LIVE MARCH 2016 ISSUE
Pokémon 20 th Anniversary GAME REVIEWS: Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros XCOM 2 + more! Page 24
You shared your
Pokémon moments Page 60
New board games, pop! vinyls, anime, manga, trading card products & tons more!
RETRO
COLLECTION Your Pics! Page 88
Welcome This month we’re celebrating 20 years of Pokémon. We share your Pokémon moments - pages of pics and thoughts from your experiences over the years. Plus we look at your retro collections - some awesome console and game collections to drool over. Our review team looks at Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 along with Marion and Luigi Paper Jam Bros. XCOM 2 is reviewed and Alex Holmes gives it 9/10! Paul Monopoli looks at Pokémon the numbers game while cosplayer Eliza remembers her Pokémon Love! There’s our always great reading with Retro Diaries, Jess Wilon’s board games section takes a look at her love of Pokémon and a whole lot more in our Geek Out section. There’s tons more to read, check the cosplay interviews and pics and find out which stores are running what tournaments. Have fun! The Live Crew
INSIDE 10 24 56 134 Feature: Pokémon 20th Anniversary
Game Reviews
Geek Out
Cosplay
THE LIVE TEAM Publisher: Rob Jenkins (GTHQ) Art Director: Giselle Capozza (GTHQ) Game Review & Preview Editors: Nick Getley & Kylie Tuttle (Sticky Trigger) Retro Writer: Paul Monopoli Anime Writer: Jesse Richardson Board Games: Jess Wilson Comics: Scott Sowter Cosplay Editor: Anny Sims Sticky Trigger Writers: Kylie Tuttle Nick Getley Alex Holmes Aaron Milligan Ben Rachow Bridget Sweeney Sean Fox Sasha Karen Jason English Johnny Scene
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MARCH
GAME
RELEASES! DATE
TITLE
FORMATS
01/03/2016
Far Cry Primal Special Edition
PC
02/03/2016
Mortal Kombat XL
PS4, XB1
03/03/2016
Heavy Rain and Beyond Two Souls Collection
PS4
05/03/2016
The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess HD amiibo Bundle Wii U
08/03/2016
The Division
PC, PS4, XB1
11/03/2016
Republique
PS4
17/03/2016
EA Sports UFC 2
PS4, XB1
19/03/2016
Pokken Tournament
Wii U
24/03/2016
Trackmania Turbo
PC, PS4, XB1
24/03/2016
Hyrule Warriors Legends
3DS
24/03/2016
Nintendo New 3DS XL Console Hyrule Edition
3DS
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R NOW!
COM I IN 20 NG 16!
METRADERS!
FEATURE
2 0 y e a r s o n a n d s t i ll
G o t ta c a t
Celebrating Pokémon’
2016 marks the 20th anniversary of the once pocket-sized franchise which evolved into one of the biggest in the world – Pokémon! The phenomenon has produced a lucrative franchise of video games, plush toys, clothing, a hit television show, trading cards, clothing, stationery and much more.
ch ‘ e m a ll! s 20
th
Anniversary!
W h e r e i t a l l b eg an
Pokémon was the brainchild a Japanese man named Satoshi Tajiri who was born in 1965. As a child, Tarjiri had a strong fascination with insects. It didn’t matter what species they were, he just loved to hunt them and identify them as well as working out ways to attract more of them to the gardens he ventured to. Sadly for Tajiri, during his teenage years, many of the places he visited to catch insects were replaced with high rise buildings or demolished and his hobby was shelved. His dream however lived on his mind as he created a complex adventure from his experiences with insect catching.
At around the same period of his life, Tajiri became interested in videogames. In 1982, along with a few friends, Tajiri formed a magazine – Game Freak. Game Freak’s prime interest was cover-
ing gaming news, however their focus shifted into gaming development and in 1989, they officially announced they were entering the game development industry. Their first game release came in 1991 for the Gameboy and NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) – Mario and Yoshi.
Following a few other releases, 1995 proved to be a turning point in their development career. Pocket Monsters Akai and Pocket Monsters Midori were released in Japan (with the help of Nintendo) and both titles were a hit! Nintendo translated the games into English for North America and Europe release with a few small improvements and ‘Pocket Monsters Red’ and Pocket Monsters Blue’ were created for international release. However, due to the name ‘Pocket Monters’ already being a registered trademark in the United
States, the two words were combined to create the name we all know today as being Pokémon. The games marketing catch phrase “Gotta catch em all!” is one of the well-known gaming catch phrases ever.
W h a t d o yo u do i n t h e Pok é m o n g a m e s? For those of you who are new the Pokémon game franchise, we’ll take you right back to the beginning – Pokémon Red and Blue. The player controls the main character from an overhead prospective and navigates him through the fictional land of Kanto in a quest to catch all the Pokémon species throughout the different habits in where the Pokémon live. After stumbling into some long grass on your journey to “catch em all”, you are greeted by Professor Oak, a well-known Pokémon researcher. After receiving a warning about dangerous Pokémon who may live in the long grasses, you are taken to the professor’s lab where you meet his Nephew, a Pokémon trainer. You and the rival are prompted to select a starter Pokémon to help on your travels.
In most incarnations of the fictional Pokémon universe, a Trainer that encounters a wild Pokémon is able to capture that Pokémon by throwing a specially designed, mass-producible spherical tool called a Poké Ball at it. If the Pokémon is unable to escape the confines of the Poké Ball, it is officially considered to be under the ownership of that Trainer. Afterwards, it will obey whatever its new master commands, unless the Trainer demonstrates such a lack of experience that the Pokémon would rather act on its own accord. Trainers can send out any of their Pokémon to wage non-lethal battles against other Pokémon; if the opposing Pokémon is wild, the Trainer can capture that Pokémon with a Poké Ball, increasing his or her collection of creatures. Pokémon already owned by other Trainers cannot be captured, except
under special circumstances in certain games. If a Pokémon fully defeats an opponent in battle so that the opponent is knocked out (i.e., “faints”), the winning Pokémon gains experience points and may level up. When levelling up, the Pokémon’s statistics (“stats”) of battling aptitude increase, such as Attack and Speed. From time to time the Pokémon may also learn new moves, which are techniques used in battle. In addition, many species of Pokémon possess the ability to undergo a form of metamorphosis and transform into a similar but stronger species of Pokémon, a process called evolution. (excerpt from Wikipedia). In a nutshell, catch all the Pokémon, battle them to make them evolve and be the best Pokémon trainer you can be!
Wh a t a r e Pokémon?
Pokémon are brain child, fictional creatures created by Tajiri and his development team. Trainers catch and train to battle each other for sport. The Pokémon franchise now includes 722 revealed species of the title characters and Pokémon can be organised according to a number of different attributes and their type (water, fire, grass etc). There have been 6 generations of Pokémon and the franchise started with 151 species. Over time with the each game releases, Nintendo and Game Freak have introduced new Pokémon to catch averaging around 50 or so new Pokémon.
The g a m e s Following the release of the first two games in 1996, Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue set a precedent for what has become the worldwide, multi-billion dollar franchise for Nintendo. These titles alone are arguably the top selling RPG title for Gameboy with over 20 million copies of each title. In 1998, Pokémon Yellow: Special Pikachu Version was released which featured a slightly modified version of Red and Blue combined into one, with the introduction of probably the most famous Pokémon of all, Pikachu – the yellow, electric mouse! With each release of a new console handheld console from Nintendo meant new advancements in gaming technology, which meant new advances in gaming and how games were played and presented. In 2000, following the release of the Gameboy colour Pokémon Gold and Silver hit the shelves and again sold record numbers of copies. A few months after Gold and Silver’s release, Pokémon Crystal version hit the shelves. 2001 saw the release of Nintendo’s 32 bit Gameboy Advance which not only allowed Nintendo fans to see their favourite games in greater picture quality, but also meant Pokémon fans would see the release of 5 new Pokémon titles – Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire in 2003, Pokémon Fire Red and LeafGreen in 2004 and Pokémon Emerald in the latter
part of 2004. New adventures. New Pokémon. New battles. Nintendo’s DS console had the greatest release of games with no less than 9 Pokémon games released – Diamond (2006), Pearl (2006), Platinum (2009), HeartGold (2010), SoulSilver (2010), Black (2011), White (2011), Black 2 (2012), and White 2. Pokémon Black and White were the first two Generation5 games released specially for Nintendo DS. These games, like the other games before them, introduced new features to Pokémon while keeping similar features from past games as well. 3DS saw the release of X and Y (2013) and the most recent release of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire in 2014. There have been a total of 24 Pokémon game releases to date (with multiple spin offs), which have created a total of 6 Pokémon generations. The games are usually released in at least a ‘pair’ (eg Pokémon Red and Blue) and to catch all Pokémon released in that generation, you will have to own all titles! Late 2016 sees the release of Pokémon Sun and Moon after being recently announced at a Nintendo Direct live stream in Late Febraury. Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon will be the second generation of fully origi-
nal Pokémon titles developed for the Nintendo 3DS, following the release of Pokémon X and Y in 2013. Nintendo kept the details light for this announcement, which came one day before the 20th anniversary of the release of Pokémon Red and Blue in Japan, though they did reveal that players would be able to transfer captured Pokémon from the Nintendo 3DS versions of Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow to the new titles using Nintendo’s online “Pokémon Bank” service.
The P o k é m on C ar d G a me 1996 saw the release of the Pokémon Card Game (PCG for short) which was based on the video game series and was published by Media Factory in Japan, however later taken over by trading card giant Wizards of the Coast. Nintendo took over the publishing rights in 2003. Like the video games, Players assume the role of a Pokémon trainer and use their Pokémon to battle their opponents’. Players play Pokémon to the field and at-
tack their opponent’s Pokémon. A Pokémon that has sustained enough damage is knocked out, and the player who knocked it out draws a Prize card. There are usually six Prize cards, and the primary win condition is to draw all of them. Other ways to win are by knocking out all the Pokémon the opponent has on the field such that the opponent has none left, or if at the beginning of their opponent’s turn there are no cards left to draw in the opponent’s deck.
Rare cards, foiled cards, badges, stickers, limited edition sets make the PCG a highly sought after game to not only trading card game players, but also collectors with some cards in mint condition can fetch up to $10,000 to the right collector. Card battlers take their games seriously with competitive games often being played worldwide by the best of the best trainers.
Th e T V s ho w Pokémon: The Series, is a Japanese anime television series, which was adapted for the international television markets. It is based on the Pokémon video game series and is a part of the Pokémon franchise. The Pokémon animated series is split up into five chronologically sequential series in Japan, split up by the version of the video game series the anime takes in-
Team Rocket
spiration from: the original series, the Advanced Generation series, the Diamond & Pearl series, the Best Wishes! series, and currently the XY series which began in October 2013. In the international broadcasts, these five series are split into 18 separate seasons. These anime series are accompanied by spin-off programming, consisting of Pokémon Chronicles, a series of side stories fea-
Team Rocket – Jesse and James are a villainous team in pursuit of evil and the exploitation of Pokémon. They are based in the Kanto and Johto regions, with a small outpost in the Sevii Islands. While its main focus is stealing or capturing rare and strong Pokémon, and subsequently selling them, it also funds and conducts
turing characters in the anime that are not its current cast of main characters, and the live action variety and Pokémon-related news shows of Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station, Pokémon Sunday, Pokémon Smash!, and Pokémon Get TV, premiering in late 2013. (excerpt from Wikipedia).
cruel experimental research on Pokémon. At times, it has even killed Pokémon. Their oath, as posted on the wall of one of their many bases, is “Steal Pokémon for profit. Exploit Pokémon for profit. All Pokémon exist for the glory of Team Rocket.” Their ultimate goal is to take over the world using Pokémon. (excerpt from Bulbapedia).
The m o s t p o p u la r P o k é m o n This is a touchy subject as each Pokémon fan is their own subject list of Pokémon’s that they class as their favourite or consider being the most popular. Instead of causing a Poké Battle, we’ve found a few of the most popular characters from the franchise. Jigglypuff - Jigglypuff is a cute little Pokémon that resembles a fluffball or more closely, a balloon as it can inflate itself. Evee - A cute little Pokémon that resembles a little fox. What this one is known for, is the many different evolutions available to him. Using the appropriate stones, he can evolve into Vaporeon, Flareion, or Jolteon. Each one with their own elemental capabilites as showcased by their names. Mewtwo - Originally found in the Red and Blue versions, Mewtwo was in a solitary cave in Cerulean City that is blocked off throughout the entire game. Once the player beats the game, you can go back to Cerulean City and find that the cave is now open. After some puzzles and going through
a few floors of the dungeon, you find Mewtwo and fight him when you walk up to and talk to him. He uses powerful psychic attacks and starts out at level 70. He can be pretty tough if you haven’t saved your Masterball. Once obtained, he’s one of the most (if not the most) powerful character in the game.
favourite Pokémon and refuses to live in a Poke ball. Members of Team Rocket have attempted to catch this Pikachu on multiple occasions because how seemingly powerful he is compared to others. In the original video games, he could just be found out in various wild areas, as he wasn’t a choice for the first Pokémon.
Blastoise and Charizard - Each one was featured on the cover of their corresponding colour versions, Charizard being on the Red Version cover, with Blastoise on the Blue Version cover. The way in which they were portrayed made them look like titans that you just didn’t want to mess with.
But then came Yellow version, a slightly altered version of Red and Blue that followed the TV show a little more closely by having Ash wake up late and being forced to take the Pikachu, who, like in the TV show, follows the main character around instead of living in a Pokeball.
They are the fully evolved forms of Charmander and Squirtle, respectively. Two of the three Pokémon that you get to select at the beginning of the games. Pikachu - You probably all saw this coming, but it’s undeniable that our favourite little electric mouse is the most recognized and most well-known Pokémon in the franchise. In the TV show, he’s Ash’s
S u mm a r y Pokémon doesn’t look like it will be going anywhere anytime soon and why would we want it to? Each new gaming title is fresh and keeps the players wanting to come back for more. With the games evolving, just like the Pokémon players try to catch, players are presented with countless ways to customise their team and the way they play. Each time you play, you can get a different gaming experience out of it and there aren’t a lot of games that can do that. New games, new Pokémon, new strategies. For the hard-core Pokémon fans that have to collect all of the Pokémon, the obsession may never end with more and generations to come, cause “you gotta catch ‘em all!”
WRITTEN BY sticky trigger entertainment WWW.STICKYTRIGGER.COM
OUT 19 MARCH! PRE-ORDER OFFER: Receive a special Shadow Mewtwo amiibo card, which can be tapped to the Wii U GamePad controller to unlock the Shadow Mewtwo playable character in the game. (While stocks last)
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editorial
Pokémon News
President and CEO of the Pokémon Company, Tsunekazu Ishihara - in Tokyo announced that they’ve created a new trailer for fans to view at: www.nintendo.com.au/nintendodirect
It was Feb 27 1996 when Pokémon was originally released, and to celebrate 20 years they’ve announced a new Pokémon Adventure - Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon, for late 2016 release. It will be available in nine language options so that Pokémon trainers can interact with more people around the globe. They’ve also announced Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow on Virtual Console so that players can transfer their Pokémon to the new games, Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon. Looking to the future the President said they are looking toward the future and inventing new ways for gamers to enjoy their Pokémon. Fans will certainly be excited by the news of the launch and expected release date in later 2016.
dent Tatsumi Kimishima revealed in an interview with TIME. he said:
“NX [the codename for Nintendo’s next game system] is in development,” says Kimishima, reaffirming that Nintendo will have more to say about it next year, and calling it “a next step in our dedicated device strategy, the core and primary focus of our business.” (source TIME Magazine:
time.com/4131306/nintendo-kimishima-interview/)
He also said in the same TIME interview: “As far as NX goes, I’ve said it’s different and obviously a new experience,” and… “That being said, I can assure you we’re not building the next version of Wii or Wii U. It’s something unique and different. It’s something where we have to move
away from those platforms in order to make it something that will appeal to our consumer base.” So what can we expect? Something “unique and different” and we hoping something exciting enough to have a broader range of developers and publishers involved. My personal view is that the world of gaming needs Nintendo - yes, you could say the same about Sega, it stopped making consoles at the end of the Dreamcast run, but Nintendo is different. There’s a magic to their games, there’s personality, and a love for their key characters like Mario shines through in everything they do. At Live Magazine we’re excited about what Nintendo are doing and have fingers crossed that the NX is amazing.
Speaking of announcements … or lack of to be accurate. We still don’t know much if anything about the supposed NX console apart from what Nintendo Presi-
www.nintendo.com.au/nintendodirect
©2016 Pokémon. ©1995-2016 Nintendo/Creatures Inc./GAMEFREAK inc. TM, ®, and character names are trademarks of Nintendo. Booster packs may vary by product. Cards vary by pack.
gameS REVIEWS & PREVIEWS reviewS:
NARUTO SHIPPUDEN: ULTIMATE NINJA STORM 4
MARIO & LUIGI PAPER JAM BROS
XCOM 2 RESIDENT EVIL ZERO HD REMASTER
S
NARUTO SH
ULTIMATE
SHIPPUDEN:
E NINJA STORM 4
review
REVIEW If someone says “manga” or “anime”, there’s a good chance that Naruto comes to mind, the story of the blond spikey-haired ninja kid trying to become his village’s next Hokage. Lasting fourteen years, the Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden manga series takes what we know of ninjas, and gives them almost magical powers. The Ultimate Ninja games have followed the manga and anime all the way through up until the end, and Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 (actually the sixth Ultimate Ninja game) follows suit. While it’s not as great as previous Ultimate Ninja games, Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 completes Naruto fantastically. For players who are familiar with the previous Ultimate Ninja games, Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 doesn’t mix the gameplay up too much. For players who haven’t played Ultimate Ninja games before, two ninjas with magical powers fight each other in a 3D arena, hitting each other until their health bars are empty. There’s only one button used to attack, with the opportunity to use different combos depending if the character’s in the air or the control stick is held a different way. Chakra can be used to activate ninjitsu powers, mid-level strength powers or Secret Techniques, high-level strength powers, and on specific characters at critical health levels, activate a rage mode like “Awakening” state for a temporary time. Up to three characters out of a cast of over 100 ninjas can be
NARUTO SHIPPUDEN : ULTIMATE NINJA STORM 4 selected, and previously those additional two were strictly for support; this is how it was in previous Ultimate Ninja games. In Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, these support characters can now switch the initially chosen player character with those support characters, so three characters per player can be played as per match. Also new to the Ultimate Ninja series is the introduction of being able to fight on various walls of arenas. These walls are only present in specific arenas, and then they’re only the specially indicated walls. While sticking to the original storyline (minus the filler), Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Story 4’s story takes a different turn from previous Ultimate Ninja games. Instead of moving through an overworld, and encountering battles, the story mode this time is portrayed as a menu, only having the option to play through various battles, in a traditional one versus one or one versus a mob depending on the
level. Boss level fights also include quick-time events, just like previous Ultimate Ninja games. The plot separates titular character Naruto Uzamaki with his rival Sasuke Uchiha at the start, then they converge, separate again, and come back together, ending exactly as the manga does, epilogue and all. The missing half presented in previous Ultimate Ninja games, the exploration of the overworld and encountering battles, is present in the Adventure Mode. Set after the story, Adventure Mode sees Naruto, fellow ninja college Sakura Haruno, and love interest Hinata Hyuga, explore the ninja world after the conflict in the story mode. Players hungry for more battles will be pleased, as there’s plenty of battles to be had here. There’s random events that can include a random assortment of characters, various quests involve fighting specific characters, and previous battles deemed to be significant to the series can be discovered and fought. Despite set after the events of Story mode, Adventure
PROS: OVER ONE HUNDRED PLAYABLE CHARACTERS 3D CUTSCENES ARE GREAT NO FILLER FOLLOWS THE MANGA WELL
CONS: RELIANT ON PRE-EXISTING KNOWLEDGE OF NARUTO 2D CUTSCENES ARE NOT GREAT
mode is unlocked from the start. While Adventure mode contains previous battles in the Naruto series, it’s not nearly enough to appreciate or understand the story as a whole. Players new to Naruto would essentially be opening a book to the last few chapters and be largely lost. Considering previous Ultimate Ninja games, it’s strange to see the story and adventure modes to be separate. It’s a bit of a shame, as having an adventure story mode had potential to expand the gameplay. Previously in the Ultimate Ninja series, cutscenes used the same cel-shaded graphics as the games do. However, for a good portion of the story in Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4, stills from the anime are used. Not clips, stills. Considering all the work CyberConnect2 have done so far in the Ultimate Ninja series, it really causes some scenes to lose their impact. For a video game about an anime, it doesn’t seem very animated. CyberConnect2 got the memo though, and these stills are only present for about half the story. When used, the cel-shaded cutscenes do look amazing; almost like a 3D anime. Even though Naruto’s known for its long story, it wouldn’t be a fighting game without the ability to just fight, and that can be done in Freeplay Battle mode. Either against the computer, or another players, there’s over one hundred characters from the Naruto series, as previously mentioned.
These range from the very first incarnation of Naruto, all the way to the adult version seen in the epilogue. If they’ve been a main character, there’s a good chance they’re in Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 and playable.
8/1 0
There’s not just your traditional one on one battles here too. Survival has you fighting for as long as you can with only one health bar, tournament can help put up to eight players against each other in a tournament setting, league sets up a round robin tournament, and practice allows you to… well, practice. You can also customise a character’s substitution item and stand-in game to appear when defeating an enemy with a Secret Technique, and save pre-set teams to quickly choose favourite characters. There’s Online Battle too, with Ranked and Player matches, as well as Tournament and Leagues available too, and an Endless mode to see who can earn the most consecutive wins, and Friend Search to play against friends. A log-in system is used to reward players to log in on a daily basis. Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 really struggles with lag. It’s still playable, but it’s very noticeable, more so than other games. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 is the final chapter of the Naruto series, and ends it all wondrously. The Story mode is slow to start, but when it picks up, it picks up, and there’s more to be done after the credits roll. If you know about Naruto, you’re
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE TRAILER!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAdiIT42Gso
absolutely set for a good time. If you know little, then you’ve got a flashy fighter with over-the-top cutscenes that’s simple to pick up, hard to master, and difficult to put down. Believe it.
WRITTEN BY SASHA KAREN WWW.STICKYTRIGGER.COM
MARIO &
PAPER J
& LUIGI
JAM BROS
review
REVIEW
MARIO & LUIGI PAPER JAM BROS
There’s something comforting about always knowing what you’re going to get. Walk into a McDonald’s or a Starbucks anywhere in the world and you can count on getting pretty much the same burger, pretty much the same coffee. The same holds for gaming. A Zelda title is always traversing a series of dungeons and gathering a collection of useful items. Assassin’s Creed is always leaping across rooftops, planning the most efficient way to plunge a knife in someone’s back. Halo is always… whatever you do in Halo. So it is with Mario, the grandpappy of all gaming. Whether it’s Party, Bros, or even Golf, anything featuring the moustachioed plumber will give you exactly what you except. Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros, in this way, is no different. Exploring the attic of Peach’s castles with one of a million unimportant Toads, Luigi accidentally knocks down a strange book. With an ominous rumbling, it bursts open, spewing out a cavalcade of all the paper denizens of Paper Mario world into the ‘real’ world of Mario and Luigi.
This means a Paper Mario and a Paper Peach, surrounded by plenty of Paper Toads…but also a Paper Bowser and an army of paper minions ready to bring the hurt to the plumbing brothers. (I’ll blow your mind right now: both Peaches get kidnapped by both Bowsers, tasking both Mario and Luigi to save them. I know. I was amazed too.)
One might expect a blending of Paper Mario’s origami-style and Mario & Luigi’s teamwork-style to create something fresh, exciting and new. For the most part, it doesn’t. It’s exactly the same turn-based battle system that has been on show since Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga way back in 2003, now with Paper Mario turning the brother’s duo into a trio. If it were a total copy-paste, this would scream a lack of innovation, but instead, the little tweaks they make send the message of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. The usual boots and hammers, utilized through timing-based attacks, and dodges of enemy attacks still form the core of the
system. Paper Mario, being paper, adds to that by being able to copy himself, the efficacy of his attacks depending on the amount of copies he has. These are ramped up even further with Trio Attacks, ranking along boss battles with their sheer scale. The first time you smash enemies with a giant cardboard hammer and transport to a squash court to beat their flattened forms, it’s pretty clear that nothing here is lacking in imagination. The first time you wheel out a massive papercraft mecha of Mario to do giant robot battle, you’re sold. In the field, things are ‘the same, but different’ once again. The three Mario brothers put their heads together to formulate new attacks and moves to help them traverse and battle. These include stacking three hammer strikes atop one another for a massive strike, twisting Paper Mario to launch the trio across long gaps, and even sliding through tiny cracks in order to snatch secreted treasure. Extra minigames scattered through the world, mostly involving the rescue of Paper Toads from various dangers, help to spice things
7.9/ 10
PROS: GORGEOUS CARTOONY WORLD AMUSING STORY SOME NEAT NEW TWISTS ON THE FORMULA
CONS: VERY BASIC STORY BATTLES CAN BECOME REPETITIVE up further and flesh out whichever corner of the Mushroom Kingdom this might happen to be. So the game itself is by the numbers. The story is…also that. Mario RPGs have never played it straight, allowing them to have a cartoonish, friendly feel that many other RPGs lack. Luigi is a crybaby, Bowser is a braggart, Peach wearily accepts her fate of being forever the damsel in distress. There’s nothing really new, save for the paper people mixing it up, but the cute little winks and jokes throughout make it an enjoyable journey nonetheless. Mario and Luigi, if only by virtue of their movements and Italianish gibberish, seem to be having a grand old time, which transmits through to the player. Around the twentieth time you’re rescuing the same princess from the same fire-breathing turtle king, it’s hard to take it too terribly seriously. Like always, this is supported
by the riotously beautiful world that is the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario and Luigi bounce and move with fluid, excited animation among the hills and valleys of the world, immediately familiar and comforting from decades of Mario-ing. There’s no need to reinvent the Goomba, so all the love has been poured into excellent animation and vibrant locales, making the whole game an absolute treat for the eyes. In the end, Mario games are simply explained: if you’ve played one, you’ve played ’em all. Paper Jam Bros is no different. It’s the same brothers fighting the same Koopas on the same quest to save the same princess. The level of quality, charm and fun alone set it apart, turning this from what could be a tired cash-grab into yet another delightful entry into the Mario stable. Jump on.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE TRAILER!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI9Ic3tz2lc
WRITTEN BY AARON MILLIGAN WWW.STICKYTRIGGER.COM
XCO
OM 2 review
XCOM 2
REVIEW
XCOM 2 wasn’t supposed to exist. When the original reboot of the classic strategy series, XCOM, was launched as XCOM: Enemy Unknown launched back in 2012 it wasn’t expected to do well. Released by 2K to dampen complaints about the upcoming third person shooter The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, developer Firaxis shocked everyone into amazement. They had managed to craft one of the best strategy games of recent years, and one that lived up to the classic XCOM pedigree, and sales of the game backed up their passion and dedication. The Bureau didn’t do nearly as well and so, four years later, we have a true sequel to Enemy Unknown in the form of XCOM 2 because 2K knew a good thing when they saw it. With XCOM 2 Firaxis have managed not only to equal the previous feats of Enemy Unknown but have crafted everything a sequel should be: everything you loved about the previous game is still there but its better and there’s more of it. The story of XCOM 2 is simple: the aliens won. Despite XCOM’s
best efforts in Enemy Unknown the alien menace has returned and taken over Earth. 20 years later XCOM is back to face its biggest task yet with the retaking of planet earth from the alien troops of ADVENT. To give away too much of XCOM 2’s story would be unfair of me but suffice to say for a strategy game, a genre that usually uses story as a framing context for your battles rather than an emotional driver behind them, XCOM 2 does a masterful job of crafting an engaging and emotionally driving story. You’ll absolutely feel responsible for and care for your subordinates and it really adds to this excellent feeling that you’re liberating Earth with your comrades. The real area where XCOM 2 shines is in its insane level depth gameplay. Each mission presents an objective, usually timed, for you and your team to complete. Your team will be made up of between 4-6 operatives, and each operative will be one of four classes expanding on the classes from Enemy Unknown: Sharpshooter, Ranger, Specalist, and Grenadier. Each of
these classes has different skill trees, allowing you to customise your team to suit your mission, though you’ll want have many different soldiers for the different missions you’ll encounter and for when your soldiers get injured or die. Once soldiers rank up they receive nicknames and the ability to be customised down to the country they are from, the tattoos on their arms, the hair on the face, and their individual back stories. This is a genius move on Firaxis’ part as it ensure that players become deeply attached to their team of badass rebels. This in turn induces higher levels of tension than even XCOM 2 famously provides because in XCOM 2 death is permanent. This ensures that when playing through missions you end up really taking care with your choices so your soldiers don’t get killed – they’re not just valuable tactical assets they are team mates you’ve invested time, effort, and emotional energy into. The immediate tactical gameplay is high tension, instantly satisfying, and inherently addictive. Each XCOM 2 mission
takes place on a environment broken up into grids, and these grids determine your squad’s movement, placement, cover, etc. Each of your squad members will be required to fulfill the different roles you need them to achieve your objective. Many missions have a timer and so you’re often forced out of your comfort zone to push towards whatever objective needs completing. Though it might seem counter intuitive this active push to keep players on their toes is what makes XCOM 2 so thrilling and memorable. There’s nothing quite like succeeding under pressure and pulling of a brilliant escape or tactical riposte feels satisfying because XCOM 2 can be quite difficult. But thankfully it’s that type of game that if you fail you know the blame is squarely on you. The game can be beat if you’re good enough and it’s that feeling that allows XCOM 2 to feel so satisfying. Add to this XCOM 2‘s permadeath mechanic and each mission feels tense and exciting to play through and exhilarating to finish with your squad intact. The other trademark XCOM mechanic is the chance to hit enemies. Each time you take a shot an enemy you have a chance to hit them. There’s a rage that only XCOM 2 can induce when you run straight up to an alien to shotgun at 93% chance knowing that if you get it you’ll win and if you miss you’ll lose. And then you’ll miss and say something that would make your mother disapprove as your favourite shotgunner dies. Somehow, this insanity is addictive as hell. After each mission you take a deep
breath and then take a look at the other missions available and think to yourself…just one more. Just to complete that one objective to unlock that research. And the one more. And then it’s 2am. This is XCOM 2‘s tactical gameplay and I wouldn’t have it any other way. XCOM 2 demands players have an overarching strategy in mind as well, not just tactical nounce in individual missions. Without a good plan to guide them players will run the risk of not completing missions in an efficient manner which can have some pretty dire consequences. Thankfully base management has been toned down from Enemy Unknown which means that while choosing what workshops and laboratories to construct and when is important you won’t find yourself up the creek without a paddle in mid or end game simply because you didn’t build in the order the game required. Still XCOM 2 rewards forward thinking and this all plays into gameplay that really does make you feel like a commander making crucial decisions that could tip the war in humanity’s favour, each decision a flashpoint. No game has done this feeling this well since the Mass Effect series. It’s not only in gameplay that XCOM 2 out does Enemy Unknown. Using the Unreal Engine XCOM 2 really kicks things up a notch with great character models, environments, and art direction. XCOM 2 doesn’t aim for a hyper realistic look but instead finds a distinct direction that fits well with its brand of science fiction. Playing on my fairly stand-
ard PC rig (running a GTX 780) let me have all the settings on high with no issue. There have been some reports about the game not running properly but it ran without issue for me at a steady frame rate and looked great while doing it. XCOM 2’s sound design continues the sequel’s act of improving upon its predecessor. The musical score kicks things up a notch before each mission making you feel like you really are about to command your squad in a life or death situation where success is the only option. Levels come with appropriate sound too helping shift the mood from creepy rescue missions to tense and heroic assaults. Both human and alien weapons have their own satisfying noises that make either fist punching or wince inducing a result when they make contact. The aliens themselves all have thier own unique sounds, some of which you’ll certainly learn to dread. The voice work from the game’s characters is uniformly excellent, and the addition of a wide variety of accents and languages for your XCOM operatives to have set is certainly welcome. There’s even Australian! Firaxis have really out done themselves in terms of replay ability. Now that each map is randomly generated each mission each time you play the campaign will be different. No two experiences will be the same. Add to this multiplayer as well as harder and harder difficulties for the campaign, including the legendary Iron Man mode, and this means that players have es-
sentially unlimited missions with which to test their tactical ettle keeping XCOM 2 the strategy gift that keeps on giving. Perhaps equal parts welcome and surprising is Firaxis’ opening embrace of the modding community, an advantage of keeping XCOM 2 as a PC exclusive. The original Enemy Unknown had a strong following in the modding community and Firaxis have chosen to embrace this with the mods available day one from the steam workshop. This is really excellent as it will allow players to add even further variables and customisation to not only their soldiers but also gameplay. Want Katanas instead of swords? Done. Want an eyepatch? Done. Want to remove timers from missions? Done. Firaxis’ community engagement in this regard should be emulated by all developers wanting to build a long lasting game. But giving people the tools to make new and exciting XCOM 2 experiences Firaxis have guaranteed their game will get the long life it deserves. It’s not often that a game achieves so much what it set out to do, but XCOM 2 is one of those games. Firaxis have managed to craft one of the finest strategy games in years that makes every victory and failure both feel earned. Each mission is memorable and unique to each player and you’ll be be telling yourself “just one more turn” well into the early hours of the morning. If you want a challenging strategy game that will make you punch the air in triumph and claw your face in desperation yet still crave the next mission get this game.
PROS: FANTASTIC DEPTH OF GAMEPLAY MOD SUPPORT ENJOYABLE STORY OUSTANDING REPLAY VALUE
CONS: SOUNDTRACK COULD BE STRONGER MAP INTERFACE CAN BE SOMETIMES FRUSTRATING
9/1 0
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WRITTEN BY alex holmes
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RESIDENT E HD
EVIL ZERO REMASTER
review
REVIEW After the commercial success from the remastered version of the Resident Evil remake, Resident Evil Zero is a follow-up title to well received HD port and a prequel title set right before the events surrounding the original. If you’ve played the GameCube release back in 2002, Resident evil Zero serves simply as an enhanced port with the only new content to be added is costumes and a added control scheme. Though as much as I welcome having the series ported/remade for the newest console generations, I find myself in a bit of dilemma when it comes to Zero. Out of all the Resident Evil titles that I’ve played over the years, needless to say, I’ve never really enjoyed Resident Evil Zero. Whilst on the surface Resident Evil Zero has the makings of a great survival horror title, to me at least, Zero only rubs off as a compilation of all finicky aspects that I hated from the originals. From its terrible writing, monotonous enemies, and pain in the ass inventory system – if there was one word I’d used to describe my experience with Zero, is that it’s frustrating. Not scary, nor foreboding. Just frustrating. In Resident Evil Zero, players assume the role of S.T.A.R.S police officer Rebecca Chambers, and death row inmate, Billy Coen. In this unlikely pairing, the story follows the events surrounding the S.T.A.R.S Bravo team, who have been sent out to
RESIDENT EVIL ZERO: HD REMASTER
investigate the ‘bizarre murders’ currently haunting the residents (no pun) of Raccoon City. Roughly half an hour into the title, and Resident Evil Zero starts off pretty well. Having played the original GameCube release back in the day, the improvements made in sharpening the games character models and textures are a visual treat to behold. In addition to the classic controls and fixed camera perspectives, the experience overall is a welcoming change from the recent iterations, in favour for what made these titles so goddamn memorable to play. Though as much as Zero appeals to my desire to relive that classic survival horror gameplay, nostalgia alone cannot save this title from its many faults. Excusing for a moment Zero’s god awful story and one dimensional characters, the three primary factors that really make Zero such an odious experience comes in the form its lousy enemies and bosses, confined inventory system and tedious backtracking.
Combat, whilst remaining true to form, is one the least enjoyable aspects in Zero. This criticism is not because of the controls, but due to the fact that the primary foes in Zero are giant insects and infected animals. Whilst admittedly these common norms aren’t at all a new factor for the series, the joyless endeavour in assuming the position of pest control comes within the first half an hour when we’re tasked in eliminating a giant scorpion. With later boss fights against a giant centipede and a giant bat, the bar only proceeds to drop lower and lower. Giant insects and infected monkeys are not only not scary to fight, but are also boring enemies to kill. Limited inventory space isn’t at all a new feature for the series, but in fact a crucial one that the franchise has carried over to provide players a sense of resource management and preparation. However with the addition Zero, the title has provided a bizarre change of form with the abandonment of its item box system,
6/1 0
and reduction of item slots. With the abandonment of the classic inventory box found in primarily most of the series, managing items and resources has never felt more of a goddamn chore. Given the characters inability to carry no more than six slots and the added elements of particular items taking up two spaces, the only nightmare found in Zero is having to backtrack halfway through the map to pick up a key item that you left several rooms ago. This here criticism provides a perfect image into repetitive path that Zero falls into throughout the eight hours I played of it – proceed to an area, find new items, drop off items, advance to a new area, drop off items, go back for previous items, advance back to the area, use items, pick up items again, advance in an area, drop items (etc.). I can understand the desire for change (and of course the obvious solution of keeping most of the key items in one specific spot), but with that said, the developers behind this needed to understand that when you omit a major gameplay element that has been in the series for the past the 6 years (20 now!), you got to compliment it well with something better. Fortunately though, Zero doesn’t do anything of the sort, and in fact made it worse considering just how incredibly narrow sorting through items is now.
PROS: Overall, Resident Evil Zero is by far one of the weakest addition to the survival horror series. It’s weak because it tries so damn hard to provide some relevant insight into its origins, but ultimately fails in the sheer stupidity of its boorish story-line and lacklustre enemies. If you enjoyed the Resident Evil remake – or at least the original series – you might like Resident Evil Zero. For newcomers though, the amount of frustration in both backtracking and its inventory system isn’t enough to justify a purchase.
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GORGEOUS CARTOONY WORLD AMUSING STORY SOME NEAT NEW TWISTS ON THE FORMULA
CONS: VERY BASIC STORY BATTLES CAN BECOME REPETITIVE
WRITTEN BY jason english WWW.STICKYTRIGGER.COM
DARK SO
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geek o Pokémon:
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Pokémon: the My first experience with Pokémon was on a Gameboy emulator in the late 90s. People on the emulation websites were raving about this amazing new title from Japan called “Pocket Monsters”. At this time we were relying on fan translations from hacking groups to be able to play the game in English. I downloaded it and spent 20 minutes with the game before giving up. I didn’t hate it, I just thought that there were far better games I could be spending my time on. Fast forward a few years and the girl I had recently started dating was obsessed with Pokémon. She collected cards, had limited edition consoles, advertising paraphernalia and more. She reintroduced me to the series, I purchased a copy of Pokémon Blue and I was hooked. Squirtle was my starter of choice and I raised him all the way up to a Blastoise. I started to watch the anime, I read play guides and was absorbed with the rumours about the game online… Pokémon was becoming a way of life. In late 2001 all the major shopping centres were hosting events that provided you with the legendary Pokémon, Celebi. This required me to purchase a copy of Gold, Silver, or the newly released Pokémon Crystal. I decided to purchase a copy of Crystal and took it to the Pokémon sta-
tion that was setup in the mall. I was promptly told that I had to play through the game until I had the Pokedex before they could give me Celebi. I sat down in Tea Tree Plaza Shopping Centre and played until I had my starter (Totodile) and the Pokedex. I returned, happily collected my Celebi, went home and played right through the land of Johto. By the time the third generation arrived I was a serious Pokemaniac. I purchased Pokémon Ruby and started a playthrough. At this point I turned to the Internet to do a bit of research about the new games. This is where I discovered elements to the game I was not aware of, such as IV and EV values that aided the player in upgrading specific stats of your choosing. It was then that I discovered that while the stats of a caught Pokémon may be random, the ability to upgrade those stats was not. All of a sudden I went from happily playing the game to carefully planning the Pokémon I wanted, the base stats I wanted them to have and how I was going to improve and evolve them along the way. It became a very complicated process and one that consumed a lot of my time. This carried over to Pokémon Fire Red, Pokémon Diamond, Colosseum, XD and then I stopped. Just like
e numbers game that, completely out of nowhere I stopped playing Pokémon.
but for now real life has taken its hold on me and it’s not letting go.
I never really thought about why but I suppose it has a lot to do with growing up. Playing Pokémon the way I was playing it was incredibly involved and time consuming. I was in my mid 20s at this point, working a full time job, gearing up to study and planning a career change. I could have continued playing it casually but when you allow yourself to be absorbed with a game of that nature it’s very hard to take a step back, so I simply stopped. A few months ago I tried to give Pokémon another go. I started with Pokémon Black so I could transfer all of my old Pokémon from Pearl. From there I planned to go into X and Y. I played it for about a week before putting it away again. It wasn’t conscious on my part, I didn’t even think twice about it. I suppose my time with Pokémon is at an end. That might change
Pokémon is the pure definition of a “gripping” series. It grabs you by the controller and doesn’t let go. It’s so much fun and so addictive. The game allows you to play at any level you feel like. You can cruise around the worlds, catching Pokémon, training and battling, or you can carefully plan out a strategy and play around with the numbers. Either way, if you haven’t experienced a Pokémon game yet then forget the hype, forget the anime and everything else around it. Go to the shops, purchase a Pokémon game, bring it back and enjoy an original take on the classic Japanese RPG. You can thank me later on Twitter @dizrythmia.
WRITTEN BY paul monopoli
POKÉMON
your say
“My favourite Pokémon moment was when I got my first Pokémon game. It was Pokémon Yellow & I got it with a Purple Gameboy Color. I was like 14 or 15 at the time & it was a gift from my late Uncle Ernie & Mum & it made me so happy. Being from a family that mostly rented games due to being poor-ish, to get both a new game & handheld blew my mind! Unfortunately both the GBC & Pokémon Yellow have left my possession, the smiles on my mum & late Uncle Ernie when they saw how happy & grateful I was for it will never fade. As for the game, I fell in love with it immediately! Playing through what was in essence the TV show, was just awesome! Remembering all the tactics in the show helped so much when I played through it. Catching Mewtwo in a Poké ball without the cheat was my proudest moment!” - Jean-Paul Bartolomei
“My favourite Pokémon moment would hands down have to be watching it on toasted TV before school on weekday mornings! Sometimes you ended up a little late because it was so good!” - Jakob Borg
“My very first video game was Pokémon Red, which I got from a friend after I found a Gameboy at a second-hand store, and many fond memories come from that game! I’ve also got a toy Pikachu which my mum brought back from a trip to Hong Kong when I was really young and he’s been with me ever since, watching every episode and movie and playing every game with me.” - Gabrielle Villjoen “The day I found and got my Magikarp plush, Noodl. Magikarp is often laughed at for being useless and weak but I see it as the Pokémon of potential. It’s evolution gyarados is a much loved Pokémon that is also quite strong. I see it as ‘you might splash around for longer than you’d like but one day, you’ll be surfing!’” - Aleida Niamh McCluskey
“When I was 6 years old and got Pokémon red for Christmas that year so many months after it had come out, with an second hand original yellow Nintendo gameboy. The feeling of excitement opening that present and seeing charizard on the box is still with me today and the wonder of having my own Pokémon for the first time was the best!! :)” - Jen Beaumont “My favorite Pokémon memory by far is when I was growing up I collected everything Pokémon. I really wanted a Pocket Pikachu and my older brother traded his Shiny Blastoise with a kid around the corner, just so I could have it. I used it for years and still have it to this day (15 years later). I’ll never forget just how excited I was when he bought it home.” - Lia Cody “My favourite Pokémon moment was in Pokémon Heartgold (my first ever Pokémon game) when I got Ho-oh, it may seem something simple but was awesome to me.” - Cameron Lovelock
MOMENTS
:
“tell us your favourite PokEmon moment be it a game, TV, Movie ... toy ... whatever!”
“The best Pokémon moment for me would have to be the first time I played Ctg Pokémon tournament... The challenges and the beautiful cards made it easy to become addicted. Oh and when I got my secret rare misprint Charizard.” - Makesha Watt
“The very first Pokémon card I got given in Grade 2 (back in 1998) was a Charmander, I still have that card framed and on my bed side table, Pokémon was a huge part of my childhood I played all the games up till black and white.” - Ashen Gunasekara “When I evolved my starter charmander, to a charizard in Pokémon Red on my gameboy. I was so happy at the time.” - Shaarang Singh
“As a young child, ear infections plagued my existence. When I finally went into operation to remedy the situation, I was rewarded with Pokémon Blue and a new game boy at the end of the procedure. Despite spending half of my battery life attempting to work out how to use stairs and a door (while playing the virtual NES in game enough times to wear down an A button). Having slept enough due to anaesthetic, I spent the entire night battling Bug type Pokémon, occasionally succumbing to poison Since then, Pokémon had been my go to, through sickness and health like a strong marriage. And when I got chicken pox, Pokémon
Red was mine. (Picture attached) Pokémon has made memories of the times when I was ill to a time where a world of dreams and adventure awaited.” - Blake Riley
POKÉMON
your say
“To this day i still remember spending hours after school playing Pokémon stadium on Nindendo 64 with my father. I remember that I always thought I was cool cause I had played the Gameboy games and knew all the Pokémon. Although despite that my dad would beat me most of the time!
I still carry on to this day playing with friends and my partner. It’s my own kind of comfort.” - Melissa King “My favourite Pokémon moment came in 2015. After almost 20 years and thousands of hours of playing Pokémon I finally encountered my very first wild shiny Pokémon. A Clefairy. I’ve never battled a wild Pokémon with so much strategy and care before.” - Teegan Mckay “My favorite moment has to be introducing and playing Pokémon with my younger cousins. So if my fave memorys are trading with them, paring up in battles and sharing various secrets about hidden Pokémon and items” - Dylan Faith
“Mine was finally beating iris in Pokémon White 2 after a year and a half of trying.” - Daga Austin
“My favorite Pokémon moment was when I first got my Pokémon Yellow game from my grandmother. It was in French and I was five. I still remember not understanding what was going on, and trying to leave Professor Oak’s lab without picking the Pokémon. My Grandmother tried to help me, but she couldn’t stop laughing at my frustration. It was the first time I’d see her laugh in weeks, since she has lukiema. She may be gone, but she’s the reason I love Pokémon so much.” - Annie Celine Roach
“Not necessarily my fave moment, but definitely my most satisfying. I have always been determined to catch and own every single Pokémon in my DS games without any cheats. Event Pokémon were always hard to get. And early in I missed one of my favorites, Mew. I FINALLY got Mew from Pokémon Ranch on Wii. You must catch 1,000 Pokémon and have it stored in your Ranch to earn Mew. Took close to a month to get 1,000 Pokémon and the satisfaction I had from putting in such effort made the Mew all that much more sweeter. Now I have 720 of the 721 Pokémon, including all the mega evolutions, vivillion, Rotom and Unown forms and a bunch of shinies.. 7 years of hard work with many hours playing multiple games and I’m sooo close to being fully complete without resorting to any form of cheating.” - Stephen Mearns “Clearly it’s the first movie when the big battle between the originals and the clones, then right near the end where Ash turns to stone all the Pokémon teared up.. still to this day puts a lump in my throat.” - Dean Measom
MOMENTS
:
tell us your favourite PokEmon moment be it a game, TV, Movie ... toy ... whatever!”
Is there a better Pokémon moment then after hatching hundreds of eggs finally getting the shiny you wanted! And that’s why my favourite Pokémon related moment will always be hatching a shiny Mudkip!” - Codi Piccolo Wiseman “My favourite Pokémon moment came in 2015. After almost 20 years and thousands of hours of playing Pokémon I finally encountered my very first wild shiny Pokémon. A Clefairy. I’ve never battled a wild Pokémon with so much strategy and care before.” - Teegan Mckay “Well I have been playing since the original ruby and sapphire but I was young I caught my first legendary Pokémon when I played black and white... Even tho it was part of the story I still screamed around dancing about how I got a “big poofy Pokémon” I named it big poofy and it’s even been transferred into oras so I still have my first legendary.” - Yasmine Shelley
“Ahh, nothing could ever beat the moment I opened my first pack of Pokémon cards back in 2006. It was a pack of Crystal Guardians (it was the first of 4 packs I opened which also feafured a Holon Phantoms, A Legend Maker and a Delta Species”. Though I can’t remember the cards I got, it was the day I got absolutely addicted to Pokémon! (Shows, TCG, Films, Games etc). The second best moment with Pokémon is another TCG one. I remember opening up 3 Dark Encounters packs and Pulling a Darkrai in one and a Cresselia in on of the others! I lost my mind! Nowadays I still love Pokémon very much, but nothing will ever beat those days, Gen 3 will always be my favourite of the generations!!” - Robert James Taylor Out of all the games I’ve played and the episodes watched it always goes back to When Mikeys Eevee got rid of team rocket after being told the it needs to be evolved to battle good.. It’s why Eevee is always in my party - Brendan Amidy
“It all started with Pokémon Red’s release. I discovered my saviour, Charizard. One day in primary school when I was 5-6 years old my best friend came to school with this Charizard teddy. I was so eager on getting it that I asked him if he wanted to trade for it. He agreed and I offered a bunch of small Pokémon toys, a Blastoise, Kingler and a Meowth. He accepted the trade. I was over the moon to have Charizard. I’m nearly 21 now and he’s still my best friend and Charizard still remains on my pillow next too me. I have a huge Charizard tattoo now and multiple Charizard merchandise.” - Tahlia ‘Digs’ Burrows
POKÉMON
your say
“When you first caught a glimpse of MewTwo. That was intense. That, or getting my first ever Pokémon (bulbasaur) to level 100 as a Bulbasaur, then letting him finally evolve, lol.” - TeeJay Reed
“Finally completing my set of original Pokémon cards, started when I was 5 when they originally came out and finished about 6 or 7 years later. Still have them all 16 years on.” - Hayley Gossow “Getting HeartGold and SoulSilver brought back a lot of memories from the original and became my favourite Pokémon game once again, and given a lot more side quests like catching the legendary Pokémon from the first, second and third gen.” - Zak Hammat “My favourite pokémoment was when i got pokémon emerald for my 7th birthday and played it 10hrs straight which also happens to be the 27th of feb so really i’m just happy to be born on Pokémon day \^0^/” - Wez Johnston
“My favorite Pokémon moment was purchasing and playing Pokémon Soul Silver. I grew up playing generations one and two, but despite gen one being the one that started it all gen two has always been more memorable to me. I was older when I first played gen 2 and it included the regions and Pokémon from both generations, how great is that! Being able to play again was amazing and all of the extra touches made the experience even better, most notably having the Pokémon in your first slot follow behind you and being able to take group photos of yourself with your team at different points during the game. The decision to purchase it was one of the best things I could have ever done because it reignited my childhood love for Pokémon and without that I probably wouldn’t love Pokémon like I do to this present day!” - Brittany Farrer
After you beat gold/silver for the first time and then BAM! The entire original game follows and finishes with a battle with the ghost of red on top of mount silver. 20 years later and my mind is still struggling to deal with the intensity of the situation.” - Jared Widdison
“Being ganged up on by team plasma and then Ghetsis goes mad and wants to kill you just after you beat his son in battle... what a nice fellow colonthree emoticon and also receiving event Pokémon whenever events are being released is fun. But my absolute favourite moment would be beating the champion of each game and the accomplishment you feel as you keep going forward into the world of Pokémon!” - Freya Jane “Is there a better Pokémon moment then after hatching hundreds of eggs finally getting the shiny you wanted! And that’s why my favourite Pokémon related moment will always be hatching a shiny Mudkip!” - Codi Piccolo Wiseman “My eevee evolving into an umbreon for the first time in Pokémon silver. I had no idea that there were new eeveelutions and I was so shocked. Umbreon is still my favourite Pokémon today.” - Justin Paul
MOMENTS
:
tell us your favourite PokEmon moment be it a game, TV, Movie ... toy ... whatever!”
“These (mew)two quotes from Pokémon: the first movie were and have been very important through my life. I still remember watching the movie for the first time and breaking down in tears about ash turning to stone. That was by far the most impacting moment I have ever had through Pokémon, and every day I try to live my life with these quotes in mind.” - Conor O’Neil “Mega Charizaed X vs Mewtwo such an epic and cinematic fight that keeps you eating your popcorn and loving Pokémon even more.” - Rene Nicolescu
your say
N O M É K PO
ents m n i a t r e t n e r sticky trigge
“I can’t quite remember how or when I first heard about Pokémon - it was either the anime or the cards first quickly followed by the other. The initial concept seemed amazing - you could have cool animals be your best pals and go on adventures with you. Naturally, Charmander was my favourite.
There was something so inherently simple with Pokémon that never needed explaining; you were shown it and then you got the appeal. I don’t think there were many things better in my young life than finding a holographic in a booster pack or trading to get that perfect card. It was so awesome to see a new episode with Pokémon I’d never seen before. My favourite episode is still Island of the Giant Pokémon, by the way.
When I found out it was a game my mind exploded. It was, quite literally, the perfect game at the right time.
Despite my love of Pokémon, I never had a Game Boy growing up, so I used to play my mates’ copies of Pokémon Red or Blue Versions at sleepovers for as long as I could before I has to turn it off and lose my progress. I think I have probably played through Pallet Town to Pewter City so many times, more than any other part of any game. And then I’d go to sleep and dream of Pokémon and the adventures I’d have. I did finally get that Game Boy and my own copy of Red for my 21st birthday from my brother. It was worth the wait.” - Alex Holmes
“I remember the first time I was introduced to the world of Pokémon. It was the biggest craze in the latter part of my primary school years, and I had not the faintest clue what it was about, until a guy by the name of Daniel introduced me properly. First it was the animated series, followed by the trading card game, and finally after begging and pleading with my mother, a copy of Pokémon Red Version for the original Game Boy. We were far from being well off growing up, so my Mum bought me a second hand copy which I loved. I remember her picking me up after spending the afternoon at my uncle’s house and her showing me the cartridge, battered and label half-ripped. But the moment I inserted that cartridge and flicked the switch, it was game over social obligations. I would spend countless hours playing it going forward - on long-winded trips, at school, even when I was meant to be sleeping. I’d spend every waking moment of playing it if I could.” - Matthew Raspe
S T N E M MO
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The Pokémon franchise is quite the cultural juggernaut. No matter what you, you’ve at least heard about Pokémon from someone or somewhere. As a gamer, there’s no denying its pull, we’ve all had at least one memory about the franchise, be it simply seeing a picture of Pikachu, the franchise’s mascot, or feverishly playing every single game. Here’s a few memories from the staff at Sticky Trigger Entertainment. “Pokémon has always had a special place in my heart. I was 13 years old when Pokémon Blue Version was released in Australia, and was fortunate enough to receive that game for Christmas. Being a fan of RPGs, Pokémon Blue won me over with its accessible RPG gameplay, cute visuals, and of course, having to catch em’ all.
tendo 64. As addictive as catching em’ all was on the Game Boy, snapping shots of them all in Pokémon Snap was even more addictive to me. I spent countless hours learning all the ways to find all the hidden Pokémon (this was before you could Google everything) with friends, and am proud to say we found and snapped photos of every single hidden Pokémon.
Playing a Pokémon game in some form became a staple for me over the next few years, finishing both Pokémon Blue and Red Versions, as well as Pokémon Yellow Version when it arrived some years later. When Pokémon made its debut in Australia, the anime wasn’t far behind, airing in the same year that the original games hit shelves. Waking up every morning to watch the Pokémon anime on Cheez TV became as important a ritual as brushing my teeth, and only mere hours after we were all battling Pokémon in the playground before class.
I’ve since stopped playing the main games so obsessively, though I love how Pokémon is just as classic a franchise as Super Mario and Final Fantasy. It seems as though Pokémon will always be around in some form or another, and has become a rite of passage for gamers everywhere.”
A few years after the original games were launched, spinoff titles made their way to my Nin-
- Nick Getley
your say
N O M É K PO
ents m n i a t r e t n e r sticky trigge
Pokémon’s a big part of my life, and there’s been so many memories. I could write about the memory where I first saw Pokémon. Or played it. Or watched the anime. Or used it to comprehend maths. Or got along with school friends.
Instead, I’ll talk about the memory where I attended my first official Pokémon tournament. They’re a big deal, you know. You have to train your team from the ground up, spending countless hours breeding them the right way, training them to gain the right stats, and strategising so every member has a use. In the last few years, the Australia branch of the Pokémon Video Game Championship Series has cropped up, recognising the efforts of Australian trainers everywhere, and giving them a shot at entering the World Champion-
ships. In 2014, I decided it was my time to try and shine. I went down with my girlfriend and one my best friends to Sydney, nice and early (jamming along to Pokémon soundtracks, of course). I expected to see a few people here and there, but the amount of people lining up, before the tournament open its doors, was insane. We all lined up, chatted, and checked our StreetPasses. This was the single largest collective of Pokémon fans I’ve ever seen in one place, and I was right in the middle of it. Since we got to Sydney so early, we managed to get through registration without much hassles. Space was extremely limited, but we managed to find a spot on some stairs. As the day went on, I made friends with some people, Pokémon’d out, and just soaked in it all. I was surrounded by peo-
ple Pokémon-crazy as I was, maybe even more. It wasn’t like your online anonymous forum, with trolls running rampart and everyone judging everyone else. It was incredibly chill, and everyone seemed genuine with each other. And the tournament? I got knocked out in the first round. My friend made it through to the next round, but at the end of the day, that really didn’t matter. I trained so hard and lost, I should have been shattered! But I wasn’t, because just the joy of being in a place filled with such positivity made it all worthwhile. - Sasha Karen
S T N E M MO
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EDITORIAL
Pokémon Love In celebration of the recent 20 year anniversary of Pokémon, I thought now was an opportune time to share a story about my own Pokémon experience! A so quintessentially 90’s game/anime, I’m sure I’m not alone in my love and appreciation for the franchise.
well as just a sense of achievement when your Pokémon get appraised or enjoying cute little feature like Pokémon Amie, in the latest instalments there are added combat buffs such as higher chance of critical hits or extra endurance if your Pokémon have high affection levels
Pokémon was such an integral part of my childhood and I still carry it with me into adulthood. I’ve owned and played every game Pokémon has had to offer, including the Pokémon stadium games on N64 to the Mystery Dungeon spin offs as well as the Pokémon Ranger games but of course the centre of my attention has always been on the classic game type.
Hundreds, if not thousands, of hours training, raising and feeding my Pokémon poképuffs were spent over my experiences with Pokémon over the years, all of which lead to one fateful night early this February. After finishing off my evening with a quick session of Story of Seasons, which I had installed on my 3DS, I headed to bed and left my DS on the coffee table seeing as it had adequate charge for the next day. Oblivious to the potential evils of my fellow man, I awoke the next morning to find that our back door had been pried open and some alcohol, petty cash and electronics had been taken. Electronics that included my precious 3DS with my Pokémon Y cartridge still inside.
Anyone who knows me, knows my love of Pokémon. I tirelessly trained my team to get them to their peak performance in a special way called EV training as well as utilising the breeding feature to get the perfect nature for my Pokémon to get perfect IVs. Any Pokémon player knows the hours it takes to grind certain types of Pokémon to get certain types of stats but beyond making your Pokémon the the very best, the games have always tried to let the “trainer” develop a connection with their Pokémon and as odd as it may seem to some, I genuinely cared about mine. As
Fortunately as no one from the household was harmed, the immediate questions that people asked were, “do you feel violated that a stranger was in your home?” Or of course “will the bank refund the money that was stolen from the credit card?” However,
to me, the sole shock in that moment was the heavy realisation that all my Pokémon were gone. Now as sad as I was that my prized Delfox from the Pokémon Y region was gone the most crushing part was that all of the Pokémon that I could transfer from previous games, I did, which started from Pokémon. Ruby (released 2002). So that was 13 years of Pokémon, amongst these was every Flareon I’d evolved (Flareon being one of my all time favourites), a huge array of Legendary Pokémon that can be difficult to Aquire without trading for someone else’s, a few Shiny Pokémon (which we all know are painfully difficult to find) and of course the full collective of my sentiment towards the games. At the end of the day I’m sure many would argue that they’re digitally generated and its simply their coding that makes them show affection and that they were never alive. This of course I know but what has stuck with me was how my expectations were flipped on me and I was received with the opposite reaction. I was given anoverwhelming amount of support from people, some of whom I had never spoken too before and some that had never played the games first hand but understood from friends or family playing the
games, how many hours go into it and the feelings you can develop. Gaming has always had this negative stigma that they cause antisocial behaviour or violence but I’m so incredibly happy to see that view point changing and that more and more people are understanding of the passion gamers have and the inspiration that games can fuel. As a cosplayer I am forever in awe of character designs and there is something so special about having a chance to bring those characters to life or seeing others do so. If there was one snippet of wisdom I could leave people with after going through this, it would be to never feel guilty or embarrassed about your passions. There are so many people in the world and with the magic of the Internet it’s becoming easier and easier to find like minded people. Some people will always scorn you but like a well written book or a good movie, there is absolutely nothing wrong about letting a video game evoke emotions in you. Feeling is part of the human condition so you may as well enjoy it all! Happy 20 years to Pokémon! May we have many more years to come!
“Hundreds, if not thousands, of hours training, raising and feeding my Pokémon poképuffs... taken.” WRITTEN BY eliza
from alishiera cosplay
Pokémo
on Love
BOARD/CARD GAMES
Pokémon Red Pokémon diaries:
This month our board game writer Jess talks about Pokémon, and to show how dedicated she is, she also did some Pokémon cosplay that is featured throughout this article please enjoy.
When Pokémon first released in 1998 in Australia I was ten years old. Having played video games since I was five this new title looked absolutely amazing to me. I was captivated by being able to catch, evolve and battle these delightful new creatures and I couldn’t wait to start my own journey into this exciting world. Up until Pokémon the main games I played were Platformers and Fighting games. I had watched my Dad and Uncle play RPG’s but I had never tried my hand at these as they looked way too complicated. Pokémon changed this for me. As a RPG it was extremely easy for all ages to get into and learn without the difficulty of complicated battle systems or crafting procedures for weapons and items. The part of Pokémon which comes closest to crafting is the Pokémon themselves and for me they were the complete draw card of the game. I loved learning and discovering how and when each monster would evolve. Each time one of my party members levelled up it
was an anxious wait till the end of the battle to see if the magical moment would happen. Having to use elemental stones on some Pokémon for them to evolve blew my mind and having to choose between two fossils to resurrect an ancient creature was something I would never have dreamed of.
New trainers will always know the hardship of the first major decision in a new Pokémon game (and no it is not if you are a boy or girl which was introduced in Pokémon Crystal and what your name is. The answer to that is easy! Boy and your name is Ash. Always! Rival = Gary. No second thought needed!) which is how to choose who your starter Pokémon will be. Your trusted first Pokémon who will be with you throughout your whole journey is a hard choice to make for some trainers. However for Pokémon Red my choice was easy. I would take the fire starter Charmander. I loved the idea of the power a fire Pokémon who looks like a lizard would have when it came to its final evolution and the art work of Charizard on my game box captured that power and magnificence perfectly. I called him Charry and started my adventure without another look back. Taking that first step into
the grass with my Charmander was both exciting and daunting at the same time. From watching the start of the Anime series another Pokémon I knew I needed to have in my party was Butterfree. My sister Nat and I had saved up our pocket money to buy Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue. While we were at Big W we asked mum if she could purchase the Game Boy Link Cable as we could not finish the game without it. Luckily mum agreed as we were spending our pocket money on the games. This link cable came in very handy and was used very early on. When we purchased the games we knew that they had version exclusives. I did not think for one second that Caterpie, Metapod and Butterfree would be one of these exclusives. Searching eagerly throughout the grass on Route 2 above Viridian City I was super excited to have Weedle’s challenging me so early on. Surely this must mean I would be challenged by a Caterpie shortly and with my Charmander having the type advantage the battle would be easy. Sadly this was not the case!! Nat on the other hand was the lucky one. Butterfree’s line was exclusive to Pokémon Blue! Nat quickly caught a Caterpie for herself and one for me and we traded Weedle for Caterpie
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BOARD/CARD GAMES
Pokémon
Pokémon diaries:
Photographer: SFX Images | www.facebook.com/SFXImages
www.facebook.com/lufiairiscosplay
Red
straight away. I could finally get my Butterfree. From there my adventure grew and it kept getting better and better. From exploring the depths of Mt Moon and being challenged by a quintillion Zubats, to spending way to many Poke dollars at the Casino at the Celadon Game Corner trying to get Porygon, discovering Team Rockets hideout, running around battling throughout the St Anne and experiencing the upsetting tale of the Cubone and Marowak at the tower in Lavender Town each part of the story wowed and drew me in deeper and deeper. Each Gym battle was fun and the Elite Four was challenging but I was crowned the Champion and couldn’t be happier with my team of Pokémon. I did not finish my Pokedex on Pokémon Red as I had moved on to Pokémon Gold however Nat decided to complete hers in Blue. Before trading my team plus legendary’s and hard to find Pokémon to Gold (who were safe for a time but that is another story) I traded any that Nat needed to her Blue copy. I then erased my game and restarted a file to get a Bulbasaur to give to Nat as neither of us had owned one. Nat completed her Pokedex and then decided to try out this new cheat that allowed a new Pokémon to appear. Missingno was all the talk and we wanted to see one for ourselves. After Nat initiated the cheat we did see many Missingnos and her file never worked correctly after that. Luckily she had also traded her team, legendary and semi rare Pokémon to her Pokémon Silver copy before initiating this cheat.
My battle against MewTwo still confuses me to this day. When I was given my Master Ball I knew I would be using it on MewTwo. I knew how the ball worked and that I would be catching MewTwo without a problem. When the battle started though I took MewTwo on with my team. We took a fair amount of damage and when MewTwo had the smallest amount of health left I threw my Master Ball. Of course it didn’t fail. I had captured MewTwo. Why I just didn’t throw the ball as soon as the battle started is beyond me. My favourite genre is turn based RPG’s with hard tense battles and I think this was realised early on by this battle. I could have taken the easy way out but I fought the hard battle and came out victorious. This one game and a handful of episodes of the Anime cemented my love for the series. This love has not disappeared of lessoned over time and being able to celebrate Pokémon’s 20th anniversary based on its release in its motherland is both awesome and a great chance to reminisce over all the amazing times had with this series. Looking forward to celebrating the 20th anniversary in two years time when I have been playing the series for 20 years. Next up we move on to Johto in Pokémon Gold and the crazy mammoth experience I had with that entry.
WRITTEN BY jess wilson
developer corner First up, can you tell us about about Nnooo and what it does…? Nnooo are an independent developer and Publisher based in Sydney, Australia. We have developed titles across a range of platforms from Wii to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo DSi to PlayStation Vita. We have a love of making unique, well crafted and highly polished arcade experiences which the whole family can enjoy! What projects are you working on at the moment? We have just completed Blast ‘Em Bunnies which, as I’m sure you are aware, is releasing between 8th and 11th March on PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo 3DS and Xbox One. We are still kind of working on that project as we are experimenting with a possible PlayStation VR patch as finishing off our Asian Language localisation too! We do a lot of experiments like this to test the viability of a project before we commit to going ahead with so there is always something fun going on in the office! We also act as publishers for other developers which currently sees me working as PlayStation First liason to the Academy of Interactive Entertainment which I am really enjoying. I go into the Sydney campus most weeks and work closely with the selected teams to help them bring their great games to PlayStation paltforms. On top of that we have several unannounced games signed for
nnooo INDEPENDENT DEVELOPER & PUBLISHER:
publishing which we are ramping up production on and looking to showcase at GX Australia Expo in Sydney next week!
How well are your games and apps selling and what’s been the most successful product so far? As a company we have seen a very diverse range of sales volume from quite low to really high. Our best selling products by volume and amount generated have been our myNotebook series, for DSiWare on Nintendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS, which has sold higher than any of our other soft-
ware! Not bad for a 16 week experiment!! Tell us about your team, how many people are there and a rough breakdown of roles. There are three of us currently working full-time at Nnooo. Bruce Thomson is the Business and Marketing Director, Steven Ogden is our Engineer and Nic Watt (myself) is the Founder and Creative Director. We also work with lots of great independent developers and have used some really talented contractors to help us complete the games.
www.nnooo.com
retro
The Gamer diaries: In 1991, St Paul’s College was still in the dark ages where computers were concerned. This would be corrected in the years to follow, but in year 7 I was introduced to the BBC Micro with a green screen monitor. I had heard of the BBC Micro but had never seen one. I wasn’t actually aware that they were available in Australia, but the computer lab had about 20 of them, so I was proven wrong on that one.
BASIC was taught by the school principal, and I was able to use many of the coding techniques I had learned from my Amstrad on the BBC Micro. Some commands didn’t work but I was able to manage enough little tricks to impress the teachers. It came as no surprise that I received a 1+ (St Paul’s primary level equivalent of an A+) for computing that year. Construction was starting on a new building at the school & I was told that a new computer lab was to be a part of it. James was starting to collect C+VG magazine and during our weekend catchups we would look over the issues, discuss articles, talk about the PC Engine, Super Famicom and other consoles that were out of our reach. We loved the look of “Street Fighter 2” and on TV TimeZone were advertising that the game was in their arcades. The morning we went was
filled with excitement, as we would finally get to play one of the most desirable games of our time. We went to TimeZone on Saturday morning, got let in to the lock in and had to wait… and wait… and wait. It turns out that we weren’t the only ones who wanted to play Street Fighter 2! When we got onto a machine it was amazing. Playing Street Fighter 2 for that first time in the early 90s is one of those gaming memories that will stay with me forever.
In late 1991 I found myself at Ingle Farm Shopping Centre, standing just outside the newsagency. During this time they had a magazine stand on the outside of the shop that I used to buy C+VG from. I had no intention of buying anything but glanced at a few magazines anyway. I spotted the wording “AMS…” with the rest of the title hidden. Full of curiosity I pulled the magazine from the shelf and saw the words “Amstrad Action”. I had never heard of this magazine before, but that wasn’t the best part. This magazine had a COVER TAPE! Cover tapes were used on 8-bit computer magazines in the 80s and 90s and were filled with demos, games and utilities. I couldn’t believe my eyes as they were normally seen on Commodore magazines, but there it was. I very quickly talked my mother into buying it for me and she agreed!
It was the July 1991 issue of Amstrad Action, which features Pang on the cover and a covertape featuring playable demos of “Switchblade” and “Megaphoenix”, as well as two complete games! The games were “Future Knight” and “Balldozer”, a clone of the classic box shifting puzzle game “Sokoban”. “Future Knight” is a platform game which has you controlling a knight from the future (obviously) as he tries to rescue Princess Amelia from the clutches of Spegbott the Horrible who is holed up in a wrecked space ship. It’s a colourful title by Gremlin Graphics, who created the “Monty Mole” and “Jack the Nipper” games. This was a welcome addition to a game library that had been starved of titles for a while. I introduced James to Amstrad Action and we both started collecting it each month. As Amstrad gear was practically unavailable in Australia these covertapes were a way for us to get more software, and to explore games that neither of us would have seen before. Future covertapes included demos of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2”, “Space Crusade” and many more. It was difficult as while the demos were fun to play, we knew that this would be the most we would see of the games. Many other formerly full priced titles were also packaged on these tapes and I would
1991 - 1992
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devote my spare time to playing through them each month. The games would vary in genre, from isometric platformers to Freescape 3D games. “Sweevo’s World” was an isometric 3D platformer, in the vein of “Head Over Heels” and “Alien 8”. You play a robot called Sweevo who has no weapon and can’t jump. However, he can move items around, go up and down via elevators, and drop things on enemies to kill them. The goal is to destroy the malfunctioning janitor units that are causing trouble in the town of Knutz Folly. It was fun but when I finally got a copy of “Head Over Heels” it was quickly forgotten. I haven’t yet mentioned that magazine which was quite a witty publication, headed by the brilliant Rod Lawton who now works at Techradar UK. The humour of the AA staff really shone through, as opposed to the dreary, mostly serious official magazine, the Amstrad Computer User. AA had an air of fun about it and I even enjoyed reading the serious articles. Rod, tech advisor Adam Waring, staff writer Adam Peters and everyone else involved in the magazine produced a quality publication in an era where the 8-bit home computer was dying a slow and painful death. They made fun of other magazines, they insulted each other and they even had the AA Christmas Pantomime. It was a fun read that I looked forward to every month. During 1991 I met another Amstrad fanboy at school called Steven. We used to catch up on the occasional weekends and
he introduced me to games that I didn’t even know were available on my humble 8-bit. “Rygar The Legendary Warrior” was an arcade game that I used to play at Skateline. While many of the games there would be replaced over time there were two that always remained: “Bombjack” and “Rygar”. A side scrolling platformer, “Rygar” was a title that required you to battle through the levels to defeat the evil Ligar. As Rygar you could jump on the backs of enemies to stun them or hit them with your disc attached to a chain. It was a favourite of mine but I had no idea that it existed on the Amstrad CPC. I promptly copied the game and took it home. Mum knew I was interested in the Nintendo Gameboy and my Aunt was about to go on holiday to America. The Gameboy was much cheaper over there, so she offered to bring one back for me. I counted the days, but when she returned in 1992 Nintendo’s handheld gaming icon was mine. As with all Gameboys at that time it came bundled with the puzzler classic, “Tetris”. Like so many other Gameboy owners I played “Tetris” for hours on end. Bulletproof Software’s handheld conversion of the classic Russian puzzler was a huge success and it was the game that introduced many housewives to the world of videogames, including my own mother. Many evenings when I wasn’t playing the Gameboy she would be. She loved Tetris and got to be very good at the game. Back on the Amstrad front, Steven and I discovered a treasure-
trove of Amstrad titles at Computer Recyclers. It’s a shop that is still around today, you can see it as you travel down Main North Rd towards the Adelaide CBD. Today they specialise in new and second hand PC parts, but back then they were advertising second hand 8-bit games. My father reluctantly took Steven and I to the shop and I was in awe. At the back were Commodore 64 games, near the front were Apple 2 games, to the right were Atari games, but the left side of the store was what interested us the most. A wall of Amstrad games greeted us and we spent a while perusing the titles. It was here that I purchased a second copy of “Jack the Nipper” to replace the one that mysteriously disappeared. I did hesitate as this copy was on tape when my original one was on disc, but I bought it anyway. My father (again, reluctantly) took me back a second time on my own. I had been told by the shop owner that I could bring in games to swap on a two for one deal. I assumed that he was clearing his Amstrad stock, so I bought in a game to swap and chose two to replace it with. I took them to the counter and the owner had a laugh and told me it was the other way around. My father’s temper was already at a low point, having been dragged along to a gaming store. He gave the owner my game, took one of the titles I chose, said something to the owner and dragged me out of the store. I was never allowed to go back there again. My old man had no patience for video games and
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he made sure that I knew that. The game I ended up getting was the aforementioned “Head Over Heels”. “Head Over Heels” is a 3D isometric platformer that requires you to control two characters, Head and Heels. Mr Head is able to jump two spaces high, but his walking speed is slow. Mr Heels can run fast but his jumping ability is only one space high. At key points in the game they can unite to make use of both of their abilities. The characters have been sent to liberate the planets in Blacktooth from the evil emperor. If you ever play a 3D isometric platform game then it must be this one. It’s the pinnacle of the genre and is well worth your time. My loyalty to the Amstrad CPC bought about the ire of my classmates at school. Many of them had moved on to consoles or 16bit computers, though I was a still a staunch supporter of Alan Sugar’s wonderbeast. I can remember having an issue of Amstrad Action on my desk at school, the issue with “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2” on the cover, and one boy taunting me for having such an old computer system. I didn’t bite back, I simply didn’t care. I don’t remember what I said back to him, but I was very nonplussed about the whole thing and he stormed off rather frustrated. I guess I didn’t give him the reaction that he was looking for. At school Nintendo’s Gameboy was gaining a huge following. Though it wasn’t the case for me, many of the kids at St Paul’s
came from wealthy families. One such student bought along a newly launched Sega Gamegear with Sonic the Hedgehog. This was not a cheap console and most of the kids were blown away by the bright colours of the blinding blue wonder. Personally I thought that the colours were very washed out, though this could have been because I was looking at it outside during break times. I was always loyal to the machines that I owned and I was a Nintendo man all the way. Plus, I thought that the Gameboy had better games for it anyway! I recall James being quite interested in buying a Sega Master System and it was something he was mulling over for a while. The Master System 2 had recently dropped in price as the Megadrive was gaining popularity. I can remember trying to talk him out of it and suggesting that he waits for the upcoming Super Nintendo console to be released in Australia. It was coming later this year and it was rumoured to be getting Street Fighter 2, which was to be a SNES exclusive. We had a few discussions about it but James never ended up buying a Master System. That’s pretty much all the space I have this month. Join me next month as I explore the seedy side of PC gaming with my childhood friend Carmello, more Amstrad gaming with James and a few new Gameboy releases. I always forget to mention this but you can follow me on Twitter @dizrythmia & check out other bits & pieces I do at www.retrospekt.com.au
WRITTEN BY paul monopoli
retro
it costs how much?
It’s amazing how much we’ve progressed with technology. I often hear the quote about how the latest smart phones have more tech and power then the computers that helped land us on the Moon. In fact checking this out I found that while those old computers had small amounts of memory they were reliable and could recover from crashes without the need for a help desk call… Could you imagine it?
Atari Lynx
This fun little, well not so little, hand held system came out in 1989 and had a 160x102 display. The launch price was $179 US which works out to around $247 AUD. The average wage back in 1989 was around $491 per week.
“Yes, may I have your first name”
Today a Nintendo 3DS XL has an 800x24 resolution or 400x240 per eye in 3D and costs around $250...
“Neil”
Playstation 1994/1995
“Neil. How can I help you today Neil” “I’m stuck on the bloody Moon help!” “Neil, I’m sure we can help, have you turned it off and then back on again…?” Today our PS4’s and Xbox One systems along with our powerhouse PCs and Macs can do amazing things that were unheard of 20 years ago. It got me wondering about prices we paid for old tech. I know that over time prices come down, but I thought I’d take a look at some of the big name consoles of yesteryear and what they first cost when released.
The first PS came out in the mid 90s and was a massive hit. It sold over 102 million and started Sony on a path of gaming success. Back then it cost $299 US which works out to around $413 Australian but according to CNET and my own memory the actual Australian price was $699.95 - quite a price when the weekly wage was $558
PS2
In 2000 the PS2 came out to great expectation and went on to sell over 150 million units. The Australian launch price was $749.95 and the average weekly wage was around $800. The PS2 gave us many hours of joy and gaming excitement. Best selling games were GTA San Andreas and Gran Turismo 3 “ A-Spec, Grand Truism 4 and GTA : Vice City…
Today the PS4 is around $480 550 depending on what bundle you get. The Verge reports the PS4 had sold 30 million in late 2015.
Nintendo 64 -1996
The U.S price was $199 and in Australia it rounded out to $399. Nintendo sold around 33 million world-wide. It was and still is an amazing game machine and games like Super Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64 were awesome experiences. I can remember firing up the cartridge for Pilotwings and feeling a real sense of flight. The N64 is still popular today and many Gametraders stores stock them when they can get their hands on them - they are in demand as are some of those classic games. While the Wii U is the current gen console from our friends at Nintendo, there is a lot of talk about the rumoured NX system. Rather then speculate on what it will be like, we’re hoping that it’s damn amazing and kicks butt!
COLLECTIBLES “This is my game collection, game art books/info books and a few bits and pieces. The plush Claptrap is actually signed by a bunch of Gearbox members, including Randy Pitchford himself. I’ve only gotten serious about collecting consoles pretty recently. I’m glad I did, but now it’s making me wish I had more SNES/Mega Drive games. My current goal is to get a Dreamcast or just. Any other consoles, really. And games for them. The more the better. I’ve always loved games and had a strong interest in them, since I was young, and it’s great to finally be able to build up a proper collection.” - Grace Hester
“I have a few collections. But I can only post one pic per comment, so here is one. My partner and I spent a lot of time tracking these babies down.” - Melissa Oliver
“Retro you want? Retro I got! It ain’t prehistoric retro (no Atari in sight) but this is my retro gaming room set up at the moment. I need more!” - Jean-Paul Bartolomei
we asked our fans on facebook to share their collectables... take a look!
your say
“I love collection gaming collectables mainly COD lol but my biggest passion is funko pop i share with my son a 2 step sons it has brought us all so close and something i enjoy sharing with them we have over 250 pops over $10,000 worth.� - Damo Grunill
COLLECTIBLES “Half of it. Other is the tv stand of consoles new and old with more collectibles” - Todd Van Gerven
“My GameBoy systems & Pokémon Gen 1 & 2 collection. Think I’ll start Gen 3 soon. Red was my first ever game I owned & I still play the series to this day. This is what got me into gaming in the first place.” - Benjamin Jones
“Because I love Nintendo.” - Todd Van Gerven
we asked our fans on facebook to share their collectables... take a look! “Piece dedicated to my childhood” - Jess Garner
“Now that ps2 is considered retro, this may be the only retro thing in my room. My mother moved most of the retro stuff into the shed when I was young. This game was what brought my brother and I together, LOVED it since it came out, it’s even the reason why I’m going to save for a new gen console. Feel free to look at my new gametraders merch collection too!” - Micah Fede
your say
“One half of my office. That has a lot of my games, my c64s and old mac as well as my pc engines and 3do amounst other items”
“And the other half of my office. (I do have a desk, but it is not interesting.) Under the transformers falcon is my collection of old pc games on cd or dvd. I dont keep mine plugged in, as i tryed that and it became unmanageable. Due to this i have a spot to swap out consoles and play them in the lounge.” - Aaron Yanner
COLLECTIBLES “Here is just some of my dev gear dating from 1997 to 2013. Ever since I was a young boy I had an immense interest in video games. After completing high school and working for a period of time, I decided to go study Software Development through TAFESA and UniSA. For me it’s the best of both worlds, combining gaming and my love of software development together.”
“I have a draw full of this type of stuff from when I was younger, I think saw some spirits fly out and released an old world virus when I opened some of these boxes up!” - Darren Clayton
- Michael Behar
“My Playstation and Ninja Turtle collections.” - Andrew Cowell
we asked our fans on facebook to share their collectables... take a look!
your say
“This is most of my zelda collection (Wii and Wii u games are in another cabinet) will be looking forward to adding to this with all the zelda goodies due out in March.” - Nell Foster
“Just a small portion of my collection. Been collecting for a few years now this is my showcase part. The top 2 draws are full 1 is full of sega megadrive and master system the other is my gameboy collection. One of my most favorite items is my super famicom from hongkong which can play all region games because of its 50/60hz switch the only model of super nintendo i know of that has a factory hertz switch” - Ryan Mcdonald
“My SEGA Megadrive, UsA called them Genises” - Randall Hall
COLLECTIBLES “How about some vintage retro. Have all controllers and guns too. The Tandy gun builds to a rifle just over two feet long. Sorry missing controllers are packed.” - Eddie Valentine
“All of my childhood games, still played to this day. I’ll never let them go!.” - Jade O’Shea
Tarrant Clark
“My ff collection, this is a lil bit older, I now have more figures, the type-0 collectors +guide, heavensward collectors, explorers collectors,and 7-9 guide reprint.” - Joel Phillips
“I don’t have much, but this is my Jewel. A signed copy of RWBY season 1 signed by Gus, Jordan and Monty Oum himself. Ever since Monty’s passing, it’s become my treasure..” - Ali Mackinnon
we asked our fans on facebook to share their collectables... take a look! “I have a few pop vinyls and a Fallout Laser Pistol which aren’t in this photo. But still, I’m making this wall grow.” - Jake Murch
“I don’t have anything as cool as many of these collections but I have a story. Many years ago, I introduced my little brother to Zelda games. He loved it. Now he is married and my nephews name is Link..” - Mark Beaconsfield “My Link statue from the Twilight Princess release.” - Scott ‘Musto’ Tobin
your say
“You can check the full collection at the link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_upKrxMo70” - Michael Prosser
“How this? C64, wii, gamecube, n64, snes, ps3, dreamcast, nes, megadrive, atari 2600, turbo grafx, ps2, xbox EDIT : probably should have put wooden full size buster sword and metal keyblade in the pic as well as my psp, amiga 500 and gba” -Scott Branson
COLLECTIBLES “Abela just some of our collections - we love way too many things so we’ve started to run out of room for everything....we also have tons of xbox and nintendo games, as well as numerous other figures throughout the house.” - Melissa Abela
we asked our fans on facebook to share their collectables... take a look!
your say
comics
punishment In 1975 Marvel comics unleashed The Punisher upon the world. An a-moral superhero for a gritty time. The 70’s saw a shift in cultural thinking. Movies portrayed gritty anti-heroes in films like Death Wish and Dirty Harry. The Punisher fit this mould perfectly. With the character about to appear in the upcoming Netflix’s Daredevil Season 2, I thought this would be a great time to look at one of my favourite comic characters, and one of the most underappreciated in Marvel’s roster. The Punisher burst onto the scene in The Amazing SpiderMan #129, squaring off against Spidey. From there the character evolved into a deep and tormented man on a mission. Frank Castle a Vietnam veteran sees his family murdered at the hands of mobsters, he then turns himself into a weapon of justice and punishment. He becomes The Punisher. With a white skull emblazoned on his chest and an arsenal of powerful weapons at his disposal, Castle takes it to crime like no other hero in Marvel… He flat out murders them. This is the one thing that The Punisher does that few other heroes will… He crosses the line. Batman, Superman or SpiderMan would never kill, but The Punisher wouldn’t give it a sec-
ond thought. He kills his way through crime coming up against some great foes like Jigsaw and Bushwhacker. The Punisher never really fit in with The Avengers crowd but he could certain hold his own. He is often a member of The Thunderbolts, a more murderous version of the Avengers.
Given his controversial status in the Marvel Universe, it is interesting that he has stood the test of time as an enduring character. For me personally, I find revenge stories so fascinating. They challenge you with hard questions, what would you do if someone hurt someone you love? He acts as a barometer for the Marvel world. A man who has lost everything, his wife and children snatched from him in as violent a way as they come and it breaks him. He never claims to be better or strive to be the good guy, he just does what he does and makes sure the bad guys can’t hurt anyone ever again… I do see where the dislike of the character comes from with people, including Geek God Joss Whedon who once said of The Punisher, “One of the things I like about the X-Men is they’re not killing people. I miss the idea of... heroes who stop that kind of thing from happening. Here’s why I’m not running Marvel: If I was, I would kill the Punisher. I don’t be-
lieve in what he does. The Punisher just shoots up places. And if you’re telling me he’s never hit an innocent, then I’m telling you, that’s fascist crap”. While I certainly get where he is coming from… I feel like the emotionally damaged characters are far more relatable and sympathetic than those of Superman or Captain America’s ilk. So with Daredevil Season 2 just around the corner I recommend learning more about the Punisher! Maybe pick up Garth Ennis’s Punisher Max or the much underrated Punisher Noir. You will find at its heart a great tale of a broken man. There’s also lots of shooting and explosions…
WRITTEN BY scott f. sowter
GT GEEKS
GAMETRADERS GEEKS
This month we take a look at the Geeks at Gametraders Macarthur Square - led by the effervescent Rob (the good looking chap bottom left), Gametraders Macarthur is based at the Macarthur Square Shopping Centre at Campbelltown. We asked them what their favourite games and products are at the moment. Melanie (middle): “just got my Playstation 4 and will be playing games for the next 6 months non-stop!” Erin (bottom): “my favourite games at the moment are Fire Eblem: Awakengings & Rocket League. Latest figurine purchase is Attack on Titan which is now proudly on display at home.” Jimmy (back right): “Naruto Ulitmate Ninja Storm 4 is my favourite game at the moment! Dark Tales (board game) and a D&D adventure book are my latest purchases from Gametraders.” Staff featured in photo (from left to right): Naomi, Andrew, Melanie, Jimmy, Joanna, Steve, Rob (store owner) and Erin.
©2016 Pokémon. ©1995-2016 Nintendo/Creatures Inc./GAMEFREAK inc. TM, ®, and character names are trademarks of Nintendo. Booster packs may vary by product. Cards vary by pack.
Ask staff for details.
MARCH ST
& TCG TOU
VICTORIA BACCHUS MARSH Magic the Gathering and Table Top - Wednesday 5:30pm
HIGHPOINT No current tournaments.
GAMETRADERS LIVE MILDURA Saturday 19th March - 12:30pm - Vanguard Sneak Peek VGE-G-BT06 Transcension of Blade & Blossom. Saturday 6th March - 12:30pm - Dragon Ball Z TCG We also run: Pokémon both TCG & VG, MTG FNM, MTG Constructed Tournaments, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Star Wars X-Wing, Warhammer 40k, Cardfight!! Vanguard, Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros & Ultra Street Fighter IV Tournaments, plus heaps more. For event details and times, please check: www.facebook.com/GametradersMildura/events
AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY HYPERDOME Yu-Gi-Oh - Saturday 10am Pokémon - Saturday 2pm
TORE EVENTS
URNAMENTS! QUEENSLAND CHERMSIDE Yu-Gi-Oh - Sunday 3pm Cardfight!! Vanguard - Wednesday 6:30pm Pokémon - Saturday 3pm Magic the Gathering - Tuesday & Friday 6:30pm
MACKAY Yu-Gi-Oh - Sunday 4pm Magic the Gathering - Friday 6pm MTG Monday Night Modern - Monday 6pm Pokémon - Monday 4pm Board Game Night - Monday 6pm
MORAYFIELD Magic the Gathering Modern - Wednesday 7pm Magic the Gathering Commander - Thursday 7pm Magic the Gathering Standard - Friday 7pm Yu-Gi-Oh - Thursday 7pm & Sunday 2pm Pokémon - Saturday 12pm Magic the Gathering Learn to Play - Saturday 2pm
NEW SOUTH WALES BLACKTOWN Advanced Yu-Gi-Oh - Sunday 10:30am Magic the Gathering - Thursday 6:30pm & Sunday 10:30am
MACARTHUR SQUARE (CAMPBELLTOWN) Yu-Gi-Oh - Wednesday 5:30pm
PARRAMATTA Yu-Gi-Oh - Wednesday 6pm Magic the Gathering - Friday 6pm Cardfight!! Vanguard - Wednesday 6pm
GAMETRADERS LIVE PENRITH Cardfight!! Vanguard - Saturday 5pm Magic the Gathering - Friday 7pm Pokémon - Saturday 12pm X-Wing - Wednesday 7pm Dragon Ball Z - Thursday 6pm Force of Will - Friday 7:30pm Buddyfight - Saturday 12pm My Little Pony - Saturday 5pm Demo board games from Wednesday through to Saturday.
GAMETRADERS LIVE HORNSBY Yu-Gi-Oh - Sunday 12pm Pokémon - Sunday 2pm Magic the Gathering - Friday 6pm Board Games - Thursday 6pm Dungeons and Dragons - Wednesday 6pm Super Smash Bros - Saturday 1pm
M
SOUTH AUSTRALIA INGLE FARM No current tournaments.
MARION Pokémon - Please call the store for details. (08 8296 1144) Cardfight!! Vanguard - Tuesday 6pm Yu-Gi-Oh - Wednesday 6pm Magic the Gathering - Friday 6pm
SEAFORD FREE Monday Night Magic - (Standard/Constructed) 6pm (5:30pm registration) My Little Pony - Tuesday 5pm (4:30pm registration) Video Game Tournaments - Tuesday 6pm (5:30pm registration) Dungeons and Dragons - Wednesday 6pm (5:30pm registration) Board Game Nights - Wednesday from 5-8pm Future Card Buddyfight - Thursday 5:30pm Yu-Gi-Oh - Thursday 6pm (5:30pm registration) Cardfight!! Vanguard - Friday 4:30pm Friday Night Magic - Draft 6pm (5:30pm registration) Pokémon - Sunday 1pm (12:30 registration)
MT. BARKER X-Wing Night - Thursday 6pm Yu-Gi-Oh - Saturday 4pm Magic the Gathering - Sunday 1pm
SALISBURY Magic the Gathering - Thursday 5:30pm & Saturday 11am Yu-Gi-Oh (Advanced Format) - Saturday 12.30pm
MARCH STORE EVENTS & TCG TOURNAMENTS!
Tournaments are subject to change throughout the month. Please check with your local store on tournament times before attending. Visit www.gametraders.com.au/facebook to find your local stores Facebook page.
...Trading cards, tournaments, accessories & more. Get it all at Gametraders.
TCG RELEASES! OUT 8 APR I 2016! L OUT 1 MARC 6 H 2016!
OUT 5 MA 2016 Y ! OUT 1 4 APRIL 2016!
OUT 1 MARC 7 H 2016!
POCKET POP! KE
Ask staff for details and pricing. Please check with your local store on availability.
EYCHAINS!
DEADPOOL CO
SIDESHOW COLLECTABLES 12” FIGURE
LADY DEA 9” PVC
OLLECTABLES
ADPOOL FIGURE
HOT TOYS 12” FIGURE
PREORDER AT GAMETRADERS!
HYRULE WARRIORS: LEGENDS 3DS
HYRULE WARRIORS: LEGENDS LIMITED EDITION
OUT 24 MARCH!
GET IT ALL AT GAMETRADERS
NEW NINTENDO 3DS XL HYRULE EDITION
FALLOUT MONOPOLY
! W O N E L B A L AVAI
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AVAILABLE NOW!
All pops are standard size. Ask staff for details.
ADOPT A
POP!
GIVE AN OLD POP! A NEW HOME! GAMETRADERS ARE NOW TRADING YOUR PRE-LOVED POPS! Conditions apply. Selected stores. Ask staff for details.
BATMAN VS
SUPERMAN POPS!
AVAILABLE NOW!
Ask staff for details.
BOARD GAMES
GREAT GIFT IDEAS!
NINTENDO 2DS SPECIAL EDITION CONSOLES
OUT ! NOW
GET ‘EM AT
TRADE AT GAMETRADERS & GET IN-STORE CREDIT &
BIG SAVINGS! Got unwanted games or consoles sitting around at home? Bring them into Gametraders and we’ll give you store credit that you can use when you buy anything in-store! Ask staff on how you can trade & save now! PLUS at Gametraders you can choose from our massive range of discounted pre-owned and retro gaming! Buying, selling & trading retro now!
TRAD
E
&
SA
VE
yes
SAVE BIG BUCKS WHEN YOU TRADE with
you’ll SAVE EVEN MORE WHEN YOU TRADE with
SUPERFIGHT AT GAMETRADERS!
“Superfight is a hilarious card game based on fights between characters with superpowers and super problems.”
BE YOUR OWN
GAMETRADERS
BOSS!
Go ahead - make your day, week‌ your life. Be your own boss - Click here for details about a Gametraders Live franchise opportunity.
Franchises now available!
NEW RELEASE GOOD SMILE FIGURINES AVAILABLE MARCH!
AVAILABLE APRIL! PRE-ORDER IN STORE TODAY!
Figurines Featured: The Dark Knight: Joker Villain’s Edition Nendoroid, Strike Witches 2: Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen Nendoroid, LoveLive: Maki Nishikino Training Outfit Nendoroid, Dramatical Murder: Aoba & Ren Nendoroid, Kantai Collection: Katori Nendoroid, Dress-up Chibi Menma, Nendoroid Kasane Teto, figma Rin Hoshizora, Hestia, Sinon.
Yo-Kai watch available in selected Gametraders stores now!
Don’t miss out!
COOL STUFF AT G FRAMED PRINTS FROM $9.95 NOTEBOOKS FROM $7.95
microfibre clothS FROM $7.95 pencil caseS FROM $7
POSTE
GAMETRADERS!
ERS FROM $12
CANVAS’ FROM $30
Win awesome prizes
including a framed print, canvas, posters and more (each prize pack worth over $100) from Gametraders by simply telling us what you think is the best poster you’ve ever seen is and why... We’ve got a handful of great prizes so there will be a few winners inbox us on Facebook at: facebook.com/Gametraders.Australia
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5
.9 49
COSPLA TALI XOXO EVIE E
cosplay interview
cosplay interview
WHAT A BIG CAMERA photographer interview
peck
photography photographer interview
fem ash ketchum! cosplay tips: tiffany dean cosplay &theart view avoidphotography the creep tips
AY
tali xoxo
COSPLAY
www.FACEBOOK.COM/talicosplay
Tali, you’re involved in so many things, gamer, cosplayer and model plus you sew your costumes. How did you get into cosplay? I got involved with cosplay when I was a teenager and just fell in love with it. I’ve always been into costumes and design so it was a logical progression from sewing my doll clothes to sewing bigger versions for me instead. I started going to local conventions and just never grew out of it, so here I am today! You’ve really done some amazing costumes, what’s been the most challenging? The most challenging costume I’ve made might have been Zero Suit Samus, Terra from Final Fantasy 6 or Rydia from Final Fantasy 4, all for slightly different reasons but I enjoyed making them none the less. I learnt a lot of techniques just from those projects. You were at E3, what were some of the more memorable moments?
The whole experience is sort of a blur, being there is so overstimulating and visually exhausting that it’s hard to keep track of everything going on. I’m looking forward to going again though! I particularly enjoy the afterparties the most though ;) Just on cons, what are your favourites and what do you have planned for 2016? I love going to Anime Expo, it’s in my favorite city and there’s always such amazing cosplay at AX. I’d love to see some international conventions one day! Currently for 2016 I will likely be attending Emerald City Comic Con, Anime Expo, PAX Prime and am possibly visiting Kuwait very soon! On to games, what are you playing at the moment? I’m still trudging my way through Fallout 4 currently, I’m trying to not progress the story too much because I don’t want it to end yet haha but otherwise I’m playing Blade and Soul casually in my free time!
You’ve done quite a few photo shoots, can you give new cosplayers 3 tips on how to prepare for a shoot? Don’t eat a pound of spaghetti before you shoot, it will show. Lotion that skin! It’ll give your skin that anime girl shine. Get that energy up, the worst thing you can do as a model is not be excited to be there. Everyone else is counting on you to bring you A game and if you aren’t even happy to be there then everyone suffers. Also can you give 3 tips on preparing for a con? EAT. So many times I’ve forgotten to eat while at a con and my body/energy suffers heavily. No one likes a hangry cosplayer. Triple check your suitcase before you leave for an out of town event. Make a checklist of every piece of your costume just in case. I have absolutely left huge pieces of my costume at home. Plan out who your going to see or what your going to do before going to the
Photographer: Victor Rodriguez Photography | www.victorrodriguezphoto.com
con, there’s nothing worse than wasting precious con time. Ok, time for a bit of fun, ready for 5 quick fire questions? 1 - What’s your favourite food? Spaghetti. 2 - You’re sent on a long space journey what movies do you take? Zoolander and the complete Lord of the Rings directors cut. 3 - If you could sit and have coffee or a cool drink with anyone in history who would it be? Past or present. Personally, I would love to speak to anyone from Ancient Egypt, I have so many questions and so few answers. 4 - If you were Super Girl - what is the first thing you’d do? I would probably just spend a lot of time flying around the world seeing the sights! 5 - Batman and Superman ask you on a date who do you choose and why? Batman, definitely Batman. Finally where can readers go to find out more about you? You can catch me on my website www.talixoxo.com, facebook: www.facebook.com/talicosplay, and twitter: twitter.com/supertaunt
Photographer: Shot Fox Photography | www.facebook.com/shotfoxphotography
Photographer: Adam Woz
Photographer: Victor Rodriguez Photography | www.victorrodriguezphoto.com
Photographer: FiveRings Photography | www.facebook.com/FiveRingsPhotography
Photographer: FiveRings Photography | www.facebook.com/FiveRingsPhotography
tali xoxo
COSPLAY
EVIE E COSPLAY www.FACEBOOK.COM/EvieEvangelion
Hi & welcome to Live Magazine! First up tell us what your first cosplay was and how did that go? My first costume was a vaporeon gijinka (Human version) at Anime North 2011. It was a lot of fun even though it was a very simple costume and what got me hooked, getting to run around as one of my favorite Pokémon was just so great. You make your costumes what’s been the most difficult? Each costume has different parts that are troublesome, I think my Okami cosplay had a lot of difficulties, partly because I made it in the winter and spray painting in the winter is not easy. When I made my Okami cosplay I was also making a ninetailed fox costume for a friend to match and the combination of working on 2 big costumes for the same convention was very very hard. All the tails, and the weapons, and just so much sewing, over all the
most trouble I ever have with a costume is biting off more than I can chew. What do you think of the growth of cosplay over the past few years..? It seems the cons are getting bigger and more people are cosplaying. I think it’s great, I mean everyone loves Halloween and as more people get in to the con scene it seems like a lot of people are learning you can dress up more than once a year. I love meeting people at conventions, so the fact that they are getting larger means that I get to meet even more people! Is cosplay a career option these days? It can be, but those cases are very rare, to me I think cosplay is a way to find your career, to learn you like sewing, and look into other careers that involve the skills you’ve learned through cosplay.
Can you share 5 tips for a cosplay photo shoot. Mirror time, and know your poses going in to the shoot. You should have a few ideas when you go in and you should know what angles look good for you, so practice in front of a mirror. During the shoot be vocal, if you think something looks weird; ask to see the photo, if your photographer requests something you don’t want to do, say so. Also if you have an idea speak up, even if it’s a little
Photographer: Ailes Noires Cosplay Photography | www.facebook.com/ Ailes.Noires.Cosplay.Photography
strange. A lot of poses are going to be uncomfortable and just feel weird, but a lot of times those poses are the ones that look good in the photos, the camera sees things differently than you do. Remember your face! You can have the best pose but if you’re expression is forced or awkward it’ll ruin the whole photo. For photographers, if something looks off, like the wig, ask the cosplayer if it should be like that, sometimes yeah that’s how
it’s meant to be, but sometimes something has shifted over the day. Ok 5 fun questions: 1 - What 3 movies do you take on a desert island? Mean girls, I can watch the movie over and over and not get sick of it. Lion King, it’s my favorite Disney movie, have to have a little Disney. Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back, favorite Star Wars
movie, and need me some Leia/ Han love….fighting. 2 - You can have dinner with anyone past or present - who would you like to sit with and dine? Oh that’s hard, honestly likely Walt Disney, I’m a huge Disney nerd and a great deal of my love for art comes from a love for Disney, so I would love a chance to talk to the man that started it all.
3 - What country would you love to visit and why? Italy, again for the art, I would love to go to Rome and see the history and the art that’s there. 4 - What’s the best food to eat before a con and the best after a con? Before a con you want lots of carbs, so like fast food, French fries, pasta, the works. You burn a lot of energy at a convention so you want to have a lot to burn off going in. As for after a convention I always go with soup, mostly raman (real raman not mr.noodles) after, it’s easy on your stomach and it has a lot of water/fluid and you’re likely a little dehydrated after the weekend. 5 - What’s one tip you’d give to new cosplayers? Keep at it! What takes you an hour now will take you 20 minutes with enough practice. Also Fast, Cheap, good, you get 2 out of the three! Finally where can our readers go to find out more about you? I have a Facebook page under the name Evie E Cosplay: facebook.com/EvieEvangelion/ and an Instagram under the name EvieEvangelion <3 those are the sites that I am most active on. Photographer: Trillance | www.facebook.com/Trillance
Photographer: Alex Rose Photography | www.facebook.com/ alexrosephotog
Photographer: Amaleigh Photography
| www.facebook.com/ AmaleighPhotography
Photographer: Novii Photography | www.facebook.com/ noviiphotography
Photographer: Trillance | www.facebook.com/Trillance
Photographer: Ailes Noires Cosplay Photography www.facebook.com/ Ailes.Noires.Cosplay.Photography
COSPLAY PHOTOGRAPHY
kris eZergallis
what a big camera www.FACEBOOK.COM/WhatABigCamera
One of our favourite people to talk to is the talented and much respected Kris Ezergallis from What a Big Camera. Kris is a professional photographer equally at home on location or in the studio and focuses (sorry about the pun) on people photography. He’s been into cosplay for years and has established himself as one of Australia’s premier cosplay shooters. We caught up with Kris and asked him what’s coming up in 2016? 2016 I’ll be trying to follow both the Supanova and OZ Comic Con tours, along with SMASH! and perhaps AVCon if there’s time and money. I’ll also be trying to find time to do as much local photography as possible. This year is promising for superhero movies and that usually has a flow-on effect into cosplay. What’s new in gear? There’s a few people bringing high power flash gear to conventions now, and shooting high speed sync in daylight. It’s amazing to see the variety of results people are getting with similar boxes!
Cosplayer: Luna Lockheart
Cosplayer: Breathless_ness
Nikon have just announced their new monster but for the first time in forever I’m not keen on the numbers. Hopefully this year will see a few more prime lenses appear in my bag, and maybe some cool new battery flashes. I’ve got my eye on the Profoto B2 set. Tell us about your style of photography and what changes you’re seeing in cosplay photography.
play photographers. Time your social media posts for when your audience is awake. Kris is also attending the Haven Video Game and Popculture Expo in Mackay in 2016… more details here: facebook.com/HavenVideoGamesandPopcultureExpo/?fref=ts
It’s cool to see a lot more cosplay people trying their hand at modelling in other styles that they enjoy. There’s also a few publishing houses recognising their cosplaying fans booking them for promotional work. Photo styles are developing really quickLy and the competition for recognition is bringing out the best in people. There are people excelling in many areas. There’s a resurgance in narrative rich photos taking advantage of natural and created scenery and posing to tell as much of the story as possible. As people start to recognise the long term investment in big lenses there’s a lot of super shallow depth of field photos that are really isolating the subject from the clutter of conventions. The most exciting trend is towards the ultra contrast of high power flash photos and the vast variety that different photographers are producing. Can you share 5 quick tips: Consider if your photo is going to be interesting to look at. Scan the edges of the frame, try to avoid any distractions. Look for an unusual angle. Take inspiration from the art world, not just other cos-
Cosplayer: Hayley Elise
COSPLAY PHOTOGRAPHY
peckPhotography www.FACEBOOK.COM/peckfotografia
Welcome back to Live Magazine Peck Photography, first up tell us where you’re based and what sort of photography you do. I live in Valencia, Spain. And basically the sort of photography I usually do is about fantasy, science-fiction, cosplay and casual photography, this is my favourite type of photography where I’m in my element. Sometimes I work on events or product photography. And how did you get into cosplay photography? It was almost a coincidence. One time I couldn’t really participate in a photo contest about superheroes, but I was wanting to do something like that. I talked to a friend who had a Supergirl cosplay and we made some pics. It turned out that she moved into that world of cosplay and invited me to go to a convention in her city. From there I was going to every Con I could and made a lot of cosplayer friends. Tell us about the first cosplay shoot you did - how did you approach it and how did it go?
The first photoshoot was quite simple. Supergirl with a black background, nothing more. Then I began to see the possibilities to create imaginary worlds using composition with 2D & 3D techniques and I began to play a lot with it improving day by day, pic by pic and searching for new challenges. What sort of gear did you use back then and what do you use now? That´s an easy one. I always use the same gear since the beginning. Just update my camera body. Back then it was a Canon EOS 400D, and now is a 60D (not a professional one, I´m afraid). One flash with remote trigger, a reflector and two studio flashes for interiors. For edits, I use a seven year old iMac … a bit too old for some of the things I would love to do day by day, but at the moment I can´t get another one, so I managing it in the best way I can.
the real world. Some places like woods or cities are easy to find, but not the same things like spaceships, mystic temples or some visual FX (magic, guns firing, dramatic skies....) So when the situation needs a lot of post processing so you can see the hero in his/her world, I do it. And spend looooooooots of hours to make it look good. It´s a little tedious but the character deserves it and the results are worth it. Do you have tips for cosplayers doing a photo shoot? Only one, but so important. Study the character you play. Second part of word “cosplay is playing the role you are in costume. Read about them, look the series, movies anime, etc. Make their moves your moves, the looks, the attacks the way of grab their weapons.... etc.
Do you do much post processing on your photos and why?
Never, never, never go to a photoshoot and say “Which pose I have to do?” “I don´t know what to do”.
Depends on the character and if his/her world is easy to do in
Of course is a tip for photographers too.
The best shoots are when both know abut the character and their world. Who inspires your photography? The big inspiration was always the movies. Usually I try to shoot images that looks like movie posters or movie frames. I love the cinematic and the textures of the movies. Specially fantasy and sci-fi. Since I was a child I wanted to be a filmmaker. But is too difficult, requieres too much material and the most important, depends of many people. Photography depends only of yourself and the models and can be more expressive too. Finally where can our readers go to see more of your work? If someone wants to see a little of my work, can visit my facebook page:
www.facebook.com/peckfotografia
or my webpage: www.peckfotografia.com
I accept commissions too if anybody want to improve a cosplay pic and make it a little more epic. Thanks to all for read ! And keep working on your art !
Peckâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s compositions are made up of his own photography, including backgrounds he has photographed himself, created as a 3D, or stock compositions.
cosplay TIPS
Fem Ash Ketchum Tiffany Dean tells us how she created this amazing Ash cosplay - great tips & tricks!
Cap:
To make the cap, I bought a cheap cap (eBay has plenty!). I didn’t have much choice with colour, but I would recommend buying a red cap if possible to cut out a lot of the work I had to do. With Ash’s cap being white at the front, I bought some white fabric and stitched it over on to the cap at the front. I tucked the edges of the white fabric under itself so the edges were tidy and not scraggly cut fabric. I did the same for all the red area of the cap with stretchy red fabric. I also covered the peak of the cap. For the symbol on the cap, I used the dark brown fabric I used for the main pieces of my gloves (more on those later ☺ ). I drew the logo freehand a bit larger than it needed to be so I could fold under the edges of the fabric again and stitch in place. One stitched neatly, I then pinned it to the front of the cap and stitched it in place. All stitching was done by hand as it was small, difficult areas I was working with.
Black top:
For the black top under the jacket, I bought a cheap stretch black singlet and cropped it to make it a bit fun and sporty. I folded up the
newly cut hemline so it wasn’t a rough fabric edge and stitched it in place on the sewing machine. Just be sure to use a stitch type that still allows your fabric to stretch! ☺
Blue Jacket:
For the jacket, I bought some light weight royal blue fabric with a bit of stretch to it. I didn’t want the fabric as thick as the skirt as I wanted it to not sit too heavy. I used my dress making mannequin to measure out the basic shape of the jacket as I knew it didn’t need to fit tight. The sleeves and collar were made from white fabric. All edges were rolled under at the hem and stitched. The yellow fabric used for the bottom trim and pockets was Scuba Knit fabric. Strips were cut out, rolled under on each side and stitched to the jacket. To make sure the jacket didn’t just flop at the bottom and that it curved around a little, I stitched some elastic on the inside of the yellow trim. The elastic was approx. 2cm thick and was stitched stretched so when let go, it reverted back to un-stretched and as a result, brought the bottom of the jacket in.
Skirt and Red Belt:
For the skirt, I used Scuba Knit fabric. I cut out a strip for the waistband that matched my waist measurements. A great way to do this is to cut out a longer than
needed strip, and measure it directly on yourself. As the skirt is pleated, the base fabric of the skirt needs to me much longer than the waistband. Easily 2-3 times longer. The base of the skirt was hemmed before starting the pleats. I did fairly large pleats and I used Scuba Knit fabric as I didn’t want the pleats to look too harsh. I pleated alongside the waistband as it ensured the skirt would stitch to the waistband without being too long or too short. Once all pleats were stitched along the top, I stitched the waistband on (over the top of the pleats). Ensure a stitch that allows stretch is used. I used Scuba Knit fabric for the red belt as it provided the same stretch as the skirt. I ensured all edges were rolled under and stitched neatly and a buckle was stitched to one end. Holes were cut in the belt using a hole cutter, and studs were used to keep the holes tidy and to prevent any ripping of the fabric.
Gloves:
I used a dark green stretch sports fabric for the main part of the gloves. To make them I just traced around my hand. The fabric was folded in half so I only had to trace around my hand once to get both sides of the glove. This first glove can then be traced for the
Photographer: Rob Jenkins Photo | www.robjenkinsphoto.com
second glove, making sure you stitch them both the same size. A bright green stretch sports fabric was used for the wrist part of the glove. It was folded over and stitched to the wrist of the glove.
Stockings, shoes & leg warmers:
I wore a pair of snow boots (as the bottom looked like sneakers / trainers) and covered the top with leg warmers (bought from Costume Land). I opted for bright green leg warmers to match the wrist section of the gloves, and to keep to the colour palette of the costume. Any colours that are on the costume would also work. ☺ The stockings were also bought from Costume Land and were just black thigh high stockings. I don’t stretch them up as far as they can go so the colour doesn’t become too transparent.
Pokeball:
The Pokeball was made from a Styrofoam ball (you can get these cheaply from craft stores). I engraved out the centre of the ball and the switch. After getting the details engraved, I covered the ball with MANY layers of Mod Podge to get it super smooth. Foam absorbs liquid so it does take many layers. Keep in mind Mod Podge is NOT waterproof so I would recommend a different product to smooth over if you will be near water! Once all smooth and dry, I painted the ball the appropriate colours, and sealed with glossy Mod Podge to make it look all smooth and shiny ☺
WRITTEN BY tiff from tiffany dean cosplay
the view
c0splay & art freedom of expression? Welcome to “The View” This is a new column where special guest writers can share alternate views on cosplay and the art of creating costumes. This month our writer takes a look at social media and creative expression.
Of course you can cosplay whoever you want - as long as you’re prepared to cop the abuse. Oh dear. What a statement. Abuse… online? No… not with cosplay, surely. Cosplayers all get on and appreciate each others’ work right? Unless of course you choose to cosplay something that some people deem is offensive. No, I’m not talking about a serial killer or a Nazi. I’m talking about a character that might be of a different skin colour to you. But I’ve raced ahead. Let’s back up a bit and see where this is all coming from. PC … Political Correctness is killing free speech according to academics at British universities. An article in The Telegraph states: “A whole generation of students is being denied the “intellectual challenge of debating conflicting views” because self-censorship is turning campuses into over-sanitised “safe spaces”, they say.” They’re not the only ones, some people got very upset with the “black face” cosplay drama when
cosplayer Jessie Pridemore cosplayed Anthy from Utena. Jessie’s crime is that she’s white and Anthy is black.
described the performance of Hayes as “wooden and insincere, like he’s trying to hide something, which of course he is.”
Racism!? I’m not sure why it’s racist to pay your respects to a character who is different to you. Whether is skin colour, nationality or even religious beliefs, if someone is genuinely being respectful and trying their best to cosplay a character they love, is that wrong?
Hmmm… maybe the criticism about the actors skills was right, maybe wrong. but there was a massive backlash to the article. The key point is why can’t a gay actor play a straight person or vice-a-versa?
If it is then should it then be wrong to cosplay any character from Street Fighter? What about if you’re Asian and want to cosplay Harry Potter - after all he’s a white teen from the U.K… Acting too seems to have its’ controversies. If you’re straight, can you play a character that is gay? Or the other way round? Not according to a piece written by Newsweek journalist Ramin Setoodeh who reviewed the Broadway revival of Promises, Promises starring Sean Hayes as the male lead. Mr Hayes came out as gay just prior his role as a straight character. Setoodeh
Why can’t a cosplayer pay homage to characters of different race or sex? Why is cross play ok but not a girl wanting to cosplay a black character if she’s white or an Asian cosplaying a caucasian. It’s art and art is subjective and interpretative. Some art you’ll love and some you’ll hate. In my view it’s all ok as long as the heart is pure. The motive is pure, the respect is genuine. The problem I believe is some people are too quick to attack anything they disagree with. They label someone a bigot if they have a different view to theirs. A bigot is someone is utterly intolerant of any differing creed or belief.
But in reality the person yelling bigot is often too quick to jump on the PC train without finding out the true motives of the person they’re pointing at. If someone disagrees with a cosplayer trying something different aren’t they really stifling creativity? Don’t try anything outside my safe, PC box or I’ll aim the full force of my social media at
you… seems to the the cry of the PC social media “expert”.
I’d like to finish with a quote from Langston Hughes:
But if art is subjective, and we shout down anyone doing anything we disagree with, then who really is the bigot?
“An artist must be free to choose what he does but he must also never be afraid to do what he might choose”
Who has the right to tell an artist what they can or can’t do?
PHOTOGRAPHY tips So you’ve been cosplaying a while or maybe just starting out. You’re at a Con and a guy comes up with a camera and fancy lens and asks nicely to be able to photograph you. Sure you say. A few snaps later you notice he’s maybe trying to shoot from a low angle. “It’s to make you look strong and powerful!” he claims. Ok, so you go with it. Then he get’s kind of close and shoots down at your face and says “it’ makes you look soft and cute.” Ok, you think it’s ok, so you go with it. But maybe you should ask to see a few of the shots from the back of the camera. It’s then you notice there’s a lot of focus on your cleavage, or maybe a little too much leg captured. That’s not ok. Not if you didn’t want it. You see there is a very small part of the photography community we call GWC - guy with camera. The Urban Dictionary describes them as any poser/creep with a digital camera pretending to be a pro or semi pro photographer. On the website, Japan Today they talk about GWC as someone to watch out for. They often prey on the inexperienced model or in our example, cosplayer. They’re advice to catch out Mr GWC who is
avoid the
creep genuinely just a creep is to: Check the online presence. Do they have a reasonably good website or do they have any sort of online presence? If you’re approached by someone you don’t know, ask to see their work. When you see their work and it looks amateur take care. Sure everyone starts somewhere and not every beginner is a creepy guy. But if they’re work is terrible and looks inappropriate, listen to your gut feeling. They want to photograph you and don’t want you to bring your boyfriend, mum or dad. Run away don’t even think about it. If someone is wanting to shoot you and you’re young and they say they don’t want mum or your partner around, this is the time be be concerned. Just use your common
sense and avoid this person. I’ve photographed hundreds of people and regularly have partners or friends along. I never shoot anyone under 18 without a parent there. It’s just not done. So if someone asks to shoot you at a con, take care but don’t let them get creepy. Tell them it’s time for you to move on and thanks for the photo. Ask for a card or website address so you can check out the work. Keep the photos at a respectable angle - sure if you’re wearing long pants or a costume that isn’t too revealing, then it’s probably ok for them to try angles out, but if it feels creepy it probably is. Remember though not everyone is a creep. Just use your common sense…
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HOW RATINGS WO The Australian Classification CTC
CTC - Check the classification. The content has been assessed and approved for advertising unclassified films and computer games. Any advertising of unclassified films and games must display the CTC message on posters, trailers, on the internet, and any other types of advertising. G - General. The content is very mild in impact. The G classification is suitable for everyone. G products may contain classifiable elements such as language and themes that are very mild in impact. However, some G-classified films or computer games may contain content that is not of interest to children. PG - Parental Guidance. The content is mild in impact. The impact of PG (Parental Guidance) classified films and computer games should be no higher than mild, but they may contain content that children find confusing or upsetting and may require the guidance of parents and guardians. They may, for example, contain classifiable elements such as language and themes that are mild in impact. It is not recommended for viewing or playing by persons under 15 without guidance from parents or guardians. M - Mature. The content is moderate in impact. Films and computer games classified M (Mature) contain content of a moderate impact and are recommended for teenagers aged 15 years and over. Children under 15 may legally access this material because it is an advisory category. However, M classified films and computer games may include classifiable elements such as violence and nudity of moderate impact that are not recommended for children under 15 years. Parents and guardians may need to find out more about the film or computer gameâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s specific content, before deciding whether the material is suitable for their child.
ORK: Board
There are two separate Boards that are independent from the government and from each other. There is the full time Classification Board that decides the classifications of films, video games and certain publications and the Classification Review Board that meets only to review a decision of the Classification Board when there is a valid application for review. The Board bases its’ classifications on six elements: Themes, Violence, Sex, Language, Drug Use & Nudity Below are a list of classifications you’ll find on games and movies:
MA 15+ - Mature Accompanied 15+. The content is strong in impact. MA 15+ classified material contains strong content and is legally restricted to persons 15 years and over. It may contain classifiable elements such as sex scenes and drug use that are strong in impact. A person may be asked to show proof of their age before hiring or purchasing an MA 15+ film or computer game. Cinema staff may also request that the person show proof of their age before allowing them to watch an MA 15+ film. Children under the age of 15 may not legally watch, buy or hire MA 15+ classified material unless they are in the company of a parent or adult guardian. Children under 15 who go to the cinema to see an MA 15+ film must be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian for the duration of the film. The parent or adult guardian must also purchase the movie ticket for the child. The guardian must be an adult exercising parental control over the person under 15 years of age. The guardian needs to be 18 years or older.
Parents and guardians may need to find out more about the film or computer game’s specific content, before deciding whether the material is suitable for their child. R 18+ - Restricted to 18+. The content is high in impact. R 18+ material is restricted to adults. Such material may contain classifiable elements such as sex scenes and drug use that are high in impact. Some material classified R18+ may be offensive to sections of the adult community. A person may be asked for proof of their age before purchasing, hiring or viewing R18+ films and computer games at a retail store or cinema. There is also an X 18+ for adult films and these titles are only available for sale in the ACT and the Northern Territory. Sometimes games are refused classification. This can cause gamers to be frustrated, citing that the R18+ classification should take care of adult content. But still some games don’t get classified until the publishers/developers have addressed the concerns of the Classification Board.
CTC
Want to know more? Visit the Australian Classification website - www.classification. gov.au
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