DECEMBER 2013
video games . collectables . anime . cosplay . trading cards . pop culture . retro . much more
HAVE A
TOP 10 CHRISTMAS ‘MUST HAVE’ GAMES page 12
RETRO CHRISTMAS! page 78
FULL REVIEWS: Batman Arkham Origins Rocksmith 2014 WWE 2K14 Battlefield 4 LEGO Marvel Super Heroes & more!
EDITOR’S CHOICE AWARD
POKÉMON X & Y
REALLY ARE THAT GOOD! page 30
GREAT GIFTS! SUPERMAN CAPE APRON
WATER BOTTLES
$14.95EA
$29.95
$39.95EA
COOLER BAGS
BAR RUNNERS
$14.95EA
SPIRIT GLASSES
$9.95EA
EZY FREEZE CUPS
$19.95EA
TRAVEL MUGS
$12.95EA
COSTUME MUGS
$16.95EA
WELCOME TO DECEMBER! INSIDE UK & US correspondence Pages 7-9
Xbox One & PS4 Games Page 10
Top 10 Christmas ‘Must Have’ Games Pages 12
Industry Comment Page 18
Previews & Reviews Pages 24-47
WELCOME TO LIVE MAGAZINE AND OUR CHRISTMAS EDITION! Merry Christmas! Yes it’s that time of year. Time to get out and grab some Christmas gifts for friends and family. Or maybe time to spoil yourself with a brand new console or game? This month Live Magazine takes a look at the top 10 must have games this Christmas along with our industry comment where writers look back and share their favourite Christmas memories. We also have our biggest ever Retro section with a Christmas theme plus our brand new Collectables section and as always, a ton of amazing Cosplay! Enjoy our Christmas edition, and remember you can download it on to your iPad or tablet device to read off line by using our link to Scribd or via Issuu. Rob and Giselle Live Magazine
Adventure Time Pages 54-58
Special Report: Parents Buying Guide Page 60
Anime & Manga Pages 70-76 Retro
Pages 78-85 Collectibles Page 86
Cosplay Interviews Pages 91-104
Trading Cards
THE LIVE TEAM Publisher: Rob Jenkins (Gametraders Operations Centre) Art Director: Giselle Capozza (Gametraders Operations Centre) Game Review & Preview Editors: Nick Getley & Kylie Tuttle (Sticky Trigger)
Page 106
Retro Writer: Paul Monopoli
Christmas Messages
Retro Writer: David Kudrev
Pages 108-111
Trading Card Writer: Johnathan Heng
UK Writer: Elliott Buddo US Writer: Serwa Aboagye Sticky Trigger Writers: Kylie Tuttle Nick Getley Alex Holmes Sam Babu Nick Pearce Aaron Milligan Ben Rachow Elliott Buddo
WHAT’S N XCOM: ENEMY WITHIN
XBOX ONE AND PS4
Getting positive reviews across the gaming world and lot’s of praise for the new maps, missions, and of course the tension that you get from XCom games. It can be tough in parts but for the holidays it’s a winner to keep you busy. Available on PC, 360 and PS3. It’s MA15+.
Sure you could buy one super new console or if you’ve been extra nice, Santa might just get you both? With enhanced sound and graphics, amazing new games and a ton of new features too many to mention here, these are the ideal family gift. So start nagging mum/ dad/significant other and get one for the holidays! Beware though, there is a massive shortage of PS4 units Australia wide!
CALL OF DUTY: GHOSTS While not flooding out the doors like GTA V did, it’s a great multiplayer game with balanced weapons and a great new alien invasion mode! It’s going to be out on just about every possible format including XOne, PS4, Wii U, PS3 and 360. Pricing is good - grab it.
STAR WARS BACKPACKS These things look amazing and are quality packs. They fit a ton of gear in them and a particular favourite is the Storm Trooper orange version. They will cost you around the $79.95 mark and a must have for fans.
NEW
Each month we’ll take a look at what’s new, different and maybe a bit “out there” in the world of gaming. For Christmas, let’s check what’s new that might look great under your tree this year..
COOL TECH Want something cool and techy - check out the iPad Air, Galaxy Note 3 or Nexus 5 or iPhone 5 S or C. Watch out for watches in 2014 from Apple and just about everyone else. Other gift ideas - a new TV - 55 inch is good but 60 is better. Go for the best you can afford with the best picture. Make sure it’s going to display games without TV input lag. Cnet did an awesome round up and it can be found here.
ZUMBA FITNESS WORLD PARTY! FIST FULL OF FUN THIS CHRISTMAS!
SPORTS GAMES ARE ALWAYS A WINNER! They’re normally rated kid friendly but games like NBA 2K14 and FIFA are top of the list for Christmas night family sport sessions. They’ll have you throwing things at each other or cursing the pixelated players but are great multiplayer fun and nothing better for lounging around after stuffing yourself with Christmas lunch and dinner...
Or any dance game you can get. These games normally come out with Singstar when the more talented ladies get hold of the console and are a good reason to get a second system. Many a time the boys had to retreat to another room while the girls took over with dance offs or ABBA on Singstar. We recommend you buy the latest game for the ladies and explain they’ll love playing with the family while you play on the new PS4 or Xbox One...
For the guy or girl that’s got everything, comes the giant fist! Perfect stocking filler (if you can manage to fit it into a pair of stockings). Great for being the life of the party or holding your drink at a BBQ this Summer. Holds standard can of Coke & Mother perfectly! Keep your cans cool this Summer. In-store now. Only $19.95!
! S T F I G S A M CHRIST SEE IN-STORE FOR PRICING!
HURRY!
WHILE STOCKS LAST!
AVAILABLE 6TH DEC!
LAUNCH PS4 AND XBOX ONE TITLES! GET ‘EM AT GAMETRADERS!
CTC
SEE IN-STORE FOR MORE NEXT GEN GAMES!
BAGS FOR ALL AGES!
$69.95
$79.95 EACH
STAR WARS BACKPACKS
STORM TROOPER BACKPACK
ADVENTURE TIME REVERSIBLE BACKPACK
$59.95
from the UK
GAMING IN THE UK The time has come to dust off the Christmas tree that’s been hidden in an attic or under the stairs for the last 10 months and get ready to see if you have been naughty or nice come Christmas day! Gaming gifts this season are set to be huge here in the UK with the release of the Xbox One and the Playstation 4, both consoles will be on the most wanted gift list followed by the launch titles. The gaming community are set to have an incredible Christmas this year with a huge offering of new titles and the new consoles. We have noticed that the world acclaimed “best selling first person action franchise of all time’’ Call of Duty: Ghosts isn’t going down so well over here, unlike the last instalment - Modern Warfare 4
however with a few server issues and it being a bit buggy. The word on the street is that Infinity Ward have gone too with the change in game play and the gimmicky introduction of the aliens (first it was zombies, now it’s aliens... what’s next?). Battlefield 4 is however getting brilliant reviews and props for the game play, online server set up, spectacular graphics and viable changes in the game from the last instalment. This one is definately a winner and should be on your Christmas list!
The swash buckling, pirate adventures from Assassins Creed 4: Black Flag are also creeping up the ‘must have’ charts in the UK. Once again, Ubisoft have presented another fine instalment to
Another game which should be looked into this season is Batman: Arkham Origins. It has been receiving mostly positive reviews, but the main criticism is that not a lot has changed since Batman: Arkham City in terms of mechanics. Still, definately one that should be under the tree this season. Something that’s not yet for sale in Australia, but soon will be is Oculus Rift. The Oculus Rift is a virtual reality headset allowing a whole new meaning to the phrase 3D gaming! It’s beginning to take off over here as well, and I’m going to predict big, big things for this gaming accessory in the coming months!
“THE SWASH BUCKLING, PIRATE ADVENTURES FROM ASSASSINS CREED 4: BLACK FLAG ARE ALSO CREEPING UP THE ‘MUST HAVE’ CHARTS IN THE UK.” which received raving reviews! Some people are not a fan of the change in gameplay, the introduction of the alien missions and the online features. One would have assumed the new online playing would have been a huge hit,
the Assassins family and allow you to defy the rules and created your own multiplayer modes in the new ‘Game Lab’ feature. It really is quite brilliant, has stunning game play and graphics, this game will have you glued to the screen for hours!
Well that’s it from the UK for this gaming year! Have a fantastic Christmas and a safe new year! What will gaming in 2014 bring us?
Written by Elliott Buddo
(stickytriggerentertainment.com)
from the US
GAMING IN THE US The long awaited console war is finally upon us. Within 24 hours of its release, Sony’s PlayStation 4 has sold 1,000,000 units within North America. To put that number in perspective, Sony’s PlayStation 3 only sold 81,639 units within the first 24 hours of its release back in 2006. To say Sony’s new console is enjoying a successful launch would be an understatement. Even
signature Xbox green and white. However it is still far too early to declare a “console war winner” especially as the world waits for Xbox One’s debut, and an entire holiday season to commence. To speculate the success or failure of any console (yes, even the Wii U) at this point would be naïve and shortsighted. In an era where console lifespans easily extend toward the
console rival, Microsoft, had to admit an impressive start to the continued legacy of PlayStation,
ten year mark, the only true victors of a console war are you and I: the gamers. So while we wait for tech
adopters” or “nah I’m gonna wait for the price drop”, and drop subtle (and some not so subtle) hints to our loved ones about what gifts we want for the holidays this year, let’s take a moment and discuss the most important year in gaming yet. 2013 will forever be known as a year of transition for the video game industry. Not only did we welcome the arrival of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but we also said goodbye to the Wii as Nintendo ordered its production ceased. Yes, 2013 was a year of endings and new beginnings, where “this generation” suddenly became “last generation.” And as the year comes to a close, the forthcoming holidays offer a final chance for last generation’s games to find themselves in the homes and backlogs of gamers everywhere. If you were to ask this American girl what her must-have games of the year are, she’d give you plenty to choose from: Bioshock Infinite, Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, The Last of Us, Grand Theft Auto 5, Beyond Two Souls, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Pokemon X/Y, Gone Home, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Tomb Raider, The Swapper, Outlast, Guacamelee… all of these games are landmarks within a spectacular time for gaming and should be on any gamer’s holiday wish list. So whether you’re an early adopter who waited in line for days just to get your hands on new technology first, or you’ve got a backlog of games too long and a bank account number too low
“2013 WILL FOREVER BE KNOWN AS A YEAR OF TRANSITION FOR THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY.” tweeting, “Congratulations on your launch, Sony” in an attached image with the message typed in
giants to battle over market share and customer loyalty, begin to categorize ourselves as either “early
for a new system - the last couple months of 2013 are shaping up to be an impressive finish for an epic generation of gaming.
The only business left to determine from history’s best year for video games, is to decide which of these masterpieces stands above the rest as coveted Game of the Year. Here in the States, it’s widely accepted that the honor remains reserved for the following successes: Bioshock Infinite, The Last of Us, and Grand Theft Auto 5. Ask any American gamer what 2013 title should garner the honor of being immortalized as Game of the Year, and you’ll hear those three names repeated in succession one after the other. Of all the fantastic titles released this year, it is obvious that these games exemplify everything about the industry that’s both exhilarating and awe-inspiring: enthralling stories, beautiful environments, engaging gameplay, and believable characters. So if you’re biding your time and waiting for Santa to bring you into the next generation of video games, please be sure to experience everything the last generation consoles have to offer. You never know what you may have missed!
Written by Serwa Aboagye (fruitjungle.wordpress.com)
XBOX ONE GAMES Angry Birds Star Wars Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag Battlefield 4 Call of Duty: Ghosts The Crew Cyberpunk 2077 D4 Dead Rising 3 Destiny Dragon Age: Inquisition Dying Light EA Sports UFC The Elder Scrolls Online The Evil Within Fable Legends FIFA 14 Fighter Within Final Fantasy XV Forza Motorsport 5 Halo for Xbox One Just Dance 2014 Kinect Sports Rivals Kingdom Hearts III LEGO Marvel Super Heroes The LEGO Movie Videogame
Mad Max Madden NFL 25 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor Mirror’s Edge NBA 2K14 NBA Live 14 Need for Speed Rivals Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare Quantum Break Rayman Legends Ryse: Son of Rome Skylanders SWAP Force Sniper Elite V3 Star Wars Battlefront Sunset Overdrive Thief Titanfall Tom Clancy’s The Division EA Sports UFC Watch Dogs The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Wolfenstein: The New Order Zoo Tycoon
Get ‘em at
PS4 GAMES Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag Angry Birds Star Wars Battlefield 4 Call of Duty: Ghosts The Crew Cyberpunk 2077 Daylight Destiny Diablo III Dragon Age: Inquisition DriveClub Dying Light EA Sports UFC The Elder Scrolls Online The Evil Within FIFA 14 Final Fantasy XV Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn Galak-Z Infamous: Second Son Injustice Gods Among Us: Ultimate Edition Just Dance 2014 Killzone: Shadow Fall Kingdom Hearts III
Knack LEGO Marvel Super Heroes The LEGO Movie Videogame Mad Max Madden NFL 25 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor Mirror’s Edge 2 NBA 2K14 NBA Live 14 Need for Speed Rivals The Order: 1886 Putty Squad The Pinball Arcade Rayman Legends Skylanders SWAP Force EA Sports UFC Sniper Elite V3 Star Wars Battlefront Thief Tom Clancy’s The Division Uncharted Watch Dogs The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Wolfenstein: The New Order
Get ‘em at
TOP 10 CHRISTMA Here’s Sticky Trigger Entertainment’s Top 10 Christmas ‘Must Have’ games - in no particular order...
SUPER MARIO 3D WORLD
POKÉMON X AND Y Pokémon X and Y is easily the best Pokémon game in a long while (see our review for full details). Managing to combine a fantastic main game that is both completely welcoming to first time fans and exciting and new to long time veterans, X and Y are jam-packed with plenty of features that make this generation the best one yet. For those not in the know, Pokémon is a light JRPG (Japanese Roleplaying Game) that sees you set out on an adventure to train and catch the greatest Pokémon (aka Pocket Monsters) team there ever was. As the game progresses you catch many of the 700+ Pokémon that inhabit the world and form your team based on your preference play style.
Super Mario and his crew are back in Nintendo’s Super Mario 3D World for the WiiU. A co-op game Work together with your friends or compete for the crown in the first multiplayer 3D Mario game for the Wii U console. In the Super Mario 3D World game, players finally get to play as Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach or Toad for the first time since Super Mario 2 -- and this time, they can play as all of these characters together! Each playable character has unique abilities and play styles. For example, Princess Peach glides over gaps, while Luigi has his trademark extra-high jump. EnsurMake sure to use the best of each characters’ abilities as you explore colorful 3D environments filled with obstacles and contraptions like transparent pipes and vertical conveyor belts, which add new puzzle elements. The new cat transformation allows players to run on all fours, pounce on enemies, attack in midair or use their claws to scamper up walls and goal poles. You can even use the Wii U GamePad controller’s touch screen to search for hidden blocks and freeze enemies in place.
Therein lays Pokémon’s genius - if you want it to be it can be an incredibly deep and strategic game with a huge global community of competitive battling, but if you don’t want that, it is still a supremely fun adventure. X and Y also boast gorgeous graphics and art direction as well as new and improved online features which add immeasurably to the game’s competitive depth. Parents who would rather their children stay offline need not worry as the main game is still very much an entertaining package. Pokémon X and Y are fantastic gifts for hard-core or casual, rookie or veteran, old or young, boy or girl. Many hours of catching them all and memorable journeys are guaranteed. If you know someone with a 3DS, buy them this game.
LEGO MARVEL SUPER HEROES ‘Lego Marvel Super Heroes’ is the latest in the long-running franchise, and it aims to tell a massive story which manages to include all of Marvel’s popular (and not so popular) super heroes and villains, even a favourite, the Punisher. Yes, the Punisher, though obviously, he is a lot more kid-friendly. Lego Marvel begins with the Silver Surfer being pursued by S.H.I.E.L.D. and Iron Man. He is attacked by Doctor Doom, and explosion causes his surfboard to seperate into pieces, scattering across the city of New York below. Doctor Doom enlists the help of several baddies to collect the pieces, while Nick Fury enlists the help of Marvel’s extensive roster of heroes to beat Doctor Doom to it, in an attempt to foil whatever nefarious plan Doom has
AS MUST HAVES! ZELDA: A LINK BETWEEN WORLDS The Zelda series has always been one of Nintendo’s crown jewel franchises, second only to perhaps Mario in terms of prestige and popularity. So, apart from the usual hype, what makes A Link Between Worlds worth getting excited for? Well, it’s the first Zelda game that’s natively been made of the 3DS, and also the first Zelda in a long while that’s top down. Why? Because A Link Between Worlds is a direct sequel to the classic Zelda “A Link to the Past”. What makes Zelda such an enjoyable and venerable franchise is its ability to recast each game with a fresh new twist of story, aesthetics, and gameplay, complete with new puzzles and dungeons, yet still retain the same overall feel of the adventure and excitement. A Link Between Worlds gives us the same old story – Hyrule is in some deep trouble, and only our hero Link can save it. To do so he’ll have to fight monsters, complete dungeons, most likely save Princess Zelda, and will probably pick up a boomerang, a sword, a bow and arrow and the old favourites along the way. Like Pokémon, Zelda presents a gameplay that is simple and yet deep providing hours of entertainment. It’s all age friendly, and beloved by older fans of the franchise and newbies alike. A Link Between Worlds looks like it’ll continue to match the high standards set by the series previous, and creating something fresh and new while recalling the series’ past. For those in your life seeking adventure, fun, and a bit of a brain tease you’ll find no better qualifier than The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.
in store. If you’re not a Hulk or Iron Man fan (shame on you!), don’t fret, you will unlock and play as the best cast of Lego heroes yet. TT Games have truly spoilt us with a great variety of interesting characters. Lego Marvel Heroes is one of the best Lego games yet. While some of the puzzles begin to grate on a veteran of the series, the gameplay, soundtrack, and story more than make up for them. If you are a comic book fan (or have a child who loves superheroes), you won’t want to miss out on the fun.
TOP 10 CHRISTMA GRAND THEFT AUTO V
FORZA MOTORSPORT 5
Grand Theft Auto 5 smashed sales and pre order records before it even launched, so it isn’t hard to see why it’s on the list. The sheer scale of activity that is available to you in the big wide state of San Andreas is incredible. Mini games, side quests and a strong, action packed storyline make for a hell of an adventure. And of course there is always the GTA trademark of go anywhere, do anything and blow up/shoot/rob/run over the bejesus out of everything. Rockstar did cop a bit of flack during the first few weeks of GTA Online, but it has had its issues ironed out now (at least in my experience), meaning that when you’re finished making the lives of NPC’s a living hell you can take it online with your buddies and do the same to other people. Team up, rob a store, create a crew and do jobs together, or just murder each other senseless. It’s all available to you in this massive virtual playground. Good boys and girls get bikes and train sets. The bad boys and girls get GTA 5. Never has being evil been this awesome. A word of warning for mums and dads, this title is not suitable for those under the age of 18, so pick wisely otherwise some children could be repeating some rather choice phrases on Christmas morning!
Turn 10 is really hoping for a case of quality defeating quantity with their newest Xbox One exclusive racing title, Forza Motorsport 5. They have already announced that not only has the car series. Some of their more exclusive poster cars for the game will also only be available through DLC purchases, including the new Enzo replacement, the Ferrari LaFerrari. Forza 5 is certainly looking to be one of the star releases for Microsoft this year. Whilst the car list has been whittled down from past titles, the list includes a good assortment of vehicles that any Forza player like myself will be familiar with. They have also included the new McLaren P1, which has become a real poster boy for the game since its
CALL OF DUTY: GHOSTS/BATTLEFIELD 4 It wouldn’t be Christmas if one of these bad boys wasn’t under the tree! EA and Activision both presenting impressive new instalments from their first pointer shooter franchises and both are receiving raving reviews! New maps, new missions, new weapons, new game play and redefined online multiplayer modes. You name it, you will have hours of entertainment if you were to receive either COD: Ghosts or Battlefield 4 this year for Christmas! Whether you are a die hard fan of either franchise or a newcomer to the games, it’s a hard call to suggest just the one as they both have fantastic offerings with regards to the game play, online modes and overall presentation. Ultimately, its going to come down to personal choice here. May we suggest you ask Santa for both this year!
AS MUST HAVES! By Sticky Trigger Entertainment
DEAD RISING 3 announcement. Forza also includes the new line up of current generation V8 Supercar touring cars (hoons rejoice!) and for the first time in the series there are licensed open wheel racing cars from the Indycar series and Formula One, with game trailers particularly featuring Lotus’s machines (leave them alone, they know what they are doing.) As with previous Forza titles players are also able to customize their prides and joy with a myriad of visual and performance modifications, and use the paint and vinyl functions to create their own customized liveries. Forza 5 was built from the ground up as an Xbox One launch title, so whilst the scale of tracks and vehicles isn’t
quite on par with the previous titles, the attention to detail has never been this precise. They have also announced that like Forza 4, there will be regular DLC updates with new vehicles to add to the list, although at this stage they haven’t specified if tracks will be a part of it.
Like zombies? Like exploring huge open-worlds? Would you like to drench a katana in gasoline, light it, and use it to cook and carve a zombie at the same time? Would you like to do all that with a friend? Then say hello to ‘Dead Rising 3’! A zombie-infested franchise that gets better and better with each release, Dead Rising looks to finally realise its potential with ‘Dead Rising 3’. With Dead Rising 3, Capcom Vancouver are shedding the weaker elements of the series whilst retaining the elements that make it one of the most unique and thrilling zombie games available today. Multiplayer in particular is one area that Capcom Vancouver are looking to improve upon. In Dead Rising 2, the multiplayer experience was almost identical to the single player experience, with one player joining a host’s game, and playing as a clone of the game’s protagonist, Chuck Greene. With Dead Rising 3, multiplayer allows two players to play through the normally-single player story with a friend. Not only that, but the guest player’s progress in that game is also tracked in their single-player game save, and they can then choose to skip any chapter of the game they have already completed in multiplayer. A large part of the appeal of the Dead Rising games isn’t just the immense open-world design, but also the various ways you can dispatch hordes of the undead. There are literally hundreds of items lying around the game’s locations that can be used as a weapon, from saucepans to shotguns. Not only that, you can also combine various weapons together to form combo-weapons, a fan-favourite. Regardless of if you’re a veteran of the series of a newcomer, if you’re getting an Xbox One, you won’t want to miss out on the mayhem and fun found in Dead Rising 3. I have a feeling its going to be the best zombie game yet.
TOP 10 CHRISTMAS MUST HAVES! By Sticky Trigger Entertainment
LAST BUT NOT LEAST - ROCKSMITH 2014
What do you get for the gamer that wants to learn guitar? A bunch of guitar lessons? Wrong! The quickest and most fun way to learn guitar is with Ubisoft’s Rocksmith and the newly-released Rocksmith 2014. For the first time ever, players are able to hook up a real guitar to their home console and learn guitar through various lessons and mini-games. Rocksmith has a fantastic library of songs, from classic rock artists such as Queen, to the more poppier songs from artists like Paramore. Headbangers will be brutally impressed to hear that bands such as Mastodon and Avenged Sevenfold are also included. Featuring some pretty sophisticated software, Rocksmith analyses the player’s performance and then recommends various song sections or activities to practice in order to improve. I’ve been playing guitar for a few years, I’m aware of my shortcomings and Rocksmith was not only smart enough to point them out, it also managed to recommend activities to help me improve them. Which I did. With a huge variety of songs, the awesome Guitarcade as well as the clever and intuitive software, Rocksmith is the perfect gift for any budding guitarist or music gamer.
DON’T KNOW WHAT TO GET THIS CHRISTMAS? GET A GIFT CARD!
YOUR
BEST CHRISTMAS There’s a certain magic about Christmas time, especially Christmas Eve. Perhaps you can remember being young and sneaking down to check out what’s under the tree once your parents had gone off to bed. Maybe you even picked up and rattled the presents trying to figure out what was inside? I know we did. With Christmas there also comes the holidays and of course that means time for gaming. Publishers of course seem to plan out releases to hit shelves in November just in time for gift buying and this year is no different with the latest Call of Duty and Battlefield incarnations out on all formats. Plus of course the big news is new consoles from Sony and Microsoft. Perhaps you can remember when you were a kid and you hoped like crazy that there’d be a shiny new console wrapped up under the tree for you. That meant Christmas morning was a time of great joy and happiness as you scrambled to set it up and get playing as mum would be telling you to wait until you get back from Grandma’s Christmas lunch before you can play that thing. Wait? But mum... Eventually you had it set up, plugged into the TV and the launch sound would fill the lounge with that sweet sound that would be a constant sound in the home for the next few years. If you have brothers or sisters you’d likely end up arguing what game would be played first, little brother would want something like Mario Kart 64 and you might have wanted something like
EVER!
Golden Eye. Eventually you’d get your own way (cause you were bigger?) and you’d enter gaming bliss for a few hours and swap games, yell at each other, challenge dad and play until you could hardly keep your eyes open. Being the Christmas holidays you could repeat this day after day in between visits to the beach, or snow if you’re in the northern hemisphere, and eventually you’d start to look around for a new game to play.
Maybe you had some Christmas money to spend or you’d con dad to take you down to your local store to trade old stuff for new then pick out some hot new game to keep you playing for days. Yes those were the days... but really they don’t end. Not if you’re a passionate gamer. Sure you get a bit older, you play different games and you hopefully don’t fight with your brother or sister to play the game you want to play, but the fun of trying out new games or a new console remains. In 2013 gamers are spoilt for choice. There’s a ton of new games to choose from on all formats. So enjoy them, enjoy the magic of playing games and playing through the story line or each level and conquering the end of level “boss” Christmas really is a special time of year for gamers and we asked our industry friends to share their most memorable Christmas gaming memories. Hope you like them...
“what’s your best gaming related Christmas m
emory..”
INDUS TRY COMM ENT Christmas of 2002 saw the introduction of the original Xbox into the Fox family home, although my brothers and I cheated by opening the bulky gift-wrapped box a day early, we nevertheless spent Christmas day glued to the television screen as our hands became stuck to the original over-sized controllers. The game we were playing? Halo: Combat Evolved! It was our introduction to Bungie’s former flagship franchise, so my brothers and I were thoroughly hooked as we took on the Covenant for the first time while sitting under the fairly lights of the decorated Christmas tree in the living room. While we were all PC Gamers as much as we were console gamers back then (we only sold off our Sega: Genesis and Nintendo 64 a couple of years ago), there was no way to compare Goldeneye, Super Smash Bros or Conker’s Bad Fur Day to the sci-fi open world environments that Halo’s alien and space marine-filled levels had to offer. The only game that could possibly compete to my 10 year old mind would be Valve’s original Half-Life; we were more blown away by Halo than Albert Hofmann was when he took LSD for the first time… Okay… Maybe not that much. However, no Christmas gift any of my siblings received brought us all together more than when we all played Halo on our brand new Xbox console. Although I should mention that my sister is in no way a gamer and could have cared less about the trials of Master Chief but four out of a total of five siblings is close enough.
SEAN FOX (JOHNNOSHARK-REVIEWS.COM) My fondest gaming memory from Christmas comes from a time in my childhood when I didn’t have the disposable income I had now, something about being 10 years old. I was excited for Christmas as usual, but my puny mind was blown when my parents gifted my brother and I a Pokémon Edition Nintendo 64. We’ve all seen the video on YouTube of that kid screaming at the top of his lungs how great it was to have a NINTENDO SIXTY FOOOUUURRR. Well, minus the yelling, I was that kid. Videogames were something I’d always experienced at other people’s houses and the only equipment my family possessed was a very old Atari handed down from a cousin with a very limited selection of games. Despite my limited exposure I knew that I wanted more and it was awesome and more please. The Pokémon craze had just hit and all of my friends had Gameboys and copies of Red and Blue. So a Nintendo 64 of my own that was a Pokémon edition one that came with Pokémon Snap (the first game to feature 3D models of Pokémon)? Mind young mind was overcome with jubilation and excitement. Though consoles and games have gotten more powerful and I can now buy my own games and consoles when I like, I don’t think anything will ever match that magic Christmas morning. It was the excitement of receiving something so rare and special to me at the time, and something I’d never have thought I was going to get. You lose some of that magic and wonder as you get older, but the memory of getting my hands on my new 64 and then popping in Pokémon Snap (and later one of my favourite games ever Rogue Squadron) will forever remain cherished in my memories. Oscar Wilde said that “these days’ people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” He is still largely right I feel, as that fondest memory of mine isn’t based on money (I didn’t know what a ‘64 cost) but rather how badly I had wanted a ‘64 and my feeling of jubilation and gratitude when I got it. So thanks Mum and Dad - it was the best Christmas present ever, I’ve still got it all these years later and still occasionally bust it out for the odd game of Mario Kart and Goldeneye (now that I’m old enough to play it).
ALEX HOLMES (STICKYTRIGGERENTERTAINMENT.COM)
“what’s your best gaming related Christmas memory..” T INDUSTRY COMMEN
Every year Christmas rolled around when I was younger, there was only one game we ever played: James Pond. The intrepid cyborg fish secret agent (I’m not making that up) was dropped at the North Pole on Christmas Eve to stop the baddies from ruining Christmas, and to free Santa. Every year it almost became a tradition for me and mum to drag it out on Christmas Eve, and play through it till we’d saved Christmas. It always cheered us up and really got us kids in the mood for presents and festive excitement. It was for the Super Nintendo, which in itself was a myriad of fantastic memories all year round. As I grew up my gaming consoles changed, but thanks to the influence of James Pond I always made an effort to do something special come Christmas time. Funnily enough the majority of these more recent Christmas memories involve racing games; Forza 4 launched shortly before Christmas 2011, and I didn’t have the happiest time that year. It was on Christmas day 2011 that I came home wondering how to pick myself up. Jumping onto Forza, I just built some bad ass Supercar killing machines, painted them in some festive liveries, and ended up having a fantastic time with my online buddies. It was these same online buddies that I paired up with again last year for what we called the Apocalypse World Tour 2012, cashing in on the supposed Mayan predictions about the end of the world. It was a player created online series we organized, and designed it to finish on Christmas Day. We had several races with several different classes of cars, making for a ton of fun and some pretty awesome wrecks. Oddly enough, all of my gaming experiences around December, from James Pond to my Forza madness, makes you realize what Christmas is all about. Whether it’s with family, friends, or just some good people to play with, this time of the year always brings people together to create memories. And with Grant Turismo 6 landing just 19 days before Christmas this year, my festive gaming tradition looks to be continuing.
BEN RACHOW (STICKYTRIGGERENTERTAINMENT.COM)
..” ry mo me as tm ris Ch ed lat re ng mi ga st be ur yo t’s ha “w
IN D U S T R Y C O M M E N T This takes me back.
After my brother had failed to securely lock the front door one sunny afternoon, I came home from school to quite a shock. Of all the expensive set tops boxes, printers and fax machines laying around, jewelry in drawers, waiting to be taken, I discovered that my faithful N64 and all my games had been wrongfully stolen. Hours that I had poured into games such as Goldeneye 64 and Mortal Kombat 4, gone. No chance to say goodbye, no one last hurrah, just like that a part of me had died in that instant. What I had done to deserve such heartache at a young age I don’t remember. For weeks I couldn’t sleep with my arms under the covers, in the off chance the thief would appear from under my bed and try to steal more of my stuff. As my birthday approached I was eagerly anticipating a replacement N64 with every single game stolen, what I got was the Perfect Dark N64 Bundle with the expansion memory. For the following 4 months leading up until Christmas I had 1 game to tide me over and local multiplayer against bots did the job perfectly fine. Every Christmas before this one, I would always stay up til midnight to open my presents, because hey, it’s technically Christmas and I’m allowed to open my presents. This time however I decided to wait until morning get up early eat breakfast and try my luck with Santa. Once the sun had arisen I was up and scavenging the tree for every single present of mine. As to not wake my family I snuck into the bathroom, locked the door and slowly chipped away at the wrapping paper. One by one, I stacked each present above each other and saw they were all the same weight and size. I knew this was it, the big one. I counted 12 presents in total, which were all N64 games. From Superman 64 (At the time I had no idea) to Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2. I felt like the Nintendo kid unwrapping his N64 for the first time. My library of games and more had been restored. I learned from my previous mistakes and from that day forward kept my N64 under my bed and hid all my cartridges in a shoe-box deep within my closet.
ARTHUR KOTSOPOULOS (OXCGN.COM)
.” y. or em m as m st ri Ch d te la re g in m ga st be “what’s your INDUSTRY COMMENT
My first gaming Christmas, ahhhh what a YEAR. It was. And yet, of the year that was 1994, I can only remember one thing. SONIC AND KNUCKLES. Now, everyone I know was pretty much brought up on Nintendo, almost every media contact I know, almost every games industry person. Not I, no I was a Sega kid. Say what you will, this was a deal breaker. Why? Simple. At the time, this was the ONLY top loading game cartridge, ever. Originally, the game (due to financial restraints) was split from being Sonic The Hedgehog 3, into Sonic and Knuckles. So hen Sonic 3 is top loaded, it allows you to play through both games as one, titled in-game as Sonic 3 & Knuckles. This features several additions to the games not available otherwise, such as small alterations to the levels, and being able to play through Sonic 3 levels as Knuckles, or Sonic & Knuckles levels as Tails, and the ability to save progress in all levels. Additionally, this was the only way to collect Super Emeralds, which are earned by accessing Special Stages in the Sonic & Knuckles levels after collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds from Sonic 3. When all Super Emeralds have been collected, Sonic, Knuckles and Tails can transform into Hyper Sonic, Hyper Knuckles and Super Tails respectively, each with unique abilities. Amazing! Seeing that box under the tree, hoping that’s what it was and peeling back the wrapping paper. Okay, I lie, I ripped into it because I knew what it was. And it was GLORIOUS. Once I finished the game (it took 3 days, mainly because I was stuffing around a lot), I put the Sonic 3 game in the top and it blew my mind. I guess you could look at it like reverse DLC? Either way, 1994, that was the most glorious gaming Christmas ever.
AL CAYNES (TGEEKND.COM)
“what’s your best gaming related Christmas memory..” IN D U S T R Y C O M M E N T I have 2 gaming related Christmas memories that came to mind as soon as I read this question. The first is a home video from when I was about 3-4, which shows my two older brothers unwrapping a Super Nintendo on Christmas morning. The pure joy in all of our eyes is something that I’ve not provided by any other gift and really shows why gaming has meant so much to be from such a young age. We still have that console to this day and it just amazes me how much use it must’ve gotten over the years. The second memory is from Christmas 2006 when we had just bought the Wii into our home. It was our turn to host the family lunch and naturally everyone in the family was really shocked with this new gaming device. The young and the old came together to go head to head in Wii Sports Bowling and Tennis and it was truly an amazing feeling to see gaming bringing everyone in my family together. We looked back on the daily counter that night and saw that we’d played for like 10 hours straight. It was a Christmas that I’ll never forget and why the Wii was such a great success.
SHANNON GRIXTI (PRESS-START.COM.AU) I have so many fond memories of Christmas as a gamer, picking one over the others is particularly hard (especially as I have been gaming since I was four years old). One however, stands out in particular, it was christmas 1989, and my brother and I received a Sega Master System, as well as a number of games for it. The Sega Master System was our first home console, and to say it impressed me would be an understatement; the Master System was amazing. Upon its release, the Sega Master System posessed graphical capabilities that were truly an immense leap forward compared to the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Atari 7600. Console ports of popular arcade games such as After Burner and Double Dragon truly proved that video games were making their way into the lounge room, and were just as good as the expensive arcade cabinets. That Christmas (and the period after) my brother an I spent countless hours trying to beat Double Dragon. We had worked our way perfecting each level, from the city streets to the Japanese fortress at the end, and when we did make it to the end, Double Dragon threw a fantastic turn of events at us: we had to then fight each other. In game (and in real life) Double Dragon pitted two brothers against each other, to win the heart of the woman they loved. It was a battle for the ages. I’m forever grateful to my parents for that christmas. I had discovered my love for video games with it, and not only that, had discovered a shared interest between my brother and I that we would constantly visit throughout our lives, and still today. Despite the two of us now living in two seperate countries, we still find the time to catch up when we can, and also have regular games of Call of Duty’s Zombies mode.
NICK GETLEY (STICKYTRIGGERENTERTAINMENT.COM)
Overworld Deluxe Set! $ .95
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Utility Pack
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PREVIEW
GRAN TURISMO 6 1,096 cars. Bathrust. The moon. Do we have your attention now? Get pumped folks; Gran Turismo 6 is coming. Polyphony Digital have really come a long way. For 15 years now they have been putting out what is arguably the most successful racing franchise on the gaming market, Gran Turismo. With each title they have moved forward, adding new vehicles, tracks, and innovations to keep them at the head of the pack. And their newest title GT6 keeps with that.
announced that there are over 100 new vehicles, some of which are quite literally out of this world. The new cars include cutting edge supercars, open wheel machines, state of the art Le Mans prototypes and a big expansion to the GT field of race cars. Even the moon buggy that the famous Apollo Astronauts had will also be available, and if the game trailer is right you can even drive it…in spaaaace! Track wise the majority of GT5’s locations also return to the International scene, including
nothing more than a couple of older machines rehashed from Gran Turismo 4. On the plus side though several other new circuits have been added, including the iconic Goodwood festival of speed track and return of Apricot Hill, a fan favourite from the Playstation One’s Gran Turismo 2. Suzuka and Nurburgring are also included in the track list. If you’re unsure of why that’s important, best to read up on GT6’s rivals… Car customization has been kept under wraps, with trailers and
“THE GOOD NEWS FOR FANS IS THAT THE MAJORITY OF THE CAR LIST FROM GRAN TURISMO 5 WILL RETURN, INCLUDING THE ADDED ON DLC VEHICLES..” The good news for fans is that the majority of the car list from Gran Turismo 5 will return, including the added on DLC vehicles that have released in the 3 years since GT5 was launched. Polyphony has also
Australia’s iconic Mount Panorama circuit for the first time in the series. Unlike other launch titles across other platforms however, GT6 doesn’t appear to feature any new Australian road or race cars, with the list and trailers so far revealing
screenshots so far only confirming that the paint, wings and wheel options from GT5 are in. Players also have several new stunning locations for the photo travel option, with the ability to now place 2 vehicles in the one location,
making for some fantastic photo opportunities. GT6 also features a dynamic day and night cycle which has been updated from GT5. Now at night the stars and moon actually move as the time changes, much like they do in the real world. Players also have the ability to customize their driver with race suits and helmets, much like GT5. Gameplay wise the career mode has been slightly remodelled, with the return of special events and the ‘coffee break’ events that were featured in Gran Turismo 4, allowing you to take a break from the hustle and crashing of racing. The online
seasonal events are also returning, meaning there will be regular time, drift and race challenges available to players even after they have completed career mode. In addition to the tracks and cars available Polyphony has already confirmed that they are already planning DLC releases in the future, featuring yet even more cars to fill your virtual garage with. Aside from the odd minor quam, Gran Turismo 6 is looking like the best way to end the 2013 racing season. This is one title you do not want to miss.
FORMAT: PS3
OUT: DECEMBER 6
Written by Ben Rachow
(stickytriggerentertainment.com)
RATING: G
PREVIEW
THIEF The original Thief was released way back in 1998 and received critical acclaim and a cult following way for the new ground it broke with its first person stealth gameplay and morally ambiguous story. Gaming as a medium has come a long way since then, and with the last Thief game released in 2004, developers Edios Montreal are hoping capture the spirit of the original in their reboot of the classic series. Thief casts the player as Garrett who is, unsurprisingly, a master thief. Garret has recently returned
as honourable – he has his own unbreakable code of honour, an earmark of the qualities that shown him to be one of gaming’s best antiheroes. Thief’s signature first person stealth gameplay and level design is also making a return. Players will be given multiple paths to objectives and their choices impact on the course of the mission in real time. As players attempt to reach their objectives NPCs will attempt to flush them out using varying techniques depending on both the type of NPC
him to see highlight areas of interest, special take down moves, and also slow down time for extra thieving pickpocketing. Players will also have at their disposal Garrett’s arsenal of blackjack club, compound bow and grapple claw. All of these can be used in nonviolent means as violence is the antithesis of Thief – if you can pull of the job without anyone finding you then you truly are a master. The stealth genre of gaming has suffered somewhat in recent years with even champions of the genre
“THIEF’S SIGNATURE FIRST PERSON STEALTH GAMEPLAY AND LEVEL DESIGN IS ALSO MAKING A RETURN.” to the steampunk styled metropolis known only as the City at a time when corruption and plague run rife. Players should not expect a simple cut and dried Robin Hood parallel, however as Garrett’s world is not so black and white. That is not to say Garrett isn’t just as exciting or
and also the strategy the player has taken. Though a naturally skilled thief, Garrett hasn’t earned his reputation idly and has more than a few tricks up his sleeve. Players will be able to put Garrett in focus mode which can be upgraded as the game continues and will allow
FORMAT: XBOX 360 | PS3 | PC | XBOX ONE | PS4
like Metal Gear Solid shift more towards action. However, with the return of Thief looking promising it looks like the stealth genre is back and better than ever.
Written by Alex Holmes
(stickytriggerentertainment.com)
OUT: FEBRUARY 27
RATING: CTC
REVIEW
BATMAN: ARKHAM ORIGINS The Batman: Arkham series of games are two of the best action games money can buy. Combining stealth, exploration and fluid combat with the fantastic Batman universe, Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City have well earned the praise they received from critics and fans alike. Unlike the previous two Arkham titles (which were developed by Rocksteady games) ‘Batman: Arkham Origins’ is developed by Warners Bros Montreal, a newly formed studio that cut their teeth
the previous two games. Batman has only been active in Gotham city for two years, and as such, he’s the enemy of both the Gotham City Police Department and the criminal underworld. It’s Christmas Eve, and the archcriminal Black Mask has hired 8 assassins to eliminate Batman. While the majority of Bat-fans will know the assassins, those more inexperienced with Batman’s Rogues Gallery (the collective term for the many villains Batman has thwarted over the years)
the flying pyromaniac Firefly, the deadly supermutant Killer Croc, master assassin and martial artist Shiva, and the veteran mercenary Deathstroke. As with previous Arkham games, there is much more to the game’s story than the over-arching plot of the 8 assassins. Throughout his long night Batman will also meet other characters, such as the Mad Hatter, Jim and Barbara Gordon and Swat team leader Branden. As one would suspect of a new
“THE PLAYER HAS THE FREEDOM TO EXPLORE ANY OF ALL GOTHAM CITY WHENEVER THEY WISH, AND COMPLETE MISSIONS IN ANY ORDER THEY CHOOSE.” previously on the successful Wii-U port of Batman: Arkham City. Instead of continuing directly after Batman: Arkham City (which had a very conclusive ending) Batman: Arkham Origins takes place before
will come to know them well by Christmas morning. There’s the muscle-bound mastermind Bane, the electric shock-glove wielding Electrocutioner, the poisonous acrobatic contortionist Copperhead, the expert Marksman Deadshot,
developer, Batman: Arkham Origins contains a fresh take on an established franchise, with the city, characters, gameplay and even Batman himself feeling familiar, but also very different. There are times where some of
the new mechanics feel strange or even forced, but overall Arkham Origins is a welcome addition to the Batman: Arkham franchise. Similar to Arkham City, Arkham Origins is an open-world game, where the player has the freedom to explore any of all Gotham City whenever they wish, and complete missions in any order they choose.
Arkham Origins, there really is no way to predict the story, including Batman himself’s behaviour. Warner Bros Montreal have done a fantastic job of showing us a Batman that is inexperienced (that is at least, in regards to specific criminals) and still learning the difficulties of having a moral code in a world full of criminals.
Warner Bros Montreal has given players an expanded Gotham City, and changed various locations to keep things fresh. Player have immediate access to Batman’s
According to the amazing documentary Batman Unmasked: The Psychology of Batman, Batman’s superpower is his ability to restrain himself. He has learnt
grappel (as well as a few other starting pieces of equipment) and can traverse the city with Batman’s gliding ability. Players can also unlock various quick-travel points, by ascending various radio towers and destroying the Riddler’s jamming equipment. The ability to quick-travel saves a ton of time, and unlocking different areas to quicktravel to feels very rewarding.
to resist his violent impulses and if that is true, then this is a Batman still honing that skill. He is an angry, almost-irrational vigilante, and when he threatens to ram a criminal’s head through the wall, I couldn’t tell it was an empty threat or not.
In previous Arkham games, I felt as though I could foretell the game’s story before it unfolded, but with
Combat is almost identical to the combat in previous Arkham games, so players can rest easy knowing that it is highly-accessible, with some pretty nifty new enemies to keep experienced Batman players on their toes. There are the new
enforcer enemies, (who are almost unstoppable!) and the martial artists (who are quick, and can counter Batman’s counter attacks). One of the ways Arkham Origins improves upon previous games are the new boss battles, which are more varied than before and require better strategy than before (no more dodge-and-counter fests!). We also learn more about the bosses, as they fight in fashion true to their character(s), such as Copperhead attempting to poison and constrict Batman using her body, and
Deathstroke relying on perfectlytied counter attacks and quick-time events. Speaking of quick-time events, the ones found in Arkham Origins are actually quite clever in their execution, and did not produce groans of disappointment from me when I encountered them. In addition to new enemies and boss fights, there are also a few new gadgets for Batman to acquire. These open up new opportunities for exploring the city, as well as new ways for Batman to fell his
8/10
foes. There are times where you encounter exploration puzzles, where you are challenged by how to progress through a building or the city, though these usually involve a gadget or a combination of gadgets. It can get tiring constantly shifting through your various gadgets to find the right one, and quite often the puzzles solution is obvious. Arkham Origins also adds to the detective experience established in the previous two Arkham games, though instead of simply following scent trails or searching for DNA evidence, Batman must completely recreate the crime scene and its events as they unfolded. These can both be entertaining an a little long in the tooth, as they quite often don’t challenge the player, but they do flesh out the story and Batman’s character. Similar to the new gadgets in Batman, the crime scene investigating segments are overall a welcome addition to the game. When Warner Bros announced that the iconic voices of Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill would not be once again present in the latest Arkham game, gamers have been blessed with the presence of the talented Troy Baker. With the Joker playing a less prominent role in Arkham Origins, it makes sense to get a different actor to portray him in his own way, but it does feel as though Troy Baker is simply mimicking Hamill’s Joker, and not actually putting his own spin on the characters. Batman too sounds like an impersonation of his previous actor, though the end result is exactly what Warner Bros Montreal had hoped for: Batman sounds younger and inexperienced. This isn’t to say that the voice acting in Arkham Origins is bad, it is in fact, the
opposite, it’s just that the two fanfavourites sound a tad weaker than the established voices. It seems as though Warner Bros Montreal are hell-bent on perfecting the Arkham games, or at the very least, offering as much content as they possibly can in one game. In the spirit of this, they have also included an online multiplayer mode, where players compete in games of 3 vs 3 vs 2 combat, where they can play as rival gangs competing for control of the city of as Batman, attempting to thwart them. The mode is fun overall, however I doubt it will gain enough attention to warrant its inclusion. To summarise my experience with Batman: Arkham Origins, I would have to say its a fantastic game. Sure it may have a few clashing ideas (or ideas not executed as well as they could have been), but the
game starts strong, and gets better as you progress throughout it. There is some pretty graphic content in the game, and parents would be well-advised to avoid children getting their hands on it. There are a number of deceased victims, as well as characters who deal and/or do drugs, so it goes without saying don’t let kids play it. Its a musthave title for us adults though, and it offers a great experience to new and experienced Arkham players alike.
PROS • •
Brilliant Story Highly accessible
CONS •
Minor bugs (Which I’m sure will be corrected in the first update)
Written by Nick Getley
(stickytriggerentertainment.com)
REVIEW
BATTLEFIELD 4 Love is a Battlefield, as is Dice and EA’s newest jewel in their shoot ‘em up crown, Battlefield 4. This time, the Red Storm is not only rising, it’s exploded into a full category 5. China and Russia have it in for the free world, and once again it’s up to you and your intrepid squad to save the day. Is it the real deal? Or a storm in a teacup? BF4 as you would expect is quite similar to the best selling Battlefield 3. The controls, gameplay and weaponry is quite similar, with a few new additions to spice things up and
weapons and load outs in both single player and online. A welcome new addition to the campaign mode is the fact that the ammunition crates scattered on most BF3 levels have been upgraded to weapon stations, allowing you to swap out default weapons for anything you’ve unlocked previously. Online is quite similar in terms of customising your guns and load outs, with the option to personalise your classes in the main menu before jumping in. Campaign mode is…well it’s a bit difficult to judge. There’s a strong
take place in varied locations and situations. Big cities, skyscrapers, rural and urban combat, gun battles on the high seas, gun fights on ships, even a massive hydroelectric Dam star in the big wide world. Frostbite’s new destruction engine is bigger and better than ever before. Cover you used to think was safe is no more, as fences, crates, entire buildings and much more can be blown to dust by you…and your enemies. Something worth remembering when there’s a tank about...
“BIG CITIES, SKYSCRAPERS, RURAL AND URBAN COMBAT, GUN BATTLES ON THE HIGH SEAS, GUN FIGHTS ON SHIPS...” challenge the seasoned veterans. Dice has been playing on the Battlefield for over 10 years now, so as you’d expect they brought their A game again. BF4 has as many guns as Gran Turismo has cars, with options to unlock and customise
plot, with a small group of main characters you can’t help but grudgingly grow attached to. Expect a couple of short cameos from previous Battlefield 3 antagonists as well. Whilst gameplay is similar to previous titles, the various levels
The AI has some issues at times. Beware of enemies randomly spawning before your very eyes (or right behind them), and, annoyingly, beware of them appearing behind you in areas you just cleared. At times they seem
8/10 a little distracted, allowing you to literally walk up and put them out of their misery. Other times they seem to ignore the half a dozen odd other allies you have and concentrate every bullet and grenade onto you. Most of the time though, even on easy, the AI has become quite a force to be reckoned with. Squads will cover one another, armoured vehicles will ruthlessly hunt you without hesitating to destroy massive collateral, and helicopters become the all fearing death spitting weapons they should be, hurling minigun rounds at you as they rappel down a squad of enemies to make your day in South East Asia one you’d rather forget. Whilst the intensity of the story starts to fade towards the end, the gritty and at times emotional dialogue, coupled with breathtaking locations and a fitting, at times haunting soundtrack, make the campaign a fitting, but short, addition to the massive multiplayer world Battlefield is best known for. Multiplayer has taken several big steps forward. Whilst there are new game types, the traditional conquest and rush maps are there for the old timers as well, with a dedicated playlist for them. If you’ve played online in Battlefield before, you generally know how it goes. There are tanks. There are helicopters.
There are crazy Northern Europeans driving around with C4 strapped to their jeeps waiting for a worthy target. There are jets and there are boats. All waiting for you to be driven. Another welcome addition is the return of the ‘Commander’ option from Battlefield 2. Players now have the ability to vote one of their team in as the Commander of their force. The Commander has the ability to perform overhead scans of the Battlefield to reveal enemy locations, call in supply drops, and even cruise missile strikes. Which on some maps, can make a big impact on the game…quite literally. Whilst in the past certain structures on MP maps were scripted to fall or be destroyed at a certain time, BF4 sees the ability for players to destroy these buildings or utilities at will. In particular, the gigantic skyscraper in the Shanghai map, and as I found out (the hard way) the Dam on another map. This adds a whole new dimension to the game, with players able to quite literally chance the face of the Battlefield to their advantage. Expect a fair bit of hate mail though if you decide to unleash the inner pyro…not everyone wants several thousand tons of steel and concrete dropped on them.
In debrief, Battlefield 4 is the real deal. It has built on what made Battlefield 3 into a COD killer, without taking anything away. Dice and EA have tried hard to improve the campaign and multiplayer aspects by varying things as much as they can, and it shows. Is it perfect? No, but who ever is? I happily give the game an 8 out of 10. The annoyingly short campaign is the only reason I stop short of 9. Will it take it to Call of Duty once again? Time will tell. Strap up solider. This war has only begun.
PROS • • • •
Powerful storyline. Diverse range of weapons & vehicles. Massively destructive environment. Battlefield is back with a bang!
CONS • •
AI and gameplay can be a bit glitchy (an update will fix this I’m sure). Could do with a longer campaign.
Written by Ben Rachow
(stickytriggerentertainment.com)
REVIEW
POKÉMON X & Y The original Pokémon Red and Blue were qualified killer apps – people bought Gameboys just to play this must have experience. I know – I was in primary school at the time and I can think of literally nothing more I wanted than a Gameboy with Pokémon Red. The newest generation of games, X and Y, have given me a level of excitement and love for Pokémon I haven’t had since its inception. Pokémon is the best it has ever been with X and Y with more Pokémon, the first fully 3D graphics for the series, a
the Pokémon games, the premise is simple. You are young boy or girl who is invited by the local Pokémon professor to go a journey of discovery and adventure and to find and capture as many Pokémon as you can (Pokémon, short for pocket monsters, are the creatures that inhabit the world at large). At the start of the game you’re given a choice of 3 Pokémon to choose from – fire type, water type, or grass type. From there you go forward on to your Pokémon journey, catching and training new Pokémon
extra incentive for veterans to pick up this game is the inclusion of, on top of your first starter, the offer to pick up one of the original starters as well at a later point in the game. Add to this the even spread of Pokémon from varying previous generations available in the world and the game feels both fresh and nostalgic at the same time, allowing veterans to enjoy their old favourites and for newbies to discover some of the more classic Pokémon.
“X AND Y FEATURE AN UNPARALLELED LEVEL OF POKÉMON TO CATCH, THE BEST EXECUTED STORY SO FAR, GORGEOUS GRAPHICS, GAMEPLAY FINELY TUNED, AND ONLINE AND POST-ENDGAME FEATURES THAT WILL KEEP THE GAME FRESH FOR YEARS TO COME.’ gorgeous new region to explore and an amazing array of online and offline activities to occupy your time. To those of you unfamiliar with
along the way. As you progress through the game you’ll earn gym badges and eventually become the champion of the Pokémon league – should you be good enough. An
Pokémon has never really had narrative touted as its strong point, but X and Y really does raise the bar in this regard. Instead of having the traditional single rival you have
4 companions all of whom have different goals and aims, reinforcing that there really is no wrong goal to have in Pokémon. Even the villains this go round, Team Flare, aren’t criminals so much as misguided people who want to help the world but are going about it in very much the wrong way. Pokémon has always been big on themes of friendship, companionship, trust, and community and X and Y very much reinforces these themes. Though some may find the mentions of friendship so frequent as to be grating, I found it charming and it was a genuine pleasure to play a game that so openly wore on its sleeve themes of love, friendship, and trust. The gameplay of X and Y remains
fundamentally the same from all previous Pokémon games - you train your Pokémon, teach them moves, and battle other trainers to gain experience to level up your team. Where the genius lies in Pokémon’s gameplay is that it is, in the best Nintendo tradition, both simple and deep. If you wish to simply train Pokémon you think look the coolest and have cool moves the game will let you do that, and you can beat the game. If you want to get into the competitive battling scene you can pour hours and hours trying to find and breed Pokémon with the right natures, training them to get the best EV stats, and unlocking the most powerful moves. The competitive meta-game has also been shaken up by the introduction of new
Pokémon but also the introduction of a new Fairy typing, designed to kill Dragon types. However, the boldest and most exciting innovation in gameplay comes through the new online features. Players can now challenge any other trainer online to a battle, or offer a trade. A new feature called Wonder Trade allows you to trade Pokémon and receive, at random, another Pokémon that someone else has offered up to trade. I even made a few online friends through generous Wonder Trades and random battles. These features really help X and Y feel like you are part of a world of that is alive and real. As an aside, parents should not worry as Nintendo has set up as very safe and highly regulated system so players are not vulnerable online. However, should you opt out of the online experience you’ll still find a very complete game. That is the true genius of Pokémon’s gameplay – it is exactly as deep as the player decides it to be. Perhaps the most obvious new feature of X and Y is the fully 3D graphics, courtesy of the more powerful hardware of the 3DS. The sprites of yore are now completely done away with in battle, and to see fully animated character models battling each other is childhood fantasy of mine come true. Having
10/10 played Pokémon when you could easily count the number of pixels on the models to see Pokémon in this way feels like the way it was always meant to be, and add extra appeal to Pokémon veterans. The player character moving about the game world is still stylised in the form of the previous Pokémon games, resulting a nice combination of nostalgic and style. The new region of Kalos also looks great and is very clearly modelled of France, so much so that the capital city of Lumiose has its own Eiffel tower. A personal love of mine was how each Gym has a totally unique stricture and striking visual style that really lends and epic feel to each badge obtained. X and Y’s visual style, like so much of the game, manages a perfect combination of the nostalgic and the fresh. Pokémon X and Y aren’t likely going to convince anyone who doesn’t like Pokémon that these games are among the best out there. However, they are the best Pokémon games the series has seen so far. X and Y feature an unparalleled level of Pokémon to catch, the best executed story so far, gorgeous graphics, gameplay finely tuned, and online and post-endgame features that will keep the game fresh for years to come. I’ve put 50 hours into the game so far, and I’m just scratching the surface. If you want to be a master and catch them all there’s no better place to do so: this is a killer app for the 3DS, the Pokémon game veterans have been waiting for since 1996 and a fantastic entry point for games new to the series young and old. Buy this game.
PROS • • • • • • • •
Simple but deep gameplay. Pokémon has never looked better. Fantastic online features. Great for veterans and newbies alike. More Pokémon than ever before. Best story so far. Hours of gameplay even past the endgame. Just so much fun.
CONS •
None.
Written by Alex Holmes
(stickytriggerentertainment.com)
EDITOR’S CHOICE
AWARD!
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REVIEW
LEGO MARVEL SUPER HEROES The Lego series of games made by TT Games seems to show no signs of slowing down, and with each successive title, the franchise somehow only gets better and better. After playing the impressive Lego: Lord of the Rings, I had thought that sooner or later, TT will run out of ideas or ways to incorporate them into a game decently. ‘Lego Marvel Super Heroes’ is the latest in the long-running franchise, and it aims to tell a massive story which manages to include all
Lego Marvel begins with the Silver Surfer being pursued by S.H.I.E.L.D. and Iron Man. He is attacked by Doctor Doom, and explosion causes his surfboard to seperate into pieces, scattering across the city of New York below. Doctor Doom enlists the help of several baddies to collect the pieces, while Nick Fury enlists the help of Marvel’s extensive roster of heroes to beat Doctor Doom to it, in an attempt to foil whatever nefarious plan Doom has in store. If you’re not a Hulk or Iron Man fan (shame on you!), don’t fret, you will
friendly and humourous fashion. People of all ages will find the story accessible and hilarious as the game progresses, and there were many times where I had a good chuckle at the game’s numerous cutscenes and dialogue (such as Hulk’s voicing his dislike towards numerous things, so that he can smash them) For the most part, the story is clever and consistent, and Lego game veterans will still find it entertaining. From early on in the game, players will be able to
“BIG CITIES, SKYSCRAPERS, RURAL AND URBAN COMBAT, GUN BATTLES ON THE HIGH SEAS, GUN FIGHTS ON SHIPS...” of Marvel’s popular (and not so popular) super heroes and villains, even my personal favourite, the Punisher. Yes, the Punisher, though obviously, he is a lot more kidfriendly.
unlock and play as the best cast of Lego heroes yet. TT Games have truly spoilt us with a great variety of interesting characters. Similarly to previous Lego games, the story is delivered in a family-
smash through brick walls and hurl trucks as the Hulk, soar through skies and fire missiles as Iron Man, swing on and shoot webs as Spiderman, and many others. Lesser known characters present in the game include Luke Cage,
Squirrel Girl and even Howard the Duck. Yes, that Howard the Duck. Gameplay in Lego Marvel Heroes revolves around two things: frantic combat and puzzle solving. The combat is much more varied than in previous Lego games, which is an impressive feat considering how simple the game’s controls are. The Hulk truly is an unstopple beast, who wreaks havoc with his massive fists and ferocious stomp attacks. Spider-Man, on the other hand, is a nimble and agile fighter, flipping and kicking as well as incorporating his webs into his attacks. At the start of the game (and between levels), players are able to board the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier, which serves as a hub to travel between levels, track game progress, unlock extras and undertake side missions. Players are also able to dive off a
“IF YOU ARE A COMIC BOOK FAN (OR HAVE A CHILD WHO LOVES SUPERHEROES), YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS OUT ON THE FUN.” diving platform, to reach New York below. This never gets old, and it is one of the coolest moments I’ve experienced in a game recently. In fact, with Lego Marvel Super Heroes, TT Games have truly outdone themselves in creating what it feels like to be each and every Marvel character in the game. There wasn’t a time where I was bored with experiencing a character’s super powers or uncanny abilities as that character. Flying as Iron Man is exhillerating, and very similar to the flying in the Iron Man films. Throwing concrete and vehicles as the Hulk is a blast, as is devastating hordes of enemies with Wolverine’s claws, or Hawkeye’s bow and arrows. When you’re not flinging doombots or symbiote-posessed scientists, you’re solving puzzles using the different heroes’ abilities. These do
feel a little more repetitive than the action sequences, as they have been designed to be solved by a number of characters, not just one. Some of the early puzzles required Mr Fantastic and only Mr Fantastic, but the majority of puzzles are simply “pull this, shoot this, push that”. This is both good and bad, as children of all experience levels should be able to complete them, but the thrill of doing something only a certain hero can do is missing. The game is aimed at children, so with that in mind one can certainly call the puzzle elements of Lego Marvel Heroes accessible to anyone, but kids who have played a multitude of Lego games may find they have already solved identical puzzles in previous games. As with previous Lego games, the puzzles are a lot easier (and the game overall a lot more fun) with a friend, who can jump in and out of the game with ease.
Adding to the atmosphere of the game is a fantastically-scored soundtrack from composer Rob Westwood. Rob, in addition to scoring previous Lego games, has also composed film scores,and the game truly benefits from its suitably epic music. It’s rare that a game’s music truly impresses you, but every time I did something fantastic, the music was there to compliment it. In addition to the fantastic soundtrack, the game’s voice acting list is an all-star cast of experienced voice and film actors. There’s John DiMaggio (Adventure Time, Futurama), Dee Bradley Baker (Phineas and Ferb, American Dad!), Phil LaMarr (MadTV, Futurama), Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator, the Frighteners), Laura Bailey, Steve Blum, Nolan North and more. Fans of the Marvel Avengers films will be delighted to hear Clark Gregg reprise his role as Agent Phil
Coulson, as will “true believers” by the presence of comic visionary Stan Lee. Lego Marvel Heroes is one of the best Lego games yet. While some of the puzzles begin to grate on a veteran of the series, the gameplay, soundtrack, and story more than make up for them. If you are a comic book fan (or have a child who loves superheroes), you won’t want to miss out on the fun.
Written by Nick Getley
(stickytriggerentertainment.com)
PROS • • •
Play as all your favourite Marvel characters in the best Lego game yet. Multiplayer is a blast. Family-friendly gameplay and story.
CONS •
Puzzles are repetitive, and even moreso when compared to previous Lego games, though not from a lack of trying.
8.5/10
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WRC 4 It seems to be a pre requisite of Rally games that they are going to be a ton of fun. I’ve toyed with them ever since the original Colin McRae, so when it came to getting down and dirty/snowy/muddy/ tarmac…y with the newest official World Rally Championship title I was optimistic. Happy to say, that much like Volkswagen team in the 2013 season, it delivers a solid performance right out the box.
the classic Group B monsters that starred in WRC3 are gone, as are any other support categories. Whilst it may seem like a big deal, you still have the likes of Ford, Citroen, VW, Mini, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Peugeot, Skoda and even Proton to choose from throughout your career. And with the amount of fun you’ll be having you quickly forget anything that WRC4 may have missed.
WRC4 features all the vehicles from the 2013 World Rally Championship season, including the new VW Polo,
Career mode sees you race in a couple of WRC Junior rallies to prove yourself, before moving
voice that seems to be in almost every Rally game since day dot (I swear, that guy must make a killing.) You also appoint a career manager, although your choice has no effect on which contracts and cars that become available. That’s up to you kiddo. You are awarded reputation points as you win rallies, finish above a certain position, and beat certain rivals. This unlocks more cars and one off drives to progress through the season, leading up to you eventually signing a contract with one of the main factory teams for
“THERE ARE 10 LEVELS OF DIFFICULTY YOU CAN CHOOSE FROM, AND THE DAMAGE IS QUITE SPECTACULAR AS WELL.” the outgoing Mini Countryman WRC and even the upcoming Hyundai i20 car. It also features the full garages from the WRC’s official feeder categories, Junior WRC, WRC3, and WRC2. Whilst it is a strong line up, die hard fans will notice that
up to the WRC3 and 2, before playing with the big boys in WRC. You can customize both you and your co drivers names, avatars and countries, and even your cars number plate, although your co driver still retains the male English
a full season. The stages take you around the world, with every Rally from the 2013 season available to enter and win. Or crash into trees, which will happen a lot. Again the die hard fans will notice that the stadium special stages have been
7/10 left out, but again it’s easy to forget this when you’re smashing through a forest in Finland, with co pilot instructions coming at you faster than the rocks you’re trying to avoid. There are 10 levels of difficulty you can choose from, and the damage is quite spectacular as well. Much like the real WRC, you have to be careful with your prangs, as you only have a limited amount of time in the service stops to repair your vehicle without incurring a time penalty. To make the game more user friendly they have also included a rewind function, enabling you to fix mistakes and crashes you may have. Be careful though as you only have a limited number. Should you stray too far from the course, or decide to launch of a cliff, the game will automatically reset you to the course, meaning you can’t really get it too wrong along the way. WRC4 is very user friendly, whilst still retaining the options that will keep the more professional racers happy.
Written by Ben Rachow
(stickytriggerentertainment.com)
PROS •
• •
Fully licensed cars and drivers. The cars themselves are recreated in fantastic visual and sound detail. Fun, more streamlined career mode, with multiple options to progress. The way it immerses you in the WRC world. It’s quite humbling to see your name alongside the likes of Loeb, Oiger and Latvala, and to have them mention you in between stages and rallies.
CONS • • •
Load screens can be a bit glitched/laggy. A lot of the driver talk can get repetitive after a while. The lack of Stadium Super stages kind of takes away from the ‘you v rival’ intensity. A few extra support categories would’ve been good as well (perhaps a future DLC?)
REVIEW
ROCKSMITH 2014 The original Rocksmith game was announced just after music games were declared dead by gamers and critics alike. Just months after EA Games and Activision announced that they were discontinuing their music games (Rock Band and Guitar Hero, respectively) Ubisoft dared to announce that they will be publishing a music game, but unlike previous air-guitar arcade games, theirs will use a real guitar, and will in fact, teach people how to play the guitar. A bold statement, but after numerous studies and the fantastic success of Rocksmith, it’s safe to
features that made the first game so great, as well as new songs and Guitarcade games that add to the overall Rocksmith experience. Whether you’re an experienced guitarist or completely new to playing guitar, Rocksmith 2014 is a fantastic game that will have you rocking out within a mere hour. If you’ve played Rocksmith before, than you can feel free to enjoy the new songs and Guitarcade games that 2014 has to offer. If you’re new to Rocksmith, you will want to watch the game’s introductory videos,
Rocksmith 2014 contains an impressive library of songs, and everything from soft rock and 80’s classics to J-rock and heavy metal is present. There’s songs from such bands as Queen, Paramore, KISS, Slayer, Rise Against, Jack White, Iron Maiden, Avenged Sevenfold, Pantera, The Who, White Zombie and more. When you choose a song from the menu, you are presented with a variety of gameplay options that will help you learn the song, or generally improve your guitar
“THE GAME DOES A FANTASTIC JOB OF INTRODUCING PLAYERS TO GUITARS, AND THE VARIOUS TECHNIQUES AND JARGON GUITAR PLAYING CONTAINS.” agree that Rocksmith really is “the fastest way to learn guitar”, and is downright fun to play too. ‘Rocksmith 2014’ is the second Rocksmith game in the series, and sees a return of the gameplay and
and start learning a basic song like ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ by the Ramones, or Bush’s ‘Machinehead’. The game does a fantastic job of introducing players to guitars, and the various techniques and jargon guitar playing contains.
skill. The first song I played was ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ by the Ramones, at which point the game let me play at my own pace, and then analysed my performance. As someone who has taught himself to play rhythm guitar, I apparently possessed
“moderate” raw skill, but needed some help refining my techniques and identifying chords. I was then asked if I would like to repeat the trickier parts of the song, and told a few tips to really help me nail it. After a few practise riffs I played the songs again, and showed much improvement. When you start a song lesson, a fretboard on the screen tells you which frets to have your fingers resting on at the start of the song. ‘Machinehead’ begins with the
4th fret on the A string, so the onscreen fretboard has the A string highlighted in yellow, and a square on the 4th fret highlighted. Similar to Guitar Hero and Rock Band, Rocksmith has a scrolling fretboard on the screen, so if you’ve played either of these games before, you should get the hang of Rocksmith’s timing pretty quickly. Moving onto trickier songs, I have since learned to play ‘Machinehead’ by Bush, as well as R.E.M’s ‘Losing
My Religion’. I practise a number of songs daily and Rocksmith offers an accurate analysis of my skills with each practise and more importantly, how to improve them. Rocksmith is truly an ingenious piece of software, and there is nothing else like it. Rocksmith 2 also sees the return of the popular Guitarcode mode, where players are able to play a variety of casual mini-games that are based on different guitar techniques. I was sceptical at first of the mini-games; I didn’t think that they would manage to both
entertain me and improve my guitaring. Thankfully, my doubts were expunged as the mini-games are so good, you can get lost in them for hours, and almost forget that you are actually learning something. My biggest weakness with being self-taught is scales and knowing various chords. Playing the minigames ‘Scale Warriors’ and ‘Return to Castle Chordead’ (the latter of which being a fun homage to
the Wolfenstein and House of the Dead games), I was struggling at first to remember chords and get my fingers to nimbly move through scales, but a few minutes in I was able to competently play the games, and those games revolved around something I could never have learned without Rocksmith or a professional guitar teacher. Session mode is a very impressive part of the Rocksmith experience. It offers you the chance to jam along to pre-recorded riffs and mixes featuring a variety of music and
instrument types. Feeing like belting out the blues, or maybe channelling your inner metal head? Just choose up to three other instruments, the “feel” of their sound and the scale they will play in and you’re on your way. The second you start making sound through your guitar, the drummer (or metronome) will count in the other instruments. This part of the software could easily sell on its own, as its a handy tool for guitarists of all experience levels. Rocksmith 2014 is nothing short of
EDITOR’S CHOICE
AWARD! brilliant! While some players may be slightly deterred by the initial challenge of learning guitar from scratch, determined players will be able to play guitar within a short time with it. Rocksmith 2014 will also be able to help experienced guitarists improve their skills, and have fun doing it. If you’re curious about learning guitar (or the parent of a future rockstar) Rocksmith 2014 will prove to be an invaluable piece of software for you.
PROS • • •
Not one bad song in the game. Infinite re playability. Does what it says on the box. You will learn guitar.
CONS •
None.
Written by Nick Getley
(stickytriggerentertainment.com)
9.5/10
REVIEW
WWE 2K14 When unfortunate circumstances forced veteran publisher THQ to close its doors, many gamers (and wrestling fans) were left bewildered when the fate of the iconic WWE games was left hanging by a thread. Thankfully, 2K Games purchased the publishing rights to the WWE video games license and continued to work with the series’ developer Yukes. Previous entries in the WWE franchise have seen a slump in sales, and a vast improvement was needed to see the series return to
2K14 allows players to step into the tights of their favourite WWE superstars in a variety of different modes and match types. Exhibition mode allows players to compete in a variety of standalone matches, such as tag team matches, royal rumbles, ladder matches, and more. The majority of players will be spending their time in WWE Universe mode or the new 30 Years of Wrestlemania mode. WWE Universe mode simulates
moments between the different matches, and no interaction behind the scenes at all. The best part of the older WWE games was the experience of creating your wrestler, his persona, and then becoming a WWE superstar. That feeling has been lost for a long time in the WWE games, and unfortunately, it’s still missing from WWE 2K14. Even after spending hours creating your wrestler, their moveset and even fully creating a unique finisher for them, the game still doesn’t create
“30 YEARS OF WRESTLEMANIA MODE IS EASILY THE BEST PART OF WWE 2K14..” its former glory. While ‘WWE 2K14’ falls short in a few areas, it is the best WWE game in years, and offers one of the most complete WWE experiences the franchise has ever seen. As one would expect of a game based on the iconic sports-entertainment brand, WWE
the various television programs the WWE produces (as well as the numerous pay-per-view promotions). For the most part, it works well, and is an accurate simulation of the matches held on TV. It does feel a little sterile, as there is little interaction with the
matches for your wrestler, unless you awkwardly shoehorn in your wrestler, and create the matches yourself. Even then however, there is no progression, you have to create every single match for your wrestler. It’s still fun to take part in the show and interrupt the odd
match, it’s just not as fun as it could have been. I’m hoping Yukes makes the effort to create an original storyline for the WWE games again with future WWE 2K titles, they
The Create-a-Wrestler mode established way back in the first Yukes WWE game (WWF Smackdown!) is back, and while there is a decent amount of
a template for their own created wrestlers, and can save up to 100 custom wrestlers in their save data. You could create your own brand within the WWE universe.
“..CREATE WRESTLERS, CUSTOM MOVE SETS, UNIQUE FINISHING MOVES, ENTRANCES AND EVEN LOGOS FOR USE ON THEIR WRESTLER’S VARIOUS ATTIRE.” really were a brilliant part of past games. 30 Years of Wrestlemania mode is easily the best part of WWE 2K14, not only does it offer older and younger wresting fans the chance to experience some of the greatest matches in wresting history, it delivers a documentary-like introduction to each of the matches, which is both educational and entertaining. This feels like a mode that father and son wrestling fans will enjoy together. There are also rewards and unlockable features for completing objectives based on the actual matches too. Turning the tables on the Macho Man by using a dirty pin and body slamming King Kong Bundy as Hulk Hogan will unlock those wrestlers for use in other modes. Yukes and 2K Games have done so well with the 30 Years of Wrestlemania mode that it will be hard to top in next year’s WWE 2K, though I’m sure they’re already hard at work thinking of how to do just that. As with the other WWE games, there are a variety of different creation modes, which allow players to create wrestlers, custom move sets, unique finishing moves, entrances and even logos for use on their wrestler’s various attire. There are a ton of options available, and I’m confident that every single user-created wrestler found online will be well varied from each other, as opposed to a game like Grand Theft Auto V’s online mode, where 95% of players have mohawks and tracksuits.
customisation options, there is very little in ways of new content. Instead of aiming for as many modern options as available, Yukes have decided to continue using the same patterns and attires found in previous WWE Games. This is both good and bad, as I know that I’m able to make a decent wrestler out of the materials I’ve used in the past, but I still have to sift through innumerable goofy patterns and outfits, like zebra print leotards and hundreds of ridiculous “tribal” patterns. Just give me realisticyet-unique patterns already Yukes! It should be said that players can now use any existing wrestler as
As opposed to the Create-aWrestler mode (which has a “greatest hits” feel to it), creating a move set is better than ever, thanks to a ton of new moves, some undeniably classic moves, and little improvements to the game’s animation. If you’ve played every WWE game fro Yukes before, you will probably think you’ve seen (and used) every clothesline, powerbomb and chokeslam available. Yukes have gone out of their way to deliver more unique animations for these often-used wrestling moves than in previous WWE games, meaning that even if your character has
with the new animations, these features make WWE 2K14 the best recreation of professional wrestling yet.
the same move as many other wrestlers, they will have their own unique version of that move. Gameplay-wise, everything about the WWE franchise has been rebuilt or refined, making for the best gameplay in the series. The action feels much quicker, and while the reversal system now requires a carefully-timed press of just a single button, it feels much more realistic and rewarding than before. The animation system has also been injected with subtle new animations, meaning that wrestlers will adjust their tights, elbow pads, wipe sweat from their brow, or even signal to their opponent to get up from the mat and fight. In previous WWE games, you had to remember each of your assigned moves, and sometimes,
you would forget where you put that handy submission move that can turn the tide of a difficult match. WWE 2K14 has a simple idea to keep you in control of the fight, as submission moves now only require you to hold down the grapple button instead of pressing it. It’s a simple idea, but one that makes for a much better experience. The “OMG moments” (a goofysounding but accurate name) established in WWE 13 are also back, and better than ever. These moments recreate the chaos and exhilaration of the WWE’s crazier moments, such as a face managing to dodge attacks from multiple opponents and land a finisher on each opponent, or performing a diving spear through the ring ropes. Combined
WWE 2K14 is a terrific start for 2K Games. The overhauled gameplay makes for the most fun and realistic depiction of a WWE game yet, I just wish that Yukes would write an original story to play through again. Wrestling fans shouldn’t hesitate to pick up a copy of WWE 2K14, as the chance to play through the current roster of wrestling superstars as well as the best matches from 30 years of wrestlemania is too good to pass up.
Written by Nick Getley
(stickytriggerentertainment.com)
PROS • • •
Huge amount of content. Tons of customisation options. Online multiplayer is now much more balanced.
CONS •
No original story to play through.
8/10
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SPECIAL REPORT
PARENTS BUYING GUIDE FOR CHRISTMAS GAMING FUN! Live Magazine takes a look at buying games for children this Christmas. Our special report shows that gaming is not only good for you, but helps reduces aggression and bullying behaviour.
Here’s our 4 top tips for parents to ensure you’re buying the right games for your children this Christmas… as always most retailers can assist with your choice and Gametraders staff in particular are trained to give you the right advice on gaming purchases.
1.
Always maintain that the game classification is appropriate for the age of the child you are purchasing the gift for.
3. 4.
2.
Utilise the parental locks on your gaming consoles. Many people don’t realise that this option exists. The locks mean that parents can control the types of games their children are playing and the duration of the game play.
Ensure that your child plays a variety of games in a variety of genres so that their entertainment is well-rounded and to avoid them getting hooked on one particular style that may not be desirable. There are so many options available, including many non-violent games, fitness/sports orientated or sedentary, so that excessive exposure to violence in games can easily be avoided without cutting out your child’s gaming enjoyment. As for many things, moderation is critical. Be aware of what your child is choosing to play and for how long. Play an active role in their entertainment choices as you know what is best for them. Children tend to have a narrow view and choose based on what their peers are playing or without consideration of an option they would enjoy just as much, if not more.
SPECIAL REPORT SPECIAL REPORT
DO VIDEO GAMES AFFECT BEHAVIOUR? There are many supporters of the concept that video games are one of the key factors that lead to youths committing violent crimes however there is just as many if not more who believe that video games are not the cause of these crimes. A study done by The Times found that over a period of 16 years (19942010) as there was an increase of the purchase of violent video games there had been a decrease in crime rates. The Times found that between this time period of 16 years the number of violent crimes among youth offenders fell by more than
purchasing of violent video games had doubled by 2010. Some researchers have theorized that violent games are responsible for violent school shootings due to some laboratory evidence that linked violent media to measured psychological aggression. (Anderson, Craig A. 2004). However, there has been no proof outside of the laboratory that this is the case, in fact in a study published in ‘Journal of youth and adolescence’ researchers found that playing video games had a slight calming effect on youths
reduce aggression and bullying behavior in youths with attention deficit behavior. Not only does playing video games help youths with an attention deficit but it has also been found that action video games can help improve a persons eyesight! The findings, published in Nature Neuroscience, found a previously unknown adaptability in the brain, that people can train their eyes to be better at contrast sensitivity. ‘Contrast sensitivity is the ability to notice tiny changes in shades of grey against a uniform background, and is critical to everyday activities
“IT WAS FOUND IN THE SAME STUDY THAT PLAYING VIDEO GAMES ACTUALLY HELPED REDUCE AGGRESSION AND BULLYING BEHAVIOR IN YOUTHS WITH ATTENTION DEFICIT BEHAVIOR. ” half, going from approximately 500 down to 224 crimes per population of 100,000. During this same time period it was found that the
which is quite the opposite to school shootings and aggressive behavior! It was found in the same study that playing video games actually helped
such as night driving and reading. It often degrades with age.’ (Daphne Bavelier)
It was believed that contrast sensitivity could only be improved through correctional surgery. So in order to test this researchers gathered two groups of non gamers and asked each to play a game for a period of 50 hours. The first group played Call of Duty, a first person shooter game whilst the second played a game with rich visual features that lacked any real action. ”We found that the people in the first group improved by 43 percent, and the other group not at all,” said Daphne Bavelier, a professor at the University of Rochester and the study’s lead
“GAMING HELPS CHILDREN DEVELOP CREATIVITY AND LEARN HOW TO PROBLEM SOLVE.” researcher. They also found that these improvements lasted over a long period of time. ”The positive effect remained months, even years after training, indicating long-lasting gains,” she said. So not only is gaming something enjoyable to do but it is also good for your eyesight. Is this really something you want to take away from your child or yourself? It has been found that 66% of parents that play video games do so purely to socialize, share interests with their kids and have some family time, this means that instead of having a barrier between a child and their parents where neither really knows what to say they now have something in common, something to talk about. Gaming helps children develop creativity and learn how to problem solve.
The legend of Zelda game for instance require the player to negotiate, search for things and plan ways to advance using problem solving. Games such as Civilization and Age of Empires can also lead to a child’s desire to read and research world history and ancient cultures. Realistic games such as Fifa or Guitar Hero can lead to a child wanting to do these things for real. If a child is playing a game about basketball and their player can do some really amazing moves this could lead to the child going outside and practicing these things themselves, it can also lead children to trying new things and learning new skills such as soccer or even a musical instrument such as guitar. Gaming is something that both genders can enjoy as there is a wide variety including shooting games such as Call of Duty, stealth
games such as Assassins Creed and even life simulators such as the Sims. Most games now include the element of being able to change the world you live in for instance games like Fable, Skyrim and to a lesser extent Far Cry. In these games you are given the option of following different paths which is something that can be enjoyed by both of the sexes, in fact it has been found that in 2007, 55% of gamers were male and 45% were female. The fact that both sexes now have another thing in common means that they can form relationships easier through common interests. With all the great things that games bring to us do we really want to see that taken away?
Written by Emily Langford
SPECIAL REPORT RATINGS GUIDE The content is very mild in impact. The G classification is suitable for everyone. G products may contain classifiable elements such as language and themes that are very mild in impact. However, some G-classified films or computer games may contain content that is not of interest to children. The content is mild in impact. The impact of PG (Parental Guidance) classified films and computer games should be no higher than mild, but they may contain content that children find confusing or upsetting and may require the guidance or parents and guardians. They may, for example, contain classifiable elements such as language and themes that are mild in impact. It is not recommended for viewing or playing by persons under 15 without guidance from parents or guardians. The content is moderate in impact. Films and computer games classified M (Mature) contain content of a moderate impact and are recommended for teenagers aged 15 years and over. Children under 15 may legally access this material because it is an advisory category. However, M classified films and computer games may include classifiable elements such as violence and nudity of moderate impact that are not recommended for children under 15 years.
The content is strong in impact. MA 15+ classified material contains strong content and is legally restricted to persons 15 years and over. It may contain classifiable elements such as sex scenes and drug use that are strong in impact. A person may be asked to show proof of their age before hiring or purchasing an MA 15+ film or computer game. Cinema staff may also request that the person show proof of their age before allowing them to watch an MA 15+ film. Children under the age of 15 may not legally watch, buy or hire MA 15+ classified material unless they are in the company of a parent or adult guardian. Children under 15 who go to the cinema to see an MA 15+ film must be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian for the duration of the film. The parent or adult guardian must also purchase the movie ticket for the child. The guardian must be an adult exercising parental control over the person under 15 years of age. The guardian needs to be 18 years or older.
The content is high in impact. R 18+ material is restricted to adults. Such material may contain classifiable elements such as sex scenes and drug use that are high in impact. Some material classified R18+ may be offensive to sections of the adult community. A person may be asked for proof of their age before purchasing, hiring or viewing R18+ films and computer games at a retail store or cinema.
All ratings information sourced from the Australian Classifications website. For more information visit: www.classification.gov.au/Guidelines
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ANIME
MAMORU HOSODA THE NEXT HAYAO MIYAZAKI? Often revered as a talent to rival the output of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli, Mamoru Hosoda is one of the most exciting animation directors working today. His 2006 breakout hit, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time won praise from audiences and critics worldwide, and picked up the prestigious ‘Animation of the Year’ award at the Japan Academy Prize, amongst numerous other international awards. With both 2009’s Summer Wars and 2012’s Wolf Children Mamoru Hosoda has cemented his reputation amongst both cinephiles and anime fans alike as a creator of unique, authentic and beautiful works. Both films have also further earned a slew of ‘Animation of the Year/Best Animated Feature’ awards, including dual Japanese Academy Prize awards and Sitges – Catalonion International Film Festival prizes.
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ANIME
KOKORO CONNECT High school life is complicated enough without adding supernatural elements into the mix. All those well-trodden tropes of body swapping, de-aging and acting out on pure desire are mixed here in one melting pot of a series titled Kokoro Connect! The series focuses
changes in their first year of high school. The series is a roller coaster ride of emotions as it walks a fine line between the comedic nature of the oddball situation with the personal drama of the characters. Through each character there is sure to be
and are all handled with care and not magically whisked away under the carpet as anime often does. The animation by Silver Link will make you recall the likes of Kyoto Animation for K-On! The character designs and consistence in quality is definitely a plus but it really is the
“THE CHARACTER DESIGNS AND CONSISTENCE IN QUALITY IS DEFINITELY A PLUS, BUT IT REALLY IS THE CHARACTERS THAT CARRY THE SERIES.” on the five members of the Cultural Study Group – Taichi, Iori, Himeko, Yoshifumi and Yui undergoing these
an issue we can relate to whether it is from unrequited love, crisis of self or a crippling fear. The solutions to their problems are never a quick fix
characters that carry the series. At the end of it all you’ll be rooting for each and every one of them to have a happy ending.
ANIME
HIIIRO NO KAKERA SEASON 2
The second and final series of Hiiro no Kakera is here and with it we delve in the history of the Tamayori Princess and her guardians. We pick up where the first season had left off - the pressing need to re-seal the legendary sword
guardians are at the heart of the issue in particular Takuma and it may relate to her past.
once again with their animation and their detail in backgrounds is absolutely breathtaking.
Once again if you loved the original series you surely cannot miss out on this exciting finale. Action is definitely more at the forefront
Overall Hiiro no Kakera – Season 2 is a fantastic series for any lover of the original and of the game. It delves deeper in to the history
“STUDIO DEEN IS CONSISTENT ONCE AGAIN WITH THEIR ANIMATION AND THEIR DETAIL IN BACKGROUNDS IS ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING.” Onikirimaru before any disasters can occur. Tamaki as the next Tamayori Princess is expected to make that happen but it’s more complex than it sounds. Her
for this season as the end of the world is at stake here. Of course all your favourite characters are back showcasing their new and improved powers. Studio Deen is consistent
of the myth and of the characters themselves for a satisfying finale.
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HAVE A RETRo CHRISTMAS!
“Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...” (Poem by Clement Clarke Moore 1822)
It’s almost that time of year when every kid, young and old, gets excited about Christmas. Sure it’s the gifts and the family meals that we all love, the time we get to spend together and maybe play video games on shiny new Xbox Ones or PS4 systems. But Christmas is more then gifts and games and stuffing yourself with food, so much so that you can’t actually move after lunch. Christmas is about getting together with friends and family and enjoying each others company and reminiscing about classic games from Christmases past. Maybe you’ve got an old N64 still sitting in a cupboard or perhaps a SNES that’s rarely used. Take them out and enjoy a simpler time of gaming. Where you played for the simple enjoyment
of completing a level or beating your friend in Street Fighter, Mario Kart or some multiplayer game that meant not playing online, but instead sitting side by side on the lounge and yelling at each other during split screen sessions of fun and mayhem. Remember too those old magazines that you use to read from cover to cover. Sitting there dreaming about the latest preview and how you were going to scrape together enough money to buy that special game using your savings, Christmas money and maybe a trade in or two. Many of those classic magazines are no longer with us. A sad reflection on how the media industry has changed. But I can remember Amiga Format, PC Format and ACE magazine and faithfully
buying each new edition as soon as it landed in the newsagent. Those times were the golden times of gaming in many respects and they laid the foundations for what we enjoy today. The new systems are truly amazing. They are immensely powerful with gorgeous graphics and sound and at times you really feel you’re part of the game. Not too far away will be the Oculus VR system to immerse you even more into your gaming. I for one can’t wait to experience a deeper level of gaming. But for now, enjoy our look back at some classic games on classic systems from our team of retro writers and have a very Merry and maybe Retro Christmas and dig out that old system and enjoy some classic gaming.
RETRO
HAVE A VERY RETRO CHRISTMAS! Merry Christmas retro lovers!! I thought this month we would have a look at some of the Christmas themed games that have been released over the years. Generally Christmas games are considered to be somewhat of a mixed bag. Sometimes you get that amazing game that’s worth filling your Christmas stocking, other times you get a lump of coal.
aimlessly and either fell off a cliff, or encountered one of the hazards that would appear throughout the levels. The difference this time around were the wintery backgrounds that accompanied the levels, and Christmas costumes on the lemmings themselves. Yes, that really was it! Some minor graphical tweaks here and there and you have yourself a Christmas game.
Before Christmas’ was the final game to be released by Sunsoft USA, and it doesn’t leave much of a legacy. A horrible platforming game, ‘Daze Before Christmas’ normally commands high prices on Ebay due to the fact it was only released in PAL territories and in small quantities. In this game Santa is on a mission to rescue his elves by using any means
“SANTA CAN ALWAYS SEE IF YOU’VE BEEN NAUGHTY OR NICE, AND IF YOU WERE NAUGHTY BACK IN 1994 THEN CHANCES ARE YOU PROBABLY ENDED UP WITH A COPY OF ‘DAZE BEFORE CHRISTMAS’ IN YOUR STOCKING.” Let’s start the list with ‘Christmas Lemmings’, released in 1993 and 1994. Retaining the exact same gameplay as regular ‘Lemmings’ and ‘Oh No More Lemmings’, your mission, as always, was to use the special abilities you had available to you to guide the little critters to the exit before they wandered around
‘Lemmings’ is such a classic game however, there is no way you could say this is a bad thing. Santa can always see if you’ve been naughty or nice, and if you were naughty back in 1994 then chances are you probably ended up with a copy of ‘Daze Before Christmas’ in your stocking. ‘Daze
neccessary, including bombs, magic and swinging his sack of toys at the enemies. Let’s take a second here to think about what Santa is actually doing here. He is swinging a bag of carefully made toys at enemies, most likely damaging them in the process. When the elves get rescued they’re only going to be put back to work
to replace those toys that Santa damaged rescuing them. Also, is using elves a form of slave labour? I suppose that’s another argument for another publication... ‘NiGHTS into Dreams’ is considered to be a ‘killer app’ for the Sega Saturn, and was a big success when it was released in 1996. Sadly, since the Saturn itself wasn’t terribly successful a large number of people never got a chance to experience the thrill of guiding Nights through the various dreams in his quest to restore peace to Nightopia. ‘Christmas NiGHTS’ is considered to be a sequel to the original and was given away with various magazines and with certain games, depending on where in the world you lived at the time. ‘Christmas NiGHTS’ also contained extras not available in the original game, as well as an option to play a level as Sonic the Hedgehog. A worthy sequel to a brilliant game that didn’t cost a cent back when it was released. Does it get any better than that? Unfortunately the final game in this festive list is another lump of coal. ‘Santa’s Christmas Caper’ was released for the major home computers of the day in 1990. Amstrad Action magazine gave the game 6% as a rating citing it as being too easy to finish (it could be completed in around 10 minutes) and the ending featuring nothing more than a basic ‘You Won, Game Over’ screen. Like ‘Daze Before Christmas’ it features plenty of platform action, but this time is also followed by levels that require you to fly Santa’s sleigh delivering the presents. Sadly the game is let down by lackluster gameplay and very average graphics and scrolling. So there you have it! If you’re retro hunting for something to play this Christmas you have two brilliant examples, and two not so brilliant
examples. Have you played any of these games? Maybe you’ve played some other Christmas or holiday themed games. Maybe Jazz Jackrabbit in Holiday Hare was something you enjoyed playing on your PC. Let us know on the Facebook page and share your favorite Christmas games with the rest of the world.
Written by Paul Monopoli Retro Writer
RETRO
UNDER THE(1990-1999) TREE Hey, what do you know! It’s that time of the year again, where we send gifts to each other, celebrate with family and loved ones and generally getting quite merry..
Fighter 2 Turbo, SEGA Mega CD, and Mortal Kombat on home consoles.
Who doesn’t get excited about getting video games on that day and under that tree? Regardless of what that system or game may be, the 1990’s had quite a wholesome amount of releases. So let me take you through the more popular things that could have been ‘under the tree’ on ‘that day’ in Australia.
1994
1990
1992
The SEGA Mega Drive console, SEGA Master System 2, Dr. Mario, Commander Keen, King’s Quest V, and Wing Commander.
SEGA Game Gear, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Wolfenstein 3D, Dune 2, Flashback, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Ecco the Dolphin, and Street Fighter 2 on SNES.
1991 Super Mario 3, Aussie Rules Footy, Bubble Bobble, Road Rash, Lemmings, Alien Breed, and Sonic the Hedgehog on Master System.
1993 Syndicate, X-Wing, Day of the Tentacle, Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, Kirby’s Adventure, Super Mario All-stars, Myst, Sam & Max: Hit the Road, Doom, Street
Secret of Mana, Sonic 3, Tie Fighter, SEGA 32X, Earthworm Jim on Mega Drive, Donkey Kong Country, Sonic & Knuckles, UFO: Enemy Unknown, Super Game Boy, Marathon, and Mortal Kombat 2 on home consoles.
1995 SEGA Saturn, Earthworm Jim on SNES, Star Wars: Dark Forces, Full Throttle, Sony Playstation, Warcraft 2, I have no mouth and I must Scream, Donkey Kong Country 2, Command & Conquer and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island.
1996 Duke Nukem 3D, Quake, Crash Bandicoot, Command & Conquer: Red Alert, Tomb Raider, Diablo, Game Boy Pocket, and Donkey Kong Country 3.
1997 Nintendo 64, Mario Kart 64, Final Fantasy VII, StarFox 64, Carmageddon, Goldeneye 64, Fallout, Quake 2, and Diddy Kong Racing.
1998 Parappa the Rapper, Unreal, Descent: Freespace, Banjo Kazooie, Resident Evil 2, Rainbow Six, Pokémon Red & Blue, Fallout 2, Spyro the Dragon, Grim Fandango, Age of Empires, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and Starcraft (along with its add-on Brood War)
1999 Metal Gear Solid, SEGA Dreamcast, Super Smash Bros. Silent Hill, Final Fantasy VIII, Mario Party, Rollercoaster Tycoon, System Shock 2, Unreal Tournament, Quake 3 Arena, and Donkey Kong 64 (with the introduction of the Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak). Of course I didn’t cover every release as there was obvious so many, and keeping note that the titles reflect on the Australian release dates. So, I hope you have a great holiday season and may it be full of gaming and joy.
Written by David Kudrev www.retrospekt.com.au
RETRO
BACK TO THE FUTURE Seems Michael J Fox isn’t the only one able to jump into a DeLorean and head back in time. Both Microsoft and Sony stayed with the disc system for supplying games to customers. And with some games reported to be 50gig or more most of us with a regular connection will breath a sigh of relief. Discs also give gamers flexibility to trade and sell their old games although at one stage Microsoft made a lot of gamers very unhappy with their plans to impose strict rules on how games can or can’t be traded. Thankfully common sense prevailed and now both systems, at this point,
game often. And if your console goes down for some reason you don’t have to re-download gigabytes of data. Sure discs might scratch, but look after them and they’ll be playable for many years. Plus if you’re a collector you can have bookshelves stacked with your favourites ready to be played at a moments notice. So while the humble disc is here to stay, not all storage media has survived. Let’s hop in the DeLorean and see what gamers were loading into the consoles and computers back when gaming first began...
removable circuit boards according to Wikipedia and these boards were inserted into a cartridge slot allowing players to select the game they wanted to play. While cartridges were used in early and modern consoles, they were also used by early home computers such as the Commodore Vic-20 and the Commodore 64. The Atari 8 bit systems too used cartridges. In the early days of computing, data was stored on tape and you needed to have a tape drive to read information or write information.
“SO WHILE THE HUMBLE DISC IS HERE TO STAY, NOT ALL STORAGE MEDIA HAS SURVIVED.” seem to be offering similar pre played and trading abilities. Big games often have big graphics, big sound and big data files. A disc let’s you buy, play and replay your
While games have been around since the 1950s it wasn’t until 1972 when the Magnavox Odyssey was launched and could be connected to a TV that gaming at home really took off. Games were released on
Then came along the floppy disk in the late 1960s. They were 8 inches in diameter and you needed a floppy drive to read or write the data.
IBM shipped the first commercial floppy disks in 1971 and were 8 inches in diameter and flexible. Other companies such as Memorex, Shugart and Apple also developed disks and in 1978 Apple introduced the 5 1/4 inch disk according to Wikipedia and it could store an amazing (at that time) 113 KB. The first manufacturer of the popular 3 1/2 inch format was Sony, introducing it in 1982 and was followed up by the first double sided 3 1/2 inch disk in 1984. Atari, Commodore and Apple all adopted the new format with the
single speed read drives that were painfully slow but they held 650MB of data compared to the 3.5 inch floppy holding only around 1.5MB. The world changed and games were shipped on CDs from that time on and many game magazines featured CDs on the cover with game demos and utilities for readers to try. In 1995 DVDs were developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba and Panasonic. They offered much more storage space then the humble CD and were a success unlike the laser disk that preceded them. DVDs
from here. Gamers demand high quality graphics and sound as do movie buffs and while game play is what is truly important, many games are pushing the boundaries when it comes to accurately representing the real world. First Person Shooters, driving simulations and many other genres offer a better suspension of disbelief when the graphics and sound are as realistic as possible. Downloading massive game files is not an option for many people and with the new consoles pushing the envelope in terms of graphics and realism, downloads of 30-50 gig
One CD-ROM can easily store an entire print volumes of an encyclopaedia - source Wikipedia
PC following later. These disks saw classic home computer games released for the Atari and Amiga systems and PC gamers too soon saw complex games released on multiple disks. For example the game Strike Commander on PC shipped on eight 3.5 disks taking around an hour to install.
could hold around double of the CD in their first formats and that quickly grew to much larger capacity before the new Blu-ray disks were developed by Sony with the first consumer devices released in 2003. A dual layer Blu-ray disk holds 50GB of data with the BDXL format holding 100GB.
CD-ROMs arrived around the mid 1980s and were developed by Sony and Philips. The first were
While this is now the most popular format for movies and games it will be interesting to see where we go
are not unheard of nor will they be readily accepted by gamers. It seems there’s plenty of life left in the humble disk yet and the ability to trade old games is high on gamers’s lists of what makes a good console.
COLLECTIBLES
WHY DO WE COLLECT?
Why is it that we collect? Why is it that we covet these things, be they small like coins or stamps, printed media like books and comics, the addictive plastic of toys and figures, or virtual reality of so many of today’s incredible games? Big companies around the word spend huge amounts of money each year researching the market to understand that simple question – WHY? And by and large, they know us probably better than we know ourselves! As Steve Jobs famously said “People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” In the technology industry, that quote is very much the truth, as one of Apple’s iconic inventions shows.
small product alone made music collectors out of millions of people who previously cared little about their vinyl and CD collections! The gaming industry makes collectors out of all of us yearly with revisions, sequels, and expansion packs making up a huge portion of the market! Franchises such as Call of Duty, Warcraft, The Sims, FIFA, Assassin’s Creed, and my personal favourite Street Fighter, have made an art of providing needy fans their fix of their favourite virtual world. And the common factor above is the inherent desire to have the latest and greatest, that instant gratification for what’s hot at the time. And companies know that this
What do I mean by this? Let me explain – I’m one of those lucky enough to be born in the 70s, grew up in the awesome 80s and 90s, and as an adult now have a job in the 21st century. And even back in the 70s and 80s, companies knew what they were doing to sucker you into things. But it wasn’t back then that was the killer, it’s the here and now, and something called nostalgia! As a kid growing up in that era, we were exposed to some of the biggest game-changing events to happen in the realm of entertainment. From blockbuster movies like Jaws, E.T., Back to the Future, and Ferris Bueller’s
“LIKE AS A KID GROWING UP IN THAT ERA, WE WERE EXPOSED TO SOME OF THE BIGGEST GAME-CHANGING EVENTS TO HAPPEN IN THE REALM OF ENTERTAINMENT. The iPod, now in hindsight such a simple concept, forever changed the way we listen to, categorise, and collect our music. That one
is just the very beginning, and the younger you are, the more affect it will have on you later!
Day Off; to the introduction of the Commodore 64 and the first generation of gaming consoles; to the retro classic TV shows and
re-runs of Transformers, Masters of the Universe, 1966 Batman, and Voltron; the entertainment industry literally had us at their mercy. And perhaps the biggest event of them all, Star Wars, was driven by perhaps the savviest businessman of them all, George Lucas. He not only had the creative passion to direct his vision of Star Wars, but had the foresight to retain all rights to the merchandise from the movie and its sequels! And merchandise they pumped out to the masses! It is these events in our younger days that stay forever in our memory banks, so much so they
“IT ALL COMES DOWN TO ONE THING, AND THAT IS OUR PURE, UNADULTERATED PASSION FOR THE THINGS WE LOVE! IT NEVER ENDS, AND HUGE EVENTS ALWAYS HAPPEN IN CYCLES.” become a part of our psyche, the very framework of our brain and what it feels when we remember those amazing days! It’s those endless Saturday mornings of watching cartoons, hours after (and sometimes during!) school in the arcades playing your favourite games (Double Dragon, Street Fighter II, or Daytona anyone!?!), and watching those VHS videos of your favourites movies until the tape totally wore out! Back then, as it is now, it was all about instant gratification. There was no thought about protecting that toy to keep it in mint condition, or keeping that cartridge or floppy disk of a game if a new one came out. But companies now know that the memories of years past come flooding back in nostalgic bliss for people as they grow older. And it’s an itch they are more than willing to scratch, especially as their key
audience is now older and have the means to spend up big! Star Wars toys have long been collectible, to the extent that the very sight of vintage packaging makes grown men and women behave in ways no adult should normally behave! So what do they do? They combine the action figure technology of today, with the vintage packaging of yesteryear to create some of the most sought after lines of actions figures of recent years! And on the high-end scale, companies such as Sideshow Collectibles and Hot Toys make some of the most accurate Star Wars figures that cater to those collectors who want to relive their memories right there in their display cabinets! From toys, to books, to comics – you name it, they’ve made it to quench any nostalgic thirst you might have!
But it’s not just Star Wars of course. Classic TV shows such as Transformers Generation 1 is seeing a huge resurgence. The entire G1 DVD remastered collection was only just released in Australia, and the Masterpiece Transformers line of figures is directly aimed at those collectors who grew up watching and loving the original cartoon series. Countless collectibles are now being made specifically to feed the nostalgia within us all. 2013 has already been a huge year with releases from Hot Toys and Sideshow, Diamond Select Toys, NECA, Funko, Mattel, DC Collectibles, and many others that all throw back to the golden age of movies and TV. But of course there’s no slowing down, with the leadup to Christmas and beyond filled with so many releases that will be available at Gametraders.
Retro classics such as the Hot Toys 1966 Batman and Robin, Popculture Shock MOTU Beastman statue, and more (check out the must-have collectibles here on the Gametraders Facebook album here). In essence, it all comes down to one thing, and that is our pure, unadulterated passion for the things we love! It never ends, and huge events always happen in cycles. Epic cinematic successes have occurred such as The Avengers and The Dark Knight trilogy, along more reboots than you can shake your nostalgic fist at. Mammoth followings for games such as Minecraft, Grand Theft Auto, Battlefield and The Sims have created more gaming addicts than ever before. TV shows such as Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, and even Power Rangers Megaforce and Adventure Time for the younger demographic, have glued a new generation of fans to their screens.
LIVING the entertainment we have today. The global interaction driven by the social media today will entrench these memories perhaps even deeper than before, and the craving for that nostalgic fix in years to come will be greater than ever. Without a doubt, the entertainment companies know this, and will always be there to satisfy our hunger for it. And I wouldn’t have it any other way ☺
Written by Khai at Kool Kollectibles www.koolkollectibles.net www.facebook.com/KoolKollectibles www.youtube.com/user/ckly76
It is these events today that are wiring the brains of fans in exactly the same way that happened years ago in my generation. In decades to come, it will be these fans that will look back with their fond memories of the time they’ve spent playing, watching, discussing…..simply
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COSPLAY
PHOTOGRAPHER
Cosplayer: Blue Shoes Cosplay
TEMPLAR DIGITAL BRIAN LANSANGAN - COSPLAY PHOTOGRAPHER
While we love talking to cosplayers and seeing their work, we also love talking to the people on the other side of the lens. Cosplay photography is a creative mix of the artist and the photographer who captures the character being portrayed. This month we spoke to Brian Lansangan who is a photographer for a group called Templar Digital. He’s a writer, interviewer, podcaster and photographer from Hollywood.
You’ve taken lots of cosplay photos - how did you get into this genre of photography?
filing knowing that you made the cosplayer’s vision of their character come to life.
I started first interviewing cosplayers and photographers for Templar Digital. After being inspired by many of the Cosplay photographers and being asked to try it out by many cosplayers I decided to dip my feet into the world of cosplay. Plus, I am a terrible cosplayer too be honest and what better way to promote
Can you tell us a bit about the process? Do you meet with the model/subject and discuss ideas? How do you start the project? I usually go to cons a start off taking pictures of cosplayers on the con floor and simple introduce
“WHAT I ENJOY MOST IN CREATING THE IMAGES IS MAKING THE CHARACTER THE COSPLAYER IS PORTRAYING BECOME REAL.. BRINGING THE DREAM TO LIFE..” Welcome to Live Magazine - can you tell us a bit about yourself. Where you live and what you do? My name is Brian Lansangan and I’m a cosplay photographer for a group called Templar Digital where I’m also a writer, blogger, interviewer and podcaster from Hollywood, Florida.
cosplay by helping other cosplayers look good lol. What do you enjoy about creating such amazing images? What I enjoy most in creating the images is making the Character the cosplayer is portraying become real.. Bringing that dream to life for the cosplayer. Nothing is more
myself and offer a small shoot (for free) at the con to break the ice and promote my work. I also meet cosplayers through other cosplayers or Facebook and work from there. Before a shoot we usually try and work out an idea or plan on how the shoot and location will be. It is all depended on what the cosplayer wants.....my job is to help them bring whatever they
Cosplayer: Jackie “Spider-Girl” Cosplay
want to life in an image..As long as they’re happy .... I’m happy. Is there a lot of preparation on your side of the shoot? We see cosplayers putting their costumes together, their make up on etc. What sort of preparation do you go through? My biggest concern is do I have enough memory and battery power in which I learned at this years Dragoncon....I was soo busy with shoots one day ...all my Batteries and memory got full and I wasn’t able to get in more shoots therefore I had to cancel some...so lesson learned....Now for every shoot I charge the batteries fully, bring the charger and extra batteries just in case...and the important lighting equipment of course. Do you have favourite characters you just love photographing? To be honest...I’ve shot so many but I have to admit that my mass effect shoot and Lady Magneto shoots with cosplayers DM Headshot Cosplay, Alouette Cosplay and Lady Annaka Cosplay are my favorites.
What about locations - who chooses them and if someone was wanting to get into cosplay photography what would you tell them to do with scouting out great locations? I usually let the cosplayer choose due to most of my shoots are in different states or cities that I’m not familiar with. The best way to look for location is either Facebook or goggle...the internet will always provide great place and answers. Any funny stories you can share about cosplay photo sessions? Not sure if this fits as funny but during a shoot with one of my favorite cosplayers. We were shooting in a parking garage which turned out to be a garage belonging to a company that works under Homeland Security. So therefore we were trespassing..now we didn’t know till the cops showed up and told us. The cops wanted to just let is go with a warning but the “security guard” in the building wanted to ban us from the area for trespassing which we thought ...wow... So after getting Ban from
the Garage for trespassing, we went down two blocks from the garage into another garage and finished the shoot there, which we thought was hilarious. What about “cons” what ones do you attend if any and what are your favorites? Well first my favorites: I usually attend MegaCon in Orlando, Florida along with SuperCon in Miami, Florida. I have also attended DragonCon in Atlanta, Georgia (my top favorite) and Dallas Comic Con / Fan Days in Dallas, Texas. I also attend small local cons in Florida to sum it all up lol. What gear do you use for a shoot? I use a Canon T3i Rebel Eos DSLR, with 2 remote flash triggers on 2 lighting umbrellas and a compact 30w fluorescent lamp for lighting. What’s coming up next - are you planning any new projects? I’m currently working on a cosplay calendar featuring cosplayers both
Cosplayer: FacesofFreya
Cosplayer: Jason Moden
male and female from Texas and Florida. I am also planning a big “Attack On Titan” Photoshoot meet up at Megacon in 2014 after the big success with my video game Photoshoot meet up at Dragoncon. I have an upcoming shoot with Faasnu Cosplay as the Silent Hill Nurse in December. I also recently started working on Cosplay Music Videos .... My first was at Fan Days in Dallas. Other projects are currently a secret so SHHH lol.
Cosplayer: Alexia Jean Grey
Finally where can people go to see more of your work? The majority of my work will be in the albums section of the Templar Digital Facebook page...I also have some on my DeviantArt. Facebook: www.facebook.com/TemplarDigital deviantart: MrSnugglenutz84.
ALL PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN BY BRIAN LANSANGAN FROM TEMPLAR DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY.
www.facebook.com/ TemplarDigital
COSPLAY PHOTOGRAPHER: TEMPLAR DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
Cosplayer: Annaka Vader
COSPLAYERS
CLINT & JILLIAN
Photographer: Peck Photography
COSPLAYERS FROM SPAIN
Once again we’ve headed overseas to bring you amazing cosplayers from across the globe. Today we’re speaking to Clint and Jillian, two cosplayers from Spain. We asked them about how they got into cosplay and what they love about it. Here’s what they said... Tell us how you got into cosplay and what drew you into the world of costuming. Respectively, we started 5-7 years ago after attending our first events of manga / comic. Moved by
What are your favourite characters? Do you make your own costumes or buy them or a bit of both? I (Clint) prefer the secondary characters than the main characters, and Jillian loves the villains so much. Villains like Harley Quinn in the new universe (new52). We make all our cosplay costumes, and sometimes with help from friends, but we also help our friends when needed. We also love to figure out how to do new things or modify objects we have at home or
The hardest thing is to decide and then start. There are very few events for all the cosplays that we would want to do, but we choose characters that we love. When we went as Red Hood and the Outlaws we did it with Jillian’s boyfriend (and Clint’s friend) preparing from the moment we started reading the comic, we strongly identify with each story. Are you visiting “cons” at all and if so which are your favourites and why?
“WE’RE GREAT FRIENDS, ALMOST LIKE FAMILY, WE STARTED IN THIS TOGETHER AND WILL CONTINUE.” curiosity we started doing cosplay, slowly and patiently. Three years ago we started to doing cosplays together and keep learning more and more. It’s a great hobby and pure fun.
we that can get very cheaply, often you can make great things with unusual objects.
We visit all we can or all we are invited. Our favourite are the comic and game-cons!
What is the most difficult part of preparing a costume and character you choose?
Do you work on costumes together & how do you go about choosing who to cosplay?
We’re great friends, almost like family, we started in this together and will continue. Sometimes we can (and like the same) do cosplay from the same series or universe, and others no. But we always work together and help each other from the start to the day that you put on the costumes. You both have some amazing photos - tell us a bit about a photo shoot and what happens. It would be great for new cosplayers to know how a photo session works. Do you pay for photos, do you have rights to display them? Thanks!, we’re glad you like our photos. As we both love the cosplay and photography. Every photo shoot is like a different world, sometimes we do a shoot during events to portray the cosplay, other times we seek a suitable place and we’ll make the photos alone or with friends, often working to recreate certain scenes. Have you had any funny experiences as a cosplayer you can share? Well, now we can think of many, a really funny thing is going to the bathroom in a superhero costume .... Every time we are cosplaying we are having fun with our friends. If you were starting out as a cosplayer today, what would you do different if anything? It’s like anything, practice and experience over time makes you a better cosplayer.
Photographer: Jillian (Florencia Muir)
You can see more of Clint and Jillian on their Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/ClintJillianCosplay
COSPLAYERS: CLINT & JILLIAN
Photographer: Jillian (Florencia Muir)
Photographer: Peck Photography
Photographer: Jillian (Florencia Muir)
www.facebook.com/F.Sofen
Clint & Jillian Photographer: Peck Photography
www.peckfotografia.com
COSPLAYER
NEBULALUBEN
Photographer: Jesús Clares Photography
COSPLAYER FROM SPAIN
Being Christmas we thought we would reach out across the globe and talk to cosplayers and those involved with cosplay in other countries and we were fortunate to be able to talk to the amazing Nebulaluben, a cosplayer from Madrid in Spain. Here’s our conversation... HI Nebulaluben, can you tell our readers a bit about you. Where you are based and how you got into cosplay. Hiya! I’m a 26 years old girl from Spain living in Madrid with my boyfriend and my little dog. I’ve always been a video game
I started making costumes in 2008. Back then I had just finished my studies and I started working. So I had a lot of spare time that I didn’t have to spend studying and a brand new source of income. I had a sewing machine at home that my granny gave to me when I was 16, so I just started sewing and creating stuff and I found I really like creating these costumes. How long have you been a cosplayer and what are your favourite characters? I’ve been cosplaying for five years and I usually make costumes of female warriors from video games.
Yes I do make all of them! I work along with Erik, my boyfriend, who makes the props, electronics and heavy duties. I enjoy very much sewing, making armors, painting, styling wigs, doing make ups... I enjoy every aspect of the crafting process and I love photo shooting. In fact, I prefer to say I’m a costume maker more than a costume player. I love creating, wearing and immortalizing them, but I almost hate performing. Do you visit many of the “cons” and which are your favourite and why? Yes! I usually attend all the big
“I ALSO PARTICIPATE IN COSPLAY GROUPS. COSPLAYING AS A GROUP IS WAY MORE FUN AND IT LOOKS TERRIFIC IN PICTURES!” enthusiast and a very creative individual so I found it pretty interesting when I discovered what cosplay was.
Do you make ALL your costumes or buy some? Is it a combination of both?
conventions in Madrid such as Expomanga, Japan Weekend and Expocómic. I can’t choose one to be my favourite, all of them are
different and special. Each con is memorable in its way mainly for the people I meet and the fun I have more than for the event per se. I have nice memories of all of them. How do you choose your next character? What influences your decision? I tend to make warrior costumes. I love intellectual, independent, resolute and powerful characters. I strongly avoid cute, wimpy characters. Back then, when I started, I tried to stick to characters I love from games I’d played. But, as I’ve improved my skills and my creative curiosity had grown, I started getting interested on the design and the costuming challenge and taking less care about the character background. Anyway, a very high percentage of my costumes are from games I enjoyed. I also participate in cosplay groups. Cosplaying as a group is way more fun and it looks terrific in pictures! I’m lucky I met some amazing and nice cosplayers along the way. We encourage each other and think about lots of projects every time we meet. It’s crazy!! When it comes to a group, I try to be more flexible about my choices. But if I don’t like the subject, I just step aside and enjoy watching my friends prepare. Once you’ve decided on a character, how long does it take for you to create the look you want? It depends on the difficulty of the design. It can take us from days to months. On average, it takes us between one and three months to make a costume. For instance, I made the Poison costume in a day and it took me almost four months to complete the Hilde costume from SoulCalibur V.
Photographer: Jesús Clares Photography Prop Maker: Skullopathy (www.facebook.com/skullopathy)
When you are at an event like a Comic Con, what do you enjoy most about the event? Events for me are the perfect excuse to go out there and meet my friends. We spend a lot of time at home sewing and playing games, so it’s a kind of social catalyst for me. I enjoy hanging out with them, taking pictures and participating in the cosplay activities (contests, workshops...) Has anything funny happened at a Con you can share with us? I remember the day I was wearing my Bayonetta costume. Suddenly a japanese man came to me very
excited asking me for pictures, telling me he was friends with Hideki Kamiya (the creator of Bayonetta). At first I thought it was a joke, but the next day I saw Hideki Kamiya commenting those pics on twitter. It came out that man who found me at the con was Hiroshi Matsuyama, the CEO of Cyberconnect 2, and indeed, he told Hideki Kamiya about me!! Finally where can our readers go to find out more about you? You can check out http://about. me/nebulaluben to see a list of all the pages I’m in.
Photographer: JesĂşs Clares Photography
Cosplayer: Nebulaluben
Photographer: Jesús Clares Photography
www.jesusclares.es
You can see more of Nebulaluben’s work here: http://about.me/nebulaluben
Photographer: Jesús Clares Photography
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TRADING CARDS
AUSTRALIAN VANGUARD REGIONAL QUALIFIER It’s been an exciting last month for the Australian Vanguard community as the Cardfight Vanguard Regional Qualifier comes to a close. Out of the five Vanguard fighters from South Australia to enter, one came out on top as Regional Champion! Jordan Treacher, who plays locally at Gametraders Marion, played flawlessly during 7 rounds of double elimination and clinching the win in
heading to Singapore to represent Australia in the Continental Championships to hope to take the win and invite to the World Championships to be held in Japan later in the year. All flights and accommodation are provided by Bushiroad for the 1st place champion. Bushiroad does amazing work to promote their card games and provide as much prize support
year and have made names for themselves in their respective communities. Chris Mattiske, who won the Oceanic Championships earlier in the year, was invited to the World Championships held in Las Vegas. Who says card games don’t have their rewards? If you live in South Australia and would like to see how
“BUSHIROAD DOES AMAZING WORK TO PROMOTE THEIR CARD GAMES AND PROVIDE AS MUCH PRIZE SUPPORT AS THEY CAN TO BETTER THE PLAYER EXPERIENCE.” the top 8 playoffs with his MLB build (Royal Paladins). Ethan Marino who also hails from Gametraders Marion, made it into top 4 after being on the bubble so early in the rounds but managed to push through. Jordan will be
as they can to better the player experience. Cardfight Vanguard is definitely a game worth checking out! Gametraders Marion now houses two players who have topped 2 major tournaments this past
the pro’s play in either Vanguard or Yu-Gi-Oh, come on down to Gametraders Marion on Tuesdays (Vanguard) or Wednesdays (YuGi-Oh) and you might learn a new trick or two!
Written by Johnathan Heng
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Merry Christmas to all my fellow gamers around the world! May your portals lead to happiness, puzzles to a prize and controllers lead to games! - Dylan Faith
Merry Christmas I hope you will all be receiving your next gen consoles ahah! - Kenny Shahin
Happy Christmas and a Merry New Years - Scott Thompson
Merry Christmas to Gametraders! You guess are making my Christmas merry with the goodies I’ve bought from you, so you deserve a merry Christmas yourselves. Gametraders, for the gamers. - Jean-Paul Bartolomei
Merry Christmas to all, may you have good times with good friends playing good games, Merry Christmas to fellow no matter what you play gamers and Gametradians!~ them on! Whether you’re gaming on last - James Richards or next gen consoles I hope your Christmas is one filled with video games, family, friends and food! Finally to my friends/ family, thank you for coping with my addiction to games, hope you’re all prepared for some Christmas party games like Rock Band! - Kass Kitty Alvarez
‘Today, the first of December, happens to be my birthday. It would make my day if fanboys could lay down their arms for a few hours, give a competing console a go and have fun with it. Merry Christmas and happy gaming’. - Michael Towns
Merry Christmas to my beautiful partner in crime, thank you for supporting me with my gaming and anime addiction for cosplaying with me, thank you for giving me advice during the moment I super glued my finger to my prop. Thank you for picking up the controller when I threw it when you kick my ass in soul caliber. I’m looking forward spending our first Christmas in our new house, my birthday and a wonderful new year. Merry Christmas - Jessica Ann Drumm
Merry Christmas my fellow Popular Culture Friends who attended BrisNova 2013. Let’s hope a break over Christmas will help inspire us for the New Year! Happy Cosplaying over Christmas! See you all Next year!! - Chelsea Marrinan
Christmas is a time for traditions, which means playing old traditional games such as monopoly. But in my family its old fashioned gaming consoles such as the first xbox (we’re young). GET BACK TO TRADITIONS! - Chloe Terese Taylor
Merry Retro Christmas and a Happy next gen year! - Robert Heness
To all gamers and Gametraders, hope every one has a great Christmas - John Lavill
May all the forces in the gaming world be with you and your family this Christmas. Play hard and enjoy the time spent with your console. - Sarah Parmenter
Merry Christmas my fellow nerds,geeks and gamers alike! May the gods of the next-gen gaming be with you. - Dylan Faith
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all the gamers out there!! Bring on the non-stop gaming! - Justin Kennedy
CHRIST MAS WISHES FROM O U CUSTOM R ERS.. Christmas is a time for family and a WiiU with Super Mario 3D World is a great choice for Christmas. Merry Christmas to all & to all good games! - Jean-Paul Bartolomei
Happy Easter Holidays, hope Kris Kringle brings you the full version of Killer Instinct. Yeah! Thrillhouse! - Scotty Vahndivongs Happy Wintereenmas! - Adam Hoddinott
May the Christmas be with you :P - Anthony Farfalla
Have a Merry Christmas playing with your loved ones, oh and your family too! (Ha!) I congratulate you on taking time off gaming as you are reading this now. - John Soap McTavish
Merry Christmas gamers! It’s finally here! The best time of the year to be a gamer. The joy of brand new consoles to play and new games to play, whether its by your self or with other gamers. Christmas really does bring people together!! - Peter Dahms
Joyous Festivities, friends! You might feel obliged to buy gifts for others but always remember, if you have kids, a game you buy for them is a game you can play for them, too! - Aidan Reid
S A M T S I M CHR O R F S E H S I S E W R O T S OUR OU.. Y O T
Ingle Farm would like to wish their customers a magnificent Christmas full of smiles, laughs and uncontrollable dancing!
Gametraders Chermside wishes our customers ‘The Greatest Christmas ever!’ Loads of new and exciting stock to make your 2013 gift giving special & stress free!
To all of our wonderful customers, Lynne and I (Tony) and the Gametraders Mildura Team wish you all a very safe and Merry Christmas. We thank you for your continued support and patronage.
Merry Christmas from the whole Gametraders Salisbury Team to you! Have a great happy and prosperous festive season.
Gametraders Logan Hyperdome would like to thank its customers for a great year and wishes everyone a very Happy Holidays!
Gametraders Seaford wishes all their awesome regulars an amazing Christmas! Looking forward to seeing you in the new year :)
Gametraders Highpoint would like to wish their customers the best Christmas ever and a fantastic new year! Gametraders Macarthur wishes all our loyal friends and customers an awesomely fun Xmas. Be safe if your tavelling and be ready for a HUGE year ahead into 2014...
Gametraders Hyperdome ACT would like to wish all our fantastic and loyal customers a huge Merry Christmas and fantastic new year!
Gametraders Blacktown would like to wish all our fantastic and loyal customers a huge Merry Christmas and fantastic new year, lets all strive to make 2014 even bigger and better then 2013!!
Gametraders Bacchus Marsh would like to thank all of our Fantastic Customers. We hope you have an Exciting and Safe Christmas and New Year’s. Here’s looking forward to a huge 2014!
To our Gametraders Parramatta family, friends and customers, Merry Christmas and thank you for an amazing 2013!
The team at Gametraders Morayfield wishes everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Gametraders Marion wishes all their customers and friends an awesome Christmas and a super 2014!
Gametraders Live Penrith wishes all our new customers a very merry Christmas and happy holidays! Thank you for making our first few months super awesome!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the guys at Mt. Barker!
Gametraders Mackay wishes all their customers a very Merry Christmas and a fabulous New Year! Happy Gaming!
The team at Live Magazine wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2014! We look forward to continuing to bring you the latest game reviews & previews, along with the best Cosplayers in Australia & beyond, and all the best in retro news! If you’re looking for any gift ideas, drop into any one of our Gametraders stores where you’ll see the biggest range of games, collectables, anime, figurines, manga, cosplay, clothing & TONS more!
Find your nearest store... South Australia Ingle Farm.................................. (08) 8265 7283 Marion....................................... (08) 8296 1144 Mt Barker................................... (08) 8391 6300 Salisbury.................................... (08) 8281 0966 Seaford...................................... (08) 8327 1966 ACT Hyperdome................................ (02) 6293 3751
New South Wales Gametraders LIVE Penrith.........(02) 4731 3894 Blacktown................................. (02) 9676 1411 Macarthur Square (Campbelltown) (02) 4620 0750 Parramatta................................ (02) 9633 2833
For more info visit: www.gametraders.com.au Queensland Chermside................................. (07) 3861 5000 Logan Hyperdome..................... (07) 3801 5599 Mackay...................................... (07) 4944 0998 Morayfield.................................. (07) 5495 7705
Victoria Bacchus Marsh......................... (03) 5367 0717 Highpoint................................... (03) 9317 0188 Mildura....................................... (03) 5023 7702
Gametraders L!VE Mildura Opening Soon!
Can’t see what you want in-store or on our website? Check out our product directory! Terms & Conditions December Magazine valid until 31/12/13, unless specified otherwise. Stock is subject to availability and change without notice and may vary from store to store. No Rain Checks. All dates and prices are correct at the time of printing.
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