129(0%(5 _
&20,&6 *$0,1* 0$*$=,1(
) ( $7 8 5 ( 6
7 K H 7R R O V 2 I ' L J L W D O $ U W &RQIHVVLRQV 2I $ &RVSOD\HU <D R L & R Q
&20,&6
.DQML 9V :RUG %DOORRQV &RPLFV 2Q 7KH %LJ 6FUHHQ PRUH
' , * , 7$ / ( ' , 7 , 2 1
5)& 53"(*$ 5"-& 0' +0)/ 800 '*-.4 1H
ц╝лчФ╗уВ▓уГ╝уГащЫСшкМ ше┐хп╛цЭ▒
&"45 74 8&45
+31( ."/(" )0/( ,0/(
::: &*0$*21/,1( &20
3&7*&84
831( $0.*$4 )0--:800%
4VOTFU 0WFSESJWF #PSEFSMBOET 5IF 1SF 4FRVFM 5IF &WJM 8JUIJO 1SPKFDU 4QBSL NPSF
CGM #09 Cover art done by Anna Sou pits the classic American superhero against the Japanese anime school girl.
THE NEXT GENERATION 2.0 wayne santos
W
CG Magazine #09
ell, we’re back at another November, and this one, particularly for gamers, is a little bit different. We’re now a full year into the latest console generation, and usually this is when the drought for games ends, at about the same time as we stop thinking of these new machines as having “launched.” For the most part, it looks like both the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 are keeping to that schedule, as November—and even the previous month of October—were pretty good times to be a new console owner. November is, for many people, the reason they got their consoles. The new Call of Duty game is, of course, a tent-pole reason for mainstream gamers to use a new machine, but there’s also Ubisoft with a new Assassin’s Creed game that is finally designed not as a crossgeneration title, but a dedicated Xbox One/PS4 game. For the RPG minded, there is, finally, the looming presence of Dragon Age: Inquisition, the first AAA RPG from BioWare, while Lords of the Fallen from Bandai Namco gives players a taste of that Souls action that’s been missing from the new hardware. And then, there’s the incredibly hard to ignore “HD+” remaster of Grand Theft Auto V, which is going to answer the question “How many people that were frothing at the mouth and bought last year’s biggest AAA release are frothing at the mouth to buy it again?” It’s also time to take stock of where these shiny new consoles are after one year, and the answer is surprising; the PlayStation 4 is dominating markets all across the world, while the Xbox One continues to struggle in second place, even in its home territory of the USA. This is a far cry from the last generation when the Xbox 360 came out punching, taking no prisoners, while the PS3 got knocked down and spent the remainder of the generation slowly—but steadily—getting back on its feet, to eventually regain both sales and quality games. Now we’re in a situation where Sony is the one with the most to lose, while Microsoft is backed into a corner, forced to make very aggressive market moves like pricing the Xbox One at $350 until January in an attempt to recover some sales from the
PS4 juggernaut which has taken the lead every month since launch. In a surprising reversal of fortunes, it is the West that is now trying to catch up to the East in the console sphere of influence. That—coincidentally or not—is also the theme of the latest issue of CGM; east versus west. In both comics and games, there’s a wealth of different genres, influences, and, of course, cultures. Videogames were first created in the West, with early hardware like the Atari 2600, although it was the East, with the Japanese Nintendo Entertainment System that saved the industry after its disastrous 1983 crash at the hands of its American stewards. In the same way, comics got their start in the 30s, but it was only in the post-WWII period of Japan that manga came to be. Today, manga occupies massive amounts of shelf space in both book and comic shops, even going so far as to nab the coveted female demographic that most Western comics are unable to appeal to. This latest issue of CGM looks at a few of the different ways that East and West have approached both graphic and interactive creativity. We have a quick rundown on what both comics and manga experienced during their birth and adolescence, as well as a look at that most time-intensive of all gaming genres, the role-playing game. We even see what happens when someone from the East goes to the West, with the unfortunate story of John Woo, one of the great cinematic story-tellers of Hong Kong who came to America looking for fortune, and instead found the decline of his career. All that and more is in this latest issue of CGM, so whether you’re big on Japan or chant “USA” over and over again to help you get to sleep, there’s something for you here.
Wayne Santos
Senior Content Editor
CGM09 | NOV2014
3
CONTRIBUTORS Phil Brown @thatphilbrown
Phil Brown is a writer for a variety of publications about a variety of topics. He loves movies, games, comic books, regular books, and comedy. As a result, he has very little life outside of these obsessions and is fine with that.
FEATURED IN CGMAGAZINE #09
Jason D’aprile
Bryan Calhoun
Jason D’Aprile has been writing about games since the early 90’s and playing games forever. You can find more of his thoughts and odd rantings at addgamer.com.
Co-Host of Got Game on Sportsnet 590 The FAN (CJCL) in Toronto and 1310 News (CIWW) in Ottawa. Hobbies include mixing audio, watching NASCAR and popping collars.
@ADD_Gamer_
@Bryalogical
CGMAGAZINE
www.cgmagonline.com EDITORIAL
Liana Kerzner
Shawn Petraschuk
Brendan Quinn
Liana Kerzner is a media personality, video game writer and pop culture critic. She can be heard on Canada’s Top 20 Countdown’s Geek Download, read on Metaleater.com, and followed on twitter @redlianak.
Shawn is a freelance journalist and Associate Editor at canadianonlinegamers.com residing in beautiful Vancouver, B.C. Keeping his finger on the pulse of geek chic you’ll often find him with a controller in one hand and a comic book in the other.
Brendan’s favourite things in the world are videogames, comic books, and snowboarding. Not talented enough to actually work in these industries, he is content to write about them.
@redlianak
@callmeshawnp
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Brendan Frye SENIOR CONTENT EDITOR Wayne Santos ASSOCIATE MANAGING CONTENT EDITOR Melanie Emile ART ART DIRECTOR
Boyd Reynolds
Wayne Santos
Zoya Street
Boyd Reynolds is a freelance writer and educator living in Vancouver. He has an undying love of comics, graphic novels and movies.
Wayne Santos has been playing and writing about games all over the world for over ten years. Rumour has it his Replicant life-span is just about up, but he won’t let that--or a couple of Blade Runners--keep him down.
A freelance historian and journalist from Britain, living in the Bay Area. He runs an e-zine about games history called Memory Insufficient, and crowd-funded and selfpublished Dreamcast Worlds, a book based on his master’s thesis.
@ TheBoydReynolds
@realwaynesantos
@rupazero
Jo Enaje COVER ART Anna Sou ADVERTISING/MARKETING CORPORATE RELATIONS / MARKETING Melanie Emile CONTRIBUTORS
@roujin
Khari is a freelance writer still waiting for the tragic day that he’ll outgrow videogames, just like when he quit playing with toys after watching Transformers the Movie. More likely he’ll be buried with a controller in his hand.
CGM DIGITAL AVAILABLE ON ITUNES OR POCKETMAGS
CGMPRESENTS
Phil Brown
Khari Taylor
Jason D’aprile Bryan Calhoun Liana Kerzner Shawn Petraschuk Brendan Quinn Boyd Reynolds Wayne Santos Zoya Street Khari Taylor INTERNS
WEB EXCLUSIVES ONLY AT CGMAGONLINE.COM
Edward Bayley Brendan Quinn
ADVERTISING INQUIRIES PHONE: 416-516-2894 FAX: 416-516-4763 EMAIL: Ads@cgmagonline.ca (ISSN 1920-9150) CGMagazine is published bi-monthly by Creative Junction, Part of Ronald P Frye & Co.
MEDIA COVERAGE
Check out our onsite coverage of the latest events. Watch video interviews with the developers of gamings biggest titles.
CGM PLAYS
Tune in every Tuesday and Thursday to watch the CGM staff take on both old and new games alike in CGM Plays.
CGM SOUND OFF
Check out CGM Sound Off and listen to what Wayne Santos has to say on the hot topics of the video game industry
NEWS, REVIEWS, PREVIEWS +MORE
WWW.CGMAGONLINE.COM 4
We offer the latest news, reviews and previews of the newest games and cover whats trending in the gaming industry. CGMAGONLINE.COM
CGMagazine does not claim copyright in the screenshots herein. Copyright in all screenshots within this publication are owned by their respective companies. Entire contents copyright 2014. CGMagazine All rights reserved; reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Products named in these pages are trade names, or trademarks of their respective companies. Follow CGMagazine on Twitter, Facebook and by RSS FEED to get the latest about comics and gaming. We will also give you all the sneak peeks as what you can expect for the coming months. Find all links for this and more at www.cgmagonline.com CGMagazine is a proud member of Magazines Canada and supports Canadian content and industries.
CGMagazine is printed on FSC Certified Mixed Source Paper.
CONTENTS NOVEMBER 2 014 # 0 9
COMICS GAMES FILM/TV FEATURES
Painting With Light The Tools Of Digital Art Small Stories On The Big Screen Indie Comics Come To Hollywood
08 14 20 24
Confessions Of A Cosplayer The Serious Side Of Gamers Who Play Dress Up Yaoi Con The World Of Boysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Love Comics Is Growing And Changing
FOCUS
The Role Of Culture RPGs In The East And West From Hong Kong To Hollywood With A Bullet The Tragic Tale Of John Woo Films
32 38 44
Kanji Vs Word Balloons The Eastern And Western Approach To Comics
REVIEWS Sunset Overdrive
52
56
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
The Evil Within
60
64
Project Spark
Skylanders
68
72
Fantasia: Music Evolved
Lords Of The Fallen
76 HARDWARE
Fluance XL Series Home Theater Speaker Set
82
86
END GAME Metal Gear Solid
CGM09 | NOV2014
5
6
CGMAGONLINE.COM
F E A T U R E S INTERVIEWS BRIEFS OPINION
Painting WIth Light The Tools Of Digital Art Pg. 8
CGM09 | NOV2014
7
FEATURE
Painting With Light
P A I N T I N G
W I T H
LIGHT T O O L S
O F
D I G I T A L
A R T
Icosa
T H E
8
CGMAGONLINE.COM
F E AT U R E There’s still an ongoing argument about whether games are art, but what about art as art when it’s digital but interactive? The act of creation itself is interactive and now some artists are playing with that concept.
words by zoya street
W
e are living in an era when computers can generate art. Programs generate visual art, writing and music, sometimes indistinguishable from human-created works, other times creating new machinelike aesthetics never before seen in history. This is something new, but it’s also something very very old. It’s another turn in a long history of humans relating to their tools of craft. “Tools have a will,” says independent art software developer Andi McClure, “you need to collaborate with them.” Andi’s work began in music creation. “The only stuff I was making that I liked at all was this totally intentionless stuff. I was writing computer programs at near-random [which generated sounds] and then adding human stuff only where it seemed to fit in with what the computer had laid down. Letting the machine lead.” In the past couple of years, she has been working at the intersection between art generation and game design - letting the machine lead, but letting the user push back. The results are an astonishing new field of visual art. One of the most popular such programs is Icosa, art from which is currently on
display in a gallery in Brooklyn. Another is Become a Great Artist in 10 Seconds, a collaboration project with Michael Brough that has been selected for exhibition at LA-based games festival Indiecade. These are tools that anybody can experiment with. It’s not just about the output - it’s about the process: “Images that were only mildly interesting to people when I was tweeting them at 4 AM suddenly became very interesting to them when they were involved in the creation of it, or had been able to shape its outcome… Instead of making something myself out of these little art programs, if I open them up and I let other people use them, it’s more interesting. People feel involved. And it’s more interesting to me, because they find interesting edges in the program that I never would have.” In digital art tools, the body is virtual. Sometimes risk - that glitchy aesthetic - comes from deliberate randomness in the code. More interesting to those who are mastering Icosa and Great Artist is the uncertainty that comes about in the communication between user and machine - the “edge cases”, as Andi calls them, where users push the program to do things that are outside of the usual personality of its algorithms. →
8 | N OC CGM09 OT V2 0 1 4
9
FEATURE
Photo Credit: Amanda Irwin
Confessions Of A Cosplayer
14
CGMAGONLINE.COM
F E AT U R E It might have been fans of Star Trek in the West that first dressed up like fictional characters, but it was in Japan that it became a subculture called Cosplay. Now the wheel has come full circle, and avid Cosplayers in the West have their own take on the hobby.
CON F E S SIONS OF A
COSPLAYER THE SERIOUS SIDE OF GAMERS WHO PLAY DRESS UP
words by liana kerzner
H
i! My name is Liana, and I’m a cosplayer. Liana is my real name. I don’t have a cosplay name. This is unusual: a lot of cosplayers in North America use cosplay names to keep their cosplay life separate from the rest of their experience to avoid mockery. Cosplay may seem “weird” to those that don’t do it, but for us it’s a serious study in joy. It’s a post-modern form of transcendence; a displaced examination of self.
Contrary to what many think, pop culture costuming is not a Japanese art form. It started back in the late 1930s at the first World Science Fiction Convention. However, the Japanese refined costuming into the elaborate, communitydriven cosplay culture of today. Cosplay is a “big tent” pastime, and attracts many different people for many different reasons. Some people do cosplay for the attention, and this is a source of frustration CGM09 | NOV2014
for purists. However, cosplay is a lot of work. Even costumes you buy require alterations and augmentations so they fit properly. So the vast majority of cosplayers cosplay for the love and admiration of the characters. Then there’s the sheer challenge of sculpting fabric, plastic, foam and even one’s own body into a character that doesn’t exist in the real world. There’s a masochistic thrill in that. It’s an introvert’s way of breaking the natural law. → 15
Magazines bring together people, passions and the products that interest them, all in one of the most intimate and engaging media available. In fact, somebody is engaged in a magazine this very moment. Discover how advertising in magazines can help you make connections with consumers of your own. Visit www.magazinescanada.ca
30
CGMAGONLINE.COM
F O C U S COVER SPOTLIGHTS
The Role Of Culture RPGs In The East And West Pg. 32
CGM09 | NOV2014
31
→ Xenoblade Chronicles, Dragon Quest, Mass Effect, Fallout 3
FOCUS
East Vs. West RPG
32
CGMAGONLINE.COM
FOCUS Role-playing games are a staple of the gaming diet, but they’ve taken different routes thanks to their cultural origins. The Japanese role-playing game is a breed apart from its Western counterpart, and this has a much to do with the hardware origin as the region of the world itself.
TH E ROLE OF
CULTURE RPGS IN THE EAST AND WEST
words by jason d’aprile
W
hen gamers think about the genre with the most cultural differences , role-playing games are probably the first thing to come to mind. The divide between western and eastern RPGs has been wide since the mid-80s, although there’s been a surprising amount of crossover—especially early on, when home computers were the focus. With the start of the NES era, however, the quintessential JRPG style blossomed and has remained with us ever since. →
CGM09 | NOV2014
33
50
CGMAGONLINE.COM
R E V I E W S SUNSET OVERDRIVE – BORDERLANDS: THE PRE-SEQUEL THE EVIL WITHIN – PROJECT SPARK S K Y L A N D E R S : T R A P T E A M - FA N TA S I A : M U S I C E V O LV E D LORDS OF THE FALLEN
Sunset Overdrive Review Pg. 51
CGM09 | NOV2014
51
REVIEW
Sunset Overdrive
Sunset Overdrive (Xbox One) Insomniac Games | Microsoft Studios RATED: M 07/10 words by bryan calhoun Let’s all face the truth of real life for a second. Life can really suck at points, and there is no guarantee that you’ll ever realize your dreams. This is the fate of the unnamed, player created, protagonist when you first boot-up Sunset Overdrive. At the start, we discover that our protagonist is working a dead end job in a city celebrating the launch of a new energy drink from some local beverage baron. As shown in the marketing material for Sunset Overdrive, this energy drink turns the majority of the citizen into mutants, and then the multinational company at fault calls the Umbrella Corporation for advice. At least, that’s what I’d like to imagine happened, given that both corporations are allowed to quarantine a whole city until they figure out how to pass the buck. 52
At this point the game starts, but before the tutorial training wheels come off our protagonist finds him/herself shaken emotionally by his/her current situation; however, he/she quickly comes to terms with his/her new life after the world’s greatest pep talk happens. Basically, your character is told by other survivors that life is what you make it, and thus he/she decides to treat the dangerous mutant filled city as a carnival themed playground with no rules.
Comedy is certainly a pillar that tries to hold up this game. The idea that Sunset City is someone’s personal carnival is a metaphor that works pretty well; especially since the world is full of colourful things to see, set pieces with unique game mechanics to experience, and
CGMAGONLINE.COM
colourful people to blow up. Like carnivals, Sunset Overdrive also relies heavily on humour, but in Sunset Overdrive everyone plays the clown. Comedy is certainly a pillar that tries to hold up this game, but like a list of the games made by Insomniac it is hit or miss. There are a number of times that Sunset Overdrive is unbelievably funny, but often you’ll watch the game’s protagonist utter common memes like “boom goes the dynamite” while breaking the fourth wall over and over. Trust me when I say that the worst Sunset Overdrive has to offer is pretty hard to watch without cringing. Sunset Overdrive also relies a little too heavily on referencing pop-culture things that are funny; which can still be a rewarding comedy form if done with finesse. Often it feels like Sunset Overdrive nails the timing, but they’ve landed on the wrong
bryan calhoun part of the timeline. I’ll buy that there are early 20-somethings out there that will have seen The Big Lebowski, but what audience will get references to 1985’s Gymkata, starring American gymnast Kurt Thomas?
The problem with the Sunset Overdrive movement system is that there are gaps at ground level that are hard to get out of. Unfortunately, the problems with Sunset Overdrive do not stop with movie references you will have to look up. For example, the movement system of Sunset Overdrive is a lot like that of Jet Set Radio. You can easily attach and endlessly grind along railings, power lines, fences, rooftops, and more. You can also bounce off of canopies, umbrellas, sky lights, and so on. Many of your character’s buffs will also only operate after pulling off a long chain of grinding and jumping tricks. That said, the problem with the Sunset Overdrive movement system is that there are gaps at ground level that are hard to get out of. The best way to play Sunset Overdrive is to stay high and constantly grind on objects, but there are times when you’ll get knocked off your chosen path. This is annoying by itself, and usually you just jump back up onto the object you were grinding along to continue. Unfortunately, there are also pockets around the game-space that are devoid of the items you can use to restart your grinding. When you find yourself in one of these areas the fast pace nature of the game grinds to a halt as you scramble to find some place your character will grab onto. To be fair, you can still grind the ground level railings that flank every road, but they are tactically unsound because
Sunset Overdrive they have breaks in them every few feet; also, you are always in danger of being mobbed
Most of what you do in Sunset Overdrive is fun and imaginative gameplay that focuses on your grinding and your general travel capabilities. by mutants at ground level. Another big focus of this game is what Insomniac likes to call the amps. In common videogame nomenclature, these amps are buffs that increase your power or give damage boosts to your weapons. One thing I will credit Sunset Overdrive with is the inventiveness of their games. Many boss battles and major set pieces offer game-play that is unique to the rest of Sunset Overdrive (and gaming as a whole in specific cases). The elemental add-ons that some amps offer are also pretty cool. That said, the missions that create amps are by far the worst part of the game. In basic terms, they are always the same tower defense mission that forces you to babysit one or more stills that are “brewing” your amps. Most of what you do in Sunset Overdrive is fun and imaginative gameplay that focuses on your grinding and your general travel capabilities. Brewing new amps comes down to setting up traps and defending the area from waves of mutants. It makes sense from a story point view, especially since Sunset Overdrive loves pop-culture references like Breaking Bad; however, these repetitive tower defense CGM09 | NOV2014
missions are just not fun. That also explains why I am not a big fan of the game’s multiplayer. The main multiplayer mode that Insomniac is trying to push is called Chaos Squad. You and seven other people join a match with the look and the items you have collected from the single player campaign. Your team of eight then goes through a number of different missions inside Sunset City with different goals, and the activities you complete will determine how hard the end of the match will be. The end of the match turns out to be another round of the same tower defense game that wore out its welcome during the campaign; however, this time seven other people join you. If you like those tower defense missions from the campaign, Chaos Squad will let you play more of them online. People who dislike the tower defense mini-game will not be a big fan of this flagship multiplayer mode.
53
THANKSFORREADI NG
FORMORE OFTHI SI SSUE VI SI T WWW. CGMAGONLI NE. COM MAGAZI NEALSOAVAI LABLEON