br />

SPECIAL<br />

ISSUE!<br />

Page 8<br />

OVER<br />

170<br />

PAGES<br />

TM<br />

SPIDER-MAN :<br />

HOMECOMING<br />

INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR<br />

JON WATTS


There’s a lot of positives with super heroes. They fight evil, they have strong values, and even though<br />

some are flawed and struggle with regular human issues they still do their best to be on the side of good.<br />

We want to celebrate the good in the world and what better way for a bunch of pop culture fans then to<br />

celebrate with our appreciation of super heroes.<br />

With that in mind, <strong>June</strong> and July are dedicated to super heroes here at Gametraders <strong>Live</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong>.<br />

We’ve got coverage of both <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> and Wonder Woman as the two movies we’re excited about.<br />

Plus we asked readers about their favourite super heroes too. Cosplayers chipped in by sharing their<br />

cosplays of Wonder Woman - a movie that’s really blitzed the box office.<br />

We also borrowed the System of the Century results from Retro <strong>Live</strong> so you can take a look at what<br />

readers voted as the best game system of the previous century (sounds a long time ago) and the team<br />

from VG Chartz have taken a look at the Prey demo and the top ten games they feel would rock the<br />

Switch.<br />

This month we’d like to encourage you to be the hero. How can we, as gamers, fans of pop culture<br />

and some of us proud nerds, how can we make a difference? Here’s what Commissioner James<br />

Gordon said...<br />

The <strong>Live</strong> Team


INSIDE<br />

8<br />

Wonder<br />

30<br />

Geek<br />

34<br />

<strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong>:<br />

134<br />

Video<br />

156<br />

Cosplay<br />

Woman:<br />

Special Report<br />

Out<br />

Homecoming<br />

Games<br />

“You’re going to<br />

make a difference.<br />

A lot of times it won’t be huge, it<br />

won’t be visible even. But it will<br />

matter just the same.”<br />

THE LIVE<br />

TEAM<br />

Publisher: Rob Jenkins<br />

(GTHQ)<br />

Art Director: Giselle Capozza<br />

(GTHQ)<br />

Game Contributors:<br />

VGChartz<br />

Retro Editor: Paul Monopoli<br />

Entertainment Editor:<br />

Scott Sowter<br />

Cosplay Editors:<br />

Anny Simms<br />

Wargaming Contributor:<br />

Ben Makepeace


NEW PRODUCTS!<br />

tHE WORLD OF BOARD GAMES!<br />

STAR WARS MONOPOLY:<br />

40TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL<br />

EDITION<br />

It’s the Fast-Dealing Property Trading<br />

Game taken to a galaxy far, far<br />

away! Celebrate the 40th anniversary<br />

of the original Star Wars movie<br />

with this special edition of the Monopoly<br />

game. Players can relive the<br />

story of Star Wars: A New Hope as<br />

they travel around the board. Collect<br />

memorable scenes and iconic<br />

ships inspired by the 1977 movie.<br />

Strengthen power and influence over<br />

opponents by building Fleets and<br />

Bases. Force and Smuggler’s Cargo<br />

cards shape players’ destinies in this<br />

exciting game. The only player left<br />

after everyone else has gone bankrupt<br />

wins!<br />

MASS EFFECT MONOPOLY<br />

Travel through the galaxy as you buy,<br />

sell and trade organizations, factions<br />

and locations as depicted in<br />

the Mass Effect video game trilogy.<br />

Includes:<br />

6 Collectible Tokens: N7 Helmet,<br />

Space Hamster, Normandy, Omni<br />

Tool, Shifty Looking Cow, and Mako<br />

Custom Game Board featuring Elites,<br />

Special Interests, Mercs, and Crews.<br />

The Hasbro Gaming, Parker Brothers,<br />

and Monopoly names and logos, the<br />

distinctive design of the gameboard,<br />

the four corner squares, the Mr. Monopoly<br />

name and character, as well<br />

as each of the distinctive elements<br />

of the board and playing pieces are<br />

trademarks of Hasbro for its property<br />

trading game and game equipment.<br />

Star Wars products are produced by<br />

Hasbro under license from Lucasfilm<br />

Ltd.<br />

Includes Gameboard, 6 tokens, 28<br />

Title Deed cards, 16 Force cards, 16<br />

Smuggler’s Cargo cards, 32 Fleets,<br />

12 Bases, 2 dice, money pack, and<br />

game guide.


terminator board game<br />

The Terminator: The Official Board<br />

Game is an asymmetrical strategy<br />

game played across two boards: one<br />

in 1984 and one in 2029. One player<br />

takes control of all the forces of the<br />

machines — Hunter Killer flying machines,<br />

Terminator endoskeletons,<br />

and new robots based on the classic<br />

1980s aesthetic — while the rest of<br />

the players take the role of the human<br />

resistance, struggling against<br />

the impossible odds of the machine<br />

uprising.<br />

ELDER SCROLL RISK<br />

The classic strategy game of Risk<br />

meets the world of magic, dragons<br />

and swords as you fight for supremacy<br />

of Tamriel!<br />

X-WING EXPANSION<br />

AUZITUCK GUNSHIP<br />

Designed by Appazanna Engineering<br />

Works of Kashyyyk and equipped<br />

with three wide-range Sureggi twin<br />

laser cannons, the Auzituck gunship<br />

was known for its impressive firepower<br />

and incredible durability. The<br />

Auzituck Gunship Expansion Pack<br />

brings this ship to X-Wing as a resilient,<br />

pre-painted, small-base Rebel<br />

starship with three attack, one agility,<br />

and six hull protected by three shields<br />

and the reinforce action. You’ll find<br />

even more ammunition and defensive<br />

options among the expansion’s<br />

four ship cards and six upgrades.<br />

ASK STAFF FOR PRODUCT DETAILS / RELEASE DATES!<br />

Get it all at Gametraders!<br />

X-WING EXPANSION TIE AGGRESSOR<br />

X-WING EXPANSION H-6<br />

BOMBER<br />

The Scurrg H-6 Bomber was crafted<br />

with combat versatility in mind. It was<br />

armed with powerful shields and a<br />

bristling array of destructive weaponry,<br />

and one of its prototypes was<br />

infamously stolen by Captain Nym.<br />

You’ll find not one, but two different<br />

ship cards for this notorious pirate in<br />

the Scurrg H-6 Bomber Expansion<br />

Pack for X-Wing, allowing you to<br />

fly him with the Rebellion or the galaxy’s<br />

Scum and Villainy. Additionally,<br />

the expansion’s pre-painted, smallbase<br />

miniature starship is accompanied<br />

by three other ship cards, plus<br />

a hefty complement of ten upgrades<br />

laden with ordnance.<br />

The TIE aggressor was designed for<br />

long missions, supply chain raids,<br />

and tactical flexibility, and in X-Wing,<br />

it can lend a great deal of tactical<br />

flexibility to your Imperial fleet. Much<br />

of this versatility comes through the<br />

ship’s ability to equip a turret weapon<br />

and a pair of missiles. Altogether,<br />

the TIE Aggressor Expansion Pack<br />

pairs its pre-painted miniature starfighter<br />

with four ship cards and five<br />

upgrades, plus everything else you<br />

need to fly the ship to battle.


NEW PRODUCTS!<br />

WONDER WOMAN MOVIE<br />

DIANA PRICE POP! VINYL<br />

Available now! Ask staff for details.<br />

WONDER WOMAN PLAY ARTS ACTION FIGURE<br />

In the same ranks as BATMAN and<br />

SUPERMAN, WONDER WOMAN is<br />

one of the Big Three of DC Comics,<br />

and she’s the world’s first and strongest<br />

female super hero. Combining<br />

both beauty and strength, this action<br />

figure is a powerful representation of<br />

WONDER WOMAN. <strong>Man</strong>y dynamic<br />

action poses are possible thanks<br />

to the utilization of a flexible material<br />

for her hair and skirt. The careful<br />

paintwork on her face accentuates<br />

her dignified yet delicate facial features.<br />

Accessories include: her signature<br />

magic lasso; a sword that can<br />

be stowed on a loop in her belt; and<br />

her circular shield. This action figure<br />

condenses WONDER WOMAN’s appeal<br />

into one compact package.<br />

Figure also includes display stand<br />

and interchangeable hand parts.


SPIDER-MAN - ONE:12 COLLECTIVE ACTION FIGURE<br />

Your friendly neighbourhood <strong>Spider</strong>-<br />

<strong>Man</strong> swings into the One:12 Collective!<br />

When young Peter Parker is<br />

inadvertently bitten by a radioactive<br />

spider he is infused with spider-like<br />

abilities; super strength, the ability<br />

to cling to surfaces and climb walls,<br />

and a “Spidey Sense” that allows<br />

him to react to impending danger.<br />

Utilizing his famous, self designed<br />

Web Shooters as well as his amazing<br />

powers <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> vows to protect<br />

his fellow man after the untimely<br />

death of his uncle at the hands of a<br />

common thief, quickly rising to the responsibility<br />

of using his great powers<br />

to be the hero we all know and love.<br />

Assembled on an all new One:12<br />

Collective body developed specifically<br />

for this figure, <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> features<br />

over 30 points of articulation.<br />

This figure also features a meticulously<br />

tailored outfit with intricate<br />

silk screened details and includes<br />

multiple interchangeable parts and<br />

accessories.<br />

<strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> Black Suit Glow pop! vinyl<br />

Coming soon! Ask staff for details.<br />

FIDGET SPINNERS<br />

Gametraders have a massive range<br />

of Fidget Spinners in store now!!<br />

Head in to your local store to see the<br />

full range today!<br />

ASK STAFF FOR PRODUCT DETAILS / RELEASE DATES!<br />

Get it all at Gametraders!


FEATURE


WONDER<br />

WOMAN


SHE’S A HIT!<br />

Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot and<br />

Patty Jenkins ... the reviews are in<br />

and the film has resonated well with<br />

movie critics and fans.<br />

Browsing Rotten Tomatoes, the official<br />

Tomatometer has given Wonder<br />

Woman a very good 93% with<br />

243 “Fresh” reviews as against 18<br />

“Rotten” reviews.<br />

Reviewers generally agree that it’s<br />

Gal Gadot that makes the movie.<br />

As Time <strong>Magazine</strong>’s Stephanie<br />

Zacharek says:<br />

“Gadot is simply marvelous.<br />

Physically, she’s bold and<br />

commanding. But there’s a<br />

sweetness about her too, as if<br />

she and Jenkins understand<br />

intuitively that Wonder Woman<br />

can’t just be blandly awesome.<br />

She’s got to be able to feel<br />

wonder too. Gadot carries the<br />

movie through even its sloggiest<br />

parts, most notably the big<br />

action sequences that pile up<br />

at the end.”<br />

Fans too loved it with an average<br />

rating of 4.5 out of 5 - with over<br />

71,000 ratings, and with a box office<br />

taking of over $300 million in its<br />

first first days, the film set a record<br />

for the biggest opeing weekend for<br />

a female-directed movie.<br />

This is good news for the super hero<br />

genre, after some poor reviews for<br />

both Batman vs Superman and Suicide<br />

Squad not doing so well with<br />

fans and critics. There’s even been<br />

some talk of Oscar nomination... for<br />

a super hero genre film!<br />

Over the next few pages we take<br />

a look at the history of Wonder<br />

Woman, the movie characters and<br />

we even had the cosplay community<br />

send us their Wonder Woman<br />

cosplays!<br />

93%<br />

ROTTEN TOMATOES


WONDER WOMAN<br />

She has a golden lasso - The Lasso<br />

of Truth, indestructible bracelets<br />

she can deflect bullets with and has<br />

superhuman powers which were<br />

gifts from the Greek Gods. In 1940,<br />

William Mouton Marston, a psychologist<br />

who had invented the polygraph,<br />

was talking to a family magazine<br />

about the potential of comic<br />

books and that article got the eye<br />

of publisher Max Gains, a comic<br />

publisher who then hired Marston to<br />

be a consultant who went on to create<br />

Wonder Woman when his wife<br />

suggested the new super hero he<br />

create be a woman.<br />

Working with artist Harry G. Peter.<br />

Marston and his wife Elizabeth’s cohabitant,<br />

Olive Byrne, is credited as<br />

being Marston’s inspiration for the<br />

character’s appearance. Wonder<br />

Woman was also Marston’s interpretation<br />

of the ideal love leader...<br />

the type of woman who’d be ideal<br />

running society.<br />

<strong>Man</strong>y comic fans will know there<br />

are “ages” of comics. Staring with<br />

the Golden Age which was around<br />

the 1930s to 1950... a time when<br />

many comics where first published<br />

and made popular.<br />

Wonder Woman was around from<br />

the beginning of the Golden Age<br />

and was fighting Nazis and joined<br />

the Justice Society of America. In<br />

the Silver Age, the Wonder Woman<br />

character was given a make over<br />

with new Hellenic roots and begins<br />

using the alias Diana Prince who<br />

opens a boutique of mod fashion<br />

and has a Chinese mentor who<br />

teaches her martial arts and weapons<br />

fighting. Think Emma Peel from<br />

the Avengers but with kick-ass<br />

skills.<br />

In the Bronze Age Wonder Woman<br />

returns to her super hero roots in<br />

the Justice League and the 40s but<br />

this was around the time a TV Show<br />

began featuring Lynda Carter as<br />

Wonder Woman.<br />

The Modern Age sees a rewrite of<br />

the character’s origin featuring a<br />

lot of Greek Mythology and Diana<br />

being “birthed out of clay” (wikipedia).<br />

In 2011 when DC Comics relaunched<br />

their titles/heroes Wonder<br />

Woman had a revamp with a<br />

new costume that harkens back<br />

to her original look plus she has a<br />

sword and shield and a new origin<br />

- no more clay instead she is a<br />

demi-goddess and the natural born<br />

daughter of gods - Zeus and Hippolyta.<br />

Wow... what a history. The movie<br />

is set in WW1 with Diana Prince<br />

choosing to leave her home to help<br />

stop the war when the American<br />

pilot Steve Trevor crashes on the<br />

island and informs her of what is<br />

happening abroad.


“Not even girls want to be<br />

girls so long as our feminine<br />

archetype lacks force,<br />

strength, and power. Not<br />

wanting to be girls, they<br />

don’t want to be tender,<br />

submissive, peace-loving as<br />

good women are. Women’s<br />

strong qualities have<br />

become despised because<br />

of their weakness. The<br />

obvious remedy is to create<br />

a feminine character with<br />

all the strength<br />

of Superman<br />

plus all the allure of a good<br />

and beautiful woman.”<br />

- William Moulton Marston<br />

THE AGE OF COMICS<br />

The Silver Age of comics was around 1956 to 197 and was a time when comics found commercial success - particularly<br />

the super hero comic. The Silver Age was post WW2 and life was good again.<br />

The Bronze Age was from 1970 to the mid 1980s and saw comics return to darker story lines and elements that<br />

related to the issues in the media at the time. Elements like drugs, racism and poverty - Wikipedia has a great article<br />

you can follow here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Age_of_Comic_Books<br />

Finally the Modern Age which started in the mid 80s and is still today era. Comics changed, heroes too. Think the<br />

Dark Knight and Watchmen.


WONDER WOMAN<br />

Gal Gadot stars in the title role of<br />

“Wonder Woman,” an epic action<br />

adventure from director Patty Jenkins<br />

(“Monster,” AMC’s “The Killing”)<br />

marking the DC Super Hero’s firstever<br />

stand alone feature film.<br />

Before she was Wonder Woman,<br />

she was Diana, princess of the<br />

Amazons, raised on a sheltered island<br />

paradise and trained to be an<br />

unconquerable warrior. But when<br />

an American pilot crashes off their<br />

shores and tells of a massive conflict<br />

raging in the outside world, Diana<br />

leaves her home, convinced<br />

she can stop the threat. Fighting<br />

alongside men in the war to end<br />

all wars, Diana will discover her full<br />

powers... and her true destiny.<br />

Joining Gadot in the international<br />

cast are Chris Pine (the “Star<br />

Trek” films), Robin Wright (“The<br />

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” Netflix’s<br />

“House of Cards”), Danny Huston<br />

(“Clash of the Titans,” “X-Men<br />

Origins: Wolverine”), David Thewlis<br />

(the “Harry Potter” films, “The Theory<br />

of Everything”), Connie Nielsen<br />

(TV’s “The Following,” “Gladiator”),<br />

Elena Anaya (“The Skin I <strong>Live</strong> In”),<br />

Ewen Bremner (“T2 Trainspotting,”<br />

“Snowpiercer”), Lucy Davis (“Shaun<br />

of the Dead,” TV’s “Better Things”),<br />

Lisa Loven Kongsli (upcoming “Ashes<br />

in the Snow”), Saïd Taghmaoui<br />

(“American Hustle”) and Eugene<br />

Brave Rock (TV’s “Hell on Wheels”).<br />

Patty Jenkins directed the film from<br />

a screenplay by Allan Heinberg, story<br />

by Zack Snyder & Allan Heinberg<br />

and Jason Fuchs, based on characters<br />

from DC. Wonder Woman was<br />

created by William Moulton Marston.


The film was produced by Charles<br />

Roven, Deborah Snyder, Zack Snyder<br />

and Richard Suckle, with Stephen<br />

Jones, Geoff Johns, Jon Berg,<br />

Wesley Coller and Rebecca Steel<br />

Roven serving as executive producers.<br />

Joining Jenkins behind the camera<br />

were director of photography<br />

Matthew Jensen (“Chronicle,”<br />

“Fantastic Four,” HBO’s “Game of<br />

Thrones”), Oscar-nominated production<br />

designer Aline Bonetto<br />

(“Amélie,” “A Very Long Engagement”),<br />

Oscar-winning editor Martin<br />

Walsh (“Chicago,” “Jack Ryan:<br />

Shadow Recruit”), Oscar-winning<br />

costume designer Lindy Hemming<br />

(“The Dark Knight” trilogy, “Topsy-<br />

Turvy”) and two-time Oscar-winning<br />

visual effects supervisor Bill Westenhofer<br />

(“Life of Pi,” “The Golden<br />

Compass”). The music is by composer<br />

Rupert Gregson-Williams<br />

(“Hacksaw Ridge,” “The Legend of<br />

Tarzan”).<br />

Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in<br />

association with Tencent Pictures<br />

and Wanda Pictures, an Atlas Entertainment/Cruel<br />

and Unusual production,<br />

“Wonder Woman.” The film<br />

will be distributed in 3D and 2D in<br />

select theaters and IMAX worldwide<br />

by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner<br />

Bros. Entertainment Company.


WONDER WOMAN<br />

CHARACTER<br />

BIOS<br />

All photographs courtesy Warner Bros


WONDER WOMAN /<br />

DIANA OF THEMYSCIRA<br />

(Gal Gadot)<br />

One of the world’s greatest and<br />

most powerful Super Heroes, Wonder<br />

Woman is a fierce Amazon warrior<br />

with incredible strength, grace<br />

and wisdom, who is unparalleled in<br />

hand-to-hand combat. Her arsenal<br />

includes her lasso, shield and sword.<br />

Before she is Wonder Woman, Diana<br />

is an Amazonian princess, living<br />

on the mystical island paradise of<br />

Themyscira, training for battle and<br />

mastering skills like archery and<br />

sword fighting.<br />

HIPPOLYTA<br />

(Connie Nielsen)<br />

Hippolyta is Queen of the Amazons<br />

and mother of the young princess,<br />

Diana. A noble leader, she hopes<br />

to teach Diana that her mind is her<br />

most powerful weapon.<br />

ANTIOPE (Robin Wright)<br />

General Antiope is the greatest of<br />

the Amazon warriors, responsible<br />

for training their entire army. The<br />

sister of the Amazonian queen,<br />

Hippolyta, and aunt to their princess<br />

Diana, Antiope secretly trains<br />

her eager and gifted young niece to<br />

prepare for battle as well.<br />

STEVE TREVOR<br />

(Chris Pine)<br />

Captain Steve Trevor is a courageous<br />

American fighter pilot performing<br />

dangerous undercover missions<br />

in World War I. Captivated<br />

by the Amazon princess Diana, he<br />

helps her navigate the human world<br />

and fights alongside her in battle.<br />

MENALIPPE<br />

(Lisa Loven Kongsli)<br />

Menalippe is the sister of Queen<br />

Hippolyta and General Antiope. A<br />

skilled Amazon warrior, Menalippe<br />

uses the Lasso of Hestia to learn<br />

the truth about Steve Trevor’s appearance<br />

on the island paradise of<br />

Themyscira and the war that rages<br />

on in the outside world.<br />

CHIEF (Eugene Brave Rock)<br />

A smuggler with a well-earned<br />

reputation for moving anything behind<br />

enemy lines, Chief joins Diana<br />

and Steve Trevor in their mission<br />

against the enemy.<br />

SAMEER (Saïd Taghmaoui)<br />

Sameer, or Sammy, is a skilled linguist,<br />

charmer and actor, though<br />

many would call him a conman. Together<br />

with Chief and Charlie, he<br />

joins Diana and Steve Trevor in their<br />

mission against the enemy.<br />

ETTA CANDY (Lucy Davis)<br />

Captain Steve Trevor’s loyal and<br />

indispensible secretary, Etta Candy,<br />

is a woman ahead of her time.<br />

Working from the War Office, she<br />

proves an invaluable asset to Steve<br />

and Diana’s mission.<br />

GENERAL LUDENDORFF<br />

(Danny Huston)<br />

A rogue leader in the German<br />

Army who will do anything to continue<br />

this war, the ruthless General<br />

Ludendorff oversees the covert<br />

military installation that houses the<br />

factory where Dr. Isabel Maru is<br />

developing a secret—and deadly—<br />

chemical weapon.<br />

DR. ISABEL MARU<br />

(Elena Anaya)<br />

Having earned the nickname “Dr.<br />

Poison,” Dr. Isabel Maru is a controversial<br />

chemist developing a<br />

mysterious new chemical weapon<br />

under the guidance of General Ludendorff.<br />

She takes great joy in her<br />

work—and in the deaths it causes.<br />

CHARLIE (Ewen Bremner)<br />

Despite suffering from shellshock,<br />

Charlie is an expert marksmanfor-hire,<br />

and joins Diana and Steve<br />

Trevor in their mission against the<br />

enemy.<br />

IN CINEMAS<br />

now...


YOUR SAY<br />

TO SHARE A PHOTO OF THEIR<br />

& WHY THEY CHOSE TO COSPL<br />

“It was an easy choice to make. I<br />

love Wonder Woman because she’s<br />

courageous, strong and compassionate<br />

and she sees the best in<br />

people. She inspires me.”<br />

- Starfirephoenix<br />

“I’ve cosplayed Wonder Woman because<br />

I love the character in all her<br />

various costumes and eras. She’s<br />

the embodiment of compassion and<br />

justice.”<br />

- JusZ Cosplay<br />

“I chose to cosplay wonder woman<br />

to challenge myself to do something<br />

for myself. She is such a<br />

strong powerful woman and I<br />

wanted to feel strong and capable.<br />

She gives me strength when I feel<br />

stressed out and worn down, I<br />

write I am wonder woman I can do<br />

it on my wrist and it helps me get<br />

through the day.<br />

My page is @jawjarrose. Jawjarrose<br />

and Finch Cosplay Photography.”<br />

- Georgia Rose


WONDER WOMAN COSPLAY<br />

AY THIS HERO...<br />

“I chose to cosplay Wonder Woman<br />

because she’s a comic icon! She<br />

takes no sh*t, and is a great role<br />

model for girls and guys alike. My<br />

hero.”<br />

- Tess Healy<br />

“Wonder Woman is a compassionate<br />

caring, stubborn, opinionated,<br />

highly competitive, outgoing, immortal<br />

Amazon. She is the best. It does<br />

not matter that you have a disability<br />

because all women are superheroes.”<br />

- Pilar Rodriguez Baz<br />

“I always wanted to cosplay Diana.<br />

Wonder Woman was my first costume<br />

as a little girl, the first reference<br />

I got as a heroine. Wonder<br />

Woman represents the ideals of<br />

thruth, hope, equality for everyone.<br />

Diana makes you believe everything’s<br />

posible and you’re capabable<br />

of great things if you’re fierce<br />

enough to fight and stand for your<br />

beliefs. She’s the ideal of honor and<br />

courage.<br />

I wish I was half as good as she is :)<br />

This one is Wonder Woman Bombshell,<br />

a design from Ant Lucia that I<br />

just love so much.”<br />

My Cosplay page is Ireth Minllatur<br />

Cosplay :).”<br />

- Karla M. Carlotti Blazquez<br />

“I chose this cosplay<br />

because Wonder<br />

Woman is my favorite<br />

superhero, she is<br />

an inspiration for all<br />

women, makes us see<br />

that we are brave,<br />

independent, powerful.<br />

I adore her.”<br />

- Veronica Merino<br />

Palomares


YOUR SAY<br />

TO SHARE A PHOTO OF THEIR<br />

& WHY THEY CHOSE TO COSPL<br />

“I’ve cosplayed as Wonder Woman<br />

multiple times at Supanova, Oz<br />

Comic Con and 2013 San Diego<br />

Comic Con. Ive gone from a badly<br />

made 2009 home made version<br />

to commissioning a tiara, belt and<br />

breast plate based on my favourite<br />

design by Terry Dodson (as seen in<br />

the photos).<br />

I loved cosplaying her, watching<br />

her and collecting DC figures of<br />

her. Wonder Woman is a symbol of<br />

strength and compassion and kids<br />

love her! Great inspiration.”<br />

- Adele K. Thomas<br />

“I cosplay as wonder woman because<br />

I am in love with her character!<br />

Strong female role with no fear<br />

to go against what her life before<br />

her is meant to be. She’s an Amazonian<br />

warrior. What more could you<br />

want!”<br />

- Ellie <strong>Man</strong>ning<br />

“ I love Diana and everything she<br />

stands for. Strong but Compassionate.<br />

Capable of Fighting but mostly<br />

of Love. She would extend a hand<br />

before a sword in any confrontation<br />

she faces. She defeated the God<br />

of War by showing him the truth of<br />

his actions and brought friendship<br />

to Cheetah. And she always always<br />

believe that humanity can do good<br />

and doesn’t waiver from that belief.<br />

She is the hero the world needs.<br />

My page is Heroine For Hire<br />

Photos by Cosplay Australia.”<br />

- Lani Deves


WONDER WOMAN COSPLAY<br />

AY THIS HERO...<br />

“I chose to cosplay Wonder Woman<br />

as she is the ultimate super heroine!<br />

I think she is a great role model for<br />

children and to show that girls can<br />

be tough too! :)”<br />

- Amy Donaghey<br />

“She’s brave. She has courage. She<br />

looks amazing in her curves. She’s<br />

quite a symbol to all women. I also<br />

want to develope even more my<br />

WW cosplay and take her to more<br />

cons.”<br />

- Sara Vilda<br />

“I nominate my Princess Kuno Yuro.<br />

She is truly amazing and all heart<br />

when it comes to making children<br />

smile n inspiring young girls around<br />

her to better themselves. She<br />

selfishly puts others ahead of her<br />

n does more than just charities n<br />

hospital visits. But strives to make<br />

anyone life better. And is first to<br />

offer herself to donate her time to<br />

helping her community better.<br />

As a child her inspiration was Lynda<br />

Carter n believes in the principles of<br />

what Wonder Woman stood for. I am<br />

forever honored when I get to work<br />

with her. :)”<br />

- Matches Malone<br />

“Why Wonder Woman? Because she’s not just as a superhero, but a hero<br />

with a heart.”<br />

- Victoria Hofferson


YOUR SAY<br />

TO SHARE A PHOTO OF THEIR<br />

& WHY THEY CHOSE TO COSPL<br />

“I was attending a few conventions<br />

and thought Wonder Woman<br />

needed some love. This was at Oz<br />

Comic Con 2014.”<br />

- Tim Vega<br />

“This is Wonder Mama at Wonder<br />

Con!!!! Wonder Woman is my lifelong<br />

idol and Wonder Mama stands for<br />

love and equality!”<br />

- Renny Roccon<br />

“What isn’t to love about a woman<br />

who is strong, caring and loyal to<br />

helping those around her? I was<br />

overweight and she encouraged<br />

me to weight lift. I was scared and<br />

dressing as her made me feel like<br />

I was strong. I want everyone to be<br />

able to feel like wonderwoman x<br />

My instagram is www.instagram.<br />

com/aimeeswiftfitness<br />

Fb is Geek-Ta-Scale!”<br />

- Aimee Swift<br />

“This is my current version of<br />

Wonder Woman. I’ve been a fan of<br />

hers since the Lynda Carter series<br />

when I was little. Cosplay allows me<br />

to share my fandom and I love it<br />

when little ones come over photo a<br />

photo and they leave with the biggest<br />

smiles :D I’m a Wondie fan of<br />

over 30 years why would I cosplay<br />

anyone else”<br />

- Lisa Diana


WONDER WOMAN COSPLAY<br />

AY THIS HERO...<br />

“Despite my considerably short<br />

height, I always wanted to cosplay<br />

Wondy because she’s the epitome<br />

of a female superhero that so many<br />

kids look up to.”<br />

- Rach Baker<br />

“She is one of my favorite characters<br />

to cosplay. :D Her strength<br />

motivates me!”<br />

- Brittney Joy<br />

“Because She is Wonderful,perfect<br />

warrior, an inspiration for me.”<br />

- Cynthia Cabrera Hernandez<br />

“I’m not sure if this is still ongoing? But I still want to share my love for<br />

Wonder Woman in celebration of the movie!!<br />

It was honestly a no brainer for me to<br />

cosplay Wonder Woman cause she’s<br />

a badass person who could hold<br />

down a fort by herself. Also, she is<br />

the embodiment of courage, justice<br />

and compassion. A perfect role<br />

model for everyone.


YOUR SAY<br />

TO SHARE A PHOTO OF THEIR WONDER<br />

WOMAN COSPLAY & WHY THEY CHOSE<br />

TO COSPLAY THIS HERO...<br />

“I’ve been a lifelong fan and had<br />

great fun, completely out of my<br />

comfort zone but love it.”<br />

- Lisa Todd<br />

“More photos on my page : Nad<br />

Cosplay & Cousu Main.”<br />

- Nadia Zeghloul<br />

“I cosplay as wonder woman because<br />

I am in love with her character!<br />

Strong female role with no fear<br />

to go against what her life before<br />

her is meant to be. She’s an Amazonian<br />

warrior. What more could you<br />

want!”<br />

- Ellie <strong>Man</strong>ning<br />

“At AMCExpo 2015 :) I love Wonder<br />

Woman because she doesn’t let<br />

anything or anyone stand in the way<br />

of what she wants to do or needs to<br />

do....she just gets shit done!”<br />

- Monica Nixon<br />

“<strong>Man</strong>uelsa Cosplay.”<br />

- <strong>Man</strong>uelsa Kaskous


WONDER WOMAN MOVIE<br />

WONDER WOMAN TRAINING ARMOR<br />

12” 1:6 SCALE ACTION FIGURE<br />

PRE-ORDER<br />

NOW!<br />

Ask staff for details.


geek o<br />

GAMES & POP<br />

CULTURE<br />

TRIVIA<br />

DID YOU KNOW<br />

SYSTEM<br />

OF THE<br />

CENTURY<br />

RETRO<br />

SPIDER-MAN<br />

SPECIAL FEATURE<br />

MOVIES<br />

THE GAMER<br />

DIARIES:<br />

1998-1999<br />

RETRO


ut<br />

THE CIRCUS<br />

IS COMING<br />

WARGAMING<br />

SUPANOVA<br />

INTERVIEWS<br />

TCG<br />

NEWS<br />

BEST<br />

SUPERHERO<br />

MOVIES


THE<br />

TRUTH<br />

DID YO<br />

GAME & POP CULTURE FU<br />

With this month being Super Hero Month at Gametraders we thought we’d take<br />

a look at some fun facts and trivia about super heroes!<br />

The Hulk was originally supposed to<br />

be grey but turned green cause it’s<br />

easier to print that colour.<br />

In 2006 the U.S post office released<br />

a stamp to recognise that<br />

Comice are a true art form - this<br />

is of particular interest when in 50<br />

years earlier they were considered<br />

a cultural threat...<br />

Superman and Clark Kent have<br />

different birthdays - Superman on<br />

<strong>June</strong> 10th, the day his pod landed<br />

on Earth and Kent on <strong>June</strong> 18, the<br />

day the Kents adopted him.


U KNOW...<br />

N FACTS & TRIVIA<br />

Every issue I search the globe<br />

for game and pop culture trivia,<br />

I get sent out across the globe,<br />

(first class) to scout the world of<br />

video games to bring you some<br />

fun facts.<br />

Iron <strong>Man</strong> use to have roller skates...<br />

(Um... no. We gave you a crappy<br />

old laptop and told you to search<br />

the web... Ed.)<br />

Clark Kent compresses his spine so<br />

he looks smaller then Superman.<br />

There was a hero called the “Green<br />

Lama” that was a Buddhist... one of<br />

his powers was reincarnation!<br />

Images from Wikipedia.


YOUR MOVIESAY<br />

SPIDER-MAN<br />

<strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong>... aka Peter Parker is<br />

a super hero created by Stan Lee<br />

and Steve Ditko and first appeared<br />

in comics in 1962. He’s a unique<br />

character in that he’s a teenager<br />

who’s dealing wiht rejection, loneliness<br />

and inadequacy, some of the<br />

feelings teens relate to. Also he had<br />

to learn how do deal with his powers<br />

himself, as Uncle Ben said, “With<br />

great power there must also come<br />

great responsibility.”<br />

<strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> movies have been numerous<br />

starting out wiht a TV series<br />

in 1977 and a movie in 1981 - <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong>:<br />

The Dragon’s Challenge.<br />

After many legal battles and wrangling<br />

the Sam Raimi films featuring<br />

Tobey Maguire kicked off with<br />

Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson.<br />

In the movie, Peter Parker is bitten<br />

by a genetically engineered spider<br />

resulting in gaining super powers<br />

and the webbing abilities. In this<br />

film, <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> learns to use his<br />

powers as at first he’s uncoordinated<br />

and a touch clumsy. He ends up<br />

fighting the Green Goblin and falling<br />

in love with Mary Jane. In 2004<br />

<strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> 2 is released again with<br />

Maguire, who ends up fighting Dr.<br />

Octopus. In film number 3 <strong>Spider</strong>-<br />

<strong>Man</strong> ends up battling a villain known<br />

as Sandman and also we see the<br />

creation of Venom.<br />

Further films by Raima featuring<br />

Maguire and Dunst were canceled<br />

and it wasn’t until The Amazing <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong><br />

in 2012 featuring Andrew<br />

Garfield as Peter Parker that we<br />

had a new <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> movie with a<br />

second film released in 2014.<br />

The newest <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> film from<br />

Sony - <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> Homecoming<br />

is due out in July and features Tom<br />

Holland as our hero with strong<br />

support by Iron <strong>Man</strong> himself, Robert<br />

Downey Jr and the role of villain going<br />

to the brilliant Michael Keaton<br />

(who actually also played Batman).<br />

In this film, we see Peter Parker being<br />

mentored by Tony Stark as he<br />

balances life between being a powerful<br />

hero and a teen dealing with<br />

the usual teenage challenges.<br />

The trailers shows humour and a<br />

ton of action as you’d expect with<br />

<strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong>, let’s take a look on the<br />

next page...


Image from Wikipedia.


YOUR SONY SAY PICTURES<br />

SPIDER-MAN:<br />

HOMECOMING<br />

A young Peter Parker/<strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> (Tom Holland), who made his sensational debut in Captain<br />

America: Civil War, begins to navigate his newfound identity as the web-slinging superhero<br />

in <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong>: Homecoming. Thrilled by his experience with the Avengers, Peter<br />

returns home, where he lives with his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), under the watchful eye of<br />

his new mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). Peter tries to fall back into his normal daily<br />

routine - distracted by thoughts of proving himself to be more than just your friendly neighbourhood<br />

<strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> - but when the Vulture (Michael Keaton) emerges as a new villain,<br />

everything that Peter holds most important will be threatened.<br />

WIN A DOUBLE PASS!<br />

Watch this trailer (https://youtu.be/cXcai_9ZqL4)<br />

& tell us what <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> says after “someone is<br />

collecting stuff from Avengers battles, and building<br />

these crazy weapons”...<br />

Inbox us your answer (facebook.com/GametradersAustralia)<br />

Hurry - limited numbers!<br />

MARVEL and all related character names: © & 2017 MARVEL. <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong>: Homecoming, the<br />

Movie ©2017 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.


YOUR SONY SAY PICTURES<br />

SPIDER-MAN:<br />

HOMECOMING<br />

Q: Just to get started, talk<br />

about how concurrently this<br />

was developed with Civil War<br />

and what sort of foundation<br />

that provided for you when<br />

you started developing <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong>:<br />

Homecoming.<br />

Watts: Tom was hired right<br />

around when I was hired. And I<br />

went to Atlanta when they were<br />

shooting Captain America: Civil<br />

War.<br />

Q: Did you feel like the success<br />

of Civil War – and the<br />

reception to <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> –<br />

emboldened you or gave you<br />

an advantage when you were<br />

sort of constructing what this<br />

was going to be?<br />

Watts: Yes, it’s great. I was<br />

there when they shot the scene<br />

between Tony and Peter in his<br />

bedroom and you see that and<br />

you’re like oh, this works. This<br />

is great. And you also see that<br />

there was this amazing chemistry<br />

between Tony and Peter<br />

that you just want to see more<br />

of that. So that became a really<br />

good jumping off point for us<br />

to decide what sort of story we<br />

wanted to tell.<br />

Q: How easy or difficult was<br />

it to use the superhero element<br />

to amplify that journey?<br />

Watts: Well, when you’re 15 you<br />

feel like everything is the end of<br />

the world, whether or not that<br />

crush is going to talk to you or<br />

whether or not the world is going<br />

to be destroyed by Chitauri<br />

aliens. Everything is the end of<br />

the world. So it lets you take all<br />

of this stuff and amplify it to a<br />

fun and funny level.<br />

Q: You talk about fun. What<br />

sort of tone were you aiming<br />

for?<br />

Watts: Like Fish Tank. I mean,<br />

my favorite movies are a little<br />

bit of everything because that’s<br />

what growing up feels like.<br />

Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes<br />

it’s annoying, sometimes<br />

it’s thrilling and sometimes it’s<br />

a little sad. So by having that as<br />

our framework, it allows you to<br />

do everything.<br />

Q: How did that enable you to<br />

avoid revisiting certain moments<br />

of <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> mythology<br />

that audiences may have<br />

seen before?<br />

Watts: Well, it frees you up to<br />

just have fun with the character<br />

in the world. Because we’re<br />

starting after the origin story,<br />

we don’t have to do any of that<br />

legwork and we don’t have<br />

to do any universe building in<br />

that way that they had to do in<br />

the previous <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> films


jon watts<br />

[ Q & A ] [ director ]<br />

“Well, when you’re 15 you feel like everything is the end of the world, whether or not<br />

that crush is going to talk to you or whether or not the world is going to be destroyed by<br />

Chitauri aliens. Everything is the end of the world. So it lets you take all of this stuff and<br />

amplify it to a fun and funny level.”


“The reason to make this movie<br />

is to show people things they’ve never seen<br />

before and to take them on a journey that they’ve<br />

never been on before. So that was actually a great<br />

creative limitation, to make everything new.”


ecause superheroes already<br />

exist in this world. The Avengers<br />

exist. So we don’t have to<br />

tell any of that story. We can<br />

just have fun with “what if a<br />

15-year-old became a superhero?”<br />

What would that be like?<br />

But I mean he still has to shoot<br />

webs. That’s like that’s about it<br />

– he’s got to shoot webs.<br />

Q: When you started on<br />

Homecoming, did you make<br />

a list of things that you were<br />

not going to do? And then<br />

were there things that are<br />

just so inherent to <strong>Spider</strong>-<br />

<strong>Man</strong> that you knew you would<br />

have to include, and would<br />

just have to come up with a<br />

more clever way to incorporate<br />

them into your version?<br />

Watts: That’s what we tried to<br />

do with everything. Like if anything<br />

seemed familiar, we tried<br />

to come up with something else.<br />

The reason to make this movie<br />

is to show people things they’ve<br />

never seen before and to take<br />

them on a journey that they’ve<br />

never been on before. So that<br />

was actually a great creative<br />

limitation, to make everything<br />

new. <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> still had to<br />

shoot webs and swing around<br />

every once in awhile, but then<br />

you would come up with, well,<br />

what haven’t we seen <strong>Spider</strong>-<br />

<strong>Man</strong> do? Let’s take away buildings.<br />

Let’s throw him in the suburbs<br />

and see what he has to do,<br />

if he has to go from rooftop to<br />

rooftop. Or send him to Washington<br />

DC, make him climb<br />

up the side of the Washington<br />

Monument. What are you going<br />

to do then when there’s only<br />

one building? What’s that going<br />

to look like? So that was the fun<br />

challenge, to just keep trying<br />

to come up with something we<br />

haven’t seen before and keep<br />

pushing that.<br />

Q: What was your first experience<br />

with <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong>? Was<br />

there specific material that<br />

helped shape the landscape<br />

of the world your <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong><br />

was going to inhabit?<br />

Watts: Well, I immediately just<br />

went back and started reading<br />

the comics from the very beginning<br />

when I got the job, [and]<br />

that was just a great cornerstone<br />

for what we were trying<br />

to build because it’s a reminder<br />

of why <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> became so<br />

popular in the first place. And<br />

sure all these other people are<br />

dealing with these life threatening<br />

or world threatening stakes,<br />

but one of the first things that<br />

Peter Parker does in the comics<br />

is he goes to try and join<br />

the Fantastic Four because he<br />

needs to make some money.<br />

It’s just problems that a teen<br />

would have. So that was a great<br />

starting off point just in terms of<br />

the tone, because it was funny<br />

and irreverent and just its own<br />

unique perspective. And in<br />

terms of the visual language,<br />

I just was trying to apply my<br />

style to this universe and again<br />

keeping with this whole groundlevel<br />

perspective. I wanted this<br />

movie [to be] on the ground<br />

with Peter; it’s like you’re up in<br />

the clouds with Tony, and now<br />

here you are down in the dirt<br />

with Peter.<br />

Q: How tough was it to find<br />

your own way of depicting


<strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> in action that<br />

suits your personality but<br />

still has that kind of elasticity<br />

and nimbleness that’s maybe<br />

a little different than other<br />

superheroes?<br />

Watts: I wanted it to always<br />

again be grounded in a way<br />

where I only wanted to shoot<br />

shots that you could actually<br />

shoot, like there’s no video<br />

game camera flying around doing<br />

impossible things. For me,<br />

it has to always be within the<br />

realm of, you could shoot this<br />

with a drone, you could shoot<br />

this with a 100 foot technocrane<br />

– that was always an essential<br />

part of creating the visual language<br />

for this. We had to keep<br />

it as realistic as possible. What<br />

<strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> can do is more than<br />

what a human being can do.<br />

So you do some crazy things,<br />

but he can’t break the laws of<br />

physics. And a big part of what<br />

we’re doing is being really rigorous<br />

about making sure this<br />

stuff feels as real as possible.<br />

Q: What sort of discoveries<br />

did you and Tom make together<br />

in terms of <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong><br />

as he’s playing the character<br />

and you’re directing him?<br />

Watts: We learned to have a lot<br />

of fun with it and with the blocking.<br />

Some of the moments have<br />

a very sort of Michael J. Fox<br />

feeling about it – Tom has that<br />

Marty McFly [from Back To The<br />

Future] spirit in a way that’s<br />

amazing, or like Tom Cruise in<br />

Risky Business, just that twinkle<br />

in his eye. But he’s still a<br />

kid and he’s ready for bigger<br />

and better things – but he still<br />

has to get to like his chemistry<br />

class on time. So we had a lot<br />

of fun with that and found a lot<br />

of humor in those moments and<br />

that’s something that we would<br />

work on together.<br />

Q: What, if anything, really<br />

surprised you about Tom’s<br />

performance?<br />

Watts: Do you know what<br />

caught me off guard? I mean,<br />

he’s so amazing and charming<br />

and talented, but he’s also<br />

such a precise technical actor<br />

and you don’t ever encounter a<br />

20-year-old that has that kind<br />

of training and precision. I don’t<br />

know if it’s training, I don’t know<br />

if it’s just natural, but it was<br />

amazing. He could hit his marks<br />

perfectly. He could just do slight<br />

tweaks to his performance to<br />

dial it up and dial it down. And<br />

it was amazing. That’s like having<br />

a precision instrument – as<br />

a director that’s so satisfying.<br />

It’s like Tom, can you do that<br />

again five percent less excited<br />

and can you rotate your mark<br />

20 degrees counterclockwise?<br />

And he’d be like, “alright,” and<br />

he could do it. I love complicated<br />

camera moves and long<br />

tracking shots and things like<br />

that, so to be able to do that<br />

with an actor who can hit all<br />

those marks is like a dream<br />

come true. It makes it so much<br />

easier for me.<br />

Q: How difficult was it to create<br />

a story that is self-contained<br />

and satisfying by itself<br />

without telegraphing elements<br />

that might be relevant<br />

in future stories?<br />

Watts: What’s great about <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong><br />

is that all that stuff is<br />

already happening, and then<br />

<strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> is just in that world.<br />

I thanked [director] Joe Russo<br />

recently for making all of the<br />

serious, complicated movies so<br />

that I could then come in and<br />

make the <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> one that<br />

has fun in the sandbox that<br />

[those] guys have all created.<br />

Q: How did you develop the<br />

relationship with Tony Stark,<br />

as his mentor?<br />

Watts: It’s interesting because<br />

it’s part of Tony’s journey. He<br />

picked Peter, he introduced Peter<br />

to this world and now he’s<br />

dealing with the implications<br />

and responsibility of that. And<br />

then Happy Hogan is sort of the<br />

intermediary between the two<br />

of them. I think of Happy as being<br />

the annoying older brother<br />

who Peter thinks is an obstacle<br />

between him getting to talk to<br />

Tony. And Tony is sort of the reluctant<br />

mentor who picked him<br />

when he was in a jam, and now<br />

looks up to him like, what next?<br />

He’s like oh, right, I’ve got to<br />

do something about this. It’s a<br />

really funny place to put Tony<br />

into.<br />

Q: Tony is a bells and whistles<br />

guy when it comes to his<br />

inventions. But Peter is himself<br />

an inventor. Was there a<br />

balance that you had to strike


etween what sort of assistance<br />

Tony was going to be<br />

able to provide versus what<br />

Peter would be able to create<br />

himself?<br />

Watts: That’s a great question<br />

and we have some fun with that<br />

in the movie, because Tony’s<br />

really smart and built this amazing<br />

suit but Peter’s really smart<br />

too.<br />

Q: Looking at what has become<br />

an expansive legacy of<br />

different stories, what are you<br />

looking to accomplish with<br />

this <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> tale that will<br />

take them on a maybe slightly<br />

different journey than they’ve<br />

gone on in the past?<br />

Watts: I think everyone loves<br />

<strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> and I just want<br />

this movie to remind them<br />

why. <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> was such<br />

a revelation when he was<br />

introduced into the comics in the<br />

60s because no one had ever<br />

thought to show the perspective<br />

on this crazy universe that they<br />

built. And they made him such<br />

a believable, realistic, funny<br />

character that I wanted to just<br />

sort of go back to his roots in<br />

that way. It’s a homecoming<br />

for <strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> because he’s<br />

back in the universe where he<br />

belongs and I just wanted<br />

to show that and to<br />

remind people why<br />

<strong>Spider</strong>-<strong>Man</strong> is the<br />

best superhero of all<br />

time. He’s the best. I<br />

think you look at that<br />

mask and you can<br />

imagine yourself in<br />

there.<br />

INTERVIEWED BY TODD GILCHRIST


IN CINEMA


S 6 JULY!


RETRO<br />

FROM OUR SISTER MAGAZINE RETRO LIVE ISSUE 2<br />

SYSTEM OF THE<br />

CENTURY<br />

YOU VOTED!<br />

Video games have<br />

been part of our lives<br />

since the 1970s.<br />

While there were<br />

massive computers<br />

able to play simple games in<br />

the50s and 60s, using vector<br />

displays, it wasn’t until Magnavox<br />

released the Odyssey<br />

in 1972, a system that could<br />

be connected to your TV set,<br />

that we had true home console<br />

gaming. Things really kicked off<br />

when Atari’s Pong was released<br />

on the Odyssey 100 and Atari’s<br />

own home console.<br />

On the computer side we had<br />

Spacewar! in 1961, but you<br />

needed a mainframe to run it.<br />

With the first consoles for<br />

homes released, things then<br />

moved pretty quickly with Fairchild<br />

releasing the VES in ’76<br />

and Atari the 2600. The 2600<br />

became the most popular second<br />

generation console. In<br />

1980, Atari had a conversion<br />

of Space Invaders released on<br />

their 2600 system and families<br />

rushed out to buy systems just<br />

so they could play the highly<br />

addictive game at home.<br />

The 80s came and initially the<br />

outlook for gaming was bright.<br />

A number of companies had<br />

systems for the home and the<br />

number of games to play was<br />

growing, Then the video game<br />

crash of 1983 happened. Too<br />

many low quality games like<br />

E.T flooded the market and<br />

gamers voted with their pockets<br />

and sales slowed with many<br />

companies going bankrupt.<br />

Then Nintendo released their<br />

Famicom in Japan with better<br />

graphics but they were worried<br />

how it would be received in the<br />

U.S after the crash so they released<br />

it as the Nintendo Entertainment<br />

System. It was the<br />

start of things picking up again<br />

for the video game industry.<br />

Sega released their Master<br />

System and while no where<br />

near as popular as the NES, it<br />

did well in the U.S and European<br />

markets. It was now the<br />

[PRE 2000]<br />

mid 80s and computer systems<br />

from Commodore, Atari, Texas<br />

Instruments and the ZX Spectrum<br />

from Sinclair were starting<br />

to appeal to a different type of<br />

customer. One that didn’t mind<br />

a bit of fiddling with loading<br />

cassettes or typing in code.<br />

Tandy also were in the computing<br />

business with their TRS-80<br />

Color. Commodore released<br />

the VIC-20 in 1980 and sold 1<br />

million units by the end of 1982.<br />

Then came the Commodore<br />

64, a brilliant and much loved<br />

system that cost almost $600<br />

U.S on release but dominated<br />

the low end market in computer<br />

sales. In fact it sold around<br />

2 million units per year in the<br />

time from 1983 to 198 and was<br />

considered by some major developers<br />

as the best choice to<br />

develop for due to its’ massive<br />

sales.<br />

The mid 80s saw the release of<br />

some major computer systems<br />

that were a favourite among<br />

gamers. The Commodore Ami


?<br />

??<br />

?


ga 500, the Atari ST, the Amstrad<br />

PC 1512 and Microsoft<br />

released MS-DOS 3.2 for the<br />

IBM PC. Looking back at it<br />

all you can see the revolution<br />

in progress. Better graphics,<br />

sound, controllers and games<br />

with more detail and story lines.<br />

<strong>Man</strong>y being released on multiple<br />

disks.<br />

The late 80s saw advances in<br />

consoles like the Gameboy in<br />

1989, Sega’s Game Gear, the<br />

SNES from Nintendo and in the<br />

early 90s we see the CD become<br />

part of gaming with the<br />

CD-ROM format. Sega release<br />

their Sega CD as an add on to<br />

their Genesis but it’s expensive<br />

as an add on to a system<br />

you’ve already paid for. The<br />

3DO makes it’s debut in 1993<br />

with systems using this format<br />

manufactured by Sanyo, Goldstar<br />

and Panasonic. It went on<br />

to be Time <strong>Magazine</strong>’s Product<br />

of the Year in 1993 but didn’t<br />

sell in the same numbers as<br />

competitors like the SNES or,<br />

later in the mid 90s, the Sega<br />

Saturn and the giants of the<br />

mid 90s, the Nintendo 64 and<br />

Sony Playstation.<br />

Those two systems one from<br />

long term video game console<br />

manufacture, Nintendo<br />

and the other from new comer,<br />

Sony changed the console<br />

market. Sega struggled after<br />

many years of being the main<br />

competitor to Nintendo, it was<br />

now Sony vs Nintendo. The<br />

first Playstation went on to sell<br />

a whopping 104 million units<br />

world wide (according to VG<br />

Charts) and the N64 32 million.<br />

The PC too, was a serious system<br />

for gamers, VGA and Super<br />

VGA graphics along with<br />

sound cards saw DOS claim<br />

around 65% of the computer<br />

game market by 1990 whilst<br />

the Amiga and Apple systems<br />

that showed so much promise<br />

shrunk to become minor players.<br />

For many gamer’s it was id<br />

Software’s Doom that changed<br />

everything. It seemed that everyone<br />

was running out to buy<br />

a 486 that would run the first<br />

level demo of Doom. That was<br />

1993 and gaming changing.<br />

Sure adults had been kicking<br />

their kids off the Nintendo to<br />

play Mario but now adults had<br />

a choice of game systems that<br />

were pushing serious graphics<br />

around, providing a more realistic<br />

and adult gaming experience<br />

with sims such as race games<br />

and flight games that got niche<br />

markets forming clubs and online<br />

communities. There were<br />

still a few misses like the Apple<br />

Pippin which sold only 42,000<br />

unites and was shut down by<br />

Steve Jobs when he returned<br />

to Apple in 1997.<br />

Late in the 90s Sega released<br />

its’ last ever console - the<br />

Dreamcast, a system that Sega<br />

fans hoped would see the once<br />

might console maker take it’s<br />

place with the now big names<br />

of Sony and Nintendo. Sadly,<br />

due to lower then expected<br />

sales, Sega withdrew from the<br />

console market and focused<br />

only becoming a 3rd-party publisher.<br />

Only just over 9 million<br />

Dreamcast were sold.<br />

Those amazing years from the<br />

70s to the end of 1990s have<br />

so much gaming history to explore.<br />

We’ve only just scratched<br />

the surface in this short piece,<br />

but that time frame has given<br />

us games and gaming systems<br />

that we can look back on and<br />

see the beginnings of what we<br />

have today as gamers. The<br />

amazing graphics of a top spec<br />

PC and even the current consoles<br />

would astound the developers<br />

from the 80s. Technology<br />

marches on like time.<br />

However when we look back to<br />

those early times, a few systems<br />

stand out as favourites.<br />

Systems that you and we here<br />

at <strong>Live</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong>, loved. They<br />

may give you a rush of nostalgia<br />

when thinking about those<br />

times you sat and played a favourite<br />

game. Unwrapped a<br />

brand new PC game in a big<br />

box and spent hours reading<br />

the manual and novellas<br />

that some came with. Those<br />

are times that we, as gamers,<br />

cherish. We at Gametraders<br />

and <strong>Live</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> wanted to<br />

celebrate those gaming times<br />

by asking you to vote for your<br />

favourite system prior to 2000.<br />

Let’s count down the top 5 that<br />

you chose as your gaming System<br />

of the Century.


5.<br />

First released in 1989, it became<br />

a massive success beating<br />

rivals Sega (Game Gear)<br />

and Atari’s Lynx and NEC’s<br />

TurboExpress. It sold over 1<br />

million in the first few weeks<br />

of release in the U.S alone<br />

and overall sold over 118 million<br />

units (including Game Boy<br />

Color). Launch titles like Tetris<br />

NINTENDO GAME BOY<br />

and Super Mario Land saw it be<br />

the preferred hand held system<br />

of its’ time. The Game Boy also<br />

had the distinction of having a<br />

much higher female user base<br />

which Nintendo announced in<br />

the mid 90s plus a better battery<br />

life and was loved by gamers of<br />

all ages. Originally it featured<br />

a monochrome screen that was<br />

replaced in 1998 by the Game<br />

Boy Color.<br />

VARIANTS:<br />

1989 - Game Boy<br />

1994 - Super Game Boy<br />

1996 - Game Boy Pocket<br />

1998 - Game Boy colour<br />

1998 Game Boy Light


First released in 1988 in Japan<br />

and the U.S market in 1989,<br />

the Sega Mega Drive was a cartridge<br />

and, later on, CD based<br />

game console. It was Sega’s<br />

third console and it dominated<br />

sales in in the U.S outselling<br />

the SNES by double during the<br />

1991 season (source Wikipedia).<br />

SEGA MEGA<br />

DRIVE<br />

(AKA SEGA<br />

GENESIS)<br />

The success was due to some<br />

clever decisions by the new<br />

CEO of Sega of America, Tom<br />

Kalinske. The decision to release<br />

Sonic the Hedgehog<br />

as the bundled game with the<br />

console saw sales rocket and<br />

Sonic called one of the greatest<br />

video games you could buy<br />

at the time. Also Sega had released<br />

the console in Japan<br />

earlier then other markets and<br />

so had a good library of games<br />

available at launch in the U.S,<br />

Australia and Europe.<br />

Sega was considered “cooler”<br />

in the U.S by male gamers then<br />

the competing Nintendo system<br />

and this enhanced with release


of games like Mortal Kombat<br />

with the ability to play the<br />

more gory version by entering<br />

the “Blood Code” - the SNES<br />

however released a censored<br />

version of the game and Sega’s<br />

“cool factor” increased in their<br />

target market and in the gaming<br />

media. Sega also released the<br />

Sega CD (Mega CD) and a 32-<br />

bit add on called the Sega 32X<br />

which increased the power of<br />

the system to compete with the<br />

more powerful 32-bit console<br />

from Sony - the Playstation.<br />

The Mega Drive was eventually<br />

replace with the Saturn.<br />

4.


.<br />

SNES (SUPER<br />

NINTENDO<br />

ENTERTAINMENT<br />

SYSTEM)


First released in Japan in 1990<br />

and then the North American<br />

market in 1991, the SNES a<br />

massive success globally for<br />

Nintendo and was a follow up<br />

to their wildly popular NES. The<br />

system’s Mode 7 graphics allowed<br />

programmers to develop<br />

games with a 3D look - games<br />

like Pilotwings showed off these<br />

abilities as did F-Zero. Special<br />

chips were included in game<br />

cartridges to give more performance<br />

rendering polygons and<br />

advanced 2D graphical effects.<br />

Games at launch were Super<br />

Mario World and F-Zero and<br />

Super Mario went on to sell<br />

over 20 million. The SNES sold<br />

over 49 million consoles and is<br />

considered a classic by gamers<br />

world wide.<br />

VARIANTS:<br />

1990 - Super Famicom<br />

1991 - Super NES<br />

1998 - Super Famicom Jr.


PLAYSTATION<br />

.<br />

The first playstation from Sony<br />

almost didn’t happen. Originally<br />

the system was a joint project<br />

between Sony and Nintendo<br />

where Sony was developing a<br />

CD-ROM for Nintendo’s Super<br />

Famicom - something Sony revealed<br />

at the 1991 Consumer<br />

Electronics Show. The story<br />

goes that a day after the announcement,<br />

Nintendo decided<br />

to instead go with Phillips due<br />

to both Sony and Nintendo unable<br />

to agree on a revenue<br />

split. Sony was not happy and<br />

President Norio Ohga appointed<br />

Ken Kutaragi as the head of<br />

the PlayStation project. Still the<br />

project had another hurdle to<br />

overcome at a board meeting.<br />

The meeting held in <strong>June</strong> of 92<br />

had Kutaragi remind the board


and the CEO of the humiliation<br />

that Nintendo had inflated<br />

on them and the decision was<br />

made to go ahead with the project.<br />

3D polygon graphics were<br />

chosen as the consoles focus<br />

(source Wikipedia) after Sony<br />

saw the success Sega had<br />

with Virtua Fighter... Tekken<br />

for example was a brilliant alternative.<br />

Sony worked hard on<br />

creating what some called, the<br />

“machine of the future” (Steven<br />

Pool in his book Trigger Happy)<br />

and released it in 1994 in Japan<br />

and 1995 in the U.S, Australia<br />

and Europe. It was the first<br />

console to sell over 100 million<br />

saw classic games released including,<br />

Tekken, Ridge Racer,<br />

Grand Turismo, WipeOut, Tomb<br />

Raider and Colin McRae Rally<br />

among many others. For many<br />

gamers, it was their first console,<br />

it opened a world of 3D<br />

gaming with fast smooth graphics<br />

and excellent 3rd party support<br />

thanks to Sony’s approach<br />

of dealing with developers providing<br />

them with a range of<br />

programming libraries and a<br />

well run tech support team to<br />

help developers get the head<br />

around the hardware. It may<br />

have even inspired Microsoft<br />

to create their first gaming console<br />

- the Xbox.<br />

The PlayStation in all its variants<br />

sold over 104 million units.<br />

VARIANTS:<br />

1994 - PlayStation<br />

1996 - PlayStation (5000<br />

series)<br />

1997 - PlayStation White<br />

1998 - PlayStation (7000<br />

series)<br />

1999 - PlayStation (9000<br />

series)<br />

(In 2000 Sony released the<br />

PSone but this system comes<br />

after our cutoff time).


SYSTEM<br />

OF THE<br />

CENTURY:<br />

NINTENDO<br />

64!<br />

Codenamed “Project Reality” it<br />

was launched in 1996, named<br />

by Time <strong>Magazine</strong> as “Machine<br />

of the Year) and launched with<br />

3 absolutely brilliant games -<br />

Super Mario 64, Pilotwings 64<br />

and Saikyo Habu Shogi (Japan<br />

only).<br />

While competing with the Play-<br />

Station and Saturn it had, unlike<br />

its competition, a 64-bit<br />

processing unit based on the<br />

MIPS processor architecture<br />

owned by Silicon Graphics.<br />

This meant it was better at displaying<br />

polygon 3D graphics<br />

and it’s cartridge system meant<br />

fast loading times but higher<br />

manufacturing costs. The N64<br />

was promoted as the first 64-bit<br />

gaming system even though the<br />

Atari Jaguar claimed this title -<br />

however some questioned this<br />

as the Jaguar executed a 32-bit<br />

instruction set but sent control<br />

signals to the 64-bit processor<br />

(source Wikipedia).<br />

At the launch of the system,<br />

many praised its face paced<br />

graphics thanks to the 64-bit


processors, the lightning fast<br />

cartridges compared to the<br />

slower CD-ROMs of Sony and<br />

Sega and it’s sharp detailed<br />

graphics. It outsold Sony and<br />

Sega during it’s first few months<br />

but in Japan it didn’t sell as<br />

well as the PlayStation or the<br />

Saturn.<br />

Gametraders stores regularly<br />

report high demand for the<br />

system and particularly the Pikachu<br />

<strong>Edition</strong> that featured a<br />

striking blue and yellow version<br />

with a Pikachu on the system.<br />

Some of the best video games<br />

you can play came out on the<br />

N64 including:<br />

Pilotwings 64 (a favourite at the<br />

<strong>Live</strong> offices)<br />

Conker’s Bad Fur Day<br />

Mario Party<br />

Pokemon Snap<br />

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron<br />

Mario Tennis<br />

F-Zero X<br />

Golden Eye 007 (brilliant multiplayer)<br />

Perfect Dark


YOUR RETROSAY<br />

The Gamer<br />

THE CONTINUING STORY<br />

While I had stuck with my Super Nintendo<br />

throughout the 32-bit era so<br />

far, a special person was about to<br />

change my perspective on things.<br />

My second girlfriend, also called<br />

Amy, was well and truly a member<br />

of the Nintendo 64 club. Through<br />

her I gained membership and experienced<br />

my first time holding the<br />

iconic controller. Well... many people<br />

call it iconic, but I’ve never been a<br />

fan of the original N64 analog stick.<br />

While I currently own 5 or 6 Nintendo<br />

64s, I have always disliked the<br />

feel of the control stick. The way<br />

that it grinds against the edges,<br />

and the powdery buildup from it just<br />

worries me. Having to replace the<br />

stick with it dies is also a pain! A<br />

couple of years ago I purchased a<br />

Hori controller, which is a lot smaller<br />

and has a Gamecube style analog<br />

controller. They’re not cheap, but<br />

it’s now my weapon of choice for all<br />

of my N64 gaming.<br />

Back in 1998 Amy and I played<br />

through Mario 64, and I was surprised<br />

at how easy it was to adapt<br />

to the 3D world. Being that it was<br />

the first third person 3D game I had<br />

ever played it was a bit of a culture<br />

shock, but it was just so much fun.<br />

The graphics are delightfully blocky<br />

and the music has a very Mario<br />

feel about it. I still had issues with<br />

the control stick, but that didn’t detract<br />

from the gaming experience.<br />

Around this time my mother suggested<br />

that I sell the Super Nintendo,<br />

as I wasn’t playing it anymore. I<br />

hesitated, remembering what happened<br />

with the Amstrad CPC and<br />

the regret I felt over letting that go.<br />

I didn’t want to sell something that<br />

was a big part of my childhood, and<br />

I knew that there was a lot of life<br />

left in the system. I said I wanted to<br />

keep it, so my mother uttered the<br />

quote that would start the retro revolution<br />

that still lives on inside me<br />

today. Her near-exact words were:<br />

“If you’re going to keep it<br />

then you should go get some<br />

more games for it.”<br />

I pondered this, as SNES games<br />

were becoming scarce. I thought<br />

that maybe Cash Converters would<br />

be the place to find some old games.<br />

I journeyed down to my local store<br />

and picked up a bunch of them for<br />

between $5 and $10 each. I went to<br />

a few stores that day, loaded up on<br />

games, and introduced Amy to the<br />

previous system. I’m not sure she<br />

was that impressed, but I was having<br />

fun with it.<br />

I visited Cash Converters stores all<br />

over the metro area, and discovered<br />

games and devices that I had never<br />

heard of before. I picked up different<br />

types of controllers, including<br />

the SNES programmable pad that<br />

James and I had seen in the pages<br />

of Super Play. All of my Cash Converter<br />

trips would be about hunting<br />

for Super Nintendo games, but<br />

it was at Cash Converters Gepps


OF RETRO EDITOR, PAUL MONOPOLI’S GAMING JOURNEY...<br />

diaries:<br />

Cross that I would lay eyes on my<br />

first ever US Super Nintendo. The<br />

boxy console was accompanied<br />

by a collection of cartridges, some<br />

genuine, but many of them pirates<br />

multi carts. I took the console home<br />

and nothing I could do would get it<br />

working. I owned an NTSC compatible<br />

TV, so that wasn’t the problem.<br />

There was nothing I could do, so I<br />

took it back and got store credit to<br />

buy a Nintendo 64 of my own with<br />

Goldeneye 64.<br />

I did end up keeping one of the controllers<br />

that came with the US Super<br />

Nintendo, though this was an<br />

accident. I found it a few days after<br />

returning it, though I always forgot<br />

to take it back. There are a few regrets<br />

with that one, as I should have<br />

kept the games and negotiated a<br />

return price for the console.<br />

While I now owned the most current<br />

Nintendo system, I found myself<br />

playing the previous generation<br />

far more. I was starting to become<br />

addicted to hunting down Super<br />

Nintendo games. If I wasn’t spending<br />

time with Amy on the weekend<br />

I would be visiting Cash Converters<br />

stores and buying up anything<br />

that looked interesting. A bit later<br />

in the year I signed up for an Ebay<br />

account which opened up a whole<br />

new world for me.<br />

On Ebay I was slow to get started,<br />

using the site as a way of seeing<br />

what was out there and then hunt-<br />

1998 - 1999


ing at Cash Converters. I started to<br />

explore other video game systems,<br />

and I purchased a Sega Saturn for<br />

$39 with a few games, including<br />

Virtua Fighter Kids. Virtua Fighter<br />

Kids is a chibi take on the classic<br />

series, though being able to trap<br />

your opponent in the corner meant<br />

that it was a bit easy. I took the Saturn<br />

over to Clinton’s house and we<br />

spent most of the evening playing<br />

the game, though we did check out<br />

the other titles I bought as well.<br />

Realising my growing interest in<br />

retro, Clinton purchased a second<br />

hand Megadrive as a Christmas<br />

present. I’m not sure if he had spoken<br />

to Amy about it previously, but<br />

she did little to dissuade my interest<br />

in retro games. When we would<br />

visit Clinton, Amy would often take<br />

a back seat and watch us play<br />

games. We would talk with her as<br />

we played, but I do wonder if she<br />

got bored watching us play round<br />

after round of Street Fighter or King<br />

of Fighters.<br />

Life was kinda cruisy in the late<br />

90s and early 2000s. I had no responsibilities<br />

yet, and when I wasn’t<br />

working or studying I was out and<br />

about hunting for games. This actually<br />

helped me to get out of my<br />

comfort zone and visit different<br />

parts of the city and suburbs. It also<br />

served to fill up my cupboards and<br />

drawers rather quickly. Amy found it<br />

amusing that I would keep my Star<br />

Wars figures and retro games in an<br />

old glory box that my mother used<br />

to have. In reality, I needed all the<br />

storage I could get for my growing<br />

collections.<br />

The final year of the millennium<br />

would see my collection grow even<br />

more. In early 1999 I used Ebay to<br />

order my first ever import console.


During my Ebay browsing I came<br />

across the Virtual Boy, and remembered<br />

how James and I had longed<br />

to play one. They had now been on<br />

the market for 4 years, and people<br />

couldn’t get rid of them fast enough!<br />

I picked mine up for $90AU, and<br />

that’s including international postage.<br />

I think the console itself was<br />

roughly $40, and was boxed. The<br />

box was slightly beaten up, but that<br />

was a small price to pay for this<br />

piece of history.<br />

While everything VB was cheap<br />

I placed Ebay orders for all of the<br />

common games, including Mario<br />

Clash, Wario Land and more. Uncommon<br />

games like SD Gundam<br />

were expensive, even back then.<br />

While the games arrived relatively<br />

quickly, it would be 2 months of<br />

waiting before the console itself<br />

came knocking at the door. I can remember<br />

the day I got it. Thankfully<br />

I was home when I saw the delivery<br />

man walking towards the door.<br />

As soon as I saw the size of the<br />

box I knew what it was. I ripped it<br />

open, removed the Virtual Boy, then<br />

realised that I didn’t have the 6 AA<br />

batteries needed to power it! After<br />

a quick trip down the shop I was<br />

ready to play. I started with the pack<br />

in title, Mario Tennis.<br />

It’s a little known fact that Mario<br />

Tennis on the Virtual Boy is actually<br />

the first in the series, with Gameboy<br />

and Nintendo 64 versions following<br />

a short while after. I remember plugging<br />

the cartridge in, then settling<br />

my head into the visor and turning<br />

the console on. Mario bounces the<br />

ball on the ground, then hits it with<br />

his racket. The ball came towards<br />

me and I quickly backed my head<br />

away from the visor, before laughing<br />

and realising that it was the 3D<br />

effect. Though many will criticise<br />

the console for its lack of colour,<br />

the games that play well on it are a<br />

lot of fun.<br />

Wario Land is a game that I have<br />

completed several times now, and<br />

I always go back to it every couple<br />

of years. The game involves everyone’s<br />

favourite antagonist chasing<br />

down some treasure seekers in an<br />

attempt to claim it all for himself. The<br />

treasure hunters lay a trap for him,<br />

and after being sent to the depths<br />

of the underground, Wario must escape<br />

while stealing as much of their<br />

loot as possible along the way. The<br />

rewards are plentiful and like the<br />

GameBoy games before it, there<br />

are plenty of power ups to keep you<br />

busy. You can become Bull Wario,<br />

Eagle Wario, Sea Dragon Wario and<br />

King Dragon Wario. This was one of<br />

the earliest games that allowed the<br />

played to jump into the background,<br />

a feature that has since been reused<br />

in the Kirby series.<br />

Mario Clash is a remake of the original<br />

Mario Bros, but in 3D. Mario can<br />

use the pipes to travel between the<br />

foreground and background, hurling<br />

koopa shells at the enemies.<br />

Some enemies can only have shells<br />

thrown at them when you are in the<br />

same plane as them, while others<br />

need to have shells hurled across<br />

the two planes. The controls are<br />

easy to master and the difficulty increases<br />

gradually as you learn the<br />

game mechanics. Unfortunately<br />

there wasn’t enough to keep me<br />

playing, as after the first 10 levels<br />

or so I just felt like moving on to the<br />

next game.<br />

Around this time I was asked to babysit<br />

my cousins on a semi-regular<br />

basis. They owned a Nintendo 64<br />

and were big fans of Goldeneye.<br />

Amy would occasionally come along<br />

1998 - 1999


to help me babysit, and we would<br />

often end up sitting around the TV,<br />

battling each other James Bond<br />

style. What is there to say about<br />

Goldeneye 64 that others haven’t<br />

already mentioned? The level design<br />

is well done, with plenty of elements<br />

from the movie, the controls<br />

don’t lag and the music helps to give<br />

the game that James Bond feeling.<br />

Earlier I mentioned that I owned my<br />

own copy, and I had a lot of fun with<br />

the single player part of the game.<br />

However, I think most people will<br />

agree that the game really comes<br />

alive in 4 player mode.<br />

Around early to mid 1999 I was still<br />

working for Bi Lo Supermarkets, but<br />

there was about to be a shakeup.<br />

An old boss of mine from the Ingle<br />

Farm store had been moved to<br />

the Modbury store, and he wanted<br />

me to move along with him. I was<br />

a good worker, and a few of the<br />

managers had expressed interest<br />

in having me move to their stores.<br />

My old boss was persuasive and<br />

he managed to get me to make the<br />

decision, so for the final 18 months<br />

of my retail life I worked out of the<br />

Modbury Triangle store. This put me<br />

in close proximity to Cash Converters<br />

Modbury and The Game Guru,<br />

at Tea Tree Plaza, the shopping<br />

centre across the road from the<br />

Modbury Triangle.<br />

I don’t actually ever recall buying<br />

anything from The Game Guru, but<br />

I certainly spent my fair share at<br />

Cash Converters. For $15 I picked<br />

up an official Master System adapt-<br />

er for the Megadrive. I didn’t own<br />

a Master System at this stage, so<br />

it seemed like a worthy purchase.<br />

When I got it home I realised that<br />

the device is actually designed for<br />

the Sega Megadrive 1. The unit<br />

Clinton gave me for Christmas was<br />

the Megadrive 2, and the moulding<br />

caused the adapter to be incompatible.<br />

Eventually I purchased an<br />

original Megadrive and was able to<br />

use the adapter.<br />

It was at this store that I found my<br />

first ever pirate cartridge, Mickey’s<br />

Magical Quest 3 for the Super Famicom.<br />

This is the final game in the<br />

Mickey Mouse series, and arguably<br />

the best. For some reason it was<br />

only released in Japan, but while<br />

the second game featured Minnie<br />

as the the second player, this game<br />

has your partner controlling Donald<br />

Duck. Like the previous games you<br />

could wear different costumes to<br />

help you get through different situations,<br />

and also like the previous<br />

games in the series it was a lot of<br />

fun. I found the concept of pirate<br />

cartridges interesting, but unfortunately<br />

in recent years the cartridge<br />

has stopped working, though I still<br />

keep it around as a keepsake.<br />

That’s all from me this month. Join<br />

me next month as I get a bit cheeky<br />

with a video game store, discover<br />

import stores and venture into obscure<br />

handheld territory.<br />

If you want to see more of what I do<br />

then give me a follow on Twitter<br />

@Dizrythmia.<br />

1998 - 1999<br />

WRITTEN BY PAUL MONOPOLI


YOUR INTERVIEW SAY<br />

A SUPA INTER<br />

Paul: I am sitting here, at Supanova<br />

Melbourne with with the one and<br />

only Vic Mignogna.<br />

Vic: Hey.<br />

Paul: I hope that’s how it’s pronounced.<br />

(Min-ya-na)<br />

Vic: Oh yes! You nailed it! You nailed<br />

it Paul.<br />

Paul: Haha, I practiced!<br />

So, Broly from Dragonball!<br />

Vic: Haha.<br />

Paul: You’ve been in over 200 different<br />

series.<br />

Vic: Oh, 300.<br />

Paul: 300 now.<br />

Vic: Oh yeah.<br />

Paul: I’ve been trying to interview<br />

you for quite some time, but every<br />

time I nearly do you do more work,<br />

so there’s just such a long list of<br />

things to talk about.<br />

Vic: Haha, well, thank god. That’s a<br />

very fortunate problem to have, so<br />

I’m very grateful.<br />

Paul: It is. Now the first thing I noticed,<br />

when I was lining up today<br />

for autographs was your fanbase.<br />

You have a massive fanbase who<br />

love you, and you get out there, you<br />

interact with them, you give them<br />

hugs and you talk to them all individually...<br />

Vic: I love them.<br />

Paul: And they love you!<br />

Vic: I am so profoundly grateful for<br />

the fact that people have enjoyed<br />

the work that I’ve done. The anime<br />

fans are, in my estimate, probably<br />

the most enthusiastic, supportive,<br />

kind fans, and so I want to make<br />

sure that they all know how much<br />

they mean to me and how grateful I<br />

am for the privilege to do what I do.<br />

So I would be remiss not to share<br />

that with them.<br />

Paul: And Australian fans, because<br />

you’ve been here quite a few times.<br />

Vic: Oh my gosh! I love Australia so<br />

much! I think the first time I came<br />

here was 10 plus years ago, to Supanova,<br />

and ever since I have just<br />

really, really cherished every chance<br />

to come back, and I am continually<br />

amazed and humbled by the turnout.<br />

The fans are so supportive<br />

and enthusiastic. I look for any excuse<br />

to come back here. I love it.<br />

And the people that run Supanova<br />

are the best. I mean, they’re among<br />

the best in the world. I do a lot of<br />

conventions and there aren’t many<br />

conventions that do it as well, or<br />

certainly any better than Supanova.<br />

Paul: Certainly not. Now, I wanted<br />

to address a couple of different series.<br />

You’ve been in 300 roughly...<br />

Vic: Mmm, hmm...<br />

Paul: So let’s just talk about a couple<br />

of them...<br />

Vic: Sure...<br />

Paul: So you are probably best<br />

known to Dragonball fans as Broly,<br />

the legendary super saiyan. What<br />

are your feelings on the character?<br />

It’s a little bit of a mixed bag with<br />

fans. Some people think the was<br />

just a muscle bound beefcake who<br />

pretty much just said “KAKKAR-<br />

OT!!”<br />

Vic: Hahaha. You know what? I’ve<br />

been very fortunate that fans, at<br />

least the DBZ fans that I’ve met<br />

really like Broly. I mean, he doesn’t<br />

have a very intricate personality.<br />

He doesn’t have many facets to<br />

his character. He’s a bad dude and<br />

wants to cause trouble, but the DBZ<br />

fans have really embraced him. In<br />

fact I wish I had a nickel for every<br />

time somebody said “why don’t<br />

they bring Broly into the prime universe?”<br />

You know, “why don’t they<br />

make him part of the prime universe?”<br />

I would love that. My feeling<br />

about the character is that it’s really<br />

hard to do, it’s very hard on my<br />

voice, physically, because it’s very


VIEW WITH


ough. It’s very strenuous. I mean,<br />

you hear that I sound like. I don’t<br />

sound like him.<br />

Paul: No, definitely not.<br />

Vic: So, that part of it’s hard but I’m<br />

very very grateful to be part of such<br />

an amazing franchise. So, if it takes<br />

screaming and yelling Kakkarot to<br />

be a part of DBZ then that’s what<br />

I’ll do.<br />

Paul: And you were sitting 2 seats<br />

away from the original Kakkarot today,<br />

Masako Nozawa.<br />

Vic: Wasn’t that amazing! I got to<br />

meet her at the green room when<br />

she first arrived this morning, and<br />

we took photos, and what a pleasure.<br />

Yes, she’s an icon.<br />

Paul: She is. You hadn’t actually met<br />

her before, I know Sean Schemmel<br />

had.<br />

Vic: I wouldn’t be surprised, because<br />

he plays Goku. But that was the first<br />

time I got to meet her.<br />

Paul: Super Dimension Fortress<br />

Macross. You played Hikaru in that.<br />

Vic: I did. the Rick Hunter character.<br />

So many people remember Robotech,<br />

and they don’t always know<br />

where it came from, what was<br />

the original Japanese anime that<br />

Robotech was built on and it was<br />

Macross. So it was a real privilege<br />

to play Hikaru Ichijo. What a thrill,<br />

I mean such a great, great series,<br />

Macross. Infact that was the same<br />

year that I played Edward Elric in<br />

Full Metal Alchemist and did Macross<br />

and Full Metal at the same<br />

time. That was pretty fun.<br />

Paul: With Macross you worked with<br />

the original Minmay who played the<br />

role in Japanese.<br />

Vic: How cool was that! Mari Iijima!<br />

She is so lovely and talented. She’s<br />

a musician like I am. Singer, songwriter<br />

like I am, and we just hit it off.<br />

We met each other at a convention<br />

years before we did Macross and<br />

they bought her in to reprise her<br />

role as Minmay, so it was really a<br />

thrill to do that with her.<br />

Paul: I was speaking to Monica Rial,<br />

who was also in that same production<br />

and she said they got to hang<br />

out a little bit and she was talking<br />

about Uncle Carl. What are your<br />

memories of Uncle Carl (Macek)?<br />

Vic: Well, yeah... Carl was a really<br />

good guy. He was a really good<br />

guy... You never expect when you<br />

work with people... I can’t even really<br />

put it into words. You don’t expect<br />

that you’re never going to see<br />

someone again, you know what I<br />

mean? It’s like, as long as you know<br />

someone it’s always a bit of a shock<br />

when you hear that they’ve passed,<br />

and he was a really good guy. I did<br />

several shows for Carl, and so... He<br />

was a good guy, it was a pleasure to<br />

work with him.<br />

Paul: Now of the 200, 200 plus<br />

shows you’ve done, do you have a<br />

favourite?<br />

Vic: You know, for the longest time<br />

I always tried to be very diplomatic<br />

about that and tactful, because<br />

whoever asked the question, I<br />

want to answer in a way that will<br />

please them, I want to answer in<br />

a way they’re going to like. So, if<br />

an Ouran High School cosplayer<br />

comes up to me and says “who’s<br />

your favourite character?” I’m looking<br />

em over and I’m thinking ‘I bet<br />

they’d really love it if I said Tamaki’,<br />

so I’ll say “Oh, Tamaki Suoh”, right?<br />

But someone comes up dressed<br />

as Yuki from Vampire Knight and<br />

says ‘Who’s your favourite character?’<br />

I’m gonna wanna say Zero. So<br />

for the longest time I tried to be all<br />

things to all men so to speak. But<br />

then after we finished recording Full<br />

Metal Brotherhood. When we got to<br />

the last episode and I realised that<br />

it was probably going to be the last<br />

time I would ever play that character<br />

I kinda had to come to terms with<br />

the fact that Ed is probably the best<br />

role, and the one that I have loved<br />

the most of all the characters I play.<br />

Edward Elric has to be my favourite.<br />

Paul: Now you’ve done singing for<br />

Funimation. You’ve sung the theme<br />

to Dragonball Kai, Dragonball GT...<br />

Vic: One Piece, Ouran, Full Metal...<br />

Paul: Is it something that you do just<br />

as a side gig?<br />

Vic: Oh my gosh, not side gig? I’ve<br />

been writing and producing music<br />

twice as long as I’ve been voice acting.<br />

So as long as I’ve been doing<br />

this, I’ve been writing and singing,<br />

producing and arranging, and composing<br />

a long time. In fact, it took a<br />

while before the anime industry that<br />

I was in said “Oh hey, you sing don’t<br />

you?” (laughs) “Who don’t you sing<br />

this song?” I’m like, “yeah, I’d love<br />

it!” So it was a long time, I was in the<br />

industry 10 years before someone<br />

said: “I think Vic sings. Why don’t<br />

we have him sing one of the theme<br />

songs?” So I was always hopeful<br />

that maybe my music and singing<br />

background would overlap at some<br />

point.


Paul: And of all of the people who<br />

sang the Dragonball Kai theme,<br />

yours was the one that was chosen<br />

for broadcast.<br />

Vic: Well I was very grateful. I was<br />

very honoured. In fact I was asked<br />

by Funimation to record that, and<br />

then some other voice actors kinda<br />

decided to record it as well, but I really<br />

enjoyed doing that song. In fact,<br />

just a few hours ago, at my panel,<br />

I sang it live here, at Supanova. I<br />

plugged my phone in and... kick it<br />

up, you know! (Vic sings a few bars<br />

of Dragon Soul).<br />

Paul: All we need is the backing<br />

track now. Which I actually have on<br />

here! I have it!<br />

Vic: Hahaha!<br />

Paul: Star Trek Continues is a series<br />

you’re involved in. <strong>Live</strong> action, it’s<br />

has been acclaimed and endorsed<br />

by Rod Roddenberry as well.<br />

Vic: <strong>Man</strong>y, many people, thankfully,<br />

have really enjoyed there series.<br />

Not only am I involved in it, I created<br />

it. I started it, I’m the executive<br />

producer, I play Captain Kirk. It’s a<br />

childhood dream project. It’s like my<br />

passion project.<br />

Paul: And you’ve got your fellow<br />

Funimation alum involved, you’ve<br />

got...<br />

Vic: Todd Haberkorn playing Spock,<br />

Chuck Huber playing McCoy, Chris<br />

Doohan playing his father’s role as<br />

Scotty. Grant Imahara from Myth<br />

Busters playing Sulu. We’ve had<br />

7 million views and won a dozen<br />

awards. I’m very very proud of what<br />

we’ve accomplished. I started it out<br />

as merely, just my love letter to Star<br />

Trek. I wanted to say “thankyou” to<br />

that series, that meant so much to<br />

me when I was young, and it’s been<br />

so gratifying that so many people<br />

have enjoyed it.<br />

Paul: Now there are 8 episodes really<br />

at the moment. How many do<br />

you have planned?<br />

Vic: 11 total, and 9, 10 and 11 have<br />

already been shot. We’re editing<br />

them and preparing them right now<br />

and they will all be released this<br />

year.<br />

Paul: No previews at Supanova?<br />

Vic: Nooooo, oh any gosh, but I’ve<br />

gotta tell ya: 9 is amazing, and wait<br />

till you see the guest star. 10 and 11<br />

is a 2 parter, series finale.<br />

Paul: Will they be released together,<br />

or will fans have to wait?<br />

Vic: They’ll be released a couple of<br />

weeks apart. Not at the same time,<br />

because that kinda ruins the fun of<br />

the anticipation, but they’re not going<br />

to be released months apart.<br />

I think they’ll be released a few<br />

weeks apart.<br />

Paul: Brilliant. In closing, do you have<br />

a message for the fans?<br />

Vic: My message is simple, I love<br />

you. God bless you for your kindness<br />

to me. I never cease to be amazed,<br />

never. You know, I told Daniel here,<br />

who runs Supanova the other day.<br />

We were back behind the partition<br />

in Gold Coast, and I was walking up<br />

and Daniel was behind the partition.<br />

He goes “Bro, you’ve got a massive<br />

queue!” And I said to him “you<br />

know, any show I do, anywhere on<br />

the planet, something in the back of<br />

my mind is afraid that this is going<br />

to be the show that I’m gonna step<br />

out and nobody’s going to be there.<br />

It’s always in the back of my mind<br />

that the day is coming, when you<br />

rode that wave, but it’s done now.<br />

People are used to you, they’ve<br />

seen you or they’ve met you or<br />

whatever, and they’re not going to<br />

be there. I say that to say that I do<br />

not in any way take for granted every<br />

time I do a show and fans come<br />

out to say hello, or get an autograph<br />

or get a picture, I am so tremendously<br />

honoured by their support<br />

and their kindness, and I hope they<br />

know that.<br />

And, any chance I get I any interview,<br />

when somebody says to me,<br />

as you just did, “do you have a message<br />

for the fans”, my message is<br />

“thankyou. I love you, for your kindness<br />

to me”.<br />

Paul: And thankyou. We love you<br />

Vic Mignogna.<br />

Vic: Thankyou.


“My message (to my fans) is simple,<br />

I love you. God bless you for your<br />

kindness to me.<br />

I never cease to be<br />

amazed, never.”<br />

- Vic Mignogna<br />

INTERVIEWED BY PAUL MONOPOLI


YOUR INTERVIEW SAY<br />

A SUPA INTER<br />

Paul: Similar to how you do Son<br />

Goku?<br />

Nozawa-san: Yes<br />

Paul: Sitting with me now at Supanova<br />

2017 is an absolute legend.<br />

50 years in the business, voicing<br />

characters like Gegege No Kitarou,<br />

Son Goku, Son Gohan, Son Goten,<br />

is Masako Nozawa. Thankyou for<br />

joining me.<br />

Nozawa-san: Thankyou very much.<br />

Paul: I watched some episodes of<br />

Gegege No Kitarou at my hotel last<br />

night. I love the series.<br />

Nozawa-san: Ahh, thank you very<br />

much.<br />

Paul: What are your memories of<br />

the series?<br />

Nozawa-san: The first time I saw<br />

the storyline and the script I heard<br />

that he was from the realm of the<br />

past people, the Yokai. So in that<br />

realm I didn’t expect him to be like<br />

that, but I just acted as though I was<br />

just a normal boy, and that was very<br />

memorable for me.<br />

Paul: How was the transition from<br />

Goku as a child to Goku as an adult<br />

for you?<br />

Nozawa-san: It just comes very natural<br />

to me, and I see the picture and<br />

I get into character. So if I see an<br />

adult Goku as a picture I would just<br />

become an adult Goku. If I see him<br />

as a child I just act as though I’m<br />

just a child Goku, so it just comes<br />

very natural.<br />

Paul: Now, you’ve met Sean Schemmel,<br />

the English Goku. Did you give<br />

him any advice for the character?<br />

Nozawa-san: No, I’ve never given<br />

him any advice. He has his own<br />

Goku, and I just believe in him in doing<br />

what he does.<br />

Paul: Beautiful. Thankyou very much<br />

for your time Nozawa-san. Arigatou.<br />

Nozawa-san: Thankyou.


VIEW WITH<br />

INTERVIEWED BY PAUL MONOPOLI


YOUR INTERVIEW SAY<br />

A SUPA INTER<br />

Paul: With big thanks to Supanova<br />

Melbourne, I’m sitting here with a<br />

man who is described in the book<br />

as “the nearest thing the games<br />

industry has to a bonafide leading<br />

man.” How do you explain that, Nolan<br />

North?<br />

Nolan: Ugh... I didn’t write it. Haha,<br />

that’s the best way to explain it.<br />

Nah, I’ve been privileged to get<br />

some pretty cool roles... I mean,<br />

haha, that’s a bit embarrassing to<br />

be honest with you, but... I’ll take it.<br />

Why not?<br />

Paul: You’ve been Nathan Drake in<br />

Uncharted, the Prince in Prince of<br />

Persia. You’ve been Deadpool!<br />

Nolan: Yes, I am all 3. This one, this<br />

one and this one (Nolan impersonates<br />

each of the 3 characters). So<br />

yeah, all of those. Prince of Persia’s<br />

kinda odd though because, I don’t<br />

get the a lot when people bring it<br />

up, because it was funny.<br />

A friend for mine, Yuri Lowenthal<br />

was the first, then it went to another<br />

friend of mine, Robin Atkin Downes<br />

for the next one, then it went back<br />

to Yuri Lowenthal, then I did it, then<br />

it went back to Yuri, so I don’t know<br />

if they’re toying with Yuri Lowenthal.<br />

Paul: Sounds like it.<br />

Nolan: But it was nice to be able<br />

to do that, although I don’t think he<br />

should have sounded like he was<br />

from Iowa. I wanted to do some exotic<br />

voice but the carpet’s this thick<br />

and that accent’s a little silly.<br />

Paul: Now you started as a journalist.<br />

You changed careers and become<br />

an actor. Did you ever see<br />

yourself becoming predominately a<br />

voice actor?<br />

Nolan: No, you know, I never really...<br />

that wasn’t something that I necessarily<br />

aspired to. I think an actor is<br />

nothing more than any other independent<br />

contractor, and I take the<br />

work that is available and is interesting<br />

to me at this point. You’ll never<br />

meet a plumber who only works<br />

on toilets, you know. It’s like “I’ll fix<br />

do sink, I’ll fix the pipes”, so um.<br />

Yeah, you know, I think it’s funny. I<br />

don’t consider myself a voice actor.<br />

I’m just an actor, and I’ve done live<br />

theatre, so it’s the same if it’s a microphone<br />

or if it’s a camera. My job<br />

is to just to deliver performance and<br />

it’s been great, and the one thing<br />

I’d say about voice acting is when<br />

you’re on camera you’re limited to<br />

what you look like, and this is it. With<br />

voice acting in animation or games<br />

I can be anyone, any colour, anything.<br />

I’ve played a viking beaver.<br />

Not a lot of people can say that!<br />

Paul: True. It also gets you friends in<br />

high places. JJ Abrams had you in<br />

a Star Trek movie because he was<br />

a fan of Uncharted. What was that<br />

like?<br />

Nolan: That was a bit bizarre. I was<br />

doing another job and he realised...<br />

somebody had mentioned Uncharted<br />

and he just went off that<br />

he was a huge fan, and we called<br />

his son and left him a message,<br />

and he said “boy I really owe you.<br />

Thankyou so much”, and I said “Well<br />

yeah, just put me on the Enterprise<br />

on you’re next go ‘round” and he<br />

just flat out goes “hey, you wanna<br />

do it? You wanna be in the movie?”<br />

And I thought... you know, it’s one of<br />

those things where you think “Really?”<br />

I said “well, I’ll audition” and<br />

he goes “nah, nah. I know you can<br />

act. Yeah, you wanna do it?” and it<br />

was just like that, so it was brilliant.<br />

It was a wonderful time. One line<br />

made it through, but I actually had<br />

some fans here at Supanova bring<br />

up Star Trek stuff for me to sign,<br />

right next to Peter Weller’s name,<br />

which is pretty interesting cos he<br />

was my captain in that movie.<br />

Paul: Now, the last question we’ve<br />

got. Motion capture and voice acting<br />

vs stage, TV and movie acting.<br />

How do you approach each of<br />

those?<br />

Nolan: Again, I think an actor’s job<br />

is just to deliver performance, no<br />

matter the medium. You know, motion<br />

capture, performance capture,<br />

whatever you want to call it, it’s as<br />

close to theatre as possible. Some-


VIEW WITH


thing called ‘black box theatre’<br />

where there’s very minimal props,<br />

and I think it’s incredibly... freeing<br />

actually. I think a lot of people look<br />

and they go ‘yeah, but there’s nothing<br />

here to work with’, and so yeah,<br />

or there’s everything here to work<br />

with. And what’s great about it is if<br />

you really focus on the connection<br />

with the characters it doesn’t matter<br />

what’s around you.<br />

The technology has come to the<br />

point where they’ll have monitors<br />

up and you can actually now in<br />

real time see what it’s gonna look<br />

like, in rough sketch type form. But<br />

that connection with the actor is<br />

the same as it is when you’re doing<br />

stage, except of course you’re<br />

gonna take 2, 3 or 4. The only other<br />

thing is now with all the facial capture<br />

the makeup is very... you know,<br />

they have to do the facial dots and<br />

things like that, but the flip side, live<br />

action, like Pretty Little Liars I’ve<br />

done for 7 seasons and then Con<br />

<strong>Man</strong> with Alan Tudyk and Nathan<br />

Fillion that we’ve done. It’s pretty<br />

amazing because when you do<br />

live action it’s wardrobe, and then<br />

there’s massive makeup and hair,<br />

and we shoot one one side of the<br />

scene, then they have to relight and<br />

turn it all around, and it’s so time<br />

consuming, and I think one of the<br />

things I love about voice over and<br />

motion capture is, well, it’s all done<br />

at once. So in many ways I prefer<br />

a lot of the motion capture and the<br />

animation and things like that because...<br />

I’m lazy. It’s so great. I don’t<br />

have to shave, I don’t cleaned up.<br />

I can just sit there and roll in some<br />

coffee. We do a couple of scenes<br />

and I’m home to pick up my kid from<br />

school. You don’t do on location.<br />

I had a small role in a show in Atlanta.<br />

It was supposed to be in and<br />

out, 3 days and be back in time for<br />

my son’s birthday, and it rained for<br />

6 straight days. I was there for 11<br />

days and it’s the only time I’ve ever<br />

missed one of my kid’s birthdays,<br />

and that’s a privilege, and voice<br />

over affords me that. But I’m happy<br />

to do everything. At this point in my<br />

career it’s just ‘what excites me?’<br />

‘what gets me going?’ and quite<br />

frankly, there’s a lot of good writing<br />

and a lot of good roles in gaming<br />

and animation. It’s just fun.<br />

Paul: Thankyou for your time Nolan,<br />

it’s been a pleasure.<br />

Nolan: Absolutely, thankyou.<br />

INTERVIEWED BY PAUL MONOPOLI


YOUR MOVIESAY<br />

BEST SUPERH<br />

In a world where you can’t turn a<br />

corner without seeing a superhero<br />

movie it seems like a challenge to<br />

make a list of the best of them. But<br />

damn it, I’m going to try! Not only am<br />

I going to try but I’m also going to<br />

surprise. Remember, these are my<br />

opinions. It’s totally OK to disagree<br />

with me. I know how you Marvel/DC<br />

fans like to get all fired up and defensive<br />

if someone disagrees with<br />

you. Up, Up and away!<br />

Darkman (1990)<br />

Darkman is the underrated masterpiece<br />

from director Sam Raimi.<br />

Liam Neeson plays Dr Peyton<br />

Westlake who is injured in a mob<br />

attack on his laboratory leaving him<br />

a scared, broken man. He now feels<br />

no pain and with the technology<br />

he was working on, growing skin<br />

grafts, he is able to make up faces<br />

to wear thus becoming able to hid<br />

in plain sight. He plots his revenge<br />

on the mobsters who attacked him<br />

and ruined his life. This film is simply<br />

wonderful. It has that frantic Sam<br />

Raimi energy and is led by Liam<br />

Neeson going totally bonkers in the<br />

lead roll of Darkman. While it is not<br />

a conventional superhero film, it is<br />

certainly one of the best and most<br />

entertaining films ever made.<br />

Batman (1989)<br />

The 1989 Batman film is just a joy<br />

to watch. Michael Keaton is fantastic<br />

as Bruce Wayne, but everyone<br />

remembers Jack Nicholson’s The<br />

Joker. The film is directed by Tim<br />

Burton, but thankfully lacks the signature<br />

weirdness his films would<br />

eventually become saturated with.<br />

The film stands as a fantastic gothic<br />

fantasy with some great performances<br />

from its exceptionally talented<br />

cast.<br />

Superman<br />

Returns (2006)<br />

I know what you are thinking, and<br />

you’re wrong. Superman Returns<br />

is a great film and is an affectionate<br />

love letter to filmmaking of days<br />

gone by and an amazing tribute to<br />

Christopher Reeve’s Superman.<br />

What makes this movie so great<br />

is that it is fun, beautiful and totally<br />

family friendly. Brandon Routh<br />

makes a great turn as the man of<br />

steel and really captures the hope<br />

and love that Christopher Reeve<br />

had planted in that role years before.<br />

It breaks my heart that Superhero<br />

movies have become bland,<br />

drab, joyless affairs of late. Superman<br />

Returns shows that a superhero<br />

can be full of hope.<br />

Captain America:<br />

The Winter Soldier<br />

(2014)<br />

Captain America: The Winter Soldier<br />

stands as one of the best political<br />

thrillers of our times. What Joe<br />

and Anthony Russo pull off with this<br />

film is just fantastic. They take the


ERO MOVIES<br />

EVER MADE!<br />

superhero film and inject depth and<br />

intelligence. It really does stand tall<br />

among the ever blurring together<br />

Marvel Cinematic Universe.<br />

Split (2016)<br />

Ha! Bet you didn’t see that coming!<br />

Also spoiler alert, yes Split is a<br />

superhero film! Well to be more accurate<br />

it’s a super-villain film. Split<br />

is essentially Unbreakable 2, the<br />

sequel to M. Night Shyamalan’s<br />

groundbreaking masterpiece. Split<br />

is the ultimate super-villain origin<br />

story. Nothing Marvel and DC have<br />

done even comes close to this in<br />

setting up a compelling and interesting<br />

villain. The film received a lot<br />

of flack for not being an accurate<br />

depiction of mental illness... Well,<br />

here’s the thing... It’s a damn superhero<br />

movie! Not a documentary.<br />

The Avengers<br />

(2012)<br />

Yes Marvel’s The Avengers. The<br />

film that showed us that having that<br />

big a cast can work, although only if<br />

they are fighting Loki. The Avengers<br />

was an absolute blast. It smashed<br />

box office records and became a<br />

worldwide sensation. What more<br />

can you say about it? “Kneel!”


Guardians of the<br />

Galaxy (2014)<br />

Guardians of the Galaxy... The breath<br />

of fresh air in the super hero genre.<br />

What makes Guardians so special<br />

is its irreverent joy and humour. Not<br />

to mention the best soundtrack of<br />

any movie on this list. James Gunn<br />

brings us a film that is an utter joy<br />

to behold. Filled to the brim with<br />

loveable misfits and campy villains,<br />

Guardians of the Galaxy is the ultimate<br />

roller coaster ride.<br />

The Dark Knight<br />

(2008)<br />

The smash sequel to Batman Begins,<br />

The Dark Knight really took<br />

superhero films to the next level. It<br />

stands as not only a great superhero<br />

film, but as a great film. It’s<br />

like heat with a mad clown running<br />

around. The film is elevated by this<br />

need to stick to an element of realism.<br />

I mean sure there are guys in<br />

bat suits running around, but what<br />

brings the movie up is that the<br />

Joker’s plot is simply fantastic. He<br />

isn’t here to destroy the world. He’s<br />

just here to make Batman struggle.<br />

That’s what makes it so damn<br />

good! Unlike EVERY OTHER superhero<br />

movie lately where the FATE<br />

OF EVERYTHING is at stake! The<br />

Dark Knight is simply the battle for<br />

Gotham’s soul. Which makes this<br />

movie far better than almost every<br />

other superhero movie ever made.<br />

You don’t need to end the world...<br />

But you can break a bat’s spirit.<br />

Superman (1978)<br />

“You will believe a man can fly.” With<br />

that simple promise Richard Donner’s<br />

Superman soared to Number<br />

2 on this list. While people today<br />

may scoff at it’s simpleness and<br />

its light heartedness, that’s what<br />

makes this film so damn special. It’s<br />

a joyful, cheerful, uplifting film that<br />

exists purely for you to have fun and<br />

be amazed and fill you with hope.<br />

That’s what Superman is all about!<br />

Hope. That’s what this film does! It<br />

is just amazing in it’s hopefulness.<br />

Unbreakable<br />

(2000)<br />

Yes! M Night. Shaymalan strikes<br />

again. Unbreakable was just SO<br />

FAR ahead of its time. Had this film<br />

come out this year in the midst of<br />

Superhero saturation we face now<br />

it would be considered some kind of<br />

post-modern masterpiece. It’s skilful<br />

deconstruction of the superhero<br />

mythology is second to none. The<br />

film speaks volumes about what it<br />

means to be a hero and weeds out<br />

the essentials of what super heroes<br />

and indeed their villains are all<br />

about. The yin and yang of it all. It<br />

is one of the best films ever made<br />

and now given the world saturated<br />

by pop culture we live in Unbreakable<br />

stands even taller.


“Unbreakable<br />

was just<br />

SO FAR<br />

ahead<br />

of its time.”<br />

BY SCOTT F. SOWTER<br />

@SCOTTFSOWTER


YOUR WARGAMING SAY<br />

THE CIRCUS<br />

Ben: One day in late 2015, seemingly<br />

out of nowhere, Sean had<br />

started to build some terrain. No<br />

that’s not true; he started building<br />

some gorgeous terrain. The kind of<br />

terrain that made me feel jealous,<br />

and question whether I’d ever been<br />

any good at building terrain! He’d<br />

been inspired by Games Workshop’s<br />

skirmish miniatures game,<br />

Mordheim. Not long afterwards,<br />

as he tells it, then I got inspired<br />

and suddenly produced a narrative<br />

campaign structure for 15-ish scenarios<br />

strung together by a loose<br />

story, and end-game impacts for<br />

wins and losses, and the campaign<br />

was born. But I don’t remember it<br />

quite like that!<br />

Sean: Like many weathered hobbyists<br />

my bookshelves are a holding<br />

of venerable rules manuals, White<br />

Dwarfs and magical artifacts which<br />

Games Workshop in their infinite<br />

wisdom chose to confine to the<br />

dark corners of neck-bearded nostalgia.<br />

One relic in particular, the<br />

Mordheim rulebook, has always had<br />

the power to transport me back to<br />

day I first picked through it. More<br />

specifically there’s a photo in there<br />

which evokes such a strange influx<br />

of inspiration I’d almost consider it<br />

my project muse. An Undead warband<br />

complete with a characterful<br />

“Hunchback of Notredame”-esque<br />

Dreg seemed to have a profound<br />

impact on 13-year-old me and define<br />

much of how I imagined the<br />

City of the Damned for the next 15<br />

years. When, by chance, I stumbled<br />

across that model (which I discovered<br />

was “Luther the Hunchback”<br />

from “Warhammer Quest: Catacombs<br />

of Terror”) on eBay in early<br />

2015 it gave a place to release<br />

much of that post-teen Mordheim<br />

angst...<br />

Ben: Sean and I worked together<br />

at GW during Mordheim’s ‘golden<br />

years’ when it was on the shelves.<br />

Indeed I still have the White Dwarf<br />

issues where the concept game<br />

was published. We ran many campaigns<br />

in-store, and played them at<br />

home. We both amassed huge collections<br />

of minis, terrain, rules, and<br />

source material over the years, and<br />

I think it’s fair to say that both of us<br />

still look back at those days with<br />

fond memories. I even have a german<br />

copy of Mordheim; Mortheim.<br />

This was delivered one day to the<br />

store in our weekly stock order. The<br />

manager was amused, but thought<br />

it wouldn’t sell. I bought it immediately.<br />

It gave me extra scenery (always<br />

good) and extra copies of the<br />

minis (always hoard bitz). I speak<br />

some conversational Deutsch, so<br />

that was good too. Anyway, what<br />

could be more atmospheric than<br />

having a German language copy<br />

of a game called Mordheim, set in<br />

a city in the state of Ostermark,<br />

where they speak Reikspiel, and<br />

are lead (later on of course) by Karl<br />

Franz? Nothing!<br />

Sean: When I look back at our time<br />

together in GW I don’t know if I’ll<br />

ever be able to truly appreciate the


IS COMING<br />

A MORDHEIM CAMPAIGN<br />

incredible environment we shared.<br />

The standard of painting, terrain<br />

making, ideas and pure talent of<br />

which we had contact would make<br />

any aspiring hobbyist envious. Not<br />

only did we have guys like BenSquig<br />

as a staff member (who would go<br />

on to win multiple Golden Demon<br />

Emperor’s Chosen competitions,<br />

as well as judging Golden Demon<br />

itself!), but Adam Brignall from “Adpaint<br />

Commissions” also spent<br />

a couple of years with us and we<br />

were lucky enough to have Victoria<br />

Lamb as a regular visitor (yep, Vic<br />

Lamb herself, famous for pioneering<br />

source-lighting and her GD-winning<br />

Mordheim diorama “The Rescue<br />

of Sister Joan”). Mordheim has<br />

always been an awesome platform<br />

to express that whole spectrum of<br />

hobby skills...<br />

Ben: In the years since we both<br />

moved on to other things, we had<br />

often talked about playing another<br />

Mordheim campaign, and spent intermittent<br />

evenings mulling over<br />

ideas, debating structure, and remember<br />

the days when it was on<br />

the shelves at GW. But it never really<br />

happened, always just a favoured<br />

memory and an exciting concept. I<br />

wasn’t heaps keen on committing<br />

to a regular gaming night at the<br />

time, but I was keen to take my existing<br />

warbands for a ‘points battle’<br />

game every now and then. Sean


was dead-set on the campaign, and<br />

didn’t give my suggestions much<br />

play. These conversations went on<br />

over some time, without an end. At<br />

some point Sean just started building<br />

terrain.<br />

Sean: Perhaps strangely, I never<br />

totally shunned the idea of a few<br />

points match games. That section,<br />

hidden away in the back of the<br />

rules-manual, always struck me as<br />

a curiosity - however it just doesn’t<br />

“feel” like Mordheim. Mordheim, for<br />

me at least, was always a vessel for<br />

telling a story. A collection of narrative<br />

games, or a loose campaign,<br />

of which all added up to something<br />

greater than the sum of its parts.<br />

Needless to say, I was extremely<br />

impressed (and perhaps equally<br />

surprised) when Ben presented me<br />

with a narrative campaign he’d written<br />

as though he plucked it from<br />

The Pit.<br />

Ben: Not long afterward Sean began<br />

his terrain building and had assembled<br />

a whole bunch of buildings,<br />

I got inspired to put some campaign<br />

material together. Sean has an old<br />

Carnival of Chaos warband he’d<br />

done up for Armies on Parade, and<br />

won, so I think that was fresh in my<br />

mind and ultimately could be where<br />

the spark of inspiration came from.<br />

I thought about what happens when<br />

the carnival comes to town; how the<br />

people feel about it, what they’ve<br />

heard about from rumours, and how<br />

they react.<br />

I didn’t really tell him though, I just<br />

started quietly outlining a story.<br />

This was about the carnival coming<br />

to town, and the ‘good folk’ who’d<br />

heard the stories of horror rallying<br />

against it. On the other side would<br />

be those who were aligned with the<br />

chaos powers, and those who either<br />

didn’t care or enjoyed the anarchy,<br />

they’d be all for the carnival’s<br />

arrival. I liked the concept, and over<br />

the next couple of weeks I went<br />

through all the different scenarios<br />

gathered from various sources, and<br />

fitted them into a loose story. I also<br />

thought about small benefits that<br />

could be earned down the line for<br />

each win.<br />

A little while later I showed my<br />

working draft to Sean, and he was<br />

keen for it, so then I wrote it all up<br />

nicely in campaign document. We<br />

discussed and agreed on several<br />

key points:<br />

1. 100% painted. No half-measures<br />

here. Paint all your models, and<br />

all the terrain. Make every game<br />

gorgeous.<br />

2. All-new warbands. Nothing<br />

you’ve already painted.<br />

3. All-human warbands. We previously<br />

ran and enjoyed a Human-<br />

League for Bloodbowl and loved it.<br />

So we outlined a select list of Human<br />

warbands that we’d use for<br />

this campaign<br />

Sean: The main intention regarding<br />

the enforcement of human warbands<br />

was for the purpose of longevity.<br />

We’d invested so much time<br />

in building terrain and planning the<br />

campaign that we felt we needed<br />

to make it last more than a dozen<br />

games. I suggested that by limiting<br />

which warbands available for<br />

use we’d almost have ready-made<br />

ideas for the future (and hopefully<br />

be itching to convert/paint/run the<br />

warbands we REALLY wanted to do<br />

also!). Pirates warbands in Sartosa,<br />

Witch-hunters sent to investigate<br />

Slyvannian border-towns and competing<br />

Cults of Possessed are all<br />

plot-points which have been thrown<br />

around to ensure we get the most<br />

of hobby investment without Mordheim<br />

going stale... But before all<br />

that, it was time to get hyped up.<br />

The circus is coming to town...<br />

Ben: With our criteria sorted, we<br />

made a list of both available resources<br />

for the scenarios and resources<br />

to be made/painted, and<br />

then started to recruit additional<br />

players for our campaign. We still<br />

know plenty of gamers, and so the<br />

call went out. We started the campaign<br />

with four of us committing to<br />

regular gaming, and another few<br />

who would play occasionally. We<br />

added everyone to a Google Drive,<br />

and a Facebook Group so we could<br />

share resources, updates, pics and<br />

such. We then set a date... and<br />

that date passed. We revised, and<br />

missed, a second date. Eventually,<br />

nearly six months later, we had finished<br />

our warbands, enough terrain,<br />

and were able to get together for<br />

our first games! The point here, is<br />

never give up because it’s hard to<br />

coordinate dates. Keep throwing<br />

them at each other until something<br />

sticks.<br />

So join us over the next few issues<br />

as we share with you some of the<br />

warbands involved, the battles we<br />

fought, the scenery we’ve built,<br />

and the players behind the madness.<br />

Come follow us on Instagram<br />

@rad_heim and Tumblr:<br />

radheim.tumblr.com.


“Eventually<br />

nearly six<br />

months later, we had<br />

finished our warbands,<br />

enough terrain,<br />

and were able to get<br />

together for our first<br />

games!”<br />

ONLINE:<br />

www.instagram.com/rad_heim<br />

www.radheim.tumblr.com


YOUR WARGAMING SAY<br />

BIOS<br />

PLAYER<br />

WILL<br />

Will is a self-professed hobby butterfly,<br />

flitting from project to project;<br />

never truly finishing one before another<br />

catches his eye. (though does<br />

anyone ever finish projects in this<br />

hobby).<br />

Introduced to Warhammer Fantasy<br />

Battles about 17 years ago, he was<br />

caught up in the stories and characters<br />

and the ability to represent<br />

them on a table. Since then he’s<br />

played pretty predominantly Games<br />

Workshop produced games and<br />

has collected many, many forces<br />

of varying sizes, most of which sit<br />

unpainted on a shelf. Happy to play<br />

anything his favourite is definitely<br />

Mordheim, so many amazing moments<br />

and memories. The highlight<br />

is when playing “The Lost Prince” a<br />

vampire made it to the top of the<br />

tower where the young princeling<br />

was hiding, surrounded by enemies<br />

and with no way out, the two leapt<br />

from the tallest balcony (approximately<br />

15” high). With the princeling<br />

broken and dead at his feet the<br />

bewildered vampire fled the scene,<br />

cursing the frailties of men. Mordheim<br />

is the one game where winning<br />

and losing is irrelevant since<br />

you still get to play strategic games,<br />

but ones with such a high element<br />

of storytelling.<br />

Will’s main inspiration in the hobby,<br />

and favourite area of it is in converting<br />

and building models. Finding a<br />

cool element of a story or character<br />

and creating a new army around<br />

that theme. He likes to restrict himself<br />

to certain elements of a faction<br />

and drill down into that visual aesthetic<br />

to create a warband or army<br />

with a lot of character to it. Some of<br />

his favourites include his Arabyan<br />

Ogre Kingdoms army, Slaaneshi Pit<br />

Fighter warband, Dark Elf Corsair<br />

fleet – which includes a converted<br />

Dreadfleet ship, and his very WIP<br />

Space Ork army that has pillaged a<br />

museum (pirates, cowboys, gangsters<br />

and egyptians). But his absolute<br />

favourite army is his next army.<br />

Will isn’t really a ‘gamer’ as such, he<br />

really enjoys playing the game, but<br />

more for the opportunity to create<br />

amazing/fun moments on the tabletop.<br />

Due to the nature of converting,<br />

his armies are always a little bit<br />

of a struggle to play with, but much<br />

fun is had regardless.


BEN<br />

Ben Makepeace, aka BenSquig has<br />

been around tabletop wargaming<br />

for almost 20 years. He worked at<br />

Games Workshop for 12 of those<br />

years. His first love was the creative<br />

aspects of the hobby; painting<br />

and assembling. He pursued those<br />

interests over the years winning a<br />

few Golden Demon trophies, ‘Best<br />

Painted’ army awards, and also was<br />

a judge at the Australian Golden<br />

Demon finals. In the last six years<br />

his hobby has understandably diversified,<br />

and he has miniatures from<br />

dozens of manufacturers, many<br />

game systems, and several genres.<br />

Generally speaking, gaming has<br />

taken a back seat for Ben in recent<br />

years, but painting has continued.<br />

Three years ago Ben joined the<br />

Gametraders franchise, whose<br />

Franchisees are involved to varying<br />

degrees in local Table-Top<br />

and Console gaming communities<br />

throughout SA, NSW, ACT and QLD.<br />

As a result Ben is heavily involved<br />

in the Small Business community in<br />

SA, and keeps up-to-date with consoles,<br />

retro gaming, board games,<br />

wargames, TCGs, sci-fi and fantasy<br />

movies and TV, and a large number<br />

of other geeky, nerdy, pop-culture<br />

things.<br />

You can follow Ben’s creative exploits<br />

on Facebook:<br />

www.facebook.com/BenMakepeaceArt<br />

Next issue:<br />

Sean and Jamie’s Bios,<br />

as well as all the<br />

Warbands involved in<br />

the campaign!


TCG NEWS<br />

Yu-Gi-Oh! - Maximum<br />

Crisis Booster -<br />

OUT NOW!<br />

The walls between dimensions are<br />

collapsing and the supreme king of<br />

destruction will rise in Maximum Crisis,<br />

May’s all-new 100-card booster<br />

set! Maximum Crisis is the climax of<br />

the 2016-2017 Duelling season, introducing<br />

three new themes as well<br />

as bold new cards for a wide variety<br />

of popular Decks.<br />

Pendulum Summoning will undergo<br />

its final evolution in Maximum Crisis<br />

with a pair of Pendulum Monsters<br />

with Scales of 0 and 13, opening<br />

up the ability to Pendulum Summon<br />

monsters of any Level in any Deck!<br />

But that’s not the only type of Summoning<br />

that’s evolving. Following up<br />

on February’s Fusion Enforcers set,<br />

Maximum Crisis introduces a new<br />

Fusion Summoning Spell Card that<br />

lets you keep your Fusion Monster<br />

while giving back the monsters you<br />

just fused together!<br />

YU-GI-OH! - PENDULUM<br />

EVOLUTION - OUT 22<br />

JUNE!<br />

Magicians with the might of dragons!<br />

Sorcerers that defy the laws of nature!<br />

Witness the magnificent and<br />

mystifying results of Pendulum Summoning’s<br />

final evolution! Following on<br />

from Maximum Crisis, Pendulum Evolution<br />

features powerful new Pendulum<br />

Monsters that can either stand<br />

on their own or in the service of that<br />

dreaded dragon, the Dominator of<br />

Dimensions itself, Supreme King Z-<br />

ARC!<br />

All-foil set, each pack includes a mix<br />

of Ultra Rare and Super Rare cards.<br />

Compatible with the Pendulum Monsters<br />

you already own, but specially<br />

crafted to take advantage of Maximum<br />

Crisis. Includes a pair of superpowered<br />

Sorcerers that are easy to<br />

Summon and give a faster, easier<br />

way to bring out Supreme King Z-<br />

ARC (from Maximum Crisis). New<br />

“Magician” monsters that excel at<br />

disappearing acts, providing useful<br />

effects when destroyed before moving<br />

to your Extra Deck to be Pendulum<br />

Summoned back for the grand<br />

finale!<br />

Features several new cards plus<br />

dozens of the most popular cards<br />

from the Pendulum Monster era of<br />

the Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V animated TV<br />

series.


Yu-Gi-Oh! - Battles<br />

of Legend Light’s Revenge<br />

- out 6 july!<br />

The greatest Duels in history don’t<br />

just happen on TV - they also happen<br />

everywhere you go to Duel. The<br />

Battles of Legend “Light’s Revenge”<br />

special booster set brings cards<br />

from climactic Duels seen in multiple<br />

Yu-Gi-Oh! animated TV series to print<br />

for the very first time and combines<br />

them with championship-winning<br />

cards from real life!<br />

In addition, you’ll find new cards from<br />

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX that can enhance the<br />

Dinosmasher’s Fury Structure Deck,<br />

new “D/D/D” monsters to revamp<br />

the Pendulum Domination Structure<br />

Deck, and even new Destiny<br />

HEROes and Abyss Actors that are<br />

compatible with the cards from Destiny<br />

Soldiers.<br />

Each 5-card pack contains 4 Ultra<br />

Rares and 1 Secret Rare.<br />

Previously only available to those<br />

who finished at the top of the leaderboards<br />

in high-level competitions,<br />

Minerva, the Exalted Lightsworn<br />

makes her first public appearance<br />

since 2016, just in time for the return<br />

of Lightsworn in Code of the Duelist!<br />

The Lancers’ incursion into the Fusion<br />

Dimension was nearly stopped<br />

short by...Gladiator Beasts! The GXera<br />

tournament powerhouse became<br />

a powerhouse as well in the<br />

Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V animated TV series.<br />

New “Gladiator Beast” cards<br />

give this well-loved Deck a spark of<br />

modern day energy.<br />

Synchro and Xyz Monsters that have<br />

carried tons of Duelists to the top of<br />

the bracket rise again!<br />

Yusei’s Duel to save the future nearly<br />

went wrong due to Z-one’s imposing<br />

and indestructible Timelords! Master<br />

these monsters from an alternative<br />

future and you can rewind pieces of<br />

your opponent’s Deck while draining<br />

away their Life Points.


TCG NEWS<br />

Yu-Gi-Oh! - Starter<br />

Deck 2017 Link Strike<br />

- OUT 20 JULY!<br />

Catch the next wave of Yu-Gi-Oh!<br />

TRADING CARD GAME monsters<br />

with Starter Deck - Link Strike -! Link<br />

Monsters let you bring a brand-new<br />

level of domination to your Duels by<br />

mastering not just how you play your<br />

cards, but where you play them too!<br />

Link Monsters start the Duel in your<br />

Extra Deck, and you Link Summon<br />

them to your field by sending face-up<br />

monsters you control to the Graveyard;<br />

each Link Monster will tell you<br />

exactly what kind of monsters you<br />

need and how many to use. Link<br />

Monsters don’t have a Level or Rank,<br />

or even a DEF stat. They can never<br />

be face-down or in Defense Position;<br />

they’re always face-up and in<br />

Attack Position, so you always know<br />

where their arrows point! Arrows on<br />

the Link Monster are the most important<br />

feature because they point out<br />

the Monster Zones on the field they<br />

are linked to. Depending on their effects,<br />

a Link Monster could gain ATK<br />

for every monster in a zone it points<br />

to, or protect any monster in a zone it<br />

points to from being destroyed. The<br />

possibilities for Link Monster effects<br />

are endless, but effects aren’t the<br />

only great thing about Link Monsters!<br />

Link Monsters also make it possible<br />

to control many different monsters<br />

Summoned from your Extra Deck, at<br />

the same time! Any adjacent Monster<br />

Zones a Link Monster’s arrows point<br />

to become available to Summon new<br />

monsters from your Extra Deck. Getting<br />

as many arrows pointing at your<br />

own zones as you can, while avoiding<br />

arrows pointing to your opponent’s<br />

zones, is a new and important element<br />

of strategy you’ll want to master<br />

with Starter Deck - Link Strike.


MAGIC THE GATHERING-<br />

AMONKHET HOUR OF<br />

DEVASTATION<br />

Set Name: Hour of Devastation<br />

Block: Set 2 of 2 in the Amonkhet<br />

Block<br />

Number of Cards: 184<br />

Prerelease Events: July 8-9, 2017<br />

Release Date: July 14, 2017<br />

Draft Weekend: July 15-16, 2017


GRAB YO<br />

JOIN<br />

CLUB &<br />

FREE<br />

Conditions apply. Selected stores only. Ask staff for details.


OUR TCG<br />

RECEIVE A<br />

BOOSTER!*<br />

UR CARD IN-STORE TODAY!<br />

Selected stores only.


GAMETRADERS<br />

EVENTS<br />

& TCG<br />

TOURNAMENTS!


QUEENSLAND<br />

CHERMSIDE<br />

Yu-Gi-Oh - Sunday 3pm & Wednesday 6:30pm<br />

Final Fantasy - Tuesday 6:30pm<br />

Cardfight!! Vanguard - Wednesday 6:30pm<br />

Pokémon - Saturday 3pm<br />

Magic the Gathering - Tuesday & Friday 6:30pm<br />

MORAYFIELD<br />

Magic the Gathering Modern - Wednesday 7pm<br />

Magic the Gathering Standard - Friday 7pm<br />

Yu-Gi-Oh - Thursday 6pm & Sunday 2pm<br />

Pokémon - Saturday 12pm<br />

Magic the Gathering Learn to Play - Saturday 12pm<br />

LARP Tournaments - Saturday 6pm<br />

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY<br />

HYPERDOME<br />

Yu-Gi-Oh - Saturday 10am<br />

Pokémon - Saturday 2pm


NEW SOUTH WALES<br />

BLACKTOWN<br />

Dungeons & Dragons TCG - Saturday 10am<br />

Yu-Gi-Oh - Saturday 10:30am<br />

Magic the Gathering - Saturday 2pm<br />

Pokémon - Saturday 2pm<br />

MACARTHUR SQUARE (CAMPBELLTOWN)<br />

Yu-Gi-Oh - Wednesday 5:30pm<br />

Final Fantasy - Tuesday 5:30pm<br />

PARRAMATTA<br />

Yu-Gi-Oh - Wednesday 6pm<br />

Magic the Gathering - Friday 6pm<br />

Cardfight!! Vanguard - Wednesday 6pm<br />

GAMETRADERS LIVE PENRITH<br />

Cardfight!! Vanguard - Saturday 5pm<br />

Magic the Gathering - Friday 7pm<br />

Pokémon - Saturday 12pm<br />

X-Wing - Wednesday 7pm<br />

Dragon Ball Z - Thursday 6pm<br />

Force of Will - Friday 7:30pm<br />

Buddyfight - Saturday 12pm<br />

My Little Pony - Saturday 5pm<br />

Demo board games from Wednesday through to Saturday.<br />

GAMETRADERS LIVE HORNSBY<br />

Yu-Gi-Oh - Tuesday 4pm & Sunday 11am<br />

Pokémon - Sunday 2pm<br />

Magic the Gathering (Draft) - Wednesday 4pm & 7pm<br />

Hearthstone Fireside Gathering + Tournament - Wednesday 6pm<br />

Board Games - Thursday 7pm<br />

Magic the Gathering (FNM) - 6pm (Standard, Modern, Draft)<br />

Super Smash Bros - Saturday 1pm<br />

Magic the Gathering (Commander) - Saturday 2pm<br />

For more special events and tournaments please visit:<br />

www.facebook.com/GametradersHornsby


SOUTH AUSTRALIA<br />

INGLE FARM<br />

No current tournaments.<br />

MARION<br />

Pokémon - Saturday 2pm<br />

Cardfight!! Vanguard - Tuesday 6pm<br />

Yu-Gi-Oh - Wednesday 6pm<br />

Final Fantasy - Wednesday 6pm<br />

Magic the Gathering - Friday 6pm<br />

SEAFORD<br />

FREE Monday Night Magic - (Standard/Constructed) 6pm (5:30pm registration)<br />

My Little Pony - Tuesday 5pm (4:30pm registration)<br />

Video Game Tournaments - Tuesday 6pm (5:30pm registration)<br />

Dungeons and Dragons - Wednesday 6pm (5:30pm registration)<br />

Board Game Nights - Wednesday from 5-8pm<br />

Dragon Ball Z TCG Tournament - Thursday 5:30pm<br />

Yu-Gi-Oh - Thursday 6pm (5:30pm registration)<br />

Cardfight!! Vanguard - Friday 4:30pm<br />

Friday Night Magic - Draft 6pm (5:30pm registration)<br />

Pokémon - Sunday 1pm (12:30 registration)<br />

MT. BARKER<br />

X-Wing - Wednesday 6pm<br />

Final Fantasy - Wednesday 6pm<br />

Yu-Gi-Oh - Sunday 2pm<br />

Magic the Gathering Commander - Wednesday 6pm<br />

Friday Night Magic Draft - Friday 6pm<br />

Casual X-Wing, Magic & Board Games - Thursdays from 6pm<br />

SALISBURY<br />

Final Fantasy - Tuesday 6pm (5:30pm registration)<br />

Magic the Gathering - Friday 6pm (5:30pm registration)<br />

Magic the Gathering (Casual) - Thursday 5:30pm<br />

Yu-Gi-Oh - Saturday 1pm (12:30pm registration)<br />

Pokémon - Sunday 12pm (11:30am registration)<br />

GAMETRADERS TOURNAMENTS & EVENTS!<br />

Tournaments are subject to change. Please check with your local store on tournament times before attending.<br />

Visit www.gametraders.com.au/facebook to find your local stores Facebook page.


...Trading cards, tournaments, accessories &<br />

more. Get it all at Gametraders.


TCG MUST-HAVES!<br />

OUT 20<br />

JULY<br />

OUT 9<br />

JUNE<br />

OUT 22<br />

JUNE<br />

OUT 8<br />

JUNE<br />

OUT 6<br />

JULY<br />

DON’T MISS OUT! PRE-ORDER<br />

OR BUY IN STORE TODAY!


GET IT AT<br />

GAMETRADERS!<br />

AVAILABLE 14 JULY!<br />

Ask staff for details.


MAKE 2017<br />

YOUR YEAR<br />

FRANCHISES NOW AVAILABLE<br />

Go ahead - make your day, week... your life.<br />

Be your own boss!<br />

Visit www.gametraders.com.au/franchising for details<br />

about a Gametraders <strong>Live</strong> franchise opportunity.


THE W RLD’S<br />

BIGGEST SPIN<br />

PRESENTED BY GAMETRADERS MARION<br />

PROCEEDS GO TO AUTISM SA<br />

WANT TO BE PART OF HISTORY?<br />

Gametraders Marion is hosting the World’s Biggest Spin - A<br />

World Record attempt at having the largest simultaneous<br />

Fidget Spin - the most people spinning at one time.<br />

SUNDAY 11 JUNE: 9 - 11AM<br />

Level 2 Westfield Marion, 297 Diagonal Rd, Oaklands Park<br />

(Enter via Coles entrance on level 2 - see map for details)<br />

Cost: BYO Spinner and gold coin donation to Autism SA OR<br />

purchase a spinner for $10 at Gametraders Marion and we<br />

will donate $2 to Autism SA on your behalf!


GAMETRADERS<br />

ENTRY<br />

*Best car parking is upstairs via the ramp<br />

with access from either Diagonal Road or<br />

Morphett Road. Ask staff for details!<br />

For all event details visit facebook.com/worldsbiggestspin<br />

or scan the QR code here:


GAMETRADERS:<br />

THE HOME OF RETRO<br />

TRADE & SAVE on anything in-store!<br />

Bring in your unwanted games or consoles &<br />

we’ll give you store credit to use in-store!<br />

PLUS at Gametraders you can choose from our massive<br />

range of discounted pre-owned and retro gaming!


FIDGET<br />

SPINNERS<br />

AVAILABLE NOW!<br />

Colours may vary. Ask staff for details.


20 TH ANNIVERSARY<br />

PRE-ORDER NOW!<br />

Ask staff for details. Limited stock!


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

Anywhere...<br />

issuu.com/gametraders


REPLACE YOUR<br />

TIRED TOGGLE<br />

FITTED IN-STORE FOR $24.99!<br />

If your N64 controller has<br />

a tired toggle, replace<br />

it at Gametraders. Bring<br />

your old controller in for<br />

on the spot replacement!<br />

OR DIY $19.99<br />

TOGGLE ONLY<br />

Ask staff for details.<br />

Trade & Save on anything in-store!


Ask us about<br />

HUGE RANGE AVAILABLE!


DRAGON BALL Z<br />

POP! VINYLS!<br />

GET ‘EM AT GAMETRADERS<br />

Ask staff for details / release date.


GAMETRADERS:<br />

THE HOME OF RETRO<br />

TRADE & SAVE on anything in-store!<br />

Bring in your unwanted games or consoles &<br />

we’ll give you store credit to use in-store!<br />

PLUS at Gametraders you can choose from our massive<br />

range of discounted pre-owned and retro gaming!


“There is a superhero inside<br />

all of us, we just need the<br />

courage to put on the cape”<br />

- Superman<br />

Superhero month at


DRAGONBALL Z<br />

PRE-ORDER NOW!<br />

Ask staff for details. Due October 2017!


DC BOMBSHELLS<br />

HARLEY QUINN<br />

DELUXE STATUE<br />

PRE-ORDER<br />

NOW!<br />

The first DC Bombshells<br />

Deluxe Statue is here!<br />

Harley Quinn drops through<br />

the clouds in this extraordinary<br />

new statue that displays her<br />

original, full-concept Bombshells<br />

depiction.<br />

Limited <strong>Edition</strong> of 5,000<br />

Measures Approximately 14.46” Tall


Cards<br />

Against<br />

Humanity<br />

Expansions also available! Get ‘em at Gametraders!


PARTY<br />

GAMES!


Grab your Pop Club from your local store & receive your 12 th Pop! FREE!


POWER RANGERS<br />

WHITE RANGER<br />

LIFE-SIZE BUST<br />

PRE-ORDER<br />

NOW!<br />

HURRY!<br />

LIMITED<br />

NUMBERS!<br />

Ask staff for details.


PRIME 1<br />

STUDIO<br />

COLLECTABLES<br />

NOW AVAILABLE<br />

TO ORDER!


GREAT GIFT IDEAS!


HUGE<br />

RANGE OF<br />

BOARD<br />

GAMES<br />

FOR THE<br />

WHOLE<br />

FAMILY!


WAN<br />

YOUR RETR<br />

& CONS<br />

NINTENDO 64 . GAMEBOY ADVANCE . DREA<br />

TRADE NOW!


TED<br />

O GAMES<br />

OLES!<br />

MCAST . GAMECUBE . SNES . NES + MORE!


HUGE RAN<br />

AVAILABLE<br />

JOIN OUR POP CLUB & RECEIVE YOUR 12TH POP FREE! AS


GE OF POP! VINYLS<br />

AT GAMETRADERS!<br />

K STAFF FOR DETAILS.


STAR<br />

WARS<br />

X-WING<br />

AT GAMETRADERS!


TRADE AT<br />

GAMETRADERS<br />

& GET IN-STORE<br />

CREDIT &<br />

BIG SAVINGS!<br />

SAVE<br />

BIG BUCKS WHEN<br />

YOU TRADE with<br />

Got unwanted games or consoles<br />

sitting around at home? Bring them<br />

into Gametraders and we’ll give<br />

you store credit that you can use<br />

when you buy anything in-store!<br />

Ask staff on how you can<br />

trade & save now!<br />

PLUS at Gametraders you can<br />

choose from our massive range of<br />

discounted pre-owned and<br />

retro gaming!<br />

TRADE<br />

Buying, selling & trading retro now!<br />

&<br />

SAV E


Gametraders stores now have gaming tables where you can see


AT GAMETRADERS!<br />

X-WING<br />

the latest in table top gaming (including X-Wing) in action!<br />

STAR WARS


ameS<br />

DARKSIDERS<br />

III OFFICIALLY<br />

ANNOUNCED, REVEAL<br />

TRAILER RELEASED<br />

NEWS<br />

NEW PLAYSTATION<br />

RELEASES - DIRT 4,<br />

WIPEOUT OMEGA<br />

COLLECTION<br />

NEWS<br />

TOP 10 GAMES<br />

SWITCH SHOULD<br />

(REALISTICALLY) GET<br />

GAMING<br />

THE UPS AND<br />

DOWNS OF THE<br />

PREY DEMO<br />

GAMING


NEWS<br />

DARKSIDERS<br />

III OFFICIALLY<br />

ANNOUNCED,<br />

REVEAL TRAILER<br />

RELEASED<br />

THQ Nordic and Gunfire Games have officially announced that Darksiders III following the leak earlier today.<br />

The game launches for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC in 2018.<br />

View the reveal trailer here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-QgJ-EFq7A


VGCHARTZ.COM<br />

FROM VGCHARTZ.COM<br />

Here is an overview:<br />

Return to an apocalyptic planet<br />

Earth in Darksiders III, a hack-nslash<br />

action adventure where<br />

players take on the role of FURY<br />

in her quest to hunt down and dispose<br />

of the Seven Deadly Sins.<br />

The Charred Council calls upon<br />

Fury to battle from the heights of<br />

heaven down through the depths<br />

of hell in a quest to restore humanity<br />

and prove that she is the most<br />

powerful of the Horsemen. As a<br />

mage, FURY relies on her whip and<br />

magic to restore the balance between<br />

good and evil. The expansive,<br />

Darksiders III game world is<br />

presented as an open-ended, living,<br />

free-form planet Earth that is<br />

dilapidated by war and decay, and<br />

overrun by nature. FURY will move<br />

back and forth between environments<br />

to uncover secrets while<br />

advancing the Darksiders III story.<br />

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-QgJ-EFq7A<br />

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-QgJ-EFq7A<br />

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-QgJ-EFq7A<br />

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-QgJ-EFq7A<br />

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-QgJ-EFq7A<br />

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-QgJ-EFq7A<br />

BY WILLIAM D'ANGELO<br />

FROM VGCHARTZ.COM


NEWS<br />

NEW PLAYSTATION<br />

RELEASES - DIRT 4,<br />

WIPEOUT OMEGA<br />

COLLECTION


VGCHARTZ.COM<br />

FROM VGCHARTZ.COM<br />

Here is the full list of games:<br />

Cladun Returns: This is Sengoku!, PS4, PS Vita — Digital, PS4 Version at Retail<br />

Dark Rose Valkyrie, PS4 — Digital, Retail<br />

Dirt 4, PS4 — Digital, Retail<br />

The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind, PS4 — Digital, Retail<br />

Farming Simulator 18, PS Vita — Digital<br />

Jump Stars, PS4 — Digital<br />

Neighborhorde, PS4 — Digital<br />

Perception, PS4 — Digital<br />

Plague Road, PS Vita — Digital<br />

Randall, PS4 — Digital<br />

Special Delivery, PS VR — Digital<br />

Superbeat: Xonic, PS4 — Digital, Retail<br />

The Town of Light, PS4 — Digital, Retail<br />

Victor Vran, PS4 — Digital<br />

Wipeout Omega Collection, PS4 — Digital, Retail<br />

BY WILLIAM D'ANGELO<br />

FROM VGCHARTZ.COM


TOP 10 GAMES S<br />

(REA<br />

YOUR gaming SAY<br />

With the Switch launch in the record<br />

books, and with many small<br />

and large-scale projects announced<br />

for the future, it seems as<br />

good a time as any to daydream<br />

about a Switch software wishlist.<br />

Before we start, let’s set a few<br />

ground rules.<br />

Everything on this list needs to be<br />

realistic. There won’t be any titles<br />

that require bleeding-edge technology,<br />

nor will there be titles from<br />

publishers reluctant to support<br />

Nintendo’s newest platform. Don’t<br />

expect Titanfall 2 or Mass Effect<br />

Andromeda on this list. In addition,<br />

every property needs to be either<br />

controlled by Nintendo or independently<br />

owned. There will be no<br />

Bloodborne or Sunset Overdrive<br />

on Switch.<br />

With that housekeeping<br />

out of the<br />

way, let’s dive in!


VGCHARTZ.COM<br />

WITCH SHOULD<br />

LISTICALLY) GET<br />

FROM VGCHARTZ.COM<br />

BY EVAN NORRIS<br />

FROM VGCHARTZ.COM


Owlboy<br />

If any indie game belongs on Switch, it’s Owlboy. Inspired by Super Mario Bros. 3 and Kid Icarus, the pixel art platformer<br />

would feel right at home next to Nintendo’s own platforming offerings. According to composer Jonathan<br />

Greer, developer D-Pad Studio plans to bring the game to consoles, so perhaps it’s just a matter of time before<br />

Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo fans are all enjoying Owlboy’s retro goodness in the comfort of their living rooms<br />

and, in the case of Switch, on the go.


Undertale<br />

Toby Fox, creator of Undertale, reached out to Nintendo about a port of his critically-acclaimed RPG last year,<br />

but nothing came of the conversation. Now, with Nintendo taking a more active role in recruiting third-party<br />

content, maybe it’s time for Mr. Fox and the Japanese gaming giant to have another chat. With its minimalist<br />

graphics, Undertale could easily run on Switch. Plus, it shares a lot in common with a beloved Nintendo property,<br />

EarthBound.


Nintendo vs.<br />

Capcom<br />

With a retro Street Fighter and a BlazBlue title confirmed for Switch, Nintendo’s newest system is looking to<br />

capitalize on those who enjoy 2D fighters. Now, Switch may not get heavy hitters like Tekken 7 or Injustice 2,<br />

but surely it could work out a deal with Capcom for Nintendo vs. Capcom, a 2D brawler that pits the best of<br />

Nintendo versus the best of Capcom. The two companies have a long history of supporting cross-over titles<br />

together, including Tatsunoko vs. Capcom on Wii and Project X Zone on 3DS.<br />

Imagine Dante facing off with Link, or Jill Valentine shooting it out with Samus Aran. Picture Amaterasu grappling<br />

with Wolf O’Donnell, or Arthur (of Ghosts ‘n Goblins fame) attempting to tame Ridley. You know you want this<br />

game.<br />

Thanks to Spencer <strong>Man</strong>igat for this suggestion.


DIDDY KONG<br />

RACING 2<br />

Rumors about a sequel to the N64 classic Diddy Kong Racing have been circulating for several years now, although<br />

none of them are especially believable; one suggested the Switch, then codenamed “NX,” would launch<br />

at $150. Yet it’s an attractive proposition. Yes, Nintendo already has the industry-leading kart racer in Mario<br />

Kart but Diddy Kong Racing, with its robust single-player campaign, always felt like a different animal. Monster<br />

Games, which developed Excite Truck and worked closely with Retro on Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze,<br />

has the skill set to make this fabled sequel a reality.


Tecmo Bowl:<br />

30th Anniversary<br />

Switch might miss out on some high-profile sports sims, but it could become a home for retro arcade-like sports<br />

games. Enter Tecmo Bowl, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Tecmo Bowl originated in arcades,<br />

but it was on NES that the game became a sensation. Since then it’s been ported to the Virtual Console on Wii,<br />

WiiU, and 3DS. It was also one of 30 games included on the NES Classic last year. An updated version of the<br />

game with HD graphics and old-school arcade gameplay would fit right in with Switch’s retro sensibilities.


ROCKET<br />

LEAGUE<br />

This just makes too much sense. Rocket League is a brilliant, accessible vehicular soccer game that speaks to<br />

fans of all skill levels. It would find a strong following on Switch, or on any platform for that matter. The game’s<br />

offline multiplayer offerings would make it especially attractive on a platform oriented around local play. According<br />

to Jeremy Dunham, vice president of Psyonix, “It’s definitely too early to say it wouldn’t happen, but it’s also<br />

definitely too early to say that it would.”


Bayonetta 3<br />

As of E3 2016, PlatinumGames’ Hideki Kamiya hadn’t spoken to any publishers about Bayonetta 3, but Nintendo<br />

would be wise to fund a third installment of the high-octane hack ‘n slash series. With Bayonetta 2 a WiiU<br />

exclusive and with the titular character a newcomer in Super Smash Bros., it makes sense from a marketing<br />

perspective for Nintendo to retain the rights for the franchise moving forward. A potential Bayonetta 3 probably<br />

wouldn’t break any sales records or change the minds of fans inclined to ignore Switch, but it would fill a gap in<br />

Nintendo’s portfolio and keep the best-in-the-genre series alive.


HEARTHSTONE<br />

Overwatch might be a lost cause on Switch, but another Blizzard property has a fighting chance: Hearthstone. A<br />

massive success on computers and smart devices, Hearthstone could easily make its console debut on Switch.<br />

Thanks to the system’s large capacitive screen, Hearthstone could be played without any modifications in portable<br />

mode. In docked mode, a Joy-Con could be used as a pointer to select cards. Senior designer Mike Donais<br />

is open to the idea: “...it’s a good discussion worth having.”


METROID DREAD<br />

At this point, Dread is as much a symbol as it is an actual game. It’s what many fans have requested for years:<br />

a 2D side-scrolling sequel to Metroid Fusion. With games like Other M and Federation Force failing to capture<br />

the essence of Metroid, a new 2D installment in the vein of Super Metroid, Zero Mission, and Fusion would go a<br />

long way toward rebooting the franchise and satiating frustrated fans.


Super Smash<br />

Bros. 4 Deluxe<br />

This seems like a slam dunk. With Nintendo open to the idea of GOTY editions — see Mario Kart 8 Deluxe — and<br />

with an online paywall arriving in the fall, the idea of a deluxe version of Super Smash Bros. 4 sounds like a nobrainer.<br />

It would include all of the content from both the WiiU and 3DS versions of the game, plus all released<br />

DLC. This would be a terrific value proposition for Switch owners and, along with Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon,<br />

could provide incentive for fans to bite the bullet, so to speak, on online fees later this year.<br />

BY EVAN NORRIS<br />

FROM VGCHARTZ.COM


THE UPS AND<br />

YOUR gaming SAY<br />

The Prey property has a long and<br />

bumpy history. The first game, released<br />

in 2006, had been in development<br />

limbo since 1995, recalculating<br />

over the years according<br />

to different designs, technologies,<br />

and narratives. A planned sequel<br />

suffered through a similarly<br />

rocky period, as the Prey IP left<br />

3D Realms in 2009 and ended up<br />

with ZeniMax, the parent company<br />

of Bethesda. In 2011, for unknown<br />

reasons, Prey developer Human<br />

Head stopped production of Prey<br />

2. Two years later, Bethesda as-<br />

signed the game to Arkane Studios<br />

(Arx Fatalis, Dishonored).<br />

The new, reinvented Prey, courtesy<br />

of Arkane, arrives on May 5. Since<br />

April 27, Bethesda has offered to<br />

PS4 and XOne owners a demo<br />

that includes the opening hour<br />

of the game. It’s a robust, generous<br />

demo not unlike Resident Evil<br />

7’s “Beginning Hour.” It shines a<br />

light on Prey’s gameplay systems,<br />

which more closely resemble System<br />

Shock, BioShock, and Deus<br />

Ex, and share little in common with<br />

the original 2006 title.


VGCHARTZ.COM<br />

DOWNS OF THE<br />

PREY DEMO<br />

FROM VGCHARTZ.COM<br />

BY EVAN NORRIS<br />

FROM VGCHARTZ.COM


Prey follows Morgan Yu, a scientist<br />

aboard a space station infested<br />

with hostile alien life forms called<br />

“Mimics.” Able to mimic everyday<br />

items like coffee mugs and chairs,<br />

Mimics are frightening enemies.<br />

During the demo, players will encounter<br />

mimics in several forms,<br />

some of which are small and spidery,<br />

some bipedal and ferocious.<br />

While Mimics are a new and interesting<br />

adversary, the combat<br />

situations with them are far less<br />

impressive. Combat in general is<br />

the weakest element of Prey. It’s<br />

clumsy and awkward. This might<br />

be intentional on the part of Arkane<br />

— the game reminds players<br />

at one point that it’s possible to<br />

sneak around or outsmart powerful<br />

enemies —but if direct combat<br />

is an option it should be enjoyable.<br />

The worst part of combat is the<br />

blaring music that plays during enemy<br />

interaction. Once a Mimic is<br />

discovered, the game blasts jarringly<br />

loud music until all Mimics in<br />

the area are dispatched. On the<br />

one hand, this allows players to understand<br />

when a combat scenario<br />

has begun and ended. On the other<br />

hand, it saps all of the tension<br />

from the game. It defeats its own<br />

purpose, to quote Robert DeNiro<br />

in Raging Bull. Mimics can hide in<br />

any interactive item in the game,<br />

after all. Better to put the player<br />

in a constant state of anxiety than<br />

to make loud, obnoxious signals<br />

when a Mimic is in the room.<br />

Combat aside, Prey has several<br />

intriguing gameplay systems that<br />

make it attractive for fans of slowburn<br />

first-person action-adventure<br />

games. Early on, the game encourages<br />

players to “play your way.”<br />

It suggests to its audience that it<br />

can experiment with different approaches<br />

to overcome challenges<br />

and enemies.<br />

This isn’t mere lip service.<br />

Throughout the demo, players can<br />

embrace different play styles to<br />

achieve their goals. In one section,<br />

players can bypass a security door<br />

by either finding a hidden badge or<br />

sneaking through an air duct. In the<br />

following area, players can access<br />

a higher floor by fixing a broken<br />

elevator — with the help of a neuromod,<br />

which grants Morgan new<br />

skills and abilities — or by using a<br />

GLOO cannon to create platforms.<br />

Open-ended exploration is another<br />

strength of Prey. There are no discrete<br />

levels in the game. Rather,<br />

the Talos I space station is one<br />

large venue that Morgan explores<br />

and re-explores throughout the<br />

game.<br />

Toward the very end of the demo,<br />

Prey introduces the Recycler and<br />

Fabricator, two enticing modules.<br />

The recycler reprocesses the useless<br />

items Morgan finds around<br />

Talos I into synthetic, mineral, and<br />

organic material, which can then<br />

be used in Fabricators to construct<br />

dozens of useful items.<br />

For fans of games that encourage<br />

leisurely exploration and freedom<br />

of choice, Prey may be a winner.<br />

Fans looking for satisfying firstperson<br />

shooting or anything approximating<br />

the portal-based puzzles<br />

of the original Prey will most<br />

likely walk away disappointed.


BY EVAN NORRIS<br />

FROM VGCHARTZ.COM


C O S P LA<br />

ROSE<br />

COSPLAY<br />

interview<br />

WHEN<br />

COSPLAY IS<br />

TOO SEXUAL<br />

reader CONTRIBUTION


Y


COSPLAY<br />

ROSE<br />

Magic Missile Studios: www.facebook.com/magicmissilestudios<br />

Andy Wana Photography: www.facebook.com/AndyWanaPhotography


INTERVIEWED BY ANNY SIMMS<br />

Welcome to LIVE <strong>Magazine</strong> Cassie!<br />

Could you tell our readers a bit about<br />

yourself?<br />

Thanks! My name is Cassie and I’m<br />

a 21 year old cosplayer from Canberra!<br />

Online I go by Rose Cosplay,<br />

and I love to cosplay a mix between<br />

anime and video game characters.<br />

I’ve been cosplaying for about 8<br />

years now, primarily at Sydney conventions<br />

and occasionally in Canberra<br />

and Melbourne. My main hobbies<br />

include video games, anime, board<br />

games and tabletop RPG’s!<br />

How did you discover cosplay?<br />

In high school I studied Japanese,<br />

and there was a poster in my Japanese<br />

classroom for a convention in<br />

Sydney called Animania! My friends<br />

and I talked about going, and in September<br />

2009 we all made the trip<br />

together and we attended our very<br />

first convention! Looking it up gave<br />

us a very vague idea of cosplay, and<br />

I made a backpack that looked like<br />

a character from my favourite anime<br />

at the time (Kagura from Fruits<br />

Basket), thinking that I didn’t want<br />

to stand out too much. When I got<br />

there, and saw all the brightly coloured<br />

wigs and elaborate costumes<br />

my mind changed immediately, and<br />

after that I decided cosplay was<br />

for me. It all seemed so fantastical,<br />

and I desperately wanted to be one<br />

of those people in the big, beautiful<br />

cosplays. Ever since, I’ve been striving<br />

for that.<br />

What’s your favourite con to attend?<br />

My favourite definitely is PAX Australia.<br />

Of all the Australian conventions<br />

I have attended, PAX has the<br />

most to see and do. While some<br />

conventions can feel a little repetitive<br />

after a few years, PAX always<br />

brings in new and exciting things<br />

for me to watch and play and take<br />

part in. I’ll always make sure to plan<br />

at least one day out of cosplay so I<br />

can go around the convention floor<br />

and play all the indie games, line up<br />

for the VR demos and spend all my<br />

money on board games.<br />

What’s the most challenging<br />

part about choosing and making<br />

cosplay?<br />

The most challenging part for me is<br />

starting a new costume! I’m the kind<br />

of person that can’t leave a job half<br />

done, often sacrificing sleep to finish<br />

something I’ve started. If I haven’t<br />

started yet, I feel a little less obligation<br />

to get going with it however.<br />

Once I get the ball rolling and just<br />

pick one part of the cosplay to start,<br />

even if it is as small as jewellery, the<br />

momentum from that keeps me going<br />

and it becomes much easier to<br />

finish.<br />

What has cosplay added to your life?<br />

A whole lot of amazing connections<br />

and friends I never would have otherwise<br />

met. It’s like having a huge<br />

friendship circle that are all into<br />

the same nerdy stuff as you, and I<br />

don’t ever have to worry about talking<br />

about my nerdy interests online<br />

and having friends not understand.<br />

Before cosplay my circle of friends<br />

that shared my interests in anime<br />

and games was very, very small, but<br />

once I started I met so many new<br />

and wonderful people at conventions,<br />

and they have become some<br />

of the best and most supportive<br />

friends I have. For a long time it also<br />

gave me something to look forward<br />

to in the year, and something to work<br />

towards when work and life got too<br />

repetitive and mundane.<br />

Any tips for someone just starting to<br />

get into cosplay?<br />

Don’t worry about whether a cosplay<br />

will suit you or whether people will<br />

‘get it’ or recognize you, just pick a<br />

character you love! There is no way<br />

to do cosplay ‘wrong’. The most fun I<br />

have in cosplay is when I am dressed<br />

as a character that I really like and<br />

enjoy. The best part of my day is always<br />

when other fans of the series<br />

come up and talk to me about it, or<br />

yell the character’s catchphrase at<br />

me, or even something as simple as<br />

taking a photo with me and saying<br />

how much they like the character.<br />

It gives me just a brief connection<br />

with someone else that shares my<br />

love of the character, and it feels so<br />

nice when people get excited about<br />

it with you. Cosplay is for fun! So if<br />

you’re not going to have fun doing<br />

it, there is no point in doing it. Wear<br />

something that will make you feel<br />

good, and at the end of the day it will<br />

be worth it.<br />

Are there any games you’re looking<br />

forward to, or are currently enjoying<br />

playing?<br />

I’m really looking forward to getting<br />

to play Persona 5! I’m also very ex-


Carlos Mayenco Photography: www.facebook.com/carlosmayencophotography


cited to get my hands on The Legend<br />

Of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I<br />

really think that is going to be a huge<br />

leap forward in gaming and from all<br />

the videos I’ve seen it really looks<br />

amazing.<br />

Any ideas what you’ll be working on<br />

next?<br />

I’ll actually be cosplaying Futaba<br />

from Persona 5 very soon, but after<br />

this I will begin my bigger project this<br />

year and start working on my Diablo<br />

III Monk. I’m really looking forward to<br />

working on that one as the armour<br />

will be a fun challenge for me!<br />

What’s the most expensive and<br />

least expensive cosplay you’ve ever<br />

done?<br />

Ooh my most expensive would be<br />

Samara from Mass Effect due to the<br />

latex headpiece alone. Unfortunately<br />

there was some complications<br />

which made the costume unwearable<br />

the week before the convention<br />

but I sunk $800-$1000 into that one,<br />

and I actually bought an airbrush machine<br />

to do the makeup as well!<br />

Least expensive would probably be<br />

Futaba – I was lucky to have all of<br />

her outfit pieces on hand already so<br />

I just had to buy a $6 set of headphones<br />

and an $8 T-Shirt which I will<br />

be altering.<br />

Where can our readers find out more<br />

about you?<br />

I post all of my cosplay related<br />

content on my Facebook page at<br />

www.facebook.com/RoseCosplay/ :)<br />

ONLINE:<br />

www.facebook.com/RoseCosplay


Carlos Mayenco Photography: www.facebook.com/carlosmayencophotography


EllusionStudio: www.facebook.com/EllusionStudio<br />

Magic Missile Studios: www.facebook.com/magicmissilestudios with<br />

Tears of Valhalla: www.facebook.com/witnessValhalla/


Trung Do Photography: www.facebook.com/TrungDoPhotography/<br />

Regan X Lau Photography: www.facebook.com/rxlphotography


Cosplay Australia: www.facebook.com/CosplayAU


Charmaine Morgan Photography: www.facebook.com/charmaine.morgan88<br />

Wh


at A Big Camera: www.facebook.com/WhatABigCamera<br />

Magic Missile Studios: www.facebook.com/magicmissilestudios


eader CONTRIBUTION<br />

when<br />

cosplay is too sexual?<br />

by Bec from Costume Collection [costumecollection.com.au]<br />

This month we received an article from<br />

Bec from Costume Collection - (you<br />

can see more here:<br />

www.costumecollection.com.au)<br />

It asks the question of what to do when<br />

Cosplay is too sexual. Here’s what she<br />

had to say...<br />

“Cosplay is an abbreviation of ‘costume<br />

play’. It is a hobby whereby people<br />

dress up as fictional characters,<br />

especially those from manga, animation<br />

or computer games,” says Melinda<br />

Tankard Reist, writer and advocate for<br />

women and girls. Dressing up, whether<br />

it’s for a party or just to look nice when<br />

you go out, is a fundamentally human<br />

thing to do and I daresay countless anthropologists<br />

have devoted their PhDs<br />

to uncovering the deep spiritual need<br />

that binds all the earth’s people. While<br />

Melinda does explain what cosplay is, it<br />

is only the tip of the iceberg. At its core,<br />

cosplay is a combination of social fun<br />

and self-expression, literally wearing<br />

your fandoms for all the community to<br />

see. For some it is a form of escape<br />

and liberation, wearing something you<br />

would dare not wear in your daily life.<br />

But at a convention you can be the<br />

character you have always wanted to<br />

be.<br />

Another thing that is as old as Gandalf<br />

is sexism, and the cosplay community<br />

is not immune. The community’s<br />

reliance on social media and that lifegiving<br />

nectar that is the internet only<br />

amplifies the issues to a global scale<br />

giving cosplayers no safe haven from<br />

unwanted attention. Melinda Tankard<br />

Reist says “there is nothing inherently<br />

wrong with dressing up as one’s favourite<br />

character. But because of the<br />

sexualised way that women are depicted<br />

in many of the manga, anime and<br />

games that cosplayers emulate, it can<br />

have negative impacts on women.”<br />

Just because you’re wearing an attention-grabbing<br />

outfit doesn’t mean you<br />

want it (and, inherently, yourself) sexualised.<br />

At best it is uncomfortable, and<br />

at worst it can make for a very dangerous<br />

situation.<br />

Cosplayers, no matter their gender,<br />

should be able to enjoy a convention<br />

without worrying about lecherous congoers.<br />

Australian Cosplayer and judge<br />

of Jakarta’s 2016 Toys & Comics Fair,<br />

Kiara Kirameki, is no stranger to receiving<br />

sexual harassment. Most harassment<br />

is from people calling out of<br />

their cars or passing by on the street,<br />

people who don’t know or understand<br />

what cosplay is. Let’s not forget that<br />

the internet, as amazing as it is, allows<br />

people to harass cosplayers from<br />

the safety of their computer chairs at<br />

home. However, while at the convention,<br />

the security staff are there to protect<br />

all attendees and ensure that no<br />

one, no matter how they are dressed,<br />

are harassed in any way.<br />

“It doesn’t fly in conventions, the Con’s<br />

will actually protect you which is good.<br />

So, if you have a problem with someone<br />

you can go up to security and they<br />

will help you.”<br />

Popular conventions in Australia such<br />

as SupaNova, OzComicCon have very<br />

strict anti-harassment policies where<br />

stepping even a toe out of line can<br />

lead to people being kicked out of the<br />

event. Dracula’s Operations <strong>Man</strong>ager,<br />

Luke Newman, says that they have a<br />

zero tolerance policy towards sexual<br />

harassment, “sometimes, customers<br />

can get a little too ‘into the atmosphere’,<br />

and say or act inappropriately<br />

towards staff members. It’s rare, but<br />

when it does happen, our staff are<br />

trained to drop character and address<br />

the issue. We want to foster an environment<br />

where our customers and<br />

staff feel safe to enjoy themselves.”<br />

- Jessica Nigri, Kida, Atlantis<br />

Sexiness as costuming isn’t an unspoken<br />

aspect of the community and<br />

it certainly has been tapped into, for<br />

better or for worse. Popular cosplayer,<br />

Jessica Nigri, is well known for her sexy<br />

adaptations of popular characters,<br />

most notably her sexy pikachu and has<br />

received mixed comments. While some<br />

people see her creative approach to<br />

characters and making them sexy as<br />

the opening of new doors, some people<br />

see it as attention-seeking and demeaning.


Satsuki Kiryuin, Kill La Kill – Rage Kitten<br />

Bayonetta – Feline Paige Cosplay<br />

Prince Endymion (Darien), Sailor Moon – A.K. Wirru


Melbourne Sexy Cosplay Winner 2016 – Sharné Mcmurray<br />

Witchblade – Danica Rockwood<br />

Powergirl – Variable Cosplay


While PAX, a popular convention celebrating<br />

all things gamer-related,<br />

has firmly put their foot down against<br />

“booth babes,” and have even asked<br />

cosplayers to cover up when dressed<br />

in a revealing costume. This is fair<br />

enough as PAX is a family-friendly<br />

convention, but where can the sexilydressed<br />

cosplayers go? Fortunately,<br />

Sexpo has given them a home. Their<br />

notorious Sexy Cosplay competition is<br />

certainly popular and, kudos to Sexpo,<br />

the event is run in a safe, sex-positive<br />

environment where, by definition, cosplayers<br />

are definitely welcoming sexualised<br />

attention. Sexpo’s event manager<br />

Bentleigh Gibson says that Sexpo’s<br />

Sexy Cosplay competition was created<br />

“to give the Cosplayers who did<br />

want to express a different angle on<br />

their Cosplays a safe home in which to<br />

do so and express their own passion<br />

and creativity.”<br />

And hat’s off to Sexpo, a lot of cosplayers<br />

have said they felt very comfortable<br />

and welcomed at the event.<br />

Melbourne Sexy Cosplay winner and<br />

creator of the self-love project ‘I Am<br />

F*cking Extraordinary,’ Sharne Mcmurray,<br />

said “it was well organised, had a<br />

positive and uplifting atmosphere, everyone<br />

was supportive and it was an<br />

overall great experience.”<br />

The Sexy Cosplay Competition has<br />

opened up new doors for cosplayers<br />

and allows for more variety when performing<br />

a skit on stage, such as pole<br />

or burlesque dancing, both of which<br />

would not be welcomed at other conventions<br />

in Australia.<br />

For many cosplayers, the costumes<br />

they decide to wear are not influenced<br />

by the “sexiness.” Sharne says “how<br />

much skin I show doesn’t come into the<br />

equation. I am completely happy with<br />

myself and If I want to do something<br />

I’ll do it. It doesn’t matter what anyone<br />

else thinks as I am doing it for me and<br />

not them.”<br />

A lot of cosplays are sexy (hey, who<br />

doesn’t love Batman’s abs?) however,<br />

many cosplayers feel unpleasantly<br />

sexualised against their wishes. And,<br />

thanks to the incredible edible internet,<br />

there are precious few places where a<br />

cosplayer who is targeted by this unwanted<br />

attention can get away from it.<br />

This problem is disproportionately directed<br />

towards women because women’s<br />

bodies are still being commodified<br />

like it’s the 1950s. Melinda Tankard Reist<br />

is of the opinion that “the sexualisation<br />

of women and girls is one of the<br />

bedrocks of gaming culture and also<br />

of some manga and anime. Until this<br />

changes, I don’t think we can expect to<br />

see an easy solution for problems like<br />

this in the cosplay community.”<br />

Because of this, Australian native (but<br />

well known overseas) cosplayer Variable<br />

has experienced so much harassment<br />

online she has enough material<br />

to maintain an energetically busy Tumblr<br />

dedicated solely to screenshots of<br />

her social media’s inbox. Check out<br />

niceguystm.tumblr.com if you want to<br />

scroll through the terrible and random<br />

things strangers say to her online. Sure,<br />

Variable as Powergirl is sexy. Powergirl<br />

is sexy. Hell, the comic character has a<br />

purpose-built boob-window. That’s not<br />

an invitation to talk to Variable about<br />

her own boobs. To suggest that costumes<br />

in any way creates harassment<br />

from perpetrators demonstrates ignorance<br />

of the real-world issues at play.<br />

The cosplay community is a wonderland<br />

of creativity but there is an undeniable<br />

negative impact on the way<br />

both costumes and some cosplayers<br />

are perceived. It’s unfair – so many<br />

cosplayers are just trying to have a<br />

good time and express themselves<br />

and their craftsmanship, only to have<br />

to check themselves for fear of being<br />

thrown under a label they didn’t ask for.<br />

In cases that are more extreme but<br />

not uncommon, just existing publicly in<br />

a costume leads to cosplayers being<br />

made to feel unsafe. It would be cool if<br />

we geeks could be sexy geeks on our<br />

own terms.<br />

“It’s unfair – so many<br />

cosplayers are just<br />

trying to have a good<br />

time and<br />

express<br />

themselves<br />

and their<br />

craftsmanship, only<br />

to have to check<br />

themselves for fear<br />

of being thrown<br />

under a label they<br />

didn’t ask for.”<br />

Sources:<br />

Melinda Tankard Reist – Writer and advocate<br />

for women and girls<br />

Kiara Kirameki – Cosplayer<br />

Sharne Mcmurray (Sirensbelle) – Cosplayer<br />

Sexpo<br />

Dracula’s Cabaret Show and Dinner<br />

Images:<br />

David Love Photography<br />

Rage Kitten – Cosplayer<br />

Feline Paige Cosplay<br />

A.K. Wirru – Cosplayer<br />

Jessica Nigri<br />

Sharne Mcmurray (Sirensbelle) – Cosplayer<br />

SKYline Photography<br />

Danica Rockwood – Cosplayer<br />

Variable Cosplay<br />

Isidro Urena – Photographer<br />

BY BEC FROM COSTUMECOLLECTION.COM.AU<br />

ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE: costumecollection.com.au/blog/when-cosplay-is-too-sexual


SEE MORE ON...<br />

facebook.com/Gametraders.Australia<br />

twitter.com/GametradersAus<br />

instagram.com/Gametraders<br />

WEBSITE: gametraders.com.au<br />

PUBLICATIONS: issuu.com/gametraders


DID YOU KNOW...<br />

Each Gametraders store have their own<br />

Facebook page! Want to ask your local store<br />

a question or keep up to date with their latest<br />

product releases? Check out their pages below!<br />

SOUTH AUSTRALIA<br />

Ingle Farm: facebook.com/gtinglefarm<br />

Salisbury: facebook.com/gtsalisbury<br />

Marion: facebook.com/gtmarion<br />

Mt Barker: facebook.com/GametradersMtBarker<br />

Seaford: facebook.com/gtseaford<br />

NEW SOUTH WALES:<br />

Blacktown: facebook.com/gametradersblacktown<br />

Macarthur Square: facebook.com/gametradersmacarthur<br />

Hornsby <strong>Live</strong>: facebook.com/GametradersHornsby<br />

Penrith <strong>Live</strong>: facebook.com/Gametraders<strong>Live</strong>Penrith<br />

Parramatta: facebook.com/GametradersParramatta<br />

QUEENSLAND:<br />

Chermside: facebook.com/gtchermside<br />

Morayfield: facebook.com/Gametraders-Morayfield-153189641494243<br />

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY:<br />

Hyperdome: facebook.com/GametradersHyperdome


Check our latest<br />

Cosplay <strong>Live</strong><br />

<strong>Magazine</strong>, Retro<br />

<strong>Live</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong> &<br />

past <strong>Live</strong> issues<br />

HERE:<br />

issuu.com/gametraders<br />

SUBSCRIBE:<br />

www.gametraders.com.au/subscribe<br />

FIND YOUR NEAREST STORE...<br />

South Australia<br />

Ingle Farm.................................. (08) 8265 7283<br />

Marion....................................... (08) 8296 1144<br />

Mt Barker................................... (08) 8391 6300<br />

Salisbury.................................... (08) 8281 0966<br />

Seaford...................................... (08) 8327 1966<br />

ACT<br />

Hyperdome................................ (02) 6293 3751<br />

New South Wales<br />

Gametraders LIVE Penrith.........(02) 4731 3894<br />

Blacktown................................. (02) 9676 1411<br />

Macarthur Square (Campbelltown) (02) 4620 0750<br />

Parramatta................................ (02) 9633 2833<br />

Gametraders LIVE Hornsby....... (02) 9477 6477<br />

For more info visit:<br />

www.gametraders.com.au<br />

Queensland<br />

Chermside................................. (07) 3861 5000<br />

Morayfield.................................. (07) 5495 7705<br />

Terms & Conditions<br />

<strong>June</strong>/July <strong>Magazine</strong> pricing valid til 31 July unless specified otherwise. Stock is subject to<br />

availability. Pricing and advertised products valid only at participating stores. No Rain Checks.<br />

All ratings and prices are correct at the time of printing.

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