from the Editor... Time sure does fly, we are already in March for 2015! There are still big changes happening at AGGN HQ, one of which being the fact that we are welcoming another member to the team!
I hope you all join me in welcoming Mateusz Kaplon to AGGN. His very first piece, Nintendo's Trust Issues, can be seen on page 12 of this issue. We are very happy to see him join our crew! This won't be our only change to our team members, we are looking to get some more joining the army, so keep an eye out in our future issues for more talented writers bringing you some amazing content. We are working hard behind the scenes to bring you the next section of AGGN, which is an online store for you to buy lots of nerdy goodies. We hope to have this up in the coming months, so be sure to keep an eye out on our Facebook page for updates on that! For now though just sit back, relax, and take a gander at the great content in issue 6 of the AGGN Magazine.
Ryan 'LemonHunter' Sattell
Editor in Chief
meet some of the TEAM...
Jordan Antonelli
Brooke Geller
Brett 'Red' Sellar
Noel Wheatley
Mateusz Kaplon
With a weakness for all things Fantasy and Sci-Fi, Jordan turned out to be quite the dreamer, awaiting a chance to trade his pen for a lightsaber. Avid gamer and musician.
Brooke is a secret reptilian humanoid who is hopelessly addicted to coffee, video games and exclamation marks.
As a gamer since the days of DOS, Brett loves all things geek. Console, PC or Tabletop, he has probably wasted many hours playing it.
Gamer, Nerd, Console collector, Amateur Gaming Historian, Ruler of the Seven Kingdoms.
Raised by "nerds and geeks" Mateusz has been an avid tabletop, PC and console gamer since the days of old. His passion is only stymied by the number of hours available in a day.
>>Have your say on our facebook page @ www.facebook.com/antigravnet and you could feature in the magazine << 2 | Anti-Gravity Gaming Network
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Contents >>
Anti-Gravity Gaming Network | Issue 6 | March 2015
6
PRESCREEN
20 REVIEWS
6
GAMES TO LOOK OUT FOR IN THE COMING MONTHS
22
Evolve
8
ARTICLES
26
The Escapists
8
Challenging the System
10
Game Delays
28
Majora's Mask
12
Nintendo's Trust Issues
14
How to be an Indie Dev
16
Women in Games
18
Remember Gamers 4 Croydon
FEATURES
12 NINTENDO 32
Dragon Ball Xenoverse
34
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
When will they start to trust their Australian consumers?
14 BEING AN INDIE DEV What you have to do to become the best Indie Dev you can!
BE OUR FRIEND 26 THE ESCAPISTS /ANTIGRAVNET
Don't drop the soap. Just, don't.
@ANTIGRAVNET
32 DRAGON BALL /AGGNTV
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Dragon Ball Xenoverse, time to be kick anime ass.
26 EVOLVE 4V1 BE THE BOSS FIGHT AND STOMP ON YOUR FRIENDS
16 WOMEN IN GAMES
28 MAJORA'S MASK FOR 3DS
GIRLS MAKE GAMES!
PUT ON THE MASK, NOW MAKE YOUR MARK
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PRESCREEN>> GAMES TO LOOK OUT FOR IN THE COMING MONTHS
01
02
01 // PROJECT CARS Project CARS is the most authentic, beautiful, intense and technicallyadvanced racing game on the planet.
02 // BATTLEFIELD HARDLINE Live out your cop and criminal fantasy in Battlefield Hardline.
03
04 03 // SIMS 4 GET TO WORK Actively control your Sims while they're at work in the first expansion pack from The Sims 4.
04 // MARIOPARTY 10 Bowser crashes the latest Mario Party, the first installment of the series on the Wii U Console.
05
06
05 // THE WITCHER 3 Play a monster slayer for hire chasing a child of prophecy in a troubled and morally indifferent fantasy open world.
06 // MORTAL KOMBAT X Mortal Kombat X combines unparalleled, cinematic presentation with all new gameplay to deliver the most brutal Kombat experience ever.
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Challenging the System
EXPLORING POLITICAL COMMENTARY IN DIGITAL ENVIRONMENTS Author: Brooke Geller
Video game narratives are often rife with themes of injustice and corruption of power. To attempt to count the sheer amount of rebellious, rogue leadertype protagonists featured in these digital storybooks would be a futile task. Such games allow us to immerse ourselves in virtual worlds that open our minds to somewhat challenging and deep issues in a relatively safe, comfortable and even fun environment. Yellow Umbrella is one fairly recent release that proves you don’t have to commit yourself to shouting through a megaphone and waving homemade flags in the streets to get a taste for activism. Released November last year, the game was made in just five days after one of the game’s developers witnessed police attacking protesters with tear gas in Hong Kong’s financial district. The protesters were camped out as part of the Occupy Central movement. The game was a runaway success, earning over 100,000 downloads through Google Play in the first month alone. With the slogan of ‘this is not a revolution, we ask for democracy and peace,’ Yellow Umbrella challenges the player to defend themselves against the oncoming police force and angry locals without violent means. This anti-combat approach seeks to demonstrate the possibility of resolution through peaceful protest, whilst highlighting the unjust amount of police brutality witnessed during such demonstrations. The negative connotations surrounding violence are also explored in September the 12th: A Toy World, this time as a comment on the war on terror. Defiantly not anti-war, September the 12th is a ‘newsgame’ that seeks to teach that violence can only beget more violence, and is never a means to a
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Below: Unmanned shows us that sometimes you can't help but take your work home with you.
"by now, you may be wondering when the hell games got so serious."
Left: Spec Ops The Line is infamous for its confronting load screens.
positive outcome. The studio responsible for its creation, Newgaming, were inundated with threats after the game’s release. And with comments like ‘this is not a game- you can’t win and you can’t lose’, along with the obvious guts required of the team to tackle such a sensitive issue, is it hardly surprising? Delving further in to the mucky pool of morality, Molleindustria are a studio that knows all about toying with people’s sense of right and wrong. One such title is Unmanned, a virtual droid simulator that explores the ethical conundrum of the real damage inflicted during war by drawing parallels between soldier and enemy. Unmanned droids may be a convenient way to get the hard jobs done whilst keeping fighters far from the actual battle line, but does this really eliminates the sense of guilt and anxiety that comes with killing people for a living? Can one really ever switch off from this kind of job? Triple A shooters aren’t exactly known for their deep and subversive cultural commentary. Run around, shoot the bad guys, try not to get shot- we all know
the drill. However, in 2012 Yager Development shocked us all by releasing what was essentially a statement on not only war, but the entire FPS genre. Spec Ops: The Line initially seems like your average run-of-the-mill wartime shooter (can you tell I’m not the biggest fan of the genre?). But as the storyline progresses, it becomes almost uncomfortably apparent that this is one title that goes much deeper. With progressively confronting loading screens that pose questions like ‘do you feel like a hero yet?’ the undeniable lack of black-and-white rationale in the face of war is shown through continuous blurring of the player’s moral compass. In an industry which almost relies on the unquestioned glorification of war and violence in order to sustain itself, Spec Ops: The Line is a refreshing change of pace. The narrative entirely subverted expectations for a game of this fielda brave step for a triple A title.
On the same line of thought regarding soldiers, violence and autonomous decision making, I could mention Bioshock here.... but I think that one’s been explored enough for this lifetime. Plus, you know, spoilers and all that. Back on to the indie titles, the critically acclaimed Papers, Please is a dark comment on immigration and corruption within the system, reminding us all that that system is manned by people- people who can be bribed, blackmailed and charmed. As an immigration officer at the newly-opened border of the fictitious and vaguely Eastern European nation of Republica, you must process an overwhelming and often tedious amount of visas in a time of overwhelming political unrest and discord. Will you stick to the system and keep the cogs turning as the powers that be dictate, or will you follow your moral (or financially greedy) compass? Will either of these choices pay off? By now, you may be wondering when the hell games got so serious. Didn’t it all used to be about shooting rocks in space and little amphibious critters jumping over stuff? What the hell happened? Games as art happened, my friend. I know, it’s a little overwhelming. Maybe you need to unwind and play something harmless... like Fez. Or Sonic. Something fun and light-hearted, and free from dark, political overtones and guilt trips.
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Game Delays
AND WHY THEY ARE A GOOD THING Author: Noel Wheatley
Too many times we have been in this scenario, a new title is announced, we all eagerly put down our pre-orders and count down the days, hours, minutes and even seconds (in some cases) until it is released and then boom the game has been delayed, the community is up in arms and out for blood because they cant play their game when they thought they would be able to. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve all been there, but given the track record of some of the more recent game releases and what its meant for gamers and the games publishers, I for one have rethought my stance on delays and think theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re a good thing. Now before the mob forms, let me tell you why. Developers have targets they need to hit both during and post release of a game. During the development, if things exceed the expected time frames there are additional costs involved with the ongoing development, labour cost, potential marketing plans/crossovers that might be missed and a myriad of other things that can cost the business more money the longer the game sits in development and therefore taking away from their ability to make more games in the future. The developers then have an option, do they delay the release and continue to work on the game to make it the best it can be or release a game that they know will have issues
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but will allow them to achieve their short term goals while working on a fix in the interim period between when the game is shipped and the time the community get their hands on it. Unfortunately the later seems to be becoming more and more common place. May the various gods of gaming take mercy on your soul if you’re not connected online or have a small download limit because then you will not be able to receive, what is now becoming had its release date pushed back to ensure that the developers could get the game as close to perfect as possible for their community before releasing it. When the delay was announced there was plenty of community backlash but there were a few (like myself) who, even though we were incredibly keen for the game, could appreciate the need to delay the game and listen to the community feedback from the early betas. This helps improve the game to a point were not only the community would be happy with the game, but the developers could give gamers the best possible gaming experience.
"a delay for a great game is better than an early release for a rubbish one." an almost standard, must have for all gamers……the day one patch. These little beauties can range from a few hundred MB to an almost internet connection crippling 20GB+ (depending on your download limits and internet speed of course), and its becoming so common now it’s a regular question for most new games being released. It seems that gone are the days of being able to come home with your shiny new game, turn on your console, put the game in a “BOOM” instant game play. No, now it’s a matter of getting the game home, putting the disc in, either ignoring the patch and just playing the campaign (if you can) or competing with the
other hundred thousand or so people trying to all get the patch at launch and crippling the servers to the point where you download speed might just as well be dial up. In recent times games like Halo Master Chief Collection and Destiny have infamously suffered from crippling day one patches along with a plethora of follow up patches that have been implemented to further improve the gameplay. In some cases where games have been rushed out to market, these patches have been so imperative that without them the game would simply be unplayable. Now let’s look at the flip side of the coin and a game like Battlefield Hardline that
Now with all that, you have to think are you really happy with the fact that a developer released their game on time or would you rather have waited an extra month or two for the better version of the game that you can just play when you get it? So where does the fault lie? Is it with us as the consumer…surely not you say, it must be the game developer's fault of course, I mean the fear of a community backlash and sales impact surely couldn’t be influencing them to release the game half done at all….could it? That along with mounting costs, marketing plans and many other factors mean that when a company takes the route to delay a games release it means it’s not a decision that has been taken half heartedly. So next time a game gets delayed, and as the inevitable lynch mob starts to form, take a second to think about the fact that maybe a delay for a great game is better than an early release for a rubbish one.
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Nintendo's Trust Issues WHEN WILL THEY LEARN TO TRUST THEIR CUSTOMERS? Author: Mateusz Kaplon
Being a lifelong fan of Nintendo, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve owned every console, and most handhelds so itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fair to say Nintendo helped raise me. From teaching me patience and concentration with games such as Kid Icarus and Punch Out, to expanding my imagination and creativity with games such as The Legend of Zelda and the Metroid series. Growing up, I have always kept a watchful eye on Nintendo and, when necessary defended them. That is why it saddens me to see that over the last decade that Nintendo does not seem to have much notice over how many Nintendo fans exist in Australia. Stock levels for some of their most popular games and related accessories always seem to dwindle or be
sold out completely, and on some occasions ceases to be distributed. Recently, the most widely known incidents of this are of course, the Wii U gamecube (GC) controller adapter and Amiibo's. When Super Smash Bros. (SSB) for Wii U and DS was announced, I am sure all of us were at least somewhat excited. After all, SSB is a fun game that can be enjoyed by players of all skill levels, from novice to competitive. But, with the release announce came two other great pieces of news, the release of the GC controller adapter and Amiibo's! For anyone that played SSB on the GC, knows that the controls were... well, perfect. Everything worked beautifully with the layout of the buttons and controllers, which is why majority of fans held on to their controllers. Alongside this release was of course an announcement for
"i much prefer to give my money to Nintendo than an individual who is taking advantage of others" 12 | Anti-Gravity Gaming Network
Below: Nintendo Australia's announcement to discontinue the GC adapter in Australia.
GC controllers, to cater to those of us who simply did not have these controllers already and for those of us who didn't hold onto them. The first issue that I came across was that I could only purchase the controller adaptor bundled with the special edition
Left: You all know this speaks true. That giant Gameboy that ate 4 AA batteries at a time helped you when you were young, now the 3DS does the same for the young of today.
stock overseas. For some reason, Germany and Japan (Okay, Japan makes sense) have what seems like an endless amount available.
of SSB, not really a problem for me, I intended on grabbing that and placed a pre-order but, what about those that didn't? Luckily, you could purchase the adapter separately directly from Nintendo. Sadly, on December 2nd, we were met with this announcement "Due to overwhelming demand, the GameCube Controller Adapter for Wii U is no longer available to purchase from Nintendo Customer Service.". The Next issue to ping on my radar was the extremely limited stock levels of Amiibo's. I love that Nintendo always pushes the boundaries and tries new things and personally, Amiibo's had me excited. Being a little bit silly, I did not pre-order any Amiibo's until wave 4, and have had an extremely difficult time getting my hands on these locally. With all of my Amiibo hunting in-store having gone poorly, I turned to eBay, I wasn't really fussed having to pay double to get my Amiibo from overseas, I could afford it as I was not collecting the set. What did frustrate me however, was the abundance of
So where am I going with all this? Nintendo's lack of belief in its fans and their buying power has created an environment where Nintendo is losing money, and lets face it, Nintendo need profits a little bit more than the next guy. But also that it fosters scalping. Having omitted this earlier, during my searches on eBay I found that some Amiibo's, like Marth, can go for up to $150 if you want it in a mint condition Australian packaging. I couldn't believe my eyes and quickly checked on Gumtree, no luck, eventually I found a Facebook group for Australian Amiibo owners/ collectors, but not before I purchased a Marth from Japan for $40 AUD. Good thing that I did, because I didn't have much luck either in the group, on the odd occasion you could find someone selling something at a reasonable price, but you had to be quick. There was a similar issue with the GC adaptor for the Wii U, with the accessories value soaring by up to 3 times its value. To wrap things up, Nintendo is one of the pioneers of video games and consoles, constantly pushing boundaries and changing the way we game, literally. Personally I want to see Nintendo succeed as much as Sony or Microsoft with their consoles, but they need to realise that they can be a more profitable company by trusting in its fans and consumers. Despite the massive price difference, I much prefer to give my money to Nintendo rather than an individual who is taking advantage of others, don't you?
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How to be an Indie Dev THE CORE STEPS TO BEING AN INDIE GAMES DEV Author: Brooke Geller
Becoming the next Notch is every young games student’s dream. The allure of seventy million dollar mansions, being featured in Sundance Film Festival-revered documentaries and possible yearly vacations in the Bahamas with Lord Gaben himself (unlikely) is enough to make any Nigel Nobody chase that ever-illusive vision. But before you go chaining yourself to your desk for endless hours of coding, just remember that becoming the next indie success story is way easier than you probably think- and it’s all about walking the walk. Right Top: Bitching about members of your group assignment team behind their back is half the fun of a university education. Right Bottom: Maybe you, too, will one day have your own giant mansion (that isn;'t made of pixels).
Look the part You know how they say ‘dress for the job you want’? Well, it’s time to put that in to practice. Indie devs are incredibly easy to identify, and identifying as one is precisely what you want to do. Forget trying to keep up with the latest fashions. For the modern indie dev of any gender, a consistent wardrobe of jeans and t-shirts is all you need. Make sure your t-shirts are emblazoned with obscure and often ironic references to things so deeply entrenched in geek culture that no one even remembers what it means anymore. This will enable you to obtain
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the “nod of approval” from other similarly dressed comrades. Thickrimmed glasses are also a must have, because everyone knows that having broken eyes is an indicator of high intelligence. You may find yourself looking a bit like a sad early2000s emo band throwback. That’s okay- just assure everyone that you were far too busy reprogramming your Gameboy Colour to produce cutting edge chip tunes during that time period to have ever possibly kept up with whatever sad trends your friend were engaged in. If they don’t believe you, just distract them with a counter culture reference to some long-forgotten sci-fi series that probably never existed, and you’ll be sweet. Get qualified Getting accepted in to university
relying on the government for money and dinners with old mate Mi Goreng five nights of the week. Luckily, universities are hubs for gamers. Fast internet, coffee shops around every corner and being able to bring your monster of a rig to campus so you can ‘work on your final assignment’ (in other words, play DOTA for hours in the library) are just a few of the many benefits of studying games design. It’s also a great place to meet likeminded folks, and after being forced in to working on nightmarish group assignments together, you may even find yourself a future business partner. Of course, you’ll both come to hate each other in ten years and spend most of your careers slamming each other over social media and in games press, but at least you’ll always have those fond memories of taunting that one annoying mature-aged
Above: Just imagine your game having the privilege of being torn to shreds by judgmental PAX attendees!
"... becoming the next indie success story is way easier than you probably thinkand it's all about walking the walk." Left: Come on, Greelight...
name out there as the next big thing. Go to every event you can manage to score an invite to- game jams, conferences, conventions. These events are but stepping stones to the things that really matter: after parties. Check if they’re offering free booze, then get obnoxiously drunk and attempt to (non-sexually) charm the professional pants off everyone in the room. Ensure you tell everyone the story of how you’re really the one who came up with the idea for Goat Simulator first, how you’re very well-known within certain Reddit threads, and can and will kick anyone’s ass at Super Smash Bros. If social situations aren’t really your thing, opt to stay home and tweet your strong opinions at people constantly. Respond to every abusive message personally- it’s not “feeding the trolls”, it’s showing them that you’re a special kind of keyboard warrior who is a force to be reckoned with. Oh, and your profile picture of Twitter had better be a pixel avatar of you- otherwise, don’t even bother. Actually make a game
used to be somewhat of a status symbol; a sign you could hold up to society to show that you were a successful, intellectual young person. Nowadays, being a university student conjures up images of drinking cheap beer,
student in your Games Physics 101 lecture every Monday morning. Network Speaking of making friends, socialising is key to getting your
Because at the end of the day, that’s really what it’s all about, isn’t it? All you have to do is come up with an original, mind-blowing concept that will sell millions of units, get funding, market it, and bam! Success story! Or, you could just work on same perpetually unfinished title for five years while living in your mum’s sewing room, because staying up til four in the morning running through lines of code prevents you from actually getting a job. That’s okay. You’re keeping the dream alive. It’ll happen for you one day... probably...
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Women in Games GIRLS MAKES GAMES Author: Brooke Geller
Teaching one million girls how to make video games in the next 5 years is an extremely ambitious goal, but that’s exactly what educational company LearnDistrict have set out to do by 2020. Based in California, Girls Make Games started out as a US-based project and has grown radically in a short span of time. They offer a number of workshops, game jams and even three week-long summer camps where school-aged girls can get a feel for the world of game design, inspiring a whole new generation of engineers. These girls-only summer camps have jumped from 5 across America to 20 in just under a year. And it’s hardly surprisingthey’re jam-packed with a range of workshops covering topics like audio engineering, animation and programming. Students are introduced to the world of game development via field trips and mingling with industry professionals, and are sorted in to teams to produce a game over the duration of the camp. Last year, a team called The Negatives, consisting of 8 girls with ages ranging from 10 to 16, produced a puzzle adventure gamed called The Hole Story. The game was a spectacular success, and went on to raise over $30,000 on Kickstarter. Not bad for a game that was conceptualised in just three short weeks- by kids who haven’t even graduated high school yet. Girls Make Games not only gets young girls excited about game design, but offers close mentoring to foster this budding interest in its participants. The camps feature a four-to-one student to teacher
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Below: The Negatives.
"students are introduced to the world of game development via field trips and mingling with industry professionals."
Below: Workshop attendees and future developers hard at work.
ratio, ensuring that even the most reserved girls are encouraged to spread their creative wings. Mentors even assist with college and internship applications, setting students up for their potential new dream careers. Although the summer camps are costly at around $1,200 a student, Girls Make Games offers various financial assistance to those who want to attend, but simply can’t afford it. In fact, around 75% of the summer camp students are on some form of scholarship. In an industry where social inequality means that only 12% of people making video games are women,
financial difficulties shouldn’t represent yet another barrier. Relying heavily on donations to fund these scholarships, as well as to keep the project alive, Girls Make Games has been supported by a number of big names, including Google Play and Humble Bundle. The “Leading Ladies” Humble Bundle package made available for purchase last year donated a portion of the proceeds to Girls Make Games, which not only helped the initiative financially but shed light on some great female-focused narratives and female developers. This venture isn’t just restricted to the US- with a target of engaging one million girls with game development, the project has inevitably gone global, with camp locations in Europe, the Middle East and right here in Australia. Girls Make Games was even involved in a recent workshop
Above: Girls make games- and cool pixel art, too.
in Melbourne to teach game development to women of all ages. With disturbingly low numbers of women working in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) , it’s more obvious now than ever that something needs to be done to encourage more young girls to get involved. Criticisms of the way women are represented in games have never been higher, and it could definitely be argued that having more women participating in the development process will help to address this issue. Luckily, this is just what Girls Make Games sets out to do. It’s still uncertain if LearnDistrict will reach their goal of teaching one million young girls to make games by 2020. But creating a world filled with fantastic games made for women, by women? Sounds like a winner to me.
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Remember Gamers 4 Croydon
A LOOK BACK AT WHAT GAMERS 4 CROYDON HAVE DONE FOR OUR COMMUNITY Author: Brett Sellar
Back in 2009, Australia was fighting a losing battle. We were the only country in the Western world without a Restricted classification for the video games industry and it was hurting us. Limiting what our developers could do and forcing games to be edited and have content removed, or risk the chance of being refused classification and not being released in our great country. But fortunate for us, our enemy had a nameâ&#x20AC;Ś Attorney-General for South Australia, Michael Atkinson. He was standing in the way, and nothing seemed to move him. Receiving constant abuse from the gaming community did nothing to change his mind, he would not budge. That was until he made his biggest mistake. In response to a letter, Atkinson voiced his defence to his stance on the R18 rating. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am next up for election in March 2010, The state district I represent is called Croydon. I would welcome advocates of R18+ computer games testing public acceptance of my policy by standing a candidate against me. I think you will find this issue has little
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Above: Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus, the first R18 video game to be released in Australia.
traction with my constituents who are more concerned with real-life issues than home entertainment in imaginary worlds.” “Video games aren’t important to voters, prove me wrong, and run against me in my own electorate.” Atkinson threw down a challenge… and someone answered. It began with one man, Melbourne local David Doe. He began looking into the process of starting a political party and found what he needed. 150 signatures was it. 150 South Australian voters to join up and a party could be formed. David Doe created a website stating his intentions to run against Atkinson and that he would be holding a rally in Rundle Mall on November 6th, 2009. That day, Doe gathered a large amount of signatures and ultimately gained the support of Adelaide local, Chris Prior. This set off a chain of recruitment drives and gatherings to gather the required signatures and in no time at all, David Doe had the members he needed. By the time the registration papers went through, they had over seven hundred members. From that day Gamers-4-Croydon was born. However, Gamers-4-Croydon suffered from one problem… the gamers themselves. Now, it’s fair to say that gamers (not all but some) lack a little thing called tact. This resulted in a massive amount of death threats and abuse towards
entertainment media and Atkinson was the only person standing in the way. I couldn’t wait to see him gone. However, the party was strong enough and was gathering enough following to push past this and make its mark on Australian politics. Fast forward to Election Day. Gamers-4-Croydon had a rocky, yet successful, path to this day. Atkinson was forever belittling their party, despite how much he said that he was happy for the competition. To that day, David Doe and Michael Atkinson had never met, however their first face to face encounter didn’t go very well. Atkinson immediately began yelling at Doe calling him racist; angry due to an incident the night before with a corflute sign (that corrugated plastic stuff they print signs on) owned by a Congolese refugee who was working for Atkinson at the time. It was vandalised and torn down, apparently also being filmed and placed on YouTube. It wasn’t a good start to the day for Gamers-4-Croydon, but the day would be decided in the booths. For all of the followers it was a good day. To look at that ballot paper and be able to tick that little box next to Gamers-4-Croydon that was a win in my books. Even if it didn’t make a difference, I know that at one time someone took
"From that day Gamers 4 croydon was born." Atkinson and his family, one even going as far to slip a letter under his door in the middle of the night with a death threat towards him and his children. It was acts like this that ruined the hard work David Doe and Chris Prior had put into making Gamers-4-Croydon a legitimate party and not some joke. Don’t get me wrong, I remember the time and it was incredibly annoying. All we wanted was to be treated the same as any other
the step to change something. Election Day came to an end and the polls closed. Atkinson had previous taunted Gamers4-Croydon, stating that they wouldn’t even get 1% of the vote. But he was wrong… again. In fact, 3.7% of the Croydon electorate deemed that home entertainment in imaginary worlds was worth voting for. Ultimately, Atkinson
Above: A Gamers 4 Croydon hommage in the popular FPS zombie game, Left 4 Dead.
won the election but had suffered a massive swing in the votes. March 22, 2010, two days after the election, Michael Atkinson resigned as Attorney-General and gamers had lost their enemy. He stated that Gamers-4-Croydon had nothing to do with his decision to resign, and that he wanted to focus on his personal life. Gamers-4-Croydon had come and gone. Lost the battle, but they would not lose the war. The legislation was passed in January 2013 and on the 7th of March 2013 Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus was released in Australia. It was the very first R18 video game to be released on our shores and it would not be the last. Atkinson once said: “I knew Gamers 4 Croydon would win in the end, but sometimes in politics one’s best work is done delaying a vice whose day is inevitable.” He wasn’t wrong. So the next time you sit down and pick up that controller or place your hand on that mouse, remember Gamers-4-Croydon. They have done more for our community in this country than most will ever achieve.
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REVIEWS 22 26 28 32 34
Review 22
EVOLVE 20 | Anti-Gravity Gaming Network
Evolve
PC
The Escapists
PC
Majora's Mask for 3DS
3DS
Dragon Ball Xenoverse
Playstation 4
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
3DS
32
34
28
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>> FEATURE
EVOLVE Author: Brett Sellar It might be presumptuous to say that today’s average gamer has come to expect too much, and expect everything for nothing. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m as annoyed at Day One updates as the next guy, but Day One DLC is just… meh. It’s usually content that I don’t care about or just cosmetic bullshit. But, I digress; I’ll get to that later. Since its release I have had the genuine pleasure of playing Turtle Rock Studios and 2Ks new Co-Op Shooter Evolve, and I really mean genuine pleasure. Evolve takes place on Shear, an unforgiving planet on the far arm of space and considered one of humanities greatest assets. However the colonies are soon under attack from the native wildlife in the form of enormous two-story tall Monsters. To attempt to save the planet they call in William Cabot and his team of ‘expert’ Hunters to deal with the threat and save the people of Shear. Evolve is essentially a 4v1 shooter, pitting a team of Hunters against said
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Monster, and I absolutely love this format. However, the Hunters rely so heavily of team-work and communication it can make the online an absolute storm of awful. Over half the time you will have one team member running off trying to be a hero, or the Monster will appear and completely destroy the Hunters within five minutes of the game. This is the result of no communication. But the game does its best to ensure and promote communication, it constantly flashes the “Push to Talk” button in the lobby and in game you can ping where your crosshairs are pointing at to alert your teammates. This is what makes Evolve a brilliant game to play with friends. It’s kind of like playing Payday 2, its do-able playing with randoms online, but you have so much more fun and success when playing with friends and using Skype or Vent to talk.
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But on the other side of that coin, playing as the Monster is always awesome. Because the Monster is a solo role, you will be playing alone the whole time. No need for communication or team work, it’s just you against the filthy humans who have invaded your home. Running around the map feasting on the local wildlife to get stronger and evolve to a bigger, better, more powerful Monster. A Stage 1 Monster is a fairly easy target, very little health and weak abilities, but once you hit Stage 3 you become a force to be reckoned with. The three Monsters currently available all feel satisfying different to play which is refreshing. From the tank-y, fire breathing Goliath, the long range, lightening casting Kraken and the hit and run, glass cannon Wraith. I am particularly fond of the Wraith, while it has the lowest health and armour, using its Supernova ability and buffing the hell out of its movement and attack speed can completely wreck the Hunters. Or using its Abduction ability and zipping towards the Hunters, grabbing one and returning to the
cast-point. It is very fun to play as a two-story tall killing machine. As the Hunters, you will play one of four classes in the team, the Assault, the Medic, the Support and the Trapper. Frankly, the classes are self-explanatory but it’s how each character plays their own role that is unique. Each class has three different characters with their own load out and personality that are all played differently. While each has a class specific ability, it’s how each character complements each other that work so well. Take the Medic for example, playing as Val you use your Medigun to heal each teammate individually saving them from death, but playing as Lazarus you use your Lazarus Device to revive dead or incapacitated teammates to full health. Every class and character has something to offer and makes them all useful, while some are better than others each can hold their own. Evolve has four different game modes and about a dozen different maps, so there is plenty of variety when it comes to playing, however
"evolve is a stupidly fun time with friends and that's all I really ask for in an online game." 24 | Anti-Gravity Gaming Network
Above: The Hunters.
I did find that some maps get played more than others. You have the basic Hunt; Hunters must kill Monster before it reached Stage 3 and can destroy a Power Relay. Rescue; Hunters must rescue five Survivors before the Monster can kill five Survivors. Nest; Monster has to kill the Hunters before they destroy all the Monster Eggs. And Defend; Hunters must defend generators and stop the Monster from destroying a refuelling station before an Evac Ship can refuel and escape the planet. While there is a single player aspect of the game, it’s basically just the same online game modes but offline. It doesn’t really offer any
games being played are all Hunt maps. While they are probably the most fun to play, as the old saying goes ‘variety is the spice of life’. Hunt maps would be the most balanced, playing a Rescue map with a Wraith is a little one sided because the Wraith is so fast he can usually make it to the Survivors first, so there is that I suppose.
Campaign or Story mode, however it does have something called Evacuation which is… kind of a Story mode. You play five maps of varying game modes, from Hunt, Rescue or Nest and ultimately coming to a conclusion with a Defend map. With Evacuation though, whoever wins each map with gain an advantage in the next map. In the Barracks map, the humans are attempting to evacuate the Ebon Star forces. If the Hunters win, they gain an NPC Ebon Star Soldier to help them fight, if the Monster wins, the crashed Ebon Star ships provide more corpses for the Monster to feast on. Most of these feel kind of useless, but some can be a real game changer.
Now we come to the elephant in the room… the big pissed-off angry nerd raging elephant. Yes, the developers did come out and say ‘Evolve was basically designed for DLC’ and yes, Evolve MAY have had 44 Day One DLCs and a Season Pass. But every single one of those DLCs are skin packs, and like I said, it’s just cosmetic bullshit that has no impact on the game. While there is a fourth monster coming out soon, the Behemoth was included with the Monster Expansion Pack which came with the physical copy of the game. So… you know, maybe you could all stop complaining and actually PLAY the game before you criticise it for being a money pit. And besides, Evolve is pretty damn good as is, and any new maps will be free downloads and that’s all it really needs. Look, in the end, Evolve is a stupidly fun time with friends and that’s all I really ask for in an online game. It’s damn pretty to look at and the animations are gorgeous and aside from a few minor bugs in the interface, there isn’t much to complain about. If you are still boycotting this because of the DLC thing, get over it because you are missing out on one hell of a time… Unless this is another Titanfall scenario, which in about four weeks I wouldn’t bother.
It’s a bit of a shame that most times when jumping online, most
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REVIEW
The Escapists DO THE CRIME, DO THE TIME Author: Jordan Antonelli
The Escapists comes to us from developers Mouldy Toof, and is available across both PC and Xbox One. Sitting down to play, I didn't really know what to expect, hell I didn’t even know what genre of game it was. To put it simply, The Escapists is a 2D, top-down based prison escape game, pitting the player against the rigours of daily prison life, while trying to mastermind the perfect escape plan. The game packs a surprising amount of features, which you can choose to use or ignore. Barter, Crafting, Stealth and Combat are just some of the options, and it's up to players to decide how to use them. What I loved about this game was the difficulty. I will say that getting into the game was a little difficult for me, not because it was boring, but the tutorial was kind of lacking. Learning the rest of the game on my own was a bit frustrating. Even though there is indeed a tutorial mission, the game does get pretty tricky fairly quickly, and apart from a few functions and a menu run-down, the tutorial doesn't explain all you need to know. Two missions into the game and I was struggling. The cool thing about the Escapists is that it takes the Skyrim approach to gaming. “Here is a level and here are some rules, now you decide how to play.” This
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approach works amazingly well for a game that would otherwise feel fairly bland and even repetitive. It also means that no two people will play the game the same way, which is something to be encouraged. If only the tutorial mission introduced some more features, I would certainly have enjoyed it more. Crafting is something that this game handles well, and takes me back to my first Minecraft days, not knowing which items go together. What's That? You've found a sock? Oh, and a bar of soap? Well, look at that...a second in the crafting menu and you'll be brandishing a new weapon.
you can't, so don't get caught by the guards with that shiv. Initially I was concerned that I would become bored, quickly. Luckily for me, my concerns went away fairly quickly. Prison life brings with it a routine players will need to learn. Meals, chores, and NPC quests on top of that. I quickly settled into doing the prison's laundry, but if you feel like doing something else, there are 10 jobs to choose from in the game. On top of that, your fellow inmates can be a burden or a blessing, depending how you treat them. I had one chap hire me to make a distraction at roll call, and in return
training will help you complete the escape you've planned, whether it be a full frontal attack, or a sneak approach with hand crafted tools. In conclusion, The Escapists presents a decent amount of content in a neat little package. For its RRP, I'm not sure I would have gone out of my way to purchase it on my own. In saying that, I enjoyed what I did play of it. An advantage to some of these lower end indie games is that they aren't usually too computer intensive, and this holds true for The Escapists. This makes it perfect for the laptop, and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d even love to see it follow in the footsteps of Terraria and FTL, by releasing for mobile platforms. But who am I to pass judgement, pick it up for yourself. Just remember, don't drop the soap...
"games that encourage you to think are a great thing, and the crafting system ties into this idea really well." Want to take out a guard, sure go ahead, and while you're at you had better take his uniform as well. Games that encourage you to think are a great thing, and the crafting system ties into this idea really well. You inventory can contain two kind of items. Ones you can keep, and others which
I edged a little closer to my goals. One of the features I absolutely love in this game is the player attributes/statistics. A dumbed down version of the levelling systems you would be used to, players can train their inmate in three areas; speed, strength and intellect. Head to the gym and lift some weights, training your strength. Use a computer and you'll see you intellect rise, which is a must for crafting. This kind of
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>> FEATURE
MAJORA'S MASK FOR 3DS Author: Jordan Antonelli Majora's Mask was a highly anticipated sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Both titles used 3D open world environments, and were originally released on the Nintendo 64. In recent years we've seen a few remakes and re-releases in the Zeldaverse. Windwaker HD proudly resides in my Wii U, while my 3DS is adorned with the Hyrule-themed case I bought with the re-release of Ocarina of Time. After the later was released, the was no contented silence, there were whispers. Majora's Mask was the only word on our lips, surely if Ocarina of Time got a second
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release we could expect the sequel. It turns out Nintendo know how to please their fans, and once again, we've come out grinning. In similar fashion to OoT, Majora's Mask for 3DS follows many of the same principles of its predecessor. The titles makes use of many of the 3DS' features, but a huge focus has been placed on keeping the original game as intact as possible. Majora's Mask and OoT feel like different kinds of games, in almost an inexplicable kind of way. That hasn't changed.
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Following on from OoT, the game's opening quickly separates Link form his trusty steed Epona. Skull Kid, the games antagonist, is an outcast with the powers of a god. Link finds himself caught up in his wrath, as does the entire Land of Termina, a parallel word with uncanny similarities to Hyrule. Over the course of the game Link meets new faces as well as many old ones, as he quests on to retrieve Majora's Mask from the Skull Kid, as well as his own stolen possessions. All this takes place over a three day period, during which the moon makes a speedy descent to end all things as we know it. The game doesn't hand hold you and for its time, has unfathomable depth, as well as a huge playtime and a million things to explore and discover. Majora's Mask works fine on all iterations of the 3DS, and although I only briefly had a go on the new 3DS, I can confirm that hoarders of their older 3DS will not be missing out on too much. The secondary analogue stick is your camera tool. It really is the one thing the game desperately needed, but game-play isn't affected too drastically. I've heard from other users that the new 3DS boasts a slightly better game performance than its predecessors but I wasn't able to confirm or deny this. Graphically, the game does have some improvements over its original iteration, but I had to put both games alongside each other to notice some of them. Straight away you'll notice that Link has facial features, rather than a series or ugly polygons, as well as some new lighting and colouring to locations. Overall, I still wish more had been done to improve the environments, although I suspect this is due to the hardware limitations of the 3DS. Majora's Mask is a game that always felt a bit dark compared to its acclaimed brother, Ocarina of Time. Where OoT feels majestic, Majora always felt moody. The game is packed full of ominous themes and references, sculpted in a family friendly Nintendo fashion. The Land of Termina screams despair, and I'm not even talking about the falling-nightmare-moon-of-death-
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"loss, regret and death are all themes drawn on by this title"
and-dental-floss. Loss, regret, and death are all themes drawn on by this title, and the game's three day cycle just drives this home deeper every time you emerge from that clock tower. Personally, I think that on a handheld platform, the game struggles to push these themes across. We seem to focus less on a handheld, we are less focused, less involved. I was finding it had to emote with the game's characters, not when playing on a bustling train, and that is perhaps the main weakness of this re-release. In regards to the changes that made it into the game, don't worry they aren't all that intrusive. Additions to OoT return to the game, alongside new mechanics, such as a new and improved Bomber Journal, which feels a little bit close to a quest looker, featuring more detail, and being added to with far more frequency. You'll find some of the Boss fights have been tweaked a bit, and at first this really annoyed
me. As it turns out, I may have been overreacting. The fights aren't really any easier, just tweaked slightly, albeit in a noticeable way. Traversing the time line has become a bit easier as it features specificity rather than pushing characters straight to the next day, although I let you decide if it makes a difference or not. Reincarnation, reiteration, there are a lot of R-words thrown around when a game is re-released. The one I would use is refinement. The changes made to Majora's Mask for 3DS are subtle, but powerful. The essence of the game, and the Land of Termina is largely intact. My only regret is that I can't go back and play it for the first time again. This release is a fan favourite, but I would have loved to see it have a full makeover. Had they chucked it on the Wii, I would have loved to have seen what they came up with, but maybe I'm asking for too much. I guess when I remember back to first playing Majora's Mask as a child, the game confronted me with
question, one thing to consider. Just what the hell do I do? The Land of Termina is packed full of things to discover, whether they be rumours to investigate, quests to solve or tasks to follow up. The fact that every three days you end up at square one is just mind boggling. With all these packed into one game, a game that made you actually feel things no less, it's not surprising so many of us wanted this game. I didn't have a word for it when I was young, I do now. Zeldaception. Hey, I never said it was a real word...
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REVIEW
Dragon Ball Xenoverse LET'S DO THE TIME-WARP AGAIN Author: Jordan Antonelli
A few years ago, I found out about an upcoming MMO in Taiwan called Dragon Ball Online. The concept was pretty cool, take on the identity of a character in the Dragon Ball Universe, and travel back in time to prevent the epic battles of the show from being altered, and having the future changed. This game didn't exactly take off too well and not many of us got a chance to play it. Interestingly enough, the latest iteration to the Dragon Ball franchise, looks familiar, maybe too familiar. Dragon Ball: Xenoverse lets players create their own unique character, which is then recruited by Time Patrol Trunks to travel through time, fixing changes to the time line, and fighting in the epic battles we've all seen on TV. The game features 12 main quest stories and 50 parallel quests, and has both online and offline functionality. There's no denying that I'm a fan of the franchise, but we've been let down before, sometimes by the publisher, sometimes by the developer, and even sometimes just by the fan base. Xenoverse might not be too different too the games we know and love, but it didn't stop me from enjoying the hell out of it. Over its many game appearances, the Dragon Ball franchise has moved from top down RPG and 2D fighting games, to omni-directional 3D destructible environments. Characters will break into a dash when on the ground, barrel roll as they fly around, and even swim whilst underwater, a subtle feature which I love. The movement system is something that has been of some debate in previous titles, and this argument still remains. The fluid system I loved in the Raging Blast series was thrown out at some point in the past, and recent attempts have been a little disappointing, Ultimate Tenkaichi
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used an abhorrent combination of brawler styles, but still the decision was made to push on with new ideas, rather than go back to the Raging Blast system, which seemed to play the best. Moving your character around feels noticeable clunky, heavy and unresponsive. This is something I had to make a huge effort to get used to, which was made all the worse by the god awful control scheme. I don't pretend to be an expert on button configurations, but what I can say is that there has to be a better way to play. Luckily for me I found some configs from previous releases hidden in the options menu, although I would've loved if they'd been labelled. The multi team battles make a return to Xenoverse, as well as the multi character targeting, which continues to make the matches feel more open, as well as giving a sense of strategy. Graphically, the game looks pretty good. Characters remain much of their animĂŠ look through cell shaded detailing, and unlike in previous titles, issues like object clipping are far less noticeable this time around. Level design however hasn't particularly improved, maintains a similar standard to previous releases without actually pushing the bar. The battle locations are very nice to look at, but not necessarily different in any meaningful way from previous design. As with many previous titles, the game will take players to many of the locations in the Universe, such as Kami's Lookout and Cell's Tournament Arena. The one note I will make to this is that the game does feature an interactive hub space for players to move around and briefly explore, known as Toki-Toki City. A game like this has a decent amount of replayability, certainly
ultimately suit your own play style or in contrast, to completely change the way your fights play out.
from a realm of nostalgia for fans. The added bonus of rewriting the story by creating a new unique character just adds more playthroughs. Character creation was a lot of fun, even if it is something we've seen before. Ultimate Tenkaichi had this feature, as did the MMO. You have all the major races to choose from, whether you want a character like Frieza, or a proud Namekian. Humans and Saiyans are also both options, and Majin characters complete the mix. Each race has its own advantages and disadvantages, while height and weight will change your stats around further. This means you can customize your character to
As both an uber fan and a massive cynic, the Dragon Ball games have often left a bad taste in my mouth. Xenoverse isn't quite the game we deserve, but it is an improvement. I came out of last year's title being fairly disappointed so it was a relief get a game I genuinely enjoyed. The opening hour of the game is a little tricky to get the hang off, and probably needs a bit more of a thorough introduction to game play, as well as a better sense of direction. There was probably a better way to introduce the story as well, and I feel the game suffered by trying to force a story on me that I didn't quite care about. As a fan, I'm probably too hard on the series, maybe I'm setting the bar just a bit too high. On the other hand, it really is an amazing franchise, deserving off an amazing set of games. I really did enjoy reliving the battles of my 90's 8am TV programming, but a game can't stand on nostalgia alone. So buy the game because odds are you'll love the hell out of it, perhaps not for the right reasons, but for that we always have next year.
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REVIEW
Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate THE HUNT IS ON
Author: Jordan Antonelli When I was a few years younger than I am now, I had a conversation with a close friend, one studying game design. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Why can't games let boss fights be a big event? Something extravagant. Something you can experience, that feels like a hurdle you can overcome. Why are boss fights the way they are? Darksiders, God of War, WoW, these are games that know that a boss fight needs to be a big deal. Not long after I get my hands on Monster Hunter. The concept Intrigued me to say the least. A game, FULL of boss fights... could it even work? Turns out it can. It also turns out that Capcom are doing those boss fights bigger and better than ever, as shown in their latest title for 3DS, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate In all honesty, it's been a while since I last picked up Monster Hunter, and I certainly hadn't played it on 3DS yet. Traditionally I've found it had to be satisfied with a Monster Hunter game, just because they promise so much. This time around, I've been really impressed by the changes that have made it into the Monster Hunter universe. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate makes the hunt more involved than ever before. Jump higher, leap further, even ride atop a monster if you feel the urge. The newest addition to my 3DS Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate recreates the wheel with another two weapon classes, meaning there are even more options when it comes to gearing up for battle. One thing players will appreciate is the online play, allowing players to connect over the net or locally. The idea behind this is that you players can team up to handle your prey. Local play is something I've tested out recently with both Monster Hunter and last month with Smash Bros, and I have to see the 3DS
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"i've been really impressed by the changes that have made it into the monster hunter universe."
systems seem to be pretty consistent, with a fast response and no dropouts. The online play makes the game feel almost like an MMO, and for that reason I feel like it really needed a chat feature, if only for coordinating moves inside fights. By that I mean vocal chat, not preloaded messages, this isn't the Mario Kart loading screen guys... Another 3DS feature comes from the touch screen. Players will use this from everything from mini games to weapons and maps. It also features a target lock system which will help you hone in on your kill. This is something I felt was inspired by the Zelda series, and it works very well in this franchise. As for the new weapon types, there are two. My personal favourite was the Insect Glaive, essentially a staff weapon, with a catch. The Charge Blade does about what you'd expect, but has the ability to transform back and forth from sword to defensive shield. Players will find that the previous weapon styles have all had a bit of tweaking, and switching up my use with particular
weapons really helped me appreciate the different play styles and tactics involved in taking down a monster. My big thing this time around with the Monster Hunter franchise are the things that Capcom have actively improved on. The biggest change here is that the game makes it a lot easier to just get on with the game, something I could never do with previous games. Getting through the start of the game was fairly quick. This came across as the game trying to capitalize on the fact that the excitement, the adrenaline, comes from the battles, the hunt, so why not let that set the tone. This comes across partly with the new feral effect, making those monsters that little bit more difficult to handle. This was an excellent change, and I feel this goes a step further by making the game far more accessible for newcomers to the
franchise, who aren't yet involved and invested with the universe. I often have a love/hate relationship with this franchise, I'll play it for 50 hours, then refuse to pick it up for a year. Early iterations of the Monster Hunter Universe wrote checks their game play couldn't cash. This time around, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate ups the ante, and in all honesty, It could be my favourite so far. I'd probably recommend this title to newbies, just because it felt pretty good to pick up straight away. In those cases I'd probably steer clear from online play till I got my chops up. At the end of the day, hunt the way you want, get out there and kill it. Literally.
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