MARCH 2015 ISSUE
COSPLAY CELEBRATION... CosCon 2015 is about to hit Adelaide! Page 107
Game Reviews:
Dying Light Terraria Singstar Ultimate Party & more!
Page 34
VIDEO GAME FRANCHISES! The game industry’s biggest sellers!
GET INSIDER INFO
WHEN YOU SUBSCRIBE TO GAMETRADERS MAIL LIST, YOU GET EARLY ACCESS TO SALES, EXCLUSIVES, PROMOTIONS, SPECIAL DEALS FROM OUR STORE. PLUS EVERY MONTH, YOUR FREE COPY OF GAMETRADERS LIVE MAGAZINE! BEST OF ALL... IT’S FREE!
SIGN UP AT WWW.GAMETRADERS.COM/SUBSCRIBE
INSIDE
18 34 82 107 FROM THE EDITOR THE LIVE TEAM Video Game Franchises
Previews & Reviews
Tech & Pop Culture
Cosplay
Cosplay is a celebration of art, creation, costumes, and character. This month the team at Live talk to some of the most amazing cosplayers around, in anticipation of the first ever CosCon being held in Adelaide, at the Convention Centre. CosCos is brought to you by Gametraders, and is held on Saturday 7 March 2015. We’re also taking a look at Careers in Cosplay - something that’s on the minds of many. We talk to a number of cosplayers and ask - is there a way to make a living acting out your favourite character and making those amazing costumes? We also look at game franchises that we love. Some of the best games on any platform are franchises including Assassins Creed, GTA, Super Mario and many others. We look at what makes them great as well as what the future holds for these popular titles. Our board game specialist, Jess looking over the latest in board games, plus our retro, comics and collectables writers have got some good reading for you this month.
COVER: Featuring Harley’s Joker - www.facebook.com/harleysjoker. Full interview page 146.
Publisher: Rob Jenkins (Gametraders Operations Centre) Art Director: Giselle Capozza (Gametraders Operations Centre) Game Review & Preview Editors: Nick Getley & Kylie Tuttle (Sticky Trigger) Retro Writer: Jess Wilson 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 Bridget Sweeney Sean Fox Miranda Nelson Tim Arnold Matthew Raspe Sasha Karen Liam Church
MARCH
GAME RELEASES! Get ‘em at
DATE
TITLE
FORMATS
05/03/2015
Scream Ride
XB1, 360
06/03/2015
Zombie Army Trilogy
PS4, XB1
07/03/2015
Cooking Mama Bon Appetit
3DS
07/03/2015
Gardening Mama Forst Friends
3DS
10/03/2015
Assassin’s Creed Rogue
PC
10/03/2015
Devil May Cry Definitive Edition
PS4, XB1
12/03/2015
Atelier Shallie Alchemists of the Dusk Sea PS3
19/03/2015
Battlefield Hardline
PC, PS3, PS4, XB1, 360
19/03/2015
Bladestorm Nightmare
PS4, XB1
19/03/2015
Final Fantasy Type 0 HD
PS4, PC
19/03/2015
Project CARS
PC, PS4, XB1
20/03/2015
Resident Evil Revelations 2
PC, PS3, PS4, XB1, 360
20/03/2015
Ride
PC, PS3, PS4, XB1, 360
21/03/2015
Mario Party 10
Wii U
24/03/2015
Grand Theft Auto 5
PC
25/03/2015
Bloodborne
PS4
25/03/2015
LEGO Ninjago Shadow of Ronin
3DS, PSV
26/03/2015
Borderlands The Handsome Collection
PS4, XB1
26/03/2015
The Awakened Fate Ultimatum
PS3
26/03/2015
Toukiden Kiwami
PS4, PSV
28/03/2015
MX vs ATV Supercross
PC
28/03/2015
Tetris Ultimate
PSV
COSCON 2015 On the radar for cosplayers is CosCon in Adelaide on March 7th 2015. It promises to be the first convention for cosplayers full of workshops, demos and photographic opportunities. Whilst exciting for cosplayers, it’s also something for photographers who are interested in learning about taking photos of amazing people who cosplay. Plus we’re told there’s an after party that could be the party to end all parties. Get details from www.cosplaylive.com.au
WHAT’S NEW?
BATTLEFIELD HARDLINE Described as “live out your cop and criminal fantasy” this promises to be an action packed blockbuster. Unlike previous Battlefields, this one is based in the city of Los Angeles where instead of soldiers you take on the role of Special Response police or criminals. There are some very cool new game modes such as Heist, Blood Money, Hotwire Mode, Rescue and Crosshair. Coming out on March 17th you’ll be able to play on PC, 360, PS3, PS4 Xbox One. Get ready!
Pre-order now at Gametraders!
IMMERSE VIRTUAL REALITY HEADSET Firebox launches virtual reality headset, from their website, featuring: - A high-quality and affordable foray into the world of Virtual Reality - Easily turn your smartphone into a fully-featured VR headset - Super comfy with face contact foam and adjustable head straps - Compatible with tons of VR apps, 3D movies and immersive games It’s just as exciting to watch someone else experiencing it.
GAMETRADERS LIVE OPENS IN HORNSBY! Gametraders has just opened a new store in Hornsby, NSW 3/2 William Street. If you’re in the area drop in and check out the latest Live Store!
WHAT'S HOT IN T
GA
THE US
AMING IN THE US
There is always a little bit of anticipation when a new instalment of one of my favourite games comes out. I’m either going to love it, hate it or sit on the fence about how I really feel! Sometimes developers get the next instalment to a franchise really right, and well sometimes is just a big old fail! Here are a few franchises with new instalments I’m keen to play when they hit the shelves this year!
Mario Party 10
No one can deny that when Nintendo bring out the next instalment of a game, its usually a winner! For those of you not familiar, the Mario Party franchise is a series of small mini games and actually the 14th in the series. Strange, considering its called Mario Party 10! Keeping with their tradition of the series, up to 4 players compete against either each other or the CPU on a boardgame by participating in the different minigames on offer. For the first time ever, Bowser (yes, the big boss baddie!) will be centre stage with his own game mode called ‘Bowser Party’ where a 5th player controls Bowser and the other 4 have to fear for their lives! Users will also have the ability to play using Amiibo’s in the ‘Amiibo Party’ function where up to 4 Amiibo’s can play at one time! This one looks like it will be a winner to me! It’s a light hearted and fun game that can be played alone or with a group of friends. And who doesn’t like to play games with friends? :D Mario Party should hit the stores this month!
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Without a doubt, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has to be one of the most anticipated games to his shelves in 2015. It was delayed at the end of 2014 which caused some tears and
a little uproar with some gamers, however from the game play and video’s circulting the net right now, its almost guaranteed to be worth the wait! Picking up from where The Witcher 2 left off, Geralt of Riva, the witcher, embarks on a new mission as a mysterious army from other worlds known as ‘Wild Hunt’ invades the Northern Kingdom leaving a trail or terror and distruction in its path, whereby a witcher seems to be the only power possible of stopping them! Developers CD Projekt Red have reported that the game will be 30 times bigger than the previous instalments AND has over 100 hours of game play spread over side missions and story mode! I’m really looking forward to the final realise and have been itching to get my hands on the game for months! The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will hit the shelves around May 19th. Whilst I could go on and on, I’m only allow so many words each issue, so I will make my next pick short and sweet.
Just Cause 3
Hitting the rumour mill some time back, Just Cause 3 is due to be released this year and its definitely one I will be keeping my eye on! Set on a fictional island in the Mediterranean, Rico Rodriguez is the protagonist fighting against the control of the evil dictator, General Di Ravello. Like the previous instalments, Just Case 3 will be an open world action adventure game and is pencilled in to hit shelves in late 2015. I’m gonna make a guess at November/December 2015! Well that’s me for this month as I’ve well and truly passed my word allowance, but I would love to hear what your favourite gaming franchise is and what game instalment you are waiting for! Peace y’all!
WRITTEN BY serwa Aboagye
WHAT'S HOT IN T
GA
THE UK
AMING IN THE UK
Hello fellow readers! This month’s issue is all about franchises – what makes them so good and what’s keeps people coming back to playing the next instalment. My best memories as a kid were hearing that a new game of one of my favourite old games was coming out and what new features it was going to have! A few oldies, but goodies, here are my all-time favourite gaming franchises!
Tetris
Yes, that addictive and often frustrating game which requires concentration and tactical moves of often oddly shaped pieces and became and worldwide. At first glance, the instalments which followed (Tetris DS and Tetris Attack) appeared to be polished versions of the original game; however Tetris Attack included Puzzle Mode, Time Mode, Stage Clear Mode and allowed 2 players to play at the same time! Arguments a plenty there were! When Tetris Ultimate hit current gen consoles, I was a very happy Pom! Same premise as its predecessors, but oh so shiny and new! It’s still as addictive even after all these years!
Sonic the Hedgehog
In the early 90’s, Sonic the Hedgehog became one of the most iconic gaming characters in homes worldwide! Sorry Mario, but Sonic was the kick ass version of you! Whilst the original 2D games were proven hits (are still played to this day by retro fans!) with the open world style, fast paced game, the 3D Sonic releases didn’t sell as many copies as the original instalment, however hard core and dedicated fans stood by their speedy little hedgehog icon
when he entered the next generation of gaming on the Dreamcast console.
Pokemon
Ahh… we just had to catch ‘em all! STILL to this day, Pokemon has to be one of the most popular franchises! Boasting basic game play, addictive story lines and about 458251 different versions of the game (ok, that’s a slight exaggeration there LOL), the Pokemon franchise was rumoured to have kept Nintendo afloat in the late 90’s with not only the game, but also the TV series, merchandise and of course the trading card game. You can guarantee what then a new handheld console comes out from Nintendo that a Pokemon game wont be far behind. My last one is a little debatable as to whether it falls into the category of a franchise. I think it does, but you be the judge!
The LEGO games
Be it an original LEGO game (such as LEGO Battles or Legends of Chima) which are based off of actual LEGO sets OR a licenced LEGO game (such as LEGO Batman or LEGO Hobbit), I just can’t help get glued to them! They are fun, funny and make you get creative! Whilst I have enjoyed both the LEGO branded titles as well as the licenced titles, I’m more of a fan of the licenced titles as im kind of already aware as to the background and how the game will pan out. Plus I love how they turn my favourite characters like Batman into a little LEGO man who has no elbows and walks like he has a stick up his butt! Ahem… To date there have been over 50 LEGO game releases with more on the cards in 2015. This is Elliott signing off for another month! Happy gaming folks!
WRITTEN BY elliott buddo
HORNSB IS NOW 3/2 William
www.facebook.com/G
BY, NSW W OPEN! St. Hornsby!
GametradersHornsby
Gametraders Live Hornsby Opening Saturday 28 February 2015
All photos by The Blake Image: www.facebook.com/theblakeimage
Gametraders Live Hornsby Opening Saturday 28 February 2015
All photos by The Blake Image: www.facebook.com/theblakeimage
T
he biggest sellers in the games industry today are franchises, no doubt about it. While plenty of games have a complete story able to be told in one game, many games have the potential to begin a series that can have multiple compelling stories unfold within them. Funnily enough, many publishers don’t take the risk on a new game unless it has the potential to become a franchise – that’s just how bankable franchises are. Let’s take a look at some of gaming’s biggest franchises as well as what made them so popular, as well as what the future holds for them.
When the first Assassin’s Creed game released in 2007, it had an interesting concept met with immense open-world acrobatic exploration. Players assumed the role of Desmond Miles, the descendant of several prominent assassins who throughout history have battled the Templars for control of the mysterious Pieces of Eden, powerful artifacts that have shaped the world throughout history. Thanks Abstergo Industries and their Animus device, Desmond is able to access the memories of his ancestors which have been unlocked in his genetic code. Desmond then accesses the memories of
his ancestor Altair, who lived during the third crusade. Assassin’s Creed II saw Desmond relive the memories of Ezio Auditore in Florence, Italy, with the series dropping the eavesdropping missions in favour of focusing on its strengths (more parkour and assassinations!). Since then, the series has become more refined with each entry, and has seen players live as an assassin during the American Revolution , the French Revoution and even during the age of piracy in the Caribbean.
It wasn’t the convoluted story that hooked players into the Assassin’s Creed universe, but rather the parkourinspired movement and the assassination missions. Here we had protagonists who were able to climb almost any building or structure, and who could approach missions from a number of different ways. They could blend in crowds and wait for the opportune moment to strike, or they could steal a guard’s musket and fire from a rooftop. It was non-linear mission-based gameplay that still managed to carry a compelling story, something that very few other games could achieve at the time.
When the first Assassin’s Creed game released in 2007, it had an interesting concept met with immense open-world acrobatic exploration. Players assumed the role of Desmond Miles, the descendant of several prominent assassins who throughout history have battled the Templars for control of the mysterious Pieces of Eden, powerful artifacts that have shaped the world throughout history. Thanks Abstergo Industries and their Animus device, Desmond is able to access the memories of his ancestors which have been unlocked in his genetic code. Desmond then accesses the memories of
his ancestor Altair, who lived during the third crusade. Assassin’s Creed II saw Desmond relive the memories of Ezio Auditore in Florence, Italy, with the series dropping the eavesdropping missions in favour of focusing on its strengths (more parkour and assassinations!). Since then, the series has become more refined with each entry, and has seen players live as an assassin during the American Revolution , the French Revoution and even during the age of piracy in the Caribbean.
The Grand Theft Auto series is very well known for its car jacking, criminal activity nature. Early entries in the series sported a top-down perspective and gameplay that allowed players to run around like lunatics in huge cities, creating havoc and mayhem. Rockstar ditched the top-down view in favour of 3D graphics and a third-person perspective – and history was made. Grand Theft Auto 3 would be the game to popularise the open-world sandbox subgenre.
Players love the series for its cathartic potential and freedom to do whatever you wanted between missions. Containing an interesting story’s taking the player through some great movie tropes and insane situations, creating more realistic landscapes for players to get lost in and the series being known for its radio stations with unique recorded personalities and era specific music which sets the atmosphere and state of affairs in this crazy satire of America.
GTA’s developer, Rockstar Games, have confirmed an extensive downloadable content plan is in the works for Grand Theft Auto 5, including single-player content. Beyond that, nothing has been announced or even hinted at. Perhaps the series will return to the beaches of Vice City, or back to the gritty streets of GTA 3’s Liberty City. It’s my hope though, that the series will go to a new and exciting locale for GTA 6, and with Rockstar creating an absolutely amazing title on last-gen consoles we can be certain that the next entry in the series will be even crazier and even more epic in scope. With every release of Grand Theft Auto, Rockstar Games manage to set the bar even higher – and they have no reason to change that yet!
Created by Japanese Developer Hideo Kojima, Metal Gear was the first game to fully utilize the element of stealth as its core gameplay feature, making it one of the first games of the stealth genre. Your mission: sneak into a secret base and stop the enormous mechanized weapon Metal Gear. Released originally for the MSX2 home computer in 1987, the series has expanded over the years gaming consoles evolved, producing more and more entries in the Metal Gear franchise. It was the series first 3D entry, Metal Gear Solid that saw It explode with popularity and made it the juggernaut it is today.
Metal Gear Solid’s merging of stealthbased gameplay with breathtaking 3D environments was truly unique – there was nothing quite like it at the time and no other developer has managed to achieve the same perfect mix of cinematic story and addicting stealth-action gameplay. It wasn’t just the groundbreaking stealth gameplay that made Metal Gear what it is today. In regards to the development of these games, Hideo Kojima felt particularly inspired by Hollywood films such as Escape From New York for the creation of Metal Gear Solid’s protagonist, Solid Snake, and the James Bond series for its espionage action and secret missions. Along with an unparalleled cinematic narrative, the series is highly regarded for its political themes with its references to events such as the Cold War and Cuban Missile Crisis.
The next entry in the MGS franchise is ‘Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain’, which is being developed for the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PC. So far the game is looking both gorgeous and exciting, with Kiefer Sutherland lending his voice for the series’ hero Snake. This year marks the 28th anniversary for the Metal Gear series, and while Snake may be looking a little weathered, he still has plenty of years in him yet.
Initially, Call of Duty began as a rival to another long-time running war FPS series, Medal of Honor. As the series progressed, however, it became less about portraying war realistically and more about delivering high-octane action-fantasy. The series stepped away from World War II and took a bold new direction with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which saw the introduction of the series’ most popular storylines as well as iconic characters like John “Soap” MacTavish and Captain Price. For a number of years now, Call of Duty has
dominated the first-person-shooter landscape with its arcade multiplayer, killstreaks and Michael Bay-esque over-the-top action sequences. The latest entry in the series, Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare sees the series take that over-the-top approach to its action one step further, with futuristic technology and weapons being the order of the day. With an amazing motion-captured performance from Kevin Spacey, Advanced Warfare arguably has the best campaign that Call of Duty has ever seen!
You could argue that Call of Duty’s engine is what made the game so successful – running at a silky smooth 60 frames and looking particularly gorgeous (depending on the game). You might also that the action-movie style campaign narratives separated it from the FPS pack. Myself, I believe it was Call of Duty’s multiplayer that allowed it to become the FPS juggernaut it is today. Accessible, entertaining and rewarding, it’s hard to find an FPS player who hasn’t experienced the thrill of earning an exhilarating killstreak reward in a game of CoD at some point in their gaming career. Call of Duty also delivered a (relatively) pain-free console multiplayer
For starters, there will be a total of 4 DLC packs for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. These will be multiplayer only, and include additional weapons and Zombies maps as well. For the next standalone game, however, anything is possible. Call of Duty now has three separate studios developing the majority of each new entry in the franchise, meaning that it’s a safe bet work is already well underway on the next CoD. Hopefully, the series will deviate from the futuristic setting seen in Advanced Warfare, but not revisit World War 2 without having something innovative or interesting up its sleeve. A new CoD set in the Vietnam War or World War 2 could be brilliant considering how the series has evolved since Call of Duty: World at War.
experience during the online multiplayer boom period for consoles. Sure there were times when servers would become interrupted or players would experience some lag but it was still a much better experience than a lot of other console shooters released at the same time (I’m looking at you, Perfect Dark Zero!). It would be a disservice at this point, to not mention Call of Duty’s brilliant Zombies mode. Beginning as an endgame bonus, the mode was immensely popular and was expanded upon in later CoD games, even containing voiceacting from Hollywood actors such as Ray Liotta and John Malkovich!
The king of platformers and one of the most popular video game characters of all time, Mario initially featured in the arcade game, Donkey Kong under the name “Jumpman”. While he did get his own games after Donkey Kong, it wasn’t until the phenomenon that was Super Mario Bros 3 that we received the classic Mario platforming action we all know and love. Super Mario Bros 3 saw players running and jumping from end of an ob-
While there other platform games before Super Mario Bros and even before Donkey Kong, few developers achieved what Nintendo and Shigeru Miyamoto could. Miyamoto was particularly inspired by anime and manga artists, and had a gift for creating characters and game concepts that was unparalleled at the time. Miyamoto also created backstories for each of his characters and is credited as creating the first video games with actual stories. Before that, we gamers knew that we had to stop Space Invaders from destroying Earth but we did not know why. We knew that Pac-Man was able to eat and be eaten by ghosts
stacle-ridden level to another, with secrets, coins and ability-changing suits to find! It practically reinvented the platform game as we know it, and certainly made the genre a global phenomenon. Over the years, we’ve seen Mario’s core gameplay refined time and time again – with each game being a blast to play! He’s seen numerous spinoffs, partied and raced go-karts, tried his hand at role-playing games and is a fan-favourite in Smash Bros, Nintendo’s platform brawler. but the reasons for this were a complete mystery. With Mario, players fell in love with what was a fully-developed character. He had Koopas to squash and aprincess to rescue, and players were more than willing to help him achieve his goal and thwart the evil Bowser. Aside from lovable character design and the first fleshed-out stories in gaming, the Super Mario games also boasts some of the best side-scrolling action we’ve ever seen in games – in fact, people still play the early Super Mario games today, even competing in global speed run competitions. Accessible, but still providing a challenge for gamers of all levels, it’s hard to find a platformer anywhere near as amazing as the Super Mario games!
Out of all the franchises so far, Super Mario is the oldest and yet one of the ones with the most potential. While Nintendo are notorious for keeping their plans secret, we do know of two Mario-related games in the works at present. The first is a spinoff of the Puzzle and Dragons games, called ‘Puzzle and Dragons: Super Mario Edition’. Puzzle and Dragons is a hybrid of match-3 puzzle games (think Columns or Puzzle Quest) and RPG games. The combination of Puzzle and Dragons and Super Mario is without a doubt an unusual mix but an intriguing one nonetheless. The second game, is ‘Mario Maker’, an app/game where players create their own Super Mario levels from a variety of in-game resources. Players can choose from a variety of skin sets and asset packs, so levels can resemble something from every 2D iteration of Super Mario, including New Super Mario Bros. Mario Maker is looking very promising so far, as players are finally able to create and share their own unique Super Mario levels with friends!
A brilliantly written RPG series that sees players save mankind from alien annihilation, Mass Effect is easily one of the greatest entertainment franchises ever created, regardless of medium. With an engrossing story, engaging action and Bioware’s talent for dialogue, Mass Effect is one of those rare gems every player should take the time to experience.
Taking everything they learned developing the excellent Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire, Bioware created their own unique scifi vision with Mass Effect. Rich in lore and filled to the brim with detail, Mass Effect was packed with believable technology, detailed worlds and compelling dialogue, as well as third-person shooting met with RPG elements – you could call it the ultimate geek game! Just about every element of the Mass Effect trilogy’s gameplay was entertaining, whether you were venturing across uncharted planets in your M35 Mako, fighting an intense firefight while using your Vanguard abilities, engaging in conversation to discover more about your crew, or making difficult decisions that could change the fate of the entire galaxy. I cannot overstate how amazing an achievement that is, especially considering there are so many games where the story is the game’s weakest element! Mass Effect made players want to learn more about the game’s various races, locations, events and characters, and rewarded them for thoroughly exploring every option available.
With the original trilogy completed, Bioware have confirmed development on the next Mass Effect has begun. Rumours are it will be the beginning of a new trilogy, which gives fans of the original Mass Effect games a ton to look forward to. Will we venture further into the unknown than ever before? Will the events of the previous games shape the next entry in the series? Only time (and space) will tell...
WRITTEN BY nick getley, Chris Keemaat & Jason English
HARRY POTTER POPS!
COMING SOON! Image from Funko’s Facebook page.
PRE-ORDER NOW! Ask staff for details.
COSCON brought to you by:
special guests:
katyuska moonfox hayley elise plus more! 7 March 2015 CosCon & Afterparty Adelaide Convention Centre www.cosplaylive.com.au
Australia’s first dedicated cosplay convention & afterparty!
workshops . tutorials . demonstrations . activities . and more!
2015
battlefield: hard
dline
pREVIEW
Battlefield Hardline faces a tremendous challenge. Here we have a Battlefield game that both deviates from and adheres to traditional Battlefield gameplay and design while ambitiously attempting to win over non-Battlefield fans while keeping veteran fans happy. It’s an industrious goal, to be sure, but one that many gamers may not expect to come to fruition given a problematic early beta. I myself was impressed by Visceral’s ideas for the Battlefield franchise, but with many reused assets
and weapons, I wasn’t entirely sure this was a game that needed to be a full game, and not simply a downloadable expansion. I was recently given the chance to sit down for an extensive hands-on session with Hardline and I can admit, I went in not expecting much in the way of improvements – but I was dead wrong. Not only have Visceral fixed every problem I encountered within the early beta, but they have revealed new gameplay and maps that have made me thoroughly excited for the
release of the final game. Read on to find out why you should be too. We gathered there at the Sydney Justice and Police Museum, some 20 journalists from a variety of backgrounds. Chatting to some of the other guys revealed that we pretty much all shared one common hope: we all really wanted Hardline to be good. While some people had scratched their heads at just how an idea Hardline’s cops vs criminals gameplay could work, we had all agreed that if anyone could make it work, it would be Visceral Games. It wasn’t too long a wait before we were greeted by EA Australia and their friendly PR representatives, who processed us (mugshots and all) and led us to our gaming stations. We sat down to view a trailer of the game’s campaign mode, which introduced us to Nick Mendoza of the Miami Police Department. What followed next was a series of car chases, explosions and shootouts met with dialogue that wouldn’t be out of place in a cop action movie like Point Break, Speed or Die Hard. The tone was mostly serious, but I also got the impression that there will be some humour in the story as well – which will be great if done correctly. Three members of Visceral Games’ staff were present at the preview: lead multiplayer level designer Jeff Zaring, senior producer Scott Probst and senior multiplayer designer Evan Champlin. They walked us through some of the challenges faced by the team at Visceral, but also how excited they were with taking the franchise in new directions. The trailer for the single-player campaign illustrated that with Hardline’s story, more is more. Expect an over-thetop action extravaganza as opposed to Battlefield’s usual squad-based stories that predominantly have one foot planted in realism. Don’t get me
wrong, there’s still realism, but Visceral also want to deliver a more satisfying and exciting campaign than what the series is known for. After our briefing, it was time to jump into some actual gameplay. We began with two rounds of Hotwire, a multiplayer game mode where cops and crims compete over control over various marked vehicles. Both teams spawn in their respective bases, creating a mad rush to reach the vehicles before their opponents. The vehicles are varied too, with the only determining factor of what vehicles are present being which map is currently being played. The city will see the occasional sports car, but mainly contain sedans, motorbikes and trucks, whereas the desert town map we played featured four-wheel drive vehicles and offroad bikes. The vehicles drive exceptionally well, and the focus on speed from Visceral hasn’t compromised control or accessibility in the slightest. Everyone who was present was able to control their vehicles with precision, and it wasn’t long before the room was filled with laughter and positive reactions from crazy stunts and vehicle multi-kills. In all honesty, Hotwire’s objective seemed a little vague to me, as all the police and criminals had to do was drive around in their cars without actually securing them. Think a game of Capture the Flag only with multiple flags and instead of delivering the flag to your base, you simply run around as long as you can with the flag in your possession. The lack of an end-game event didn’t detract from the overall fun though, especially as passenger players are able to sit on a car’s window sills and shoot at their enemies from it – a risky tactic that allows for a great range of visibility but also makes the player an easier target.
After cutting our law-enforcing and law-breaking teeth on Hotwire, it was time to play some Heist. Heist feels more varied than Hotwire, as there were layered objectives to complete and the action took place at a number of different parts of the maps. My first game of Heist saw me assume the role of a criminal. I took breaching charges, a high-powered pistol and a ballistics shield into the match with me, as well as a rifle. My team and I drove as fast as we could to the bank we were hitting. The atmosphere was tense to say the least – the pressure was on and we wanted to fill our loot bags and make a swift getaway. Our driver rammed our car through the front doors of the bank – a quick way of entering the bank but one that also wrecked our car. We sprinted inside and made our way to the vault room.
to secure a nearby roof as a sniping point. Pinned down behind a car, I managed to take out two of them with my .50 caliber pistol. I equipped my ballistics shield and used it to deflect the sniper’s rounds, though after I made my way past them, more police showed up behind me! Putting the shield on my back, I was able to crouch and slowly make my way towards my goal, securing my loot and being the first person on my team to do so – it felt awesome. Now while Battlefield is known for its intense open-world action, a lot of the appeal of Hardline is how much broader the gameplay feels. Every single player in a game has the means and opportunity to create exciting moments, whether they blew up a hole in a wall for an escape (like me) or if they managed to climb a building with a grappling
"..it has made its way to the top of my 'most anticipated games' list.." Piles of money littered various tables in the room which everybody frantically began to loot. I guarded the door and once everyone else was done, made my way into the vault room and loaded up my bag. By this time the cops had arrived and a hectic shootout had unfolded. Luckily for me I had noticed that I could use one of my breaching charges to blow up the rear wall of the vault room! I destroyed a large section of the wall and made my escape through the cafe next door. After that, I rushed to the objective marker to secure my loot – which would have been a lot quicker had it not been for a number of police players that had used grappling hooks
hook and pin criminals behind a wall or other form of cover. There is a bigger variety of tools and grenades to take into battle as well. I was feeling pretty adventurous so instead of taking my baseball bat into battle, I replaced it with a sledgehammer. While the sledgehammer was extremely heavy and cumbersome to swing, I was able to bury it into multiple players taking cover behind a police car – and I was able to use it to obliterate locked doors and other obstacles that would have normally stood in my way. This new-found flexibility also applies to weapons themselves, with weapon attachments feeling as though they have a greater effect on
their respective weapons – definitely a good thing! When players unlock them in the final game, their game will improve and they will have a greater sense of being rewarded. Before the Battlefield Hardline preview, I had a take-it-or-leave-it attitude towards it. It looked like fun, but the gameplay didn’t vary enough from the traditional Battlefield games to get me excited for the game. Now that I’ve played a more developed build of the game, it has made its way to the top of my “most anticipated games” list alongside Rainbow Six: Siege, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Final Fantasy Type-0 HD and Tom Clancy’s The Division. This bad boy can’t arrive quickly enough!
WRITTEN BY nick getley
WWW.STICKYTRIGGERENTERTAINMENT.COM.AU
Dark Souls II: Schol
lar of the First Sin
pREVIEW
Dark Souls II did phenomenally well on last-gen systems, despite releasing fairly late into the generation’s lifespan. It only makes sense then, that it would receive a makeover and re-release onto the current gen. This new version is called ‘Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin’, and it contains all three of the previouslyreleased expansions for Dark Souls II, as well as a number of tweaks and upgrades to the game. Now while the game is coming to both last-gen and current-gen systems as well as PC, there are some limitations as to what the last-gen version can handle. For that reason, the last-gen versions will not feature an increased online player count or the graphics upgrade. Still, the lastgen versions are hardly missing out as they still get all three previously released downloadable expansions,
crisper than ever! Even though I was being pursued by spear-wielding undead, I still took the time to gaze at my surroundings in wonder. Not only that, the lighting has been drastically improved, giving a new sense of realism. Whether it’s a beam of light in an otherwise dark cave, or the sun setting in the background of the town of Majula, you’ll be praising the sun. In addition to the impressive new textures and lighting, the game also runs at a much better frame rate – the coveted 60 frames per second each game aspires to achieve. If you’re an experienced Dark Souls player, you’d be right in assuming that an increased frame rate allows you to better read your opponents’ attacks – and counter them. That, or you now get to witness your demise looking smoother than ever before.
"...will now be able to learn more about the world and everything in it more organically..." as well as several tweaks and upgrades to the game. I had an extensive hands-on session with Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin and I can honestly say that it’s the best version of a Souls game yet. Sticky Trigger played Scholar of the First Sin on the PlayStation 4, and it runs like a dream – smooth and gorgeous (in its own nightmarish death-around-every-corner kinda way). Immediately noticeable, is the graphical upgrade. This is easily the prettiest Souls or From Software game yet, with improved textures and some amazing lighting. At a native 1080p resolution, the game looks
The hardware of the current-gen consoles also allows for a couple of game-changing tweaks. Enemies will now pursue the player longer than before, and even through fog gates – prepare to die even more. Experienced players can no longer rely on their memories of several areas of the game, as From Software have added more enemies and items, or moved them from some areas completely. Some weapons that many people missed are now more obvious to spot, though some of the game’s more powerful weapons are less durable than before. The game is now “fairer” according to From Software and Namco Bandai, though part of me is still frightened as heck to become undead all over again.
I wasn’t able to experience the online-multiplayer, though it too has apparently been improved. For one thing, there is an increased player count as well as other improvements that From Software are being deliberately mysterious about. Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin also features an expanded story and lore, meaning that players will now be able to learn more about the world and everything in it more organically. NPCs will also have a greater effect on the player and the story, and it has been hinted that an already existing NPC has been given an important new role, though exactly who this NPC remains shrouded in mystery. So after my time with Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin, am I excited to jump back in, die a few hundred times and fall in love with the game all over again? You betcha!
WRITTEN BY nick getley
WWW.STICKYTRIGGERENTERTAINMENT.COM.AU
DYING LIGHT
REVIEW
Zombie games have been done to un-death in the games industry now, and it seems that while there have been a handful of decent titles revolving around surviving the zombie apocalypse, there are innumerable others shuffling along at well, a zombie’s pace not really trying at all. In 2011, Polish game developer Techland released a zombie game that while far from perfect, was immensely fun. Dead Island man-
aged to tick just about every box a zombie fan could want – zombies? Check. A variety of colourful ways to kill them? Check. Combo weapons? Check. Multiplayer? Check. Yep, Dead Island had almost everything a zombie game should have, it just happened to have a woefully underdeveloped and bland story – and the less said about those “Australian” accents the better! So when Techland announced a new IP (intellectual property) fea-
turing zombies yet again, part of me was immediately excited and another part of me was skeptical. Had Techland learned enough from their previous games to warrant an all-new franchise? How could the series stand apart from Dead Island and Dead Island Riptide while simultaneously playing to their strengths? Could they actually create an interesting story this time around? I have to be honest, I hadn’t set my hopes too high with ‘Dying Light’, but it has proved to be
Dying Light is set in the fictional city of Harran. According to Techland, Harran is based off ancient Turkey, though I get much more of a Turkeymeets-Iran vibe, and some parts of the slums remind me off the favelas of Brazil. Players assume the role of Kyle Crane, an undercover operative of the GRE, sent in to retrieve a stolen file from an unidentified criminal. His job is to infiltrate whatever organisation has it, retrieve the file and exfiltrate – though of course, things aren’t quite that simple for him.
Light’s story is merely there to carry the game along and be an excuse for the gameplay. Thankfully, the gameplay more than makes up for the game’s rather tedious setup (be prepared to take orders from annoying NPCs and have them refer to you as a “noob” and “rookie” an almost unbearable amount of occasions) and free-running through Harran whilst dispatching hordes of the undead is truly one of the best zombie experiences I’ve played to date. Kyle Crane isn’t the best at free-running at the beginning of the game, nor is he the best at melee combat (I guess the GRE don’t have any zombie outbreak simulators) but he will improve, thanks to a very rewarding skill tree.
Zombie games usually have your Romero-esque slow shambling zombies (Resident Evil, Dead Rising) or your Boyle-esque “infected”, who aren’t quite zombies as they are usually the victims of a deadly virus and are able to sprint. Dying
You see, completing various actions will reward the player with either Survival, Agility or Strength points. When a certain amount has been acquired, the player levels up and is rewarded a skill point. Unlike Techland’s previous zombie game, Dead
a game that is both fun and addicting. The story isn’t perfect, but it is leaps and bounds ahead of Dead Island‘s boring effort.
"..FELT LIKE I WAS GENUINELY 'SURVIVING'..." Light has the greatest hits of zombie games, with both shamblers and sprinters littering the streets of Harran. Not only that, there are also “volatiles” who emerge at night. These volatile zombies are grotesque mutations, and make the regular zombies of Harran seem almost cuddly by comparison. I’ve played every major zombie game that has ever been released and Dying Light’s volatiles awoke a sense of panic in me. If one of your friends radios you and tells you to get inside before nightfall, you get your butt inside. Similar to Dead Island, Dying
Island, there is hardly a useless skill in Dying Light, and players will have a tough time deciding which skill to unlock next, though all of them are ultimately worth it. When I finally unlocked improved free-running ability, I felt extremely satisfied as I was able to now run for longer, take higher falls and leaps, and vault over smaller obstacles with ease. When you’re not vaulting over walls or breaking your fall into piles of garbage, you’re fighting the undead with every ounce of strength you have, which is made just that little bit easier by Dying Light’s crafting mechanics. Similar to Dead Island
and other survival games, players can search through containers in the world for materials to scavenge. These materials can be used to improve and repair weapons, as well as create deadly modifications which have various effects. Electric hammers, pipes with razor blades – you name it and Dying Light almost certainly has it. There is a great deal more variety in the game compared to previous Techland games too, so even those who have thoroughly finished both Dead Island games will find new combo weapons to fall in love with here. While there is a lot to like (and even love) about Dying Light, the game is
of course not without its problems. As mentioned earlier, the story is rather bland but it is forgivable. It has a beginning and an end and enough to care about to keep the player engaged in between. Visually, the game can be rather inconsistent as the lighting is absolutely sensational but then we see really annoying and cheap visual techniques like the overuse of film grain. While I don’t mind it in certain games like Left 4 Dead (which aims to deliver a more cinematic presentation) it annoys the heck out of me in games like Dying Light – it becomes rather apparent that some of the game’s textures are ugly and this was a quick cover up. The be-
ginning of the game is also tedious when compared to the rest of the game, so much so that I was expecting the entire game to be riddled with annoying and uninteresting characters, thankfully I was wrong. Dying Light might not deliver an enthralling narrative, but its gameplay more than makes up for it. I can’t really remember the last time I’ve actually felt like I was genuinely “surviving” in a survival action-horror, but Dying Light has had me afraid to go outside, overwhelmed by the sheer number of the undead, and even panicked by some of the volatile zombies. A must-play for fans of zombie games.
8/10 PROS: EXCITING AND REWARDING GAMEPLAY EXCELLENT MULTIPLAYER STELLAR LIGHTING
CONS: INCONSISTENT VISUALS HORRID BEGINNING TO THE STORY
WRITTEN BY nick getley
WWW.STICKYTRIGGERENTERTAINMENT.COM.AU
Get ‘em at
HOT NEW FIGURINES
NOW AT
resident evil
l hd remastered
REVIEW
Upon an end table in a dimly-lit hallway within the Resident Evil mansion sits an innocuous wooden board. As a much younger video game nerd, this board always stumped me. No other puzzle seemed to fit with it, no matter what I tried; every glance into the item box was utter frustration, the board sitting there, refusing to give up its secrets. Years later, I find out this was supposed to be applied on a woodcut map above the fireplace, searing a copy for your own use. Applying that board to the fireplace in Resident Evil Remaster was deeply satisfying. It’s this level of problem solving that Resident Evil is known for, perhaps even more than the zombies within, and what keeps the series going and this first game, a 1996 classic, coming back again and again. For people who played that PS1 original (or the Director’s Cut, or the Gamecube remake, or the cut-down DS version), you already know where you are. It’s Resident Evil with shinier graphics and achievements, and if you like Resident Evil, you’ll like Resident Evil again. The plot is as laughably simple as it ever was: as either Chris or Jill of S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team, an elite section of the police force, you’re sent to the forested outskirts of Racoon City to investigate the status of your compatriots, Bravo Team, whose helicopter has been downed. Chased towards a mansion by strange, rotting dogs once you land, the team splits up and begin to investigate this strange building, zombies and puzzles around every corner. Resident Evil’s hammy B-movie story isn’t where the fun lies, though. The exploration of the Spencer
Mansion itself is what did and still does sell the experience, making players continually retrace their steps through the dangerous hallways, getting to know the place intimately rather than charging through dozens of shallow, uninteresting locations. It’s a more focused sort of environment that’s been eschewed in more recent games: every room in the mansion and its surrounds acts as both its own puzzle and a part of the greater whole. Notes left scattered about – starting a long gaming tradition of people jotting down their thoughts while being chased by horrific monsters – add another layer of atmosphere, giving further insight into the people caught up in the horrors of the T-Virus. In actual gameplay terms, most of the challenge lies in avoidance and inventory management. Choosing Chris gives you a lighter, more health, and six inventory slots;
and press the Use button’, an experience which demands more grey matter than lightning reflexes is deeply refreshing. However, not all of those 1996 ideas are necessarily good ones. Were it not for this being a remake of an older game, it would be mind-boggling to include the use of Ink Ribbons as a saving device. As their own limited item, you need to collect them, use them, then toss them back in the item box once you’ve saved to avoid a precious inventory slot being used up. The older style of tank controls, requiring players to turn on the spot rather than move freely, is a similar offender, but the ability to choose between the old ones (which I still like, but have not aged too well) and the new style helps avoid frustration. Those aside, the voice acting is definitely the worst offender and
"The appeal of the game is the world you're slowly unlocking..." choosing Jill gives you a lockpick and eight inventory slots. No matter who you choose, the enemies you face are stern. Any difficulty Normal or above simply does not give enough ammo to defeat every enemy. In fact, it’s often in your best interests to not take down everything you see and just find ways around. For players used to carrying 200 pounds of weaponry on their back, it’s a harsh reminder of reality. Resident Evil expects you to pay attention, to stay sharp, to read the notes scattered about and to work things out. After so many games where the greatest test of your brain function is ‘follow the glowing reticule
greatest joy: every character mumbles their lines like they’re suffering from sleep deprivation, occasionally rising to a half-hearted attempt at hammy anger. Though the B-movie camp has its charm, having grown used to expressive animation and emotive vocal performances only makes the dead-eyed stare characters give each other all the more glaring. Oh, and the door opening animations initially used to cover up the loading times between each room? Still there in all their seven-second flow-interrupting glory. Great for nostalgia, not great for patience.
9/10
PROS: GORGEOUS VISUALS SIMPLE, FUN GAMEPLAY GIANT NOSTALGIA RUSH IN SHINY HD All told, Resident Evil is not a game for someone who wants a deep story or interesting characters. The appeal of the game is the world you’re slowly unlocking, portrayed beautifully in pre-rendered backgrounds and shot like a master director. It’s a game you can knock over in an afternoon, if you’re good, and that’s the beauty of it. It’s a simple game with a single purpose and it executes that purpose as well as it did all of those years ago. They just really don’t make ‘em like this anymore.
CONS: LACKLUSTRE VOICE ACTING SOME FEATURES HAVE AGED POORLY
WRITTEN BY aaron milligan
WWW.STICKYTRIGGERENTERTAINMENT.COM.AU
DOCTOR WH
COMING SOON - PRE-O
Ask staff for details.
HO POPS!
ORDER NOW!
terrar
ria (current gen)
REVIEW
When one first lays eyes on ‘Terraria’ they might be quick to label the game as “2D Minecraft” due to the games sharing simplistic art design as well as some common gameplay elements. Dig beneath the surface (sorry, I had to) and you’ll discover that Terraria is a very different game, where Metroid-style exploration meets the survival and crafting of Minecraft and spices it up with challenging combat. Released on Steam in 2011, Terraria went on to be a chart-topper, and was released on last-gen consoles in mid 2013, where it also sold particularly well. Comparisons between Minecraft and Terraria are inevitable, however, as both feature massive, open worlds that the player can rebuild and reshape. Both games feature the crafting of tools and building materials from rescources gathered from the game world, and both feature common gameplay elements, such as day and night cycles, monsters, as well as weapons and armour. Terraria allows players to adventure through the game at their own pace – though at the start of the game they will need to create a basic shelter. After that, though, players can search for rare materials, defeat monsters and bosses (for even more rare materials), or simply explore the world and build structures as they see fit. If ever the player is stuck, they can
consult their non-player-character (NPC) guide for tips on what they can do. Like Minecraft, Terraria features a day/night cycle, with increased monster spawning at night. This means that if you haven’t upgraded your weapons and armour or created a shelter, you’re likely to die at night time. A more adventurous player may wish to sprint into the fray with nary a worry as hordes of the undead rise from the earth, but there is also plenty of things to do inside. It’s gameplay like this that allows the player to do what they want when they want – and the results are addicting. Despite being set on a 2D plane, Terraria packs loads more content than Minecraft. There is a stagger-
times as big as the last-gen release, meaning that even experienced Terrarians such as myself have plenty to content to get excited over with this new release. Now while Terraria is exceedingly good fun, there is no story to speak of. This is by no means a deal-breaker (the game is still very much worth a download), however gamers looking for a story to experience and complete will have to look elsewhere. It would have been nice for the game provide some narrative for why the world is the way it is, as well as why there are so many monsters inhabiting it, though perhaps Re-Logic felt they couldn’t have incorporated a story without scripting or scheduling the game’s random events, which are one of its greatest strengths.
"...WHILE terraria is exceedingly good fun, there is no story to speak of...." ing amount of enemies, crafting recipes and environments to explore – and the worlds themselves dwarf those in Minecraft. The current-gen version of Terraria features new items, bosses and other elements not released in the last-gen release, as well as some exclusive items (not in the PC version). The worlds can also be three
Overall, Terraria is a fantastic title with a huge amount of content. It’s fun (particularly in multiplayer), charming and offers more hours of gameplay than a ton of current AAA retail games. If you’ve grown weary of other survival/crafting games (or are simply after a fun new downloadable title to play) then check out Terraria – you’ll be glad you did!
8.5/10 PROS:
TERRARIA IS BACK, AND BIGGER AND BETTER THAN EVER! DEEP AND REWARDING SENSE OF PROGRESSION – ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU UNLOCK WINGS AND MAGIC! UP TO FOUR-PLAYER LOCAL CO-OP AND UP TO EIGHTPLAYER ONLINE CO-OP!
CONS: XBOX ONE PLAYERS HAVE TO PAUSE THE GAME TO ZOOM THE CAMERA IN OR OUT LACK OF STORY OR CLEAR OBJECTIVES MAKE PROGRESSION DIFFICULT AT TIMES.
WRITTEN BY NICK GETLEY
WWW.STICKYTRIGGERENTERTAINMENT.COM.AU
SINGSTAR
R ULTIMATE PARTY
REVIEW
One of PlayStation’s most popular franchises is Singstar. Since its debut in 2004, Singstar has brought karaoke parties to countless homes worldwide, and it has become the highest-selling music property of all time with over 26 million copies sold. It makes sense then, that Sony and London Studio would bring the popular party game to the PlayStation 4. This latest version, ‘Singstar: Ultimate Party’, still uses microphones but also has the ingenious ability to use a free app which turns your smart phone into a microphone. While the accuracy and functionality of the smart phone app truly impresses me, the songs present in Singstar: Ultimate Party and the removal of Singstar’s entertaining party features do not.
been refined (they are in reality the best they’ve ever been), the lack of party features truly does make for a fairly standard Singstar experience. My own personal tastes can be pretty varied or even niche at times, which is why I held off playing the earliest Singstar games – they simply didn’t appeal to me. With time, however, the SingStore began to cater to someone like myself with offerings from some of the more
"...a large portion of Singstar's audience isn't being catered to with Singstar: Ultimate Party." Singstar Ultimate party’s core gameplay is identical to that of previous Singstar games, players choose a song to sing either solo or with a friend, jump in, and match the onscreen lyrics and pitches as best they can. While this is absolutely fun in itself, long-time series fans will miss the party features that Singstar possessed in previous releases. Swap the Mic, Duets, and Medleys have all been removed – as have the various difficulties players can select. While the core mechanics of scoring and pitch recognition have
popular grunge, alternative and hard rock artists from over the years such as Three Days Grace, Awolnation, Die Toten Hosen, Evanescence, and more. While the ondisc songs for Singstar: Ultimate Party are a pop lover’s dream, anyone else will be sorely disappointed by the pop-dominant soundtrack. Seriously, it’s like they dipped Singstar Ultimate Party in sugar before they released it. It’s crammed with the likes of Pharrell Williams, 5 Seconds of Summer, Carly Rae Jespen,
Ellie Goulding, Kylie Minogue, and everyone else who bounces and dances everywhere instead of, y’know, walking. While this is great for kids and pop lovers, a large portion of Singstar’s audience isn’t being catered to with Singstar: Ultimate Party. Apparently, the PlayStation 4’s SingStore is going to be regularly updated with previously released tracks, meaning that people who have bought songs for PlayStation 3 versions of Singstar can port their already purchased tracks across free of charge. Unfortunately, there is no word on exactly how long the restoration process is taking, so it’s luck of the draw if your entire library of downloadable content is available. Singstar: Ultimate Party achieves the best core gameplay mechanics the series has ever seen. That is, the measuring of one’s singing is more accurate than ever. Unfortunately though, it omits gameplay features many have accepted as commonplace in the series. Its soundtrack (while expandable through separate online purchases) will make or break the game for many, as it is entirely comprised of current and recent pop hits. Regardless, of its name, the “ultimate party” this is not.
5/10
PROS:
FREE SMARTPHONE APP WORKS QUITE WELL AVAILABLE ON THE PLAYSTATION 4 CORE GAMEPLAY IS AS FUN AS IT EVER WAS
CONS: OMITTED PARTY FEATURES HOLDS BACK ENJOYMENT FROM ITS POTENTIAL NOTHIN’ BUT POP SONGS IN THE ON-DISC SOUNDTRACK
WRITTEN BY NICK GETLEY
WWW.STICKYTRIGGERENTERTAINMENT.COM.AU
PRE-ORDER NOW!
OUT 3 JUNE 2015 - PC, PS4 & XB1
NEW RANGE OF
AWESOME
LAMPS!
49
$
EA
OUT NOW! 39
EA
39
EA
$
$
MARCH
RELEASES! OUT 11.03.15 $
.95
29
HUGE RANGE OF ANIME & DVD’S IN-STORE!
34.95
$
29.95
$
2995
$
59.95
$
59.95
$
$
64.95
$
49.95
$
$
34.95
34.95
$
$
59.95
$
$
59.95
$
29.95
$
59.95
$
14.95
14.95
$
34.95
$
19.95
19.95
39.95
$
MA
OUT 1 14.95
$
$
19.95
$
19.95
$
$
16.95
$
28.95
$
28.95
$
$
NOVELS!
18.03.15 19.95
$
14.95
16.95
$
$
14.95
$
19.95
14.95
19.95
$
$
14.95
14.95
$
16.95
$
14.95
$
14.95
$
$
GRAPHIC
&
ANGA
$
16.95
$
Greatest 2D platfo The mid 90s saw the decline of the 2D platformer. All of a sudden Mario was in 3D, Sonic would follow a bit later and even smaller characters such as Rayman would enter this amazing new world where that extra dimension is what matters. It would be a while before Mario featured in another 2D game, though Sonic kept the flame going on the Gameboy Advance. I am a personal fan of the 2D platformer and this month I thought I would share some of my all time favourites with you. Super Mario World is a game I have mentioned on more than one occasion, as it is my all time favourite game. It was Mario’s first venture into the land of the 16-bits and it was glorious! The colours were vibrant and the controls were just as smooth as Mario’s previous entries. The multitude of power ups and costumes seen in Super Mario Bros 3 were
game isn’t trying to be a Super Mario Bros clone. The second Dizzy game expands on the first, where our little egg hero is stranded on an island and must collect and use items to unlock new areas, and eventually make his way to a boat and freedom. Dizzy would go on to star in multiple other games throughout the early 90s on the 8-bit and 16-bit systems of the day. If you haven’t played a Dizzy game then this is a good starting point. A Kickstarter campaign to resurrect Dizzy and drag him into the world of 3D sadly failed. This one is well worth tracking down if you want something different. It truly is an eggsellent game! Turbo the Tortoise was released in 1992 on the Amstrad, Spectrum and Commodore computers. It was later given away as a free game on the cover of Amstrad Action magazine. You would have seen the protago-
"Treasure Island Dizzy is a true 8-bit gem." pared back which gave the game a more simplistic feeling. With that said, this game also featured the debut of the spin jump and Yoshi. With multiple pathways and the genuine feeling of fun this game gives you, I can’t recommend it enough. Treasure Island Dizzy is a true 8-bit gem. The controls are a little more rigid than the Mario series, but the
nist Turbo before, in a way… Imagine a short Ninja Turtle with a triple exhaust pipe sticking out of his shell and wearing shoes not unlike a certain speedy hedgehog and you have Turbo. A time travelling tortoise, Turbo has to battle his way through 6 platforming levels to gather parts for a science experiment. The jumps don’t have to be 100% precise, the enemies aren’t too hard to beat. The
difficulty and controls feel just right and the game looks great on those old computers. As the game was released on 8-bit computers in a world where many had already upgraded to 16-bit machines, the game sadly went unnoticed by many. Pop ’n Twinbee: Rainbow Bell Adventures is a platforming spin off to the shoot em up series: Twinbee. This little known Super Nintendo title was released in Japan and PAL territories. The game lets you play as Twinbee, Winbee or Gwinbee, as they jump, punch and jet pack their way through various themed platforming levels. The Japanese and PAL releases vary, with the Japanese release allowing multiple endings, battery backup and cut scenes. With this in mind, the PAL release is generally considered to be the more inferior of the two, though is the more expensive on auctions sites such as Ebay. My advice is to get ahold of the Japanese version, as you don’t need to know the language to play this gem of a game. So that’s four amazing platformers right there. I have left off some better known titles such as Ufouria and Wonderboy 3. These games are definitely worth investigating if you haven’t played them yet, and there are many more to discover. What are your favourite 2D platformers? Why not let us know on the Gametraders Facebook page.
ormers of all time RETRO
WRITTEN BY paul monopoli
07.03
2015 CosCon
Afterparty
Adelaide Convention Centre
workshops . tutorials . demonstrations . activities . and more!
www.cosplaylive.com.au brought to you by gametraders
STAR WARS ARMADA COMING SOON TO GAMETRADERS!
LOVE MINECRAFT..? YOU’LL LOVE TERRARIA! 29.95
$
EA
32.95
$
24” TERRARIA NIGHT’S EDGE SWORD
TERRARIA DELUXE BOSS PACK ASSORTMENT
16.95
$
EA
16.95
$
TERRARIA BASIC COLLECTOR PACK ASSORTMENT
EA
7” PLUSH
39.95
$
TERRARIA WORLD COLLECTORS 5-FIGURE PACK FEATURE PLUSH WITH SOUND & EFFECTS
42.95
$
EA
COLLECT ‘EM ALL AT GAMETRADERS
TECH & POP
P CULTURE! Every month we look at cool new stuff in the world of pop culture, technology & more!
Contents Playstation TV Review Collectibles Cozziecon Board Games
playstation tv
TECH REVIEW
Since the invention of the home console, one problem has always arisen in a house with gamers and non-gamers: what if someone wanted to watch TV while another person wanted to play games on said TV? Normally, you’d have to take your console to another display in the house – something not everyone is willing to do (I know I can’t be bothered a great deal of the time!), or at times, able to do. If you’re a PlayStation 3 or 4 owner though, your prayers have been answered with the PlayStation TV. Not to be confused with the PlayTV (Sony’s HD TV tuner for the PS3), the PlayStation TV allows gamers to stream games onto other displays in the house. After the initial setup, it’s as simple as turning on the PlayStation TV and connecting your controller to continue gameplay. I’ve spent quite a bit of time with the PlayStation TV and it surprisingly works quite well with PS4 games. While this is fantastic news, the PSTV does have problems with some of its other features, most noticeably PS Vita streaming. Being a streaming device, the PlayStation TV needs to connect to your home network through an ethernet cable or wirelessly. I would recom-
mend a wired connection wherever possible as I experienced slight hiccups with a wireless connection, as well as a slight amount of latency (lag). The lag was more problematic playing an online shooter like Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, but for the most part the lag is negligible. “So apart from playing your PlayStation 4 on another display, what else can can you do with the PlayStation TV?” I’m glad you asked, loyal readers! While the PlayStation TV’s PS4 streaming is pretty darn cool, it’s also capable of more. You can also download PS One and Playstation
ble of streaming apps like Netflix of Hulu. While this is somewhat disappointing, I feel the device has been designed around solely streaming games, which it does quite well for its pricetag. For better and for worse, Apple TV this is not. Another problem the PSTV presents is the rather horrid up scaling of PS Vita games. Something has truly gone awry here as the Vita games look downright awful when scaled onto a TV or monitor. There’s also noticeable lag when using touchscreen controls, which is a shame. The PSTV is a fantastic concept marred by a few problems. While it
"...i feel the device has been designed around soley streaming games..." minis to the PlayStation TV’s onboard memory (1 gigabyte, though that it does have a Memory Stick Micro card slot for expansion) as well as PS Vita titles. Now while this sounds pretty awesome I must point out that not all games are compatible with the PlayStation TV – for a full list you can check out PlayStation’s support website. It might disappoint some to hear that the PlayStation TV is not capa-
is quite cheaper than buying a second PS4, the PSTV’s only real value is in that is can play PS One and PS4 games without any real issues – something that might not match is price tag to a lot of people. I’m optimistic that a revised version of the PSTV will be a vast improvement of the current model, though time will tell if this is something Sony wish to pursue or not.
PROS: PS4 REMOTE PLAY WORKS QUITE WELL ABLE TO PLAY A WIDE VARIETY OF GAMES SIMPLE SETUP
CONS:
PS VITA UP SCALING LOOKS AWFUL NPUT LAG ON PS VITA GAMES, AND THROUGH A WIRELESS CONNECTION NO NETFLIX OR HULU MENU CAN BE CONFUSING
5/10
WRITTEN BY nick getley
WWW.STICKYTRIGGERENTERTAINMENT.COM.AU
New Street Fighter Statu In the world of collectibles for gamers, something exciting is really about to happen in 2015! A new company out of Hong Kong called BigBoysToys will be releasing a line of Street Fighter statue sets that look simply amazing! Coming up first in the late Feb/March timeframe will of course be Ryu, which they teased with some awesome character artwork. They then followed up that artwork with some teaser pics and videos of the final product, and it simply looks sensational! The set comes with a diorama featuring the iconic background from Ryu’s stage in Street Fighter 2. The base also comes with a button in the corner that switches on the hadouken sound effect!
Ken also features his favourite background of the boat dock in Street Fighter 2, with himself in mid-Shoryuken flaming action! It’s clear the lighting effect on Ken will be that flaming fist, which will really look amazing next to the lit hadouken from Ryu. And to top it off for February, they have just posted the artwork for the third in the line with Guile! In fact, they have posted two options, with Guile either in the sonic boom pose or the flash kick pose! They have asked fans to vote for their favourite on their Facebook page, so go and check them out! For me, the flash kick looks great, but with a lighting and sound effect I think the sonic boom will go
"...pretty much a must-have display set for any Street Fighter fan!" In addition to the sound effect, the fireball itself also has a great LED light-up feature. Combined with the sound and background diorama, this is pretty much a must-have display set for any Street Fighter fan! Of course with the vast array of Street Fighter characters, they have announced potentially up to 9 more characters from the original Street Fighter 2 game. Recently they posted up the artwork and unpainted prototype photos of the next set in the line with Ken.
much better with the hadouken and shouryuken of the other two. Either way, having this new company BigBoysToys release such an awesome tribute to the original characters from Street Fighter 2 is just great! And with such nice art, sculpting, dioramas, and light/sounds effects, I am sure they are on a winner with this line! Can’t wait to see what they announce next!
ue Sets by BigBoysToysHK COLLECTIBLES
WRITTEN BY
KHAI AT KOOL KOLLECTIBLES www.koolkollectibles.net www.facebook.com/KoolKollectibles www.youtube.com/user/ckly76
Kotobukiya Horror Bishou I reviewed a couple of months ago the first release in this Horror Bishoujo line by Kotoubukiya. The Freddy Krueger statue from Nightmare on Elm St was a gorgeous piece on its own, but of course it was meant to be paired with Jason Voorhees statue from Friday the 13th. It took a while to arrive, but it was definitely worth the wait! The statue captures everything that fans love about the Bishoujo line (means “pretty girl” in Japanese), being a sexy take on some iconic characters from movies and comics. The detail in the sculpting, and the way the paint application brings all the little features to life, is truly amazing and makes this arguably better than the Freddy statue! This set also comes with the magnetic base that works well to hold the
ly covered by the iconic ice-hockey mask. It’s a nice little effect with it placed to the side, and goes well with the tousled hair. The tattered jacket also looks great with the dynamic look of it blowing in the wind, perfectly placed to reveal the fan service inherent in the Bishoujo line. The torso and torn jeans reveal a lot of flesh in all the usual places, but still looks sexy and not overly gratuitous. The way the paint has been added to the jeans to accentuate the tears is quite a nice effect, and all the skin that is revealed has that pearlescent tone that comes with every Bishoujo statue. Together with the Freddy statue, this pair makes for a striking, sexy, and head-turning display setup in any
"...this pair makes for a striking, sexy, and head-turning display..." statue firmly upright. It also comes with two weapons as accessories in the axe and machete. The paint application here perhaps could have been more vivid in the gore department, but still has a nice overall effect when placed in her hands. The head sculpt is another perfect Bishoujo rendition, this time partial-
collection. They certainly got their fair share of attention when some friends visited my place recently! If you’re a fan of these classic horror movies, then it’s almost certain that you’ll love this unique take on the characters by Kotobukiya. I highly recommend them! ☺
ujo Jason Voorhees Review COLLECTIBLES
WRITTEN BY
KHAI AT KOOL KOLLECTIBLES
www.koolkollectibles.net www.facebook.com/KoolKollectibles www.youtube.com/user/ckly76
COZZIECON Last year we saw the passing of an Australian Cosplay legend, Justin Costello. His tragic passing shocked all of us fortunate enough to call him a friend. In January the cosplay community also lost Paul Kerr. Two great men in such a short span of time left many beside themselves. On February 7th I helped out in a great event called ‘Cozziecon’. An event put together by some of Justin and Paul’s dearest friends and let me tell you, what a day it was! The cosplay community came together to celebrate the lives of two of it’s best the only way any of us knew how… A convention. A great deal of money was raised to help out the families and fun was had by all. A few tears were shed, it was an emotionally charged day, but so worthwhile. As far removed as I am from the cosplay scene as I am I couldn’t
Paul who was also an accomplished dancer. There was a great tribute display of Justin’s famous Man of Steel costume and Paul’s Penguin costume. There were raffles and the epic silent auction featuring an amazing Batman statue donated generously by Gametraders Blacktown. All money of course going to the families. There was a karaoke completion, Justin was a fiend for some good ol singing. Some tribute videos that did bring a tear to many an eye. It was a fantastic day. I am deeply honoured to have been a part of the whole thing, as well as getting to sit here and write about it. It blew my mind how many lives these men touched and how eager everyone was to pay a little back. A special mention to Kat Watson and Rob Wilson for pulling the event together and also a shout out to every-
"It blew my mind how many lives these men touched..." help but get into the spirit, cosplaying myself as Bigby Wolf from ‘The Wolf Among Us’, although only one guy recognised me… A pain I’m sure felt by a lot of obscure cosplayers… But alas it was all in the name of honouring our fallen heroes. We had wrestling to honour Justin’s wrestling persona ‘Cobra Tai’ as well as a Latin dance show to honour
one else who helped pull the day together. I was fortunate enough to be there for the planning and I can safely say all expectations were blown away. These two men got one of the best send off’s imaginable! While we miss them dearly at least we can always think back on the memories we all shared.
Photos by JJ Maher Photographic Studios
WRITTEN BYSCOTT F. SOWTER @SCOTTFSOWTER
video game Monopoly has been a staple edition in many games nights over the last 70 years. Although the game play has barely changed since its initial release as the Board Game we all know and love, the game has kept itself popular and relevant by teaming up with a large variety of companies to produce some amazing licensed editions. Take a look below at some of my favourite Video Game Editions: Nintendo – The Nintendo Monopoly Collector’s Edition was released July 2006. Featuring Nintendo’s iconic characters such as Yoshi, Link, Donkey Kong and Samus players take up the challenge of owning Nintendo’s hottest property. Unsurprisingly the Mario Brothers are placed as the prestigious Park Lane and Mayfair. The board is organised perfectly with each property set featuring a quintessential game from Nintendo’s long established history. The Houses have been replaced with Super Mushrooms whereas Stars are used in place of the Hotels. In 2010 the board and game box were redesigned. Originally a large image of Mario and Luigi was featured in the centre of the board with the redesign featuring a line-up of the characters featured on the board. The main change was the removal of the Star Fox Characters from the Light Blue property set. They were replaced with characters from the Animal Crossing Series. The Legend of Zelda – “It is Dangerous to go Alone. Take This Zelda Monopoly”, however it can be just as dangerous to compete with friends
when the chance to rule Hyrule and other well know Zelda locations are up for grabs! One of the most recent Video Game editions of Monopoly is the Legend of Zelda version which was released late 2014. Featuring many iconic game favourites as both properties to purchase and tokens to play as, this version is the ultimate edition for any Zelda fan. The game features six token to play as. These include the Triforce, Hylian Shield, Bow, Slingshot, Hookshot and the Gale Boomerang. The dollars on the notes have been replaced by Rupees, Empty bottles become Chance Cards, Treasure Chests have taken
graded to the in game currency with Poke Dollars now featuring on the notes. The Legendary Zapos and Articuno perfectly replace the Electricity Company and Water Works spaces respectively. The 6 plastic coloured tokens include Bulbasaur, Charmander, Blastoise, Pikachu, Clefairy and Mewtwo. Unlike many Monopoly games the original Pokémon Edition features Doubles Power Abilities. If a player roles a double they can choose to move and roll again or activate the Pokémon ability based on the double rolled. These abilities add an exciting dynamic to the game and can help
"..this version is the ultimate edition for any Zelda fan." on the role of Community chest spaces and the Deku Sprouts and Deku Tree feature as the houses and hotels. Each coloured property group features various popular locations form a Zelda entry. Both Pokémon editions – “Gotta Catch em All” perfectly describes the aim of game in the Pokémon themed Monopoly versions. Two editions have been released for Pokémon with the first being released in 1999 and the second Kanto Edition in 2014. The Original Edition captures all of Pokémon’s glory and main aim with the property sets being replaced with the 8 gym leaders and their Pokémon. The houses have been represented as Poke Marts and Poke Centres are the hotels. Once again the money has been up-
to plan new strategies or help from landing on a developed Gym set. In the Kanto Edition the coloured plastic Tokens have been replaced with metal tokens. The Pokémon have also been changed with Squirtle replacing Blastoise, Jigglepuff takes Clefairys spot and Mewtwo gives way to Eevee. The board features an updated image of the map of Kanto in the centre. Street fighter – When is the best time to use a Hadouken? When you are running low on Bison Dollars and all the Training Rooms and Dojos have been bought! The Street Fighter Monopoly features 6 well known aspects of the game as the tokens. These include M.Bison, Ryu, Blanka, The Hadouken, Vega’s Mask and Chun-Li’s wrist cuff.
es + MONOPOLY...
board games
match the aspects of the game. The 6 playable tokens include Altair IbnLa’ Ahad, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, Ratonhnhake:ton (Conner Kenway), Aveline de Grandpre, Edward Kenway, and Arno Dorian representing the series Assassins. The title deeds have been updated to represent historical locations from each of the Assassins time period. The money has been altered to the currency of the games, Abstergo. The centre of the board features the design of the Animus with Mr Monopoly wearing an assassin’s hood peering over the Monopoly title found on all boards.
The title deeds have been changed to match stages and characters featured in the game. The houses have been updated to be Training Rooms and the Hotels are now found to be Dojos. Bison Dollars feature as the currency of the game which includes a photo and signature of M.Bison. The centre of the game board features a tribute to the characters with a montage of most of the Street Fighters being featured. World of Warcraft – The World of Warcraft Collector’s Edition was released in 2012. Descend into magic, myth and legendary adventure status while buying and trading locations in the epic lands of Azeroth. Once again players must use their most cunning strategies to dominate the land! The board game features a custom board which was designed by Blizzard and it features faction capitals and zones located in the well-known Realm of Azeroth. The zones feature in the order they increase in value and prestige in the game. The 6 tokens were voted by
fans and they feature WoW favourites such as a Hearthstone, a Murloc, a Fly Point winged boot, a two headed Core Hound Pup, Thrall’s Doom Hammer and a Gnome Engineered bot. The houses have been replaced with towns that represent
These Video Game varieties of Monopoly had insured people keep buying and playing the classic game. As well as the Licensed releases fans have also made some amazing versions of their own. Two amazing creations are the Bioshock and Kingdom Hearts versions. My favourite edition mentioned above is my Original 1999 Pokémon Monopoly. I love
"THe money has been altered to the currency of the games, Abstergo." little inns, the hotels are now cities which have been depicted by Castle Towers and the money is now represented by gold. Assassins Creed – The Assassin’s Creed Monopoly just like the Zelda and Pokémon Kanto Monopoly is one of the most recent video game editions. Unlike previous entries in Monopoly’s video game range Assassin’s Creed was not released in America due to USAopoly not having the licence for the game. It was released exclusively in Europe. Once again the rules have stayed the same for this edition and everything else has been changed to
the addition of Doubles Power Abilities. If anyone gets a chance to play this version do not hesitate to grab friends and family and give it a go. Monopoly will continue to thrive with the endless possibilities available via licensed deals. Hopefully everyone’s favourite video game, movie, TV Show and Pop Culture get the Monopoly makeover.
WRITTEN BY jess wilson
E V A S H E T L S TAB U M EC L L CO M ATDERS! E RA ‘ T GE MET $59 A G A
PH
AR IR L
OLN
J
SM
R THO
D
D LOR
OF
GS
IN ER
TH
R
E MM
R WO RS
79 D$ R O
W
PS
R - LA
THE
DE TRI
-S
HE
G
KIN
E F TH
RP -LA
D OR SW
E F TH
GS
RIN
N
E AG
N
BAT
TLE BAT
S END
N ATA K I RA
ATE
PIR
ASS
TL CU
FF STA IT -
B
OB
59 $ I I EN
RS
RT GA
ALI EXC
EVA
EDI
M DS
EN
LEG
N II
E
IL G
A L FL
$59 RD
TBBI
G
STIN
WI GLO
ARK ED
$65
F DO
H
THE
HO
TBBI
OR SW
ailabil for av e r o t cal s
your lo
EL
9 6 $ D OR
SW
R
THO
HO
in ilable ot ava
ity. N
k with Chec
EN AK O IN
RP
LA D-
SHI
WO PS
R
- LA
E
OR SW
$59
IN
SK
ND GE
TLE BAT
G
N II
DG
E LE
TL BAT
$89
O
HU
59 II $
-
P LAR
LEG
NT
THE
LF DA
AN FG
U
AM
S DS
GE
LE TLE
$79
G THE
BUR
DO
LOR
REY
RI
DU
- AN
WO
H THE
DO
OR L SW
H
G
RP
- LA
$69
A FG
O RD
T-S
BI OB
T ALF ND
REY
D OR SW
res
all sto
state due to
tions.
regula
KING OF NE In the city that never sleeps there is always something happening. Whether you’re caught in the fastpaced and hectic atmosphere, lost in the world renowned lights or witnessing giant monsters trying to demolish the area, the city is sure to not disappoint. Playing as one of these giant monsters you face many obstacles in you path to becoming King. To gain the lofty status you must attack the other giant monsters, crush buildings, buy new abilities and watch out for the pesky humans who haven’t given up on losing their city just yet. A dice rolling, card drawing, player elimination game which is easy to pick up, has an awesome premise and is a whole lot of fun to play makes King of New York a great addition to any board game players collection. King of New York has the same premise as King of Tokyo which was released in 2011 by game designer Richard Garfield however this standalone title introduces new ways to
tional but sometimes mandatory), 4. Buy cards and 5. End your turn. Once a player has rolled the six dice up three times they then carry out the actions on the dice. Hearts heal damage to yourself, claws do damage to other monsters, energy is gained as currency used to purchase power cards that provide unique effects, broken buildings allow you to bring down buildings in your area giving you VP’s but also bring the Army, damaged skulls allow the newly arrived Army to deal damage to your monster and the new addition to the game, the star allows for that monster to be a superstar. Once a player rolls and keeps three star icons on their turn they can take the Superstar card giving them one VP and plus one VP for any star they roll while still holding the card. The card is lost when someone else rolls the three stars. The Superstar card definitely provides the holder with easy VP’s but your fame can only be for a fleeting moment so enjoy your
"the only way to leave manhattan is after a monster attacks..." play. The aim of King of New York is to win via one of two different methods – be the first monster to collect 20 victory points (VP’s) or to be the last monster standing. On each players round up to 5 actions can be completed. These steps must be completed in a chronological order. On your turn you: 1. Roll the dice (up to three turns), 2. Resole the dice (mandatory), 3. Move (generally op-
time in the spotlight and do not rely on the card to win the game for you. The board for King of New York represents the City of New York comprising of 5 different boroughs: Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and Manhattan. While up to two monsters can occupy four of the boroughs at one time, only one monster can be in any of the three zones
of Manhattan (Lower, Midtown and Upper). In the borough you are currently occupying you have the option of destroying building (depicted by tiles) if the number listed for the destruction of the building is met on the dice. Once the building is destroyed and the VP’s gained the tile is turned over and the army has now appeared. Depending on how many buildings you have destroyed there will now be that number of army units in your borough. Strategic playing now comes in to play as per step three of your turn, you can choose to move. Do you flee or stay and reap the rewards of taking down the army? At all times of the game there must be one monster in Manhattan. While occupying Manhattan you gain bonuses depending on which level you are currently poised at however all monsters outside of Manhattan attack only you when the claw is rolled whereas the monster in Manhattan attacks all monsters on the board. The monster occupying Manhattan can quickly be wiped out with a few lucky rolls from the other players however the rewards of staying can win the game for you. The only way to leave Manhattan is after a monster attacks, you have the option of swapping places. The board and all pieces included are very good quality. All 6 monsters are creatively designed and really stand out. The art design of the cards is beautiful and detailed. The only problem with the art on the cards is that you do not get to
EW YORK REVIEW
board games
experience the gorgeous pictures as often as you would like due to the cards being underutilised. Due to the large amount of currency needed to purchase the cards I found that these were often forgotten about with all other options selected on the dice over them. Some of these cards gave amazing abilities that could easily put someone in last place straight to the front making for an ever changing experience but they felt like a missed opportunity. A small, but not discouraging in the slightest, point is the size of the monsters in relation to the game board. The board is quite small and as these giant monsters are depicted on their playing pieces as just that it could sometimes be hard to see around the pieces to the building/army tiles on the board. We stopped using the pieces half way through and replaced them with four Lego Star Wars Minifigures which was much easier to use and see the whole board at once. A neat option the creator has included is the ability to play as the Monsters from King of Tokyo if you own the game. King of New York is an excellent, engaging and all round fun board game for any casual or hard core board game player. The strategic aspect of the game is perfect with one decision being able to wipe out your monster, it constantly keeps you thinking and on your toes. The game was easy to learn and quick to pick up, includes an extremely well made and presented board game, detailed art depicted cards, brilliant character design and two sided attack cards,
there is nothing not to love in this edition to the King of series. The main weakness of the game being the cards can hopefully be integrated more freely in the next instalment of this engaging board game series to give an extra edge to the game. I am eagerly awaiting another game in this new awesome series! Definitely give this one a go!!
WRITTEN BY jess wilson
MUS THIS M T HA O VE G NTH’S AME S!
T U O 3 20/
CTC
Available on PC, PS3, 360, PS4, XB1
OUT NOW
Available on PS3, 360, PS4, XB1
NEW TO
GAMETRADERS! $69
LH-X1 4 CHANNEL 6 AXIS 360 DEGREE 2.4GHZ REMOTE CONTROL QUADCOPTER
$59
LASER GUN BEETLE ATTACK GAME
$109
INFILTRATOR 4-CH DRONE QUADCOPTER WITH 2MP CAMERA
$139
REAL HERO SHADOW BOXING ROBOTS
CHAPPIE www.chappiemovie.com.au
MARCH 12 Cast:
Hugh Jackman, Sharlto Copley, Sigourney Weaver, Dev Patel, Ninja and Yolandi Visser
Genre:
Sci-Fi / Thriller / Action
Directors: Neill Blomkamp
In the near future, crime is patrolled by an oppressive mechanized police force. But now, the people are fighting back. When one police droid, Chappie, is stolen and given new programming, he becomes the first robot with the ability to think and feel for himself. As powerful, destructive forces start to see Chappie as a danger to mankind and order, they will stop at nothing to maintain the status quo and ensure that Chappie is the last of his kind. Starring Hugh Jackman, Sharlto Copley, Dev Patel, Ninja and 짜o-Landi Vi$$er and Sigourney Weaver, Chappie will release in cinemas on March 12. (c) 2015 CTMG. All Rights Reserved.
WIN TICKETS! WATCH THE TRAILER HERE: www.chappiemovie.com.au
AND FACEBOOK INBOX US THE ANSWER! www.facebook.com/Gametraders.Australia
WHAT IS SAID AFTER THEY SAY CHAPPIE IS "JUST LIKE A CHILD..."
CHAPPIE www.chappiemovie.com.au
MARCH 12
Wii U
GAMECUBE ADAPTER!
49
$
Ask staff for details.
.95
COSPLAYLIVE Brought to you by Gametraders..
LARK VISUALS
MISA ON WHEELS
GINNY MCQUEEN
THE ARTFUL DODGER
HARLEY’S JOKER
SEE INSIDE FOR FULL INTERVIEWS!
HARLEY'S JOKER www.FACEBOOK.COM/HARLEYSJOKER This month Live Magazine took time out to talk to American Haryley’s Joker about his Cosplay and his partner in crime Jokers Harley Cosplay - two cosplayers who specialise in specific characters. You’re a big fan of The Joker, why is that? I grew up on Batman, it was always a part of my childhood. All the films from the ‘89 Burton feature, through to latest Nolan project were all seen in the theatre. That has quite an impact on a person. Also the animated series debuted while I was in elementary school: perfect timing. I also always greatly admired the artwork of the comics. Honestly I think I would have rather been Batman, haha, but I just don’t have the body or face for it. The Joker’s an incredible character, and I think this can be attributed in part to how long he’s been around. When you give a character that many writers and illustrators to breathe new life into him over and over again thoughout seventyfive years, you’re going to build up quite a lot of rich, layered and multifaceted baggage. He’s fun. Have you cosplayed other characters? Nope. There are a number I’ve thought of and always wanted to do, but I’ve accidentally set the bar kind of high with the Joker, I’m not sure anything else I could do would top that. As a creative individual I’m
always looking to challenge myself and push things a bit, and it’s hard to imagine what could ‘wow’ an audience more the next time around in some other character’s shoes. Tell us about the first ever con you visited - what was it like? I was born and raised in San Diego, California, so naturally my first convention was San Diego Comic Con. I think it may have been 1997 or ‘98. It wasn’t as gargantuan as it is now, but it was still the biggest of it’s kind. It was amazing, and because it wasn’t as crowded as today, everyone there, guests that is, were so incredibly accessible. I was like a kid in a candy store, then again, I literally *WAS* a kid in a comic convention, haha, so there you have it. Do you do any guest appearances as promotions? I’ve had the immence privilege of being invited as a guest to several conventions over the last few years, including Puerto Rico Comic Con, BigWow! Comic Fest in San Jose, California, La Mole Comic Con in Mexico City, Con Comics in Guadalajara, Mexico, and Carribean Expo in Puerto Rico. I should really learn Spanish, haha, I’m quite liked in Latin America. What about photo shoots, you’ve done a few of those, tell us how you plan them and what a typical shoot involves.
COSPLAY
Every shoot is deifferent, there’s nothing “typical” about any of them. I do nearly all the shoots myself, the staging, lighting, photography, editing, etcetera. It’s all about planning. Sometimes I spend months planning out and preparing for a shoot. It’s hard to explain the process however, it’s like asking one to type out how they paint. I have an image in my mind, I do as many rough drafts and test shoots as possible leading up to it. I get every element, prop, costume piece, lighting design, all figured out in advance so when it comes time to take the actual photograph of the subject (typically myself or Alyssa, my Harley) it runs smoothly. I’m a perfectionist. I’ll take dozens of photos of the exact same pose with subtle variations therein just in case I decide I need to composite elements from all of them to get the final product just right. My “Killing Joke” cover recreation is actually almost a dozen photographs, but it looks like just one simple shot. Truth be told my right hand was in a better position in one photo, my left hand in another, my smile was better in one photo and my eyebrows in another. So forth and so on. It’s all to create a final experience that will illicit a genuine response from an audience. This is why I love cinema so much as a medium. It’s a culmination of so many artforms all working together toward one singular vision with the intention of creating an emotional reaction from an audience, leaving a lasting impression, it’s brilliant.
Photograph and editing by Harley’s Joker himself!
JOKER
HARLEY'S
Any advice for new cosplayers? Have fun and never stop reaching creatively. Try to impress YOURSELF, no one else. If you’re trying to impress others you will fail and never know what direction you’re heading. If you strive to impress yourself, and then actually manage to do it, you’ll be so genuinely satisfied it won’t matter what others think, and luckily you’ll probably get a better reaction from others in the process. We are our own worst critics, so if we can win ourselves over, the world is our oyster. Finally where can readers go to see your cosplay? They can find me at: www.facebook.com/HarleysJoker And they can find my partner in crime at: www.facebook.com/JokersHarleyCosplay
Photographs and editing by Harley’s Joker himself!
Featuring Bruce Timm - creator of Harley Quinn.
D O N ’T
M IS S
O UT
N E C XT RE M AT O IN NT G H W A W IT RT E H IS LE H TI A A C RN RL C EY O TH ’S SP E S JO LA EC KE Y P RE R! H TS O O TO F S
Featuring Brian Bolland - comic artist.
MAJOR SAM COSPLAY www.facebook.com/MajorSamCosplay Australian Cosplay Major Sam sat down with Live Magazine and talked about her experience as a cosplayer. Hi Sam, Tell us a bit about how you got into cosplay and where you’re from... I grew up in Toowoomba, Queensland and looked for a career in costume making without any knowledge of cosplay. It wasn’t until I went to my first convention in 2011 where I had a bit of an understanding that people dressed in costume but I didn’t know how many people would be in costume and how amazing their costumes were. From that, I knew that I wanted to make costumes for myself mostly for fun but also practise. I’ve been cosplaying at every Brisbane Supanova since. Do you create your own costumes? What’s been the most difficult? Absolutely! Making the costume is where I find my love and joy for the craft. I’ve been sewing for at least 18 years and has always been my favourite hobby. It has only been later in my cosplaying that I’ve found a love for wearing and modelling my costumes. My most difficult costume to date would be Moon Moxxi from Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel due to the large number of highly detailed props and a very short time frame to make it in.
What materials do you use? Anything and everything that will give me accuracy to the design. I do prefer and specialize in fabrics but I love learning to use a variety of prop making materials to make armour and weapons. Tell us a bit about the cons you’ve visited and what’s been a highlight so far. I travel to most Supanovas each year. Supanova was the first convention I’ve been to and the one where I discovered cosplay. It is so hard to pick highlights as their has been so many! But I’ll never forget my first cosplay competition win where I won Best Cosplay as Jessica Rabbit and also perform my first skit. I was pretty proud! What about this year? Any plans to visit cons? I’ll be at most Supanovas but plannning on a big international convention holiday next year to San Diego Comic Con. I also love attending the smaller conventions and festivals around South East Queensland. Have you done many photo shoots and what’s a typical shoot like? How long does it take to prepare and what happens on the day? I haven’t done as much as I would like to. It takes a lot of time from multiple people to pull of a success-
COSPLAY ful photo shoot. Most of my costumes take about 2 hours to get on which includes make-up, corsets, shapewear, eye contacts and wigs and these things can’t be hurried. After speaking to the photographer before hand about location, we generally have a scout of what backgrounds we can use in the photos that suit the character and style. The quickest shoot I’ve done was 45 minutes, the longest is 5 hours. Photo shoots at a convention are much more relaxed and quicker and generally funner because you have a ton of friends around. Conventions are for fun; you can shoot seriously another time. Can cosplay become an income in your opinion? It absolutely can because people already are. But is it an easy income? Not at all. Like a lot of cosplayers, the ultimate dream would be cosplaying for a living but it takes a lot of patience, and guts to be able to do it. I hope in the future I can, but right now I’m doing the best I can with what I am given. Do you make costumes for other people on commission? I have in the past but unfortunately due to lack of time as I have a full time job, I don’t have the chance to do commissions. I struggle enough finding the time to make my own costumes!
Photographer: Lorenzo So | www.facebook.com/lorenzosophotography
With so many fans on social media, what tips do you have for new cosplayers starting out on sites like Facebook? My main pieces of advice for new cosplayers looking to find a following for their art would include: - Don’t get caught up with the number of “likes”. They have no indication of your skill, it’s just a number. - Make what YOU want. As soon as
you start making costumes that you think will get you attention, cosplay will be a chore. Branch out. Get a Twitter, get an Instagram, a Deviantart. Contact people and show them what you have made. - Have fun and find your confidence. If you aren’t having fun, stop, think and remind yourself why you started cosplaying in the first place.
Where can your readers go to ask about a costume or see more of your work? My Facebook page is:
www.facebook.com/MajorSamCosplay
My Twitter is: www.twitter.com/TheMajorSam My Instagram is: www.instagram.com/msmajorsam
Photographer: Lorenzo So | www.facebook.com/lorenzosophotography
Photographer: Lorenzo So | www.facebook.com/lorenzosophotography
MAJOR SAM COSPLAY
Photographer: Lorenzo So | www.facebook.com/lorenzosophotography
MAJOR SAM COSPLAY
Photographer: Carlos - Mayenco | www.facebook.com/TheSolarGlare
MAJOR SAM COSPLAY
Photographer: Lorenzo So | www.facebook.com/lorenzosophotography
MAJOR SAM COSPLAY
Photographer: Newton Thaiposri | www.facebook.com/riotsarmory
Photographer: Kiara Lee Maas | www.facebook.com/KiaraLeePhotography
MAJOR SAM COSPLAY
the artful dodger www.facebook.com/theartfuldodgercosplay Recently we got to spend some time with the Artful Dodger, an Australian cosplayer based in Brisbane. First up, can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into cosplay. Thanks for the chat! I’m a lady cosplayer based in Brisbane and I started doing this crazy cosplaying thing about three years ago, although I’ve been taking it much more seriously in the last year and a half. I started out the way most cosplayers do a friend told me about an event in Brisbane purely for geeks and pop culture. Unsurprisingly, I jumped at the chance to go as I’d always felt I was on the outskirts of what “normal” people were into, I tended towards action movies, comics and weapons whilst most teenage girls were into partying and other mainstream activities - and here was an entire weekend just for alternative people to go and be weird together! I couldn’t wait. Pulling together an awfully dodgy Ramona Flowers costume that I was enormously proud of at the last minute, I went up for the weekend. It was amazing. Absolutely amazing. From Brisbane Supanova 2012 I was hooked, and my cosplay skill set has been growing each convention I’ve been able to attend! What sort of cosplay do you love most - what genre? As I said before, I’ve always been
into weaponry and war, and that tends to show up in most of my cosplays. Show me a hardcore character with an attitude and a gun and I will likely put her on my cosplay list - which is miles and miles long by the way! I’m currently working hard on Artemisia from 300: Rise of an Empire and I’m hoping to be able to debut her at Gold Coast Supanova this April. Cosplay is such a complex art form - with the costumes, the make up and hair/wigs. Tell us a bit about how you go about planning and then making a costume. Absolutely! There are a few key elements that make a good cosplay great, I personally think a good wig is crucial. If you don’t happen to have the right hair colour for a cosplay, please for the love of everything nerdy, get yourself a quality wig. Arda Wigs are one of many excellent wig companies. I’ve seen so many otherwise great costumes been let down because of a cheap, overly shiny wig. In the words of Tom Haverford, treat yo’ self! When I decide on a cosplay I want to make, I always start with collecting as many reference photos as humanly possible. You really need to see the costume from every angle so you can make accurate choices when buying fabric and prop materials - which aren’t cheap! Nothing’s worse than looking at a reference picture after getting back from the
COSPLAY
shops and realizing you’ve gotten the wrong fabric after spending an obscene amount of money on it. Crying over fabric is undignified and easily avoided. If you’re stuck on an element of your costume, Google is your friend. The RPF forum in particular has been a blessing when I’ve been working with trickier materials such as wood or Worbla - there are so many helpful threads and people on that site who are happy to give you a hand. Where do you get your materials from? I generally work with fabric, Worbla, foam and wood. One day when I have very deep pockets, I may also start using leather, but for now I can achieve a very similar look with vinyl and foam. It’s incredible what you can make when you have a tight budget! Fabric is easily sourced from Spotlight or Lincraft if you’re looking for basic materials, there are also many fabric sites online with great prices, you just have to do your research. I get all my wood from Bunnings or Masters, I’ve recently started working with pine and it’s fantastic! It’s easy to cut and sand and the finished product looks gorgeous. Most craft shops stock craft foam, but if you’re looking for more sturdy stuff, Century Foam and Rubber and other similar shops stock foam by the metre, which is great for armour-making.
You’ve done some amazing photo shoots- what goes into planning a shoot? Thank you! I’m lucky enough to work with some truly excellent photographers who are based in Brisbane and attend the same cons that I do. When I’m planning a shoot with a photographer, we choose a location that best fits the character and a time of day. Afternoons generally work best as the light is perfect then. From there we just wing it! I’ve found that excessively planning the shoot doesn’t always work out exactly how you’d hoped, so going in with an open mind and just having fun with it makes for the best photoshoots. Are you a visitor to any cons and what plan do you have for 2015? This year I’m planning to attend Gold Coast Supanova, Sydney Supanova, Melbourne AMC, PAX and Brisbane Supanova. If anything comes up in between I’ll probably be there, we have too few conventions in Australia for my liking so I try to get to as many as possible. I love derping around and being stupid at conventions so please come say hi if you see me! My cosplay list for 2015 is huge, but some of the costumes include - Marvel’s Silk, Galadriel, Injustice Catwoman, Princess Jasmine, Artemisia (300), Odette (The Swan Princess), Lagertha (Vikings) and many, many, maaaaaany more. It’s exhausting just thinking about it but I’m pretty pumped. Finally where can we get readers to go to see more of your work? You can find me at www.facebook. com/theartfuldodgercosplay and on Instagram and Twitter as @adcosplay. I don’t really understand Twitter so I’m not on it much, however if somebody wants to hold my hand and guide me through it that would be great!:) Catch you on the flip side!
Photographer: Pixels of Shae | www.facebook.com/pixelsofshae
Photographer: Fiathriel | www.facebook.com/fiathriel
THE ARTFUL DODGER
Photographer: Charmaine Morgan | www.facebook.com/charmaine.morgan88
Photographer: Fiathriel | www.facebook.com/fiathriel
THE ARTFUL DODGER
Photographer: Steven Brown | www.500px.com/skjb
Photographer: Pixels of Shae | www.facebook.com/pixelsofshae
THE ARTFUL DODGER
THE ARTFUL DODGER
Photographer: Shazzsteel | www.facebook.com/shazzsteel
THE ARTFUL DODGER
Photographer: Beethy | www.facebook.com/beethyphotography
THE ARTFUL DODGER
coSplaylive presents
coScon and afterparty 2015
7 march 2015 adelaide convention centre
Brought to you by Gametraders
what can cosplay live's coscon and afterparty offer you?
Are you a Cosplayer wanting a portfolio? Learn how to pull off that Cosplay Modelling look! An avalanche of skilled Cosplay Photographers ready to take your photo! Workshops from armour creation to the everyday lessons in Cosplay on a Budget!
looking to have your creation win australia's largest cash prize for cosplay? 1,500 Cash for 1st, $700 for 2nd and $300 for 3rd place! Prizes to win for different Cosplay Categories! Judged with Australia’s biggest Cosplay Celebrity, Katyuska Moonfox!
Are you a photographer wanting to experience cosplay? Build a portfolio with Australia’s most talented Cosplayers! Enhance your skills with Workshops from Camera Phone all the way to Advanced DSLR! Learn the secrets of model positioning!
want to take part in australia's best cosplay afterparty? Live cosplay stage shows! Music and festivities all through the night! Ticket includes a free drink and food!
Tickets available at www.cosplaylive.com.au, Gametraders stores and at the door!
misa on wheels www.facebook.com/misaonwheels
COSPLAY
Misa is an awesome cosplayer based in the US, and we caught up with her recently to chat about Cosplay, costumes and the challenges of being a Cosplayer with a wheelchair. Misa! First up tell us a bit about yourself. I grew up in Southern New Hampshire and currently reside there. I am a huge video gamer, board gamer, and anime fan. My first video game console I ever owned was a Playstation 1 and my first game being Spyro the Dragon. I was diagnosed with a form of Muscular Dystrophy, called Charcot-Marie Tooth, when I was 2 years-old and had to start using a wheelchair at age 10. How did you get into cosplay? I got into cosplay years back when a group of friends were planning to attend a convention. I was watching Death Note at the time, and the first time I saw Misa Amane, the rest kinda just fell into place. Tell us about your favourite cosplays. What’s been your challenge with creating costumes and what’s the planning process in creating the cosplay? My favorite cosplays so far are Misa Amane (of course!) from the anime Death Note, Yuna from Final Fantasy X, and Daenerys from Game of Thrones. For me, the biggest challenge is not spending too much money on materials/outfits/accessories! :) I’m a bit of a shopaholic.
Following your social media, you often comment about the challenges of being a wheelchair based cosplayer, I would say you’re incredibly inspirational, have people reached out to you in that area..? Maybe other wheel chair cosplayers? I have had so many people reach out to me regarding this, and it is such an amazing thing. To inspire someone to the point where they message you and want to talk about their disability/experiences is such an honor. I am very open in talking about my condition, and for those who are not to confide in me means so much. Plus, I like to think that I give good advice! :P Do you attend many cons and what’s on your calendar for 2015? Quite a few! This year, it’s Anime Boston, Anime North has invited me to be a guest, Granite State Comic Con , and Another Anime Con in New Hampshire for sure.
Have you done any photo shoots and what was the experience like? Many. My favorites are the ones where I get to work with those who really love what they do and photographers who do the same. Most of my photoshoots have been pretty candid and fun (the best kind!) One of my epic photographer friends and I even shot in an old cemetery, which was so cool. What cosplay are you working on next? Kiki from Kiki’s Delivery Service and Yuki from the anime Vampire Knight. Finally where can our readers go to find out more about you? The best place is my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/MisaOnWheels.
MISA ON WHEELS
All photos taken by Tony Noto
MISA ON WHEELS
ginny mcqueen
COSPLAY
www.ginnymcqueen.com This month Live Magazine spent time with a very special cosplayer from Los Angeles in the U.S but Ginny McQueen is more than a cosplayer. She’s an actress, model, social media guru and voice against online bullying, something we here at Live totally respect. Ginny, please tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into cosplay and acting. Tell us about your cosplay projects. How do you decide on what you’re going to cosplay? I choose my outfits for any number of reasons. I like the character, I like the outfit, I am part of a group, or maybe found a perfect place for a particular photo shoot. There have been a few times where I was considering cosplaying a certain character, but someone has already done it perfectly and I think “Well, there’s no point now! They did it so well!” What do you think about cosplay as a career? Is it possible for someone to make it a full time occupation? This is a complicated question. I know some cosplayers that are seen as or call themselves “professional cosplayers” but it’s usually not what it seems. The investment that cosplayers put in to their costumes, photos, web presence, etc is not a small number in terms of both time and money. I’ve been in the cosplay community for 17 years, and the ones
that are making a “living” from cosplay have spent tens of thousands of dollars on their appearance, pr, agents, and anything else you can think of. I think it’s possible, but it’s the same as trying to be a model the up-front investment alone will be crazy, and the odds of it working out are pretty slim! You’re also a social media director/consultant too, we’ve talked to many cosplayers and it seems one thing that regularly pops up is the negative and abuse that is out there. What do think about it and what advise do you have for cosplayers getting abused? Any time a woman (or man doing something that is seen as feminine - e.g. dressing up in costume) puts themselves out there in a visual medium, people feel entitled to judge them. Bottom line is that internet bullies suck and you should never let them scare or shame you away from being yourself. You’d think with the fun and friendship that cosplay brings people would be more supportive and I’m guessing most fans are. Have you had experiences that have really given you a positive lift that you’d like to share? For every 1 negative comment, there are 100 genuinely nice ones. And because I put myself out there as a person rather than a personality, I’ve had so many sweet, supportive
comments and messages. I try to be honest with my fans because so many are young women in the cosplay and fandom community who are just starting out and looking for guidance. Back to costumes, do you make your own and how long does it take to put a costume together? Yes, I make all my own costumes. Every costume is different. It depends on how complex it is and how much time I have to make it! I always work best under a deadline, otherwise nothing gets done! Cosplay and photography go together like bread and butter, do you do any photo shoots and can you walk us through a typical photo shoot. Again, each photoshoot is different. Getting photos of my costumes is probably my favorite part of cosplaying, and I like to find great settings. My favorite was probably in Germany when we hopped a fence to shoot in an actual castle with my Final Fantasy Tactics costume. Perfect setting! Finally where can our readers go to find out more about you? The internet! :) www.ginnymcqueen.com www.patreon.com/ginnymcqueen www.youtube.com/ginnymcqueen www.twitter.com/ginnymcqueen
www.facebook.com/theginnymcqueen www.instagram.com/ginnymcqueen ginnymcqueen.tumblr.com/ SNAPCHAT: ginnymcqueen
ginny
y mcqueen
coSPLAYLIVE PRESENts tHE
2015 coScon afterparty: • Live performance from Australia’s Katyuska Moonfox, the voice of an angel the power of a demon hunter • Live Music featuring a Dalek Invasion, exterminate your fear • Cosplay onstage performances, see your passion alive on stage • Completely themed room, no High School Prom nightmare flashbacks • DJ Jaki J, your Cosplay Afterparty is never low on energy • Tickets include both a drink and a meal, you can dance the night away! Tickets available at www.cosplaylive.com.au, Gametraders stores and at the door!
LARK VISUALS www.facebook.com/larkvisuals Adrian, tell us a bit about your photography and how you got into cosplay photography My photography tends to lean towards portrait photography. I love photographing people and their expressions. I usually won’t edit a photo without the proper expression that tells a story. As for cosplay photography, I’ve always wanted to do cosplay photography but I was too shy to ask cosplayers during cons. When I went back to Indonesia for a holiday my best friend wanted me to shoot her Mikasa Ackerman from Attack on Titan and I found it very fun and rewarding to do. Ever since then I’ve decided to use cosplay photography as a platform to grow my skills further. Who inspires you with photography? My photography started because a friend of mine introduced me to Gredy Xu of Cotton.Studio (www. facebook.com/cottonstudio.photography). I was fascinated by his ability to tell a story with each picture. A really good friend of mine is also a talented photographer and I’ve learnt a lot from him in my early days. My biggest inspiration is Benjamin Von Wong, a Canadian-based photographer who combines both photography and graphic design as a form of digital art. His style inspires me a lot and has influenced the di-
rection of my cosplay photography for the past few months. With every project he does, he attempts to break the limits of the extreme. It has pushed me to always step up from the previous projects I’ve done. How long is a typical shoot and what is the process you go through A typical shoot doesn’t last that long. Two or three hours is typically enough if it’s only 1 person, 1 location and 1 outfit. If it’s the first time I’ve worked with someone, I need extra time in the beginning for icebreaking and matching the rhythm of the model. However, a photoshoot isn’t made up of that 2 or 3 hours of shooting. Pre-production consumes a lot of the time. In pre-production I think through a lot of things including the planning of the lighting, location scouting, research, and plan Bs in case of a weather failure. I like to book shoots at LEAST a month in advance so it can slowly cook in my mind. By the time of shooting I would at least have some idea of the concept and scenes I’d like to create. After that the post-production begins... How do you find cosplayers for shoots or do they find you? Both. Mostly I find cosplayers that I’d like to work with and reach out to them. Because of my inclination to-
PHOTOGRAPHER
wards portrait photography, I mainly look at the expressions and confidence of cosplayers in pulling off their characters. Cosplayers can also find me and pitch their ideas and if I like it and I think I can pull it off, we would go from there. I also take paid commissions for cosplay and non-cosplay photography. (Rant: I know some people think some photographers are arrogant for being so selective with what they do, but I urge you to look at it from a photographer’s perspective. If we were to blindly accept 5 photoshoots a month, that would be 5 weekends gone if the photographer work another full-time job, not to mention the post-processing part of it.) With regards to post processing, what sort of things do you do with your photos? With post processing, I rate photos in 2 or 3 rounds. The first round is to filter out all the out-takes and the “derp” shots. I glance at it for a second and if I don’t like it I move to the next photo. The second round I compare photos from the same scene and pick off the ones with misfocus or just not satisfactory. Then the third round, I pick out the ones I will potentially edit. After that, I choose ones I want to edit, making small adjustments in Lightroom to correct exposure before moving it to Photoshop to refine
the colours, and add special effects when necessary. From a shoot, getting 2-3 polished photos (or 1 epic photo) is a success. What gear do you prefer to use for a typical shoot? I use a Canon 6D and 24-70mm f/2.8 Mark I. I love the wi-fi capabilities on the 6D, which lets me potentially take photos from impossible angles. As for lighting, I have 2 types. For smaller projects, I use Yongnuo 560 Mark III & IV as my main light, diffused through an umbrella or an octobox. Also a couple of kicker lights for rim lighting or colour effects. This lets the crew travel light and be mobile. For larger projects, I use bigger, more powerful lighting. I usually don’t do the lighting myself. My good friend Barney from shortgirls.net (www.facebook.com/shortgirls.net) actually owns the light and basically operates and directs it during the shoot. Most of my recent works won’t be as good as it is now without his assistance and lighting direction.
Any tips for those getting into either cosplay photography or cosplaying in general? I’ll give a tip for photographers since I don’t really cosplay. For getting started into cosplay photography, try to get in the community. I started by messaging A LOT of cosplayers in Sydney and asking them for a shoot. A lot of them ignored me or probably thought I was a creep, but it let me introduce myself and it was easier to ask them for photos during Animania in 2014. After that, people see my work and I started gaining credibility. Also, be respectful of the cosplayers. For instance, don’t touch them or their costumes without asking them first. If there is something that needs to be fixed and the cosplayer can’t do it themselves, ask their friend or politely ask them if you can fix it for them. When doing shoots that require more hands on deck, assistants are your valuable assets. They will make your work so much easier so you can focus on what you’re doing, which is producing awesome images. Try to get an assistant that has knowledge in photography so they know what to do in certain situations. Also, find a mentor that can assist you and guide you in several shoots so you get the hang of things.
The last tip that I’d like to give for cosplay photographers is that they should be selective of what they publish. Only publish the best ones. If they’re not good enough to publish, don’t. People see your best work and they’ll think “Oh, wow that’s great!”, then they see your second best and they’ll think “Oh, that’s nice too!” Then they see your third best or the “okay” ones and they’ll think the best ones are a fluke. I see a lot people starting cosplay photography post up tens of photos, and often in similar poses. It’s normal to just get 2 photos out of a full day of shooting. Make sure they’re the best ones. Last last tip: be open to criticism. “I’m new to photography” and “I don’t know how to use Photoshop” are not valid excuses to reject criticism. Finally, where can readers go to see more of your work? You can find my works at www.facebook.com/larkvisuals. I post my work there, including my ramblings. My official website is currently in the works, but check back from time to time on www.larkvisuals.com
DAHLIA THOMAS
australia's best cosplay competition!
at coscon 2015
cash prizes! 1 prize st
2 prize nd
3 prize rd
$1500 $750 $300
Plus prizes and awards for many other winning Cosplay categories! You’ll have to be in it to win it, find out more info at www.cosplaylive.com.au
COSPLAYLIVE
COSPLAY AS A CAREER?
At Live Magazine we’ve been fortunate to interview and get to know dozens of great cosplayers. Some are well known in the cosplay universe, some are are just starting out. All of them do cosplay out of their love for the characters, the costumes, the creativity and their passion for their art. It got us here at Live Magazine wondering if a cosplayer can make a paying career from their art? After all
painters, photographers and sculptors have the option to sell their creations so what about cosplayers? We asked some of our cosplayer friends what their thoughts were on careers in cosplay. First up we spoke to Dustin Wilson the Project Leader of CosCon, a cosplay event in Adelaide on March 7th that has a focus on workshops and cosplay events and demos.
DUSTIN WILSON What is Cosplay? Cosplay is Fun.
What is a Dream Job? A dream job is Fun. What is a Cosplayer’s Dream Job? Cosplaying! Despite the elegance of the equation there’s a lot of work that goes into the background of making that dream job a reality. Out in the world at the moment you have a handful of international Cosplayers living that dream, Jessica Nigri, Yaya Han and Australia’s Eve Beauregard. Pop Culture convention appearance income, selling prints and other merchandise can be the map to sail you
through financial waters. And once that personal brand becomes big enough, more and more pop culture business opportunities will present themselves.
But what if you’re not one of the international names of Cosplay commanding millions of fans through adventures in social media? As a cosplayer, you have a foot in the door, your ability to create both the outfit and character of your pop culture idol. Here at Cosplay Live we made sure we could get the ball rolling for the start of your career, having Cosplayers from around the nation register
on our Jobs Agency, we offer this portfolio to potential employees looking for a unique pop culture angle for their brand. While having only been alive for a very short amount of time, the Job Agency has been able to place Cosplayers into paid position for events around Australia. Can you make a career out of Cosplay? By always improving on your cosplay creation methods, by networking your Cosplay as a brand and by seeking out opportunities to display the creative talents cosplayers possess; yes you can make it a career. Registering at the Cosplay Live Job Agency doesn’t hurt either; www.cosplaylive.com.au.
JUSZ COSPLAY Justine from JusZ Cosplay in Adelaide has been cosplaying for almost four years, here’s what she said about cosplay as a career... “Cosplay is not a career option for me yet as I simply don’t have the popularity or fan base to sustain it. As much as I would LOVE to make cosplay my career, you need to have enough interest in what you do and who you resonate with to be invited to conventions and sell prints and be shared. That’s something that you just can’t force. People will either connect with you or not and, as much as I would like it to happen, I can’t make people like me. “
So how do cosplayers make money?
“Cosplayers make money mainly by selling prints of themselves, which can be helped by being invited to conventions and featuring in media. Some cosplayers, like Yaya Han and Nicole Marie Jean, also sell a product (costume ears and wings for Yaya, and hand sculpted accessories for Nicole) and some get ad revenue from a YouTube channel, host events, or are sponsored by a company. Cosplay as a career is still new and mostly uncharted and most people are blazing their own trails, succeeding or failing as they go.”
TIFFANY DEAN Tiffany Dean, an Adelaide based cosplayer who’s ran workshops for Gametraders had this to say on careers in cosplay... “The first thing that comes to mind are the cosplayers that have it as their career eg Jessica Nigri, Yaya Han, Kamui Cosplay etc. For actual careers within it for me it’s things like attending Cons as a guest and being paid to do so, to be a paid workshop or panel presenter, a guest judge for cosplay comps etc. Also being a model for companies releasing new games, anime, comics etc as in they ask you to make a
costume of their character and you promote it with them.
I guess it’s anything that enables a person to leave their day job and pursue it full time and be paid a wage that covers what a normal day job is. I think a lot of it is who people know and where they are too, and also how they present themselves and their brand. Even being sponsored by companies ie Worbla, gaming companies etc is a huge step for people as it gets your name out there and really lets people know it’s something taken seriously and skilfully.”
GINNY MCQUEEN Ginny McQueen, Los Angeles based cosplayer, actress and social media expert:
“This is a complicated question. I know some cosplayers that are seen as or call themselves “professional cosplayers” but it’s usually not what it seems. The investment that cosplayers put in to their costumes, photos, web presence, etc is not a small number in terms of both time and
money. I’ve been in the cosplay community for 17 years, and the ones that are making a “living” from cosplay have spent tens of thousands of dollars on their appearance, pr, agents, and anything else you can think of. I think it’s possible, but it’s the same as trying to be a model the up-front investment alone will be crazy, and the odds of it working out are pretty slim!”
special guests: katyuska moonfox hayley elise a. k. wirru
want to meet some of au cosplayers? you c
ustralia's most popular can at coscon!
7 march 2015. adelaide convention centre. get your tickets now! www.cosplaylive.com.au
Resin casti
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/HayleyEliseCosplay
Part3: casting your piece
Safety first! Whilst the process is of resin casting is very straightforward, it is important to always remember that you are working with dangerous chemicals, and mishandling them can lead to skin conditions and other problems. Remember to always read the safety advice on your products and always wear gloves, a respirator and eye protection! There are many types of resin and just as many types of pigments and effect powders to use with them, so it’s important to know what you want from your resin cast. You can get both clear and opaque resins – clear tends to be more expensive, however, and is also much more toxic so make sure you’re only using clear when it’s necessary! Look into metal powders (cold casting) and pearlescent powders for some interesting effects. Pouring your resin works very similarly to pouring the silicone for your
mould. Make sure your mix ratio is right and you’ve mixed the parts together properly, before beginning to pour the resin in from the lowest part of the mould. Just like with silicone, we don’t want any air bubbles in our resin! Pour to just below the top of your mould, and leave it to set on a flat surface without disturbing it. Don’t mind any overflow – you can trim and sand later. When the resin has set, you can pull it out of the mould and admire your handiwork! The first pull out of a mould is never the best, however – it often picks up little imperfections and impurities that were left in the mould by the positive, but the good news is that you can cast as many of your object as you want. This photo shows a comparison of a raw pulled piece at the bottom, and the sanded and trimmed pieces at the top. Resin is very easy to sand and paint, so from here you can go crazy with whatever you want to do to it. The possibilities are endless!
ing isn't scary! COSPLAY TUTORIAL
WRITTEN BY HAYLEY ELISE
cosPLAY This month we’re all excited about the first cosplay convention in Adelaide just for cosplayers by Cosplay Live. It’s called CosCon 2015 and promises to be an amazing experience for cosplayers and photographers. CosCon not only features a ton of workshops on cosplay, cosplay projects, demos and things like how to model, how to do action moves for photos but it also is running a number of photography based workshops. So with that in mind I took a look at what workshops generally charge and found that many charge quite a bit more then a ticket to CosCon. Many charging hundreds and thousand of dollars. CosCon tickets are $33. With that in mind I though I’d look at what sort of things photographers can learn at CosCon. Talking to
Y photography Coscon project leader, Dustin Wilson, he tells me that there will be a lot for photographers at CosCon. The key thing we discussed was that even non-cosplay photographers will learn a lot at this event. Well known Adelaide photographer, Peter Lay is running the main workshops in the stage area of the Convention Centre teaching 2 major workshops on working with cosplayers and showing how to model and pose them for still photos. This event is ideal for both the beginner and seasoned photographer. Plus where else can you go where there will be hundreds if not thousands of cosplayers all in costume and all looking for photos. I for one, know my portfolio will be overflowing with great images after Saturday the 7th March!
Dustin also explained there will be 4 additional workshops on the day at the event including: Beginner DSLR - how to use your camera, what the settings all mean and how to get well exposed and sharp images. Advanced DSLR - a workshop for the more advance user featuring information on the more advance camera techniques and how to create amazing images Working with Flash - how to use flash successfully to add light and creative shadows to photos. Settings, techniques and much more Camera Phone - Beyond the Selfie - with most people having a smart
phone with a good camera, they seem to be the first choice for many cosplayers and photographers. This workshop will look at ways to get the best photo you can with your mobile. So if you’re in Adelaide and got a spare $33 get down to CosCon and get amazing images, make a ton of new contacts for photo shoots and learn heaps at a friendly and fun venue. Oh did I mention the amazing after party? It promises to be huge with over $20,000 spent on the party - tickets for both the con and the after party at www.cosplaylive.com.au about cosplay photography, lighting
“
cosPLAY
A little bit of preparation can go a long way when photographing cosplay. Here’s a little checklist of things you can consider as you are planning your shoot.
Setting
Can you get to a location that looks anything like the character’s natural environment? Make sure you get permission from private property owners beforehand or you might find yourself in trouble!
Lighting
What time of day are you shooting? Sometimes it’s worth planning the angle that the sun will rise or set and being there super early. Night time and artificial lighting can completely transform locations as well. If you can bring flashes or a reflector you can light the cosplayer to be the focus of the photo.
References
Have you got a hero image that you are trying to recreate? Look at how realistic it is and how it’s been shaded, try to have an idea how similar you are capable of making your end photo look and work towards it.
Helpers
Does your cosplayer need help getting into and staying in their costume? A lot of the time one of their friends can help out with the little details while you are busy concentrating on setting up your photos. They can potentially help off camera holding capes, lights or reflectors too. Be careful to choose the right number of helpers as too many can start to make the photos a lower priority than the party you invited them to.
Hazards
”
Watch out for wildlife, angry neighbours, sun burn, light stands, prop malfunctions…
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/WHATABIGCAMERA
BY Kris Ezergailis
Y photography
PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS
...Trading cards, tournaments, accessories & more. Get it all at Gametraders.
MARCH STORE EVENTS VIC Magic the Gathering - Friday 5:30pm BACCHUS MARSH
NSW
GAMETRADERS
Advanced Yu-Gi-Oh - Saturday & Sunday 10am Pokémon - Saturday 2pm
HIGHPOINT
Magic the Gathering - Thursday 6:30pm
Yu-Gi-Oh - Sunday 3pm
Cardfight!! Vanguard - Sunday 2pm
MILDURA Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Magic the Gathering and Cardfight!! Vanguard every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Check their Facebook page for times and event details.
MACARTHUR SQUARE (CAMPBELLTOWN) Yu-Gi-Oh - Wednesday 5:30pm
PARRAMATTA Yu-Gi-Oh - Thursday 6pm, Saturday 2pm
ACT HYPERDOME Yu-Gi-Oh - Saturday 10am SA
BLACKTOWN
Magic the Gathering - Sunday 11am Cardfight!! Vanguard - Sunday 2pm
Pokémon - Saturday 2pm
Weiss Schwarz - Saturday 10am
INGLE FARM
School Holiday Additional Tournaments: Yu-Gi-Oh - Monday, Wednesday & Friday 2pm
No current tournaments.
Cardfight!! Vanguard - Tuesday & Thursday 2pm
MARION
GAMETRADERS LIVE PENRITH
Pokémon - Monday 6pm
Cardfight!! Vanguard - Saturday 5pm
Cardfight!! Vanguard - Tuesday 6pm
Yu-Gi-Oh - Saturday 5pm & Sunday 11:30am
Yu-Gi-Oh - Wednesday 6pm
Magic the Gathering - Friday 7pm
Magic the Gathering - Friday 6pm (Arrive 5:30)
Weiss Schwarz - Saturday 6pm
MT. BARKER
Board Game Night - Wednesday 6pm
Yu-Gi-Oh - Saturday 4:00pm
Nintendo Fight Night - Thursday 7pm
SEAFORD
GAMETRADERS LIVE HORNSBY Please check their Facebook page for details.
Yu-Gi-Oh - Thursday 6pm (5:30pm registration) Cardfight!! Vanguard - Friday 4:30pm Magic the Gathering - Monday 6pm (5:30pm reg) Pokémon - Sunday 1pm (12:30 registration)
QLD
My Little Pony - Tuesday 5pm (4:30pm registration) Future Card Buddyfight - Thursday 5:30pm Board Game Nights - Wednesdays from 5-8pm
SALISBURY Yu-Gi-Oh (Advanced Format) - Saturday 12.30pm
CHERMSIDE Yu-Gi-Oh - Sunday 3pm Cardfight!! Vanguard - Wednesday 6:30pm Pokémon - Saturday 3pm Magic the Gathering - Tuesday & Friday 6:30pm
LOGAN HYPERDOME Magic the Gathering - Friday 7pm (doors open 6pm) Yu-Gi-Oh - Sunday 2pm (doors open 1pm) Cardfight!! Vanguard - Fortnightly (Check FB) Pokémon - Saturday 2pm (Check FB. Doors open 1pm) Tournaments held at: Unit 5 20-22 Ellerslie Road, Meadowbrook Qld 4131.
did you know
each store has their own facebook page! just search gametraders followed by their store locatioN OR VISIT WWW.GAMETRADERS.COM.AU/STORES.
MACKAY Yu-Gi-Oh - Sundays 3:45pm Magic the Gathering - Friday 6:15pm
MORAYFIELD Magic the Gathering - Friday 6:30pm (5:30pm registration) Yu-Gi-Oh - Sunday 2pm (1pm registration)
FREE SUBSCRIPTION
TO LIVE MAGAZINE! Gametraders Live Magazine is published monthly and keeps gamers and pop-culture fans up to date with the latest in video games, comics, collectables, anime, manga, retro, and our popular cosplay section. All our game reviews and previews are totally honest, looking at the pros and cons of each game so you can make an informed decision, thanks to the team at Sticky Trigger.
GET YOURS HERE!
CHECK OUR PAST ISSUES HERE:
www. issuu.com/gametraders
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 Gametraders LIVE Hornsby....... (02) 9477 6477 Victoria Bacchus Marsh......................... (03) 5367 0717 Highpoint................................... (03) 9317 0188 Gametraders LIVE Mildura........ (03) 5023 7702
Terms & Conditions March Magazine valid until 29/03/15, 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.
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