January Magazine

LIVE VIDEO GAMES

JANUARY 2016 ISSUE

Gametraders surveyed over 2000 people and the votes are in!

Trading Cards at Gametraders!

Page 88

Welcome Happy New Year!

It’s 2016 and anyone who’s older then 30 or 40 might think that sounds so futuristic. To be honest the year 2000 seemed a distant future to some of us. When we were kids we thought the 2000s would have us flying around in cars having mid air accidents and living in VR type environments where every fantasy world could be explored.

Well the reality is it didn’t quite work out like that. Sure games have progressed to almost life like graphics but there are limitations… for now. But 2016 could see changes in hardware that we’ll be looking at in detail next month. For this month, we take a look at some of the games we’re looking forward to coming out this year.

It promises to be a huge year for games and for movies - speaking of which, we have a giveaway thanks to our friends at Sony. There’s 5th Wave ticket giveaway inside you should definitely check out.

Plus X-Files is back! Yes we’re excited for the return of Mulder and Scully and next month we’re talking to the one and only Dean Haglund who played Langly from the Lone Gunmen.

Have a great month!!

The Live Crew

INSIDE 10 18 72 120 Games to look out for in 2016 Previews & 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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R E M SUM

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JANUARY

GAME

RELEASES! TITLE

FORMATS

Story of Seasons

3DS

Zombi

PS4, XB1

Resident Evil Origins Collection

PS4, XB1

Life is Strange Limited Edition

PS4, XB1

Pokemon Rumble World

3DS

LEGO Marvel Avengers

PS4, XB1, 3DS, PSV, 360, Wii U, PC

Final Fantasy Explorers

3DS

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FEATURE

games to look our for in 2016

far cry primal: 23 february (ps4, xb1, pc)

Welcome to the Stone Age, a time of extreme danger. When giant mammoths and sabretooth tigers ruled the Earth, and humanity was at the bottom of the food chain. As the last survivor of your hunting group, you will learn to craft a deadly arsenal, fend off fierce predators, and outsmart enemy tribes to conquer the land of Oros and become the Apex Predator.

CTC

Tom Clancy’s The Division: 8 march (ps4, xb1, pc)

We live in a complex world. The more advanced it gets, the more vulnerable it becomes. We’ve created a house of cards: remove just one, and everything falls apart. Black Friday – a devastating pandemic sweeps through New York City, and one by one, basic services fail. In only days, without food or water, society collapses into chaos. The Division, an autonomous unit of tactical agents, is activated. Leading seemingly ordinary lives among us, these agents are trained to operate independently in order to save society. When society falls, we rise.

CTC

uncharted 4: 18 march (ps4)

Several years after his last adventure, retired fortune hunter, Nathan Drake, is forced back into the world of thieves.

With the stakes much more personal, Drake embarks on a globe-trotting journey in pursuit of a historical conspiracy behind a fabled pirate treasure. His greatest adventure will test his physical limits, his resolve, and ultimately what he’s willing to sacrifice to save the ones he loves.

CTC

Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon: 20 february (3ds) In the Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon game, the player will be transformed into one of 20 Pokémon as they set out on an adventure in a world inhabited solely by the 720 discovered Pokémon. This game boasts hours of replayability as each dungeon is randomly generated, so you’ll never explore the same dungeon twice as you unravel this tale of adventure and mystery.

star fox zero: april (wii u)

CTC

Fox, Falco, Peppy and Slippy save the Lylat system in this new deep space dogfighting adventure. Using the Wii U GamePad controller and the TV together creates a unique interface that allows players to experience the game with two different viewpoints within the Arwing – aim and shoot enemies in one direction while flying in another.

This frees up the TV for a more cinematic flight experience. Then, pilot the Arwing with its new Walker transformation, along with the new Gyrowing and the Landmaster Tank, to traverse interplanetary terrain.

CTC

street fighter v: 16 february (ps4, pc) The legendary fighting franchise returns with Street Fighter V! Powered by Unreal Engine 4 technology, stunning visuals depict the next generation of World Warriors in unprecedented detail, while exciting and accessible battle mechanics deliver endless fighting fun that both beginners and veterans can enjoy. Challenge friends online, or compete for fame and glory on the Capcom Pro Tour.

CTC

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided: 23 august (ps4)

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided takes place in 2029, two years after the events of Human Revolution and the infamous ‘Aug Incident’ in Panchaea that resulted in the death of millions at the hands of those who had installed augmentations. This event has created a huge divide between those who have augmentations, and those who do not.

Amongst this emotional turmoil are various factions looking to manipulate the public by twisting public opinion of augmentation to further their own agenda and hide the truth of what really happened. As the social and political chaos reaches boiling point, super-augmented anti-terrorist agent Adam Jensen re-enters the fray. Empowered by brand new augmentations that bolster his formidable, strategic arsenal, Jensen will visit multiple new locations to uncover the truths that are hidden by a cloak of new conspiracies. With more choice at the player’s disposal than ever before, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is the ultimate Deus Ex experience.

Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare 2: 25 february (Ps4, xb1, pc)

The battle for suburbia grows to crazy new heights in Plants vs. Zombies™ Garden Warfare 2! In this hilarious, action-packed shooter, zombie leader Dr. Zomboss has strengthened his horde and rebuilt suburbia as a zombie utopia. But hope remains, because for the first time the plants are taking the offensive in an all-out attack to reclaim their turf. Play as the plants in the all-new 24-player Herbal Assault mode, or choose your side in 4-player co-op or Solo Play!

CTC

Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst: 26 april (ps4, xb1) The long awaited title is an action-adventure platformer and is a reboot of 2008’s Mirror’s Edge. The game will revolve around Faith’s origin and attempt to overthrow a totalitarian conglomerate of corporations who rule the city of Glass. Players take control of Faith Connors as she progresses through a futuristic city called Glass. Similar to the original Mirror’s Edge, players traverse the city using parkour movements to complete missions and evade enemies or knock them off of their feet. Players can also make use of environmental objects such as zip-lines and ledges to travel across buildings.

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gameS REVIEWS & PREVIEWS reviewS:

ADVENTURE TIME:

FINN & JAKE INVESTIGATIONS

PERSONA 4:

DANCING ALL NIGHT

WWE 2K16 JUST CAUSE 3

S

ADVENTU

finn & jake in

URE TIME:

nvestigations review

REVIEW

ADVENTURE TIME: finn & jake investigations Adventure Time games have been a frustration for so long because of the very series they spring from. Adventure Time itself has a clear affection for video games often featuring 8-bit inspired music, episodes that reference classic games and tropes, and heck – Finn and Jake live with BMO, their very own sentient gaming console they often play on. The first ever Adventure Time game, Hey Ice King, Why’d You Steal Our Garbage?! was a great homage to the 8-bit Zelda games but since then Adventure Time games have fallen frustratingly flat. Finn & Jake Investigations represents the latest attempt to capture Adventure Time’s unique attraction in video game and largely succeeds compared to previous entries. This, however, does not mean that Finn & Jake Investigations is without flaws.

First off, if you’ve never seen Adventure Time Finn & Jake Investigations is honestly not going to be worth your time, nor will you really understand the context of what is happening. The good news for you then is that you get to go watch Adventure Time!

Go do that, then come back and read this review.

You’re back? Great! Finn & Jake Investigations finds Finn & Jake, well, investigating. Using the regular 4th wall breaking Cuber’s Graybles as a context for ‘playing’ Finn & Jake’s investigations, players will follow Finn & Jake through five different investigations throughout the land of Ooo (sometime parallel to season 6 for those interested in the continuity). Each investigation can be described as analogous to an episode of the TV show, albeit one players have to interact with. The investigations don’t ever quite reach the height of some of the best Adventure Time episodes in terms of writing quality – it does’t help that a game necessitates pauses in the normal constant stream of jokes and narrative that make Adventure Time so great – but if you’re a fan of Adventure Time they are worth playing for some definite chuckles.

Finn & Jake Investigations takes form in a combination of your standard adventure game puzzles and some rudimentary com-

bat. Finn & Jake’s default gameplay has the player control Finn as he interacts contextually with various items in the world of Ooo. Like most adventure games the player is placed in a restricted area and has to interact with various items to piece together the solutions to the various puzzles presented. The game touts that Jake will do cool things to assist you in your investigations but usually what happens is you simply use him to reach hard to get to areas resulting in, somehow, a pretty mundane use of a magic dog. Like many traditional adventure games though Finn & Jake Investigations has it’s own sense of logic that requires the player think at the same pace as the game. There were quite a few times where I figured out a puzzle too early and wasn’t able to solve it because I hadn’t completed the prerequisite steps yet – at one point I had to scare gnomes out of a house and I knew I had to use the beehive nearby to do so but the game wouldn’t actually let me do it until a few other events had happened. Whilst I understand the game requires that events happen in a certain order it can be very frustrating.

Many puzzles involve a combo system that requires players to combine various items collected and much like the other puzzles this can come together intuitively and also in seemingly impossible to guess ways. This results in a game that can sometimes feel dull to actually play sometimes as you take Finn & Jake through the motions whilst other times you feel the game is asking you to solve a puzzle only it knows the solution too.

The latter is quite frustrating for younger players to be sure, and whilst Finn & Jake Investigations is largely a suitable game for all ages young minds might struggle to make some of the logic leaps the game makes and could be a potential game breaker for the very young.

Combat feels like a deliberately toned down version of the Batman Arkham series combat which while potentially boring for older players is probably suitable for younger ones. At certain intervals Finn declares that it is “Combat Time!” and a fight ensues. The player controls Finn as he swings his sword while Jake assists. After a certain amount of time you’ll be able to do a combo with Jake by selecting one of his four forms: Jake Suit, War Dog, Catapult, and Spinning Top. Each is a fun way to play and smack down enemies and despite its very basic play style Combat Time can be a welcome relief to some slow puzzle solving. It also does feel pretty cool to control Finn & Jake beating the snot out of some bad guys and it is definitely the best 3D combat realised in an Adventure Time game yet. In a novel twist

you can’t actually loose combat, you simply get lesser and lesser amounts of loot at the end of the battle the more damage you take. At the end of each a battle you get the chance to replay it which is a great addition for younger players – they can keep playing to get better but if a fight is quite tough they can just continue the story. The ease of combat might irritate older players somewhat but given the source material I found it a perfectly acceptable design choice.

tal lack of use of the 3DS’ touch pad. For most of the game it simply displays the game’s logo and only comes into play when you have to choose dialogue. Even the inventory screen appears on the half on top screen and requires prompting to appear on both screens simultaneously which makes no sense for a 3DS game. No doubt this problem won’t be present on the PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game, but for 3DS owners it does prove irritating.

Visually Finn & Jake Investigations is a mixed bag. Graphics are rendered in full 3D which to some might make the traditional 2D animation style look weird but I was pleased with the transition, and felt it captured the look of the series well. The game is available on about every platform imaginable, and I played the 3DS version. The game boasts the first fully 3d interactive Ooo, but in reality the small boxes that Finn is placed in to investigated mean the world is, in fact, rather small. The 3DS graphics were pretty impressive relative to the console but the 3D effect almost has no depth or effect, and the home console versions definitely have much finer graphics and far smoother character models.

Perhaps both the most disappointing and exciting element of Finn & Jake Investigations is it’s sound design. The good news is that the full original cast of Adventure Time is present and having a full voiced Adventure Time game with lots of dialogue from man your favourite characters, including fan favourites LSP and Lemongrab. This really helps sell alot of the fun of the game and the actors do not phone it in at all making for a pretty enjoyable listening. What is very disappointing though, is the lack of music.

Adventure Time often features great original music from instrumental pieces to full blown songs. Sadly Finn & Jake Investigations features pretty bland background music and has no songs. I could have lived without any original songs but in a series with such a rich audio history having bland background music is pretty unforgivable. Heck, Adventure Time: Hey Ice King.

Why’d You Steal Our Garbage?! had a fantastic 8-bit soundtrack and that was on the original DS. As Lemongrab would say: UNACCEPTABLE!

Frustratingly, across all versions, it seems that the lines of spoken dialogue don’t match up with the character mouth animations – the models just flap their mouths rather generically. This isn’t a huge issue but it can take you of the experience of playing the game if you notice it. With the 3DS version of the game I was also disappointed by the near to-

Sadly, unless you’re a real fan of the stories or combat that are present in the game you’re not really going to find much replay value, especially as you will already know all the solutions to all the puzzles. For parents looking to purchase for younger players this might not be a bad thing, as I’m sure younger folks could enjoy the stories time and time again, but for adults or other who have other games that demand their attention, there seems little reason to return to Finn & Jake Investigations, though the possibility of more cases via DLC could be a reason to tempt some back.

Finn & Jake Investigations finds itself as, in the end, the second best Adventure Time game and hopefully marks an uptick in the quality of Adventure Time games. It’s certainly a pleasant distraction for fans of the show, and younger fans in particular should get alot out of it, but your Adventure Time love will strongly determine your enjoyment of the game. Adventure Time still cries out for a game to fully capitalise on the fantastic potential of the franchise. As it stands Finn & Jake Investigations is far from UNACCEPTABLE, but not quite mathematical.

6.2 /10

PROS: FULL ORIGINAL VOICE CAST MORE ADVENTURE TIME IS RARELY BAD GREAT ALL AGES GAME

Click to view the trailer here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cf7Bi2bQUMs

CONS: PUZZLES SOMETIMES DON’T MAKE SENSE YOUR LOVE OF ADVENTURE TIME IS A BIG FACTOR VERY DISAPPOINTING LACK OF MUSIC

WRITTEN BY alex holmes

WWW.STICKYTRIGGER.COM

PERS

DANCING

SONA 4:

G ALL NIGHT review

REVIEW

PERSONA 4: DAN

As a fan of the eclectic, any weird genre-bending spinoff of a popular property possesses a certain appeal. Fallout Shelter turned the nuclear apocalypse into a mobile app, Dragon Quest Heroes took a longstanding swords-and-slimes RPG and made it into a hack-and-slash title. Super Smash Bros remains the gamer’s wet dream of fantasy match-ups, pulled from every title and genre imaginable. And Persona…well, Atlus have never been shy of adapting Persona.

One remake, one crossover, two fighting games and two anime adaptations later, the Persona 4 juggernaut is finally coming to an end – so why not make it about dancing?

Persona 4: Dancing All Night is pretty much exactly what’s on the tin. A month after the ending of Persona 4 Golden (that’s the remake of the original game, dear readers), idol Rise Kujikawa’s big comeback to showbiz is finally happening in the Love Meets Bonds Festival. What better way to return, she decides, than with all her friends as backup dancers? With the Investigation Team now trained in fancy footwork, they’d be all ready to hit the stage if not for a sudden crisis: the members of Kanamin Kitchen, a fellow idol group in

Rise’s agency, have all disappeared, save for leader Kanami herself.

Amidst these circumstances and a mysterious rumour of a cursed video on the LMB website, it falls once again to the Investigation Team to delve into their shadow world and save the day. However, a mysterious voice has different ideas. Following them through the Midnight Stage – a wholly different world than the Midnight Channel they had known before – it wishes only to connect with them, promising ‘eternal bonds’.

This is a world, it explains, where no-one hurts or gets hurt. The only way to defeat the Shadows within is through self-expression.

And what is the purest form of communicating your feelings?

That’s right. Dance.

The premise is about as silly as one might expect, but the actual story it tells is surprisingly engaging. The overarching theme of Persona 4 is the ‘true self’ – specifically, the importance of facing and accepting the ugly, hidden parts of yourself you don’t like in order to overcome them, even if you might hurt and suffer in order to do so. Dancing All Night flips this concept on its head: through the lens of the Kanamin Kitchen

idols on-screen personas and their real selves, it becomes apparent that not everyone has the ability or the will to go through that pain and suffering to reach their true self. Much easier to simply be the person everyone else wants you to be, even if that means throwing your true self away.

It’s a thoughtful counterpoint to the theme Persona 4 has preached all along and a big bonus to a game which might otherwise have been throwaway. Rather than just farm out a simple rhythm game and rake in the profits, the story, gameplay and execution have all been approached with utter care, delivering a game as interesting as it is fun to play. In fact, development was actually taken away from a previous studio simply because what they were making wasn’t up to snuff – a great move in an industry more than ready to shove half-finished games out the door just to hit a deadline.

The gameplay itself is your usual rhythm game fare. As the Midnight Stage – our shadow world for this entry – is a place where “nobody hurts or gets hurt”, their usual methods of Personabased violence cannot work. Instead, the team must communi-

NCING ALL NIGHT

Click to view the trailer here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_Lw4683vkM

cate their feelings to the masses of Shadows through dance, freeing the beasts from their own yellow-ribboned ‘bonds’. Actual play is executed through a button-tapping interface familiar to anyone who’s ever even glanced at a DDR machine. Up, left and down arrows cover one side of the screen, with Triangle, Circle and X on the other. The buttons to match spread outwards, tapped as they go over the markers. Green notes need to be held and released; pink notes stretch across, requiring two opposite buttons to be hit in unison. Fever Circles spread out as well, requiring a flick of the analog sticks to ‘scratch’ the track, racking up further points. Do it well enough and Bond Fever will activate, bringing in a friend to dance with the lead character! It’s simple but effective, with difficulty levels available for any level of skill.

For the fan, it’s an absolute delight. All the Investigation Team is there for your dancing pleasure (plus fan-favourite Nanako), along with newcomer Kanami.

Other characters are available

via paid DLC, but it’s in the bonus extras where the true wealth of fan service comes through.

Every character boasts at least a dozen costumes, even more accessories, and all sorts of items to help mix up the gameplay.

Fans will also be pleased to know that the remixes and new songs retain the singular charm of Persona music past – an absolutely vital component in any musicbased game. Even if you don’t know your Signs of Love from your Heartbeat, Heartbreak, the tracks burst with toe-tapping fun to entertain any player.

For the non-fan, though…that’s a trickier question to answer.

Just playing through Free Dance mode is fun enough for fans of the genre, offering great music, cute graphics and decent challenge, but there’s no getting around that there’s been three (technically five) games worth of story before this. Good writing does a decent job of easing newcomers into the salient points, but without that all-important context, Dancing All Night‘s story can seem like a lot of vibrantly-coloured teen-

agers spouting off about love and bonds and – at least for some middle chapters – pretty much just repeating the same process over and over again.

The newcomers from Kanamin Kitchen also are a bit on the nose, even more one-dimensional when contrasted against their producer, the ice-cold Ms Ochimizu. If you love music games, it’s a winner. If you want the story to make sense, starting with Persona 4 Golden would be a much safer bet.

So is it good? Yes, it’s very good.

But it’s good in its own specific way. If you weren’t looking for a peppy, bombastic dancing game musing on the difficulty of being yourself in a society of conformity and expectations, then it’s pretty fair to say this particular title might be a bit out of the old wheelhouse. Giving it a chance, though, may just lead to a pleasant surprise: a joyful game expressing an unmistakably positive message, not afraid to have fun with itself and have you have fun, too.

And all to one bear of a beat.

8.8 /10 PROS: ADDICTIVE RHYTHM GAMEPLAY LOTS OF GREAT TRACKS AND REMIXES THOUGHTFUL STORY VERY REPLAYABLE

CONS: RHYTHM GAMEPLAY NOT FOR ALL SOME WEAK STORY PORTIONS LOTS OF PLOT TO CATCH UP ON

WRITTEN BY AARON MULLIGAN WWW.STICKYTRIGGER.COM

WWE

E 2K16 review

REVIEW

WWE2K16

It would be fair to say that each game in the WWE 2K series has been a mixed bag. Some have had stellar visuals, only to be let down by poor gameplay or other issues. The last entry in the series, WWE 2K15, attempted to fix several of the problems found in WWE 2K14, but was plagued with other, more annoying issues of its own. Can 2K and Yukes finally deliver the wrestling sim that WWE fans deserve?

‘WWE 2K16’ aims to be that game, with a focus on combining everything that is great about the WWE today, with everything that was brilliant about several bygone WWE eras. Not only that, but the career mode and chain grapples have been tweaked, and the difficulty is not only more forgiving to the player, but also highly customisable in itself. So is WWE 2K16 a WWE Superstar, or a soon-to-be-forgotten jobber?

WWE 2K16 offers a variety of modes to gamers. You can jump straight into a match of your choosing with Play, begin your illustrious WWE career in MyCareer, play classic WWE matches in WWE Showcase, create your own WWE programming in Uni-

verse Mode, or take the fight online with Online Mode. Of course, it wouldn’t be a WWE game without being able to create your own wrestlers, move sets and entries, and in that regard, WWE 2K16 has you covered. In fact, you can even create your own original WWE show!

Within Play mode, you can select a number of different match types, based on the number of participants as well as match rules. Feel like a classic oneon-one match? Easily done.

Perhaps you’d rather a 30-man Royal Rumble, a Hell In a Cell, or an Extreme Rules tag match?

Whatever you fancy, WWE 2K16 has it on offer!

Naturally, most WWE fans will want to create their own character, and experience what it’s like to be a WWE Superstar in WWE 2K16’s MyCareer Mode. While the THQ WWE games of yesteryear had too many customisation options available (you needed to sift through a lot of garbage to get to the parts you actually wanted) WWE 2K16 finds itself on the opposite side of the spectrum, with hardly any customisation options.

While I appreciate the more ridiculous customisations remaining stripped away, there is a distinct lack of decent patterns, icons, pre-made colours, and textures available. The same can be said for face templates, facial features, haircuts and other important customisation parts. This is only made worse by the fact that the WWE 2K16 Creation Studio app (which scans and uploads a player’s face into the game through your smartphone) is still nowhere to be seen – it should have been available before the game’s launch!

Looks are important to the career of a wrestler, but they always come second to in-ring ability. WWE 2K16 has significantly upped the ante when it comes to the number of different moves available, so your wrestler should have no trouble becoming the brawler, high-flyer or technician you want them to be.

The animations are spectacular too, finding the delicate balance between over-the-top (rope?) wrestling fantasy and realistic portrayal. Not only that, but there are also more combination moves, which go hand in hand with the new focus on strategy that is present in 2K16. I’ve been

playing the Yukes-developed WWE games since they debuted on the original PlayStation, and I don’t think I’ve been as impressed by the amount of moves (and their animations) this much since the series’ glory days on the PlayStation 2.

Gameplay-wise, things are a lot tighter in WWE 2K16. The controls are responsive, and the mini-games such as chain grapples and QTEs are a lot more forgiv-

ing on the player. In fact, the entire game is more balanced overall, with numerous little tweaks making all the difference.

One of those tweaks, is the reversal system. Now, players have a limited number of reversals that can be used in a short time, with those reversals recharging over time. You also have quick strikes and grapples, as well as heavy strikes and grapples. A quick strike or grap-

ple requires less time to pull off, though does less damage than a heavy strike or grapple. A bigger move requires more time to pull off, though it is more rewarding. Be careful though, a bigger move may present more than one opportunity to reverse it, and the reversals deal more damage than if you had simply chosen to use a quicker move.

The tweaked stamina and reversal system injects WWE

Click to view the trailer here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl7qHVD5x7Q

8.5 /10

PROS: FANTASTIC ANIMATIONS ACCESSIBLE TONS OF CREATIVE MODES NEW STRATEGIC GAMEPLAY ELEMENTS WORK BRILLIANTLY

CONS: LONG AND FREQUENT LOAD TIMES VOICE ACTING AND COMMENTARY CAN BE DULL AT TIMES SOUNDTRACK IS ABYSMAL 2K16 with a great deal of strategy. Players used to being able to go all-out with their offence might find themselves depleted of stamina, opening a window of opportunity for their opponents.

A wrestler who isn’t particularly strong at brawling might find the match swings in their favour if they’re able to nail the reversal system.

WWE 2K15 had a promising career mode, that took players

from the WWE Training Centre, to NXT, Smackdown!, Raw, and beyond. It was an intriguing idea that was unfortunately marred by extreme difficulty spikes. This year’s WWE game makes up for that in many ways, in what is a major improvement over last year’s MyCareer mode. Players will still create a wrestler and take them through all the steps in a modern WWE career, though the difficulty spikes are gone, and there is much more player input from the get-go.

WWE 2K16 is a major improvement over 2K14 and 2K15, though it does have a few weaknesses. We’ve already talked about the lack of character customisation options, the missing WWE Creation Studio app, and there are only a few other areas where the game falls short.

For one thing, it’s soundtrack is abysmal, and there are only 12 tracks. I have no idea how Skid Row and Billy Idol made the cut onto a modern-day WWE game soundtrack, but somehow they did. I like Marilyn Manson’s latest album, but none of the songs on it get you pumped to lay the smackdown on someone, and neither do Diplo, Kid Ink or the

Zac Brown Band. 2K really need to go back to the drawing board and reconsider what wrestling fans want to hear.

WWE 2K16 also takes an unbearable time to load, and it loads things frequently. Did you just win a match? Prepare for a minute of loading time. Did you just watch a cutscene? Prepare for a minute of load time. Did you just change your hairstyle in Create-A-Wrestler? Prepare for almost a minute of load time.

Still, it says something about the engaging career mode when I’m willing to sit through the load times in anticipation for my next match or backstage interview.

WWE 2K16 is the best WWE game in years, and easily the best on the current generation of consoles. Though it isn’t perfect, slow load times and a lacklustre soundtrack don’t mar the overall experience. WWE fans, this is the rasslin’ game you’ve wanted for a while!

WRITTEN BY NICK GETLEY

WWW.STICKYTRIGGER.COM

PRE-ORDER NOW

W! Coming in 2016!

JUST C

CAUSE 3 review

REVIEW

JUST CAUSE 3 If there’s one thing that can pull me away from Fallout 4, it’s overthrowing Mediterranean dictatorships, and BAM! Just Cause 3 has exploded onto our gaming systems for just such an occasion. The other awesome openworld shooter of 2015 is here, and here in a big way. Having liberated/demolished Panau in Just Cause 2, series protagonist Rico Rodriguez returns home to the fictional Medici.

Just Cause 3’s concept is pretty similar in concept to the previous title: Cause chaos, reclaim towns and provinces from the government forces, and cause enough carnage and explosions to make a Michael Bay film look like a pansy romance (though isn’t that what Pearl Harbor was anyway?)

The action is just as chaotic and engaging as it was in Just Cause 2, although on a much larger scale. Rico is still able to perform a number of insanely dangerous stunts (such as surfing the top of a speeding car off a cliff and parachuting to safety), and he still carries the series’ iconic grappling hook, though there are a number of new additions in Just Cause 3 that expand upon JC’s gameplay.

In previous JC games, players could fly, drive, run and parachute anywhere they wanted to

go – with the game world being truly massive. While exploration was fun, fast travel was noticeably absent. The game world in Just Cause 3 is just as big as the world in Just Cause 2, though fast travel is available, allowing players more choice in how they pursue activities or the main story.

Players are now also able to call in supply drops to help in various situations. You simply choose whatever weapons, equipment, and vehicles you need, and the helpful locals will airdrop them directly to you. Overthrowing a government is no easy feat, and sometimes even Rico could use a boost – which is where “mods” come in. They help players become bigger, badder, and able to deal out a lot more damage.

Mods are earned through challenges which appear after you liberate towns and outposts.

They range from races, weapon challenges, destruction challenges, and a few oddballs in between. Unlimited fast travel, and unlimited supply drops, can be achieved eventually by finding all of certain collectible types.

Meaning that there is a worthwhile reward for spending those painstaking hours tracking down little items hidden throughout the world. Just Cause 3 will appeal to

action junkies much like the way JC2 did. If you love to blow s#*! up, then be prepared to gorge on chaos until you’re well and truly full. The game is also beautiful, much like Just Cause 2 was.

JC2 was so gorgeous in fact, that I often told people if Panau were real I would take a holiday there. Just Cause 3’s Medici is even more visually impressive.

The real beauty in Just Cause 3 though, is in the destruction players will cause.

Speaking of destruction, I can’t recall a game that impressed with the amount of carnage on offer as Just Cause 3. Fuel tanks implode, gas canisters launch into the air and blow up like a failed rocket launch, and road and rail bridges can be destroyed to create some hilarious chaos (the AI just simply carry on as if there isn’t a gaping hole in their way). Just Cause 3 also has an action game rarity: trains!

There are plenty of them running army supplies around, and they can all be attacked, hijacked or derailed spectacularly.

JC3 is the best type of action game, where nothing has been taken out of the preceding title. They simply dusted off what made JC2 such a memorable hit, and built on it to give you more and more. Oh, did I

Click to view the trailer here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ND5dYIFkd0

9/1 0

PROS:

mention there’s unlimited C4 as well? Nothing is ever too crazy, or too over the top. Forget GTA, if you’re angry in that game you just blow up some cars with a tank. Tick me off in Just Cause 3 though, and I can wreck an entire transport system, or the entire government.

Just Cause 3 is a great title, and I can see why Rico is chilling on the beach, drink in hand, and toasting to a distant explosion on the loading screen. I would be to.

Here’s to you JC3, for being explosively awesome. Some much needed fireworks just in time for Christmas.

LOOKS GORGEOUS PLENTY OF MISSIONS AND ACTIVITIES LOTS OF FREEDOM

CONS: REPETITIVE NO MINI-MAP ANNOYING SECTIONS WITH INFINITELY RESPAWNING ENEMIES

WRITTEN BY BEN RACHOW

WWW.STICKYTRIGGER.COM

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CARD GAMES the gamer diaries: ARIA THE PART3 SCARLET AMMO retro anime REVIEW

NINTENDO 64 COLLECTIBLES

THE BEST THAT WAS comics

out

retro During 1989 my life become Amstrad, Amstrad, Amstrad. I read Amstrad magazines, I played Amstrad games and I made my own Amstrad programs. They were simple creations at first, but they became more complex as I learned more coding techniques. I enjoyed learning how to program, and though I covered many advanced BASIC commands I never got into the more complicated machine code. Back on the entertainment front, now that I had my own computer I was able to explore games at my leisure, and if I didn’t have a game I would copy it. The problem I found was that some games featured advanced copy protection which made it difficult. Much to my chagrin, one such game was the classic building basher ‘Rampage’.

‘Rampage’ allows you to take control of one of 3 creatures, Ralph the giant wolf man, Lizzie the giant lizard and George the giant ape. The game involves mass destruction of buildings, eating people and keeping the army at bay. When you finish destroying a city you move on to the next one.

In between levels you see newspaper headlines outlining your antics, which is a nice touch. After a while the game can feel rather samey, but there’s something about it that makes you want to come back and give it another go.

Another title was ‘Barbarian’ which is a one on one hack and slash fighter. In this game you need to save Princess Mariana by defeating the wizard Drax and his evil warriors. A bloody game for its time, ’Barbarian’ was famous

The Gamer Diaries: part 3

for its spinning head chop that instantly ends any battle. After the head is cut off the body drops to the ground, with the head bouncing a couple of feet away. A little goblin then appears to drag the body away and (to add insult to injury) kick the severed head off the screen. Watching that animation still brings a smile to my face more than 20 years later. I did manage to face Drax once, but he attacks with projectiles and I was unable to get close enough to hit him.

The Christmas of 1989 is the first time I can recall noticing video games in department stores that potential customers could try. I remember K-Mart at the Ingle Farm shopping centre having a Sega Master System with ‘Super Hang On’ available to play. Not being a fan of racing games it made little impact on me, though I did have a go. Back in Amstrad world ’Super Hang On’ became my first taste of the Spectrum Port, the bane of every Amstrad owner.

The Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum computers both use the Z80 same processor. As a consequence it was easy for companies

to port games from one system to the other. As the Amstrad featured higher specs, many games were ported from the Spectrum. The Spectrum palette isn’t as large as the Amstrad and it wasn’t uncommon for colours to clash with each other on the screen. This code would be ported over to the Amstrad computer and released, with very little optimising. When a game was coded specifically for the Amstrad it had the potential to be colourful and fast. When it was ported from the Spectrum the game was in few colours and quite slow.

In 1987 I had joined the cub scouts, and one of the kids who had recently joined lived around the block from me and went to the same school, though we had never met before now. He also owned an Amstrad which piqued my curiosity. His name was James and we quickly became firm friends who spent many years gaming on Amstrad, Atari, Mattel and Nintendo systems. James also had a hefty collection of Amstrad magazines and we spent hours poring over issues of ‘Amstrad Computer User’, ‘Computing with the Amstrad’, and the Australian

1989 - 1990

magazine ‘The Amstrad User’.

The Amstrad owners from the football club purchased a Nintendo Entertainment System at around 1990. It was my first time playing one and I was instantly struck by how comfortable the directional pad was to use, having only used joysticks and keyboard controls up to this point. Of the two games that they had ‘Super Mario Bros’ left a big impression on me. The graphics were basic but the scrolling was smooth and the game was just so much fun. It was quite different to the Commodore 64 hack of ‘The Great Giana Sisters’ that I had played earlier.

Pinbot was the other game they owned and I enjoyed it, but I preferred ‘Macadam Bumper’ on the Amstrad CPC. ‘Macadam Bumper’ is actually an average pinball title that suffers from a bad case of slowdown.

For me, what made it so much fun was the pinball table construction kit that came with the game. I built many tables, often trying to replicate those that I had managed to play in real life (but failing miserably). This made up for the fact that the game itself only came with a single table. The biggest problem with table creation was having the ball get stuck, and it required a significant amount of testing to ensure this didn’t happen.

I went to school with twins whose family had recently purchased an Amiga 500 computer. It was the first time I had ever seen one and I was immediately blown away by the 16-bit wonderbeast. The twins had a few games includ-

ing ‘Sinbad and the Throne of the Falcon’ and the Psygnosis version of ‘Barbarian’. In 1987 both Psygnosis and Palace Software released very different games with the same title. The hack and slash classic I had played on the Amstrad was released by Palace Software but this title was very different. We loaded it up and tried to use the joystick but nothing was happening. We noticed that the screen contained arrow icons and a sword icon. Clicking these worked, but it was a clumsy, cumbersome control method that we quickly grew tired of. A little later in the year the twins got ahold of ‘The Flood’, which was one of the newest games on the market.

Yes, I was that kind of nerd! I spent many lunchtimes going over discs of code I had worked on at home, with Mr O’Reilly on hand to provide any help or guidance with our projects. I had one big project I had started involving those “heroes in a half shell”, though sadly it would never see the light of day.

‘The Flood’ is a little known title, but it’s an underrated classic that involves the player scrambling through the sewers to pickup items and reach the surface before they fill up with water. Your little green character can swim for a short amount of time, but it’s better to try and scramble up the walls and ceilings before the water comes close to you. As well as avoiding the water you also had plenty of enemies to try and halt your progress. They could be dispatched with a variety of weapons that could be picked up at certain points in the level. I loved platform games and I thought this was a fantastic new take on the genre.

In 1990 the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were the king of the kids, as was the arcade game. TimeZone TV commercials at the time were advertising that the game was available to play at their game centres. It was also showing up in shopping centres and fish and chip shops. I don’t recall where I first played it, but I played it a LOT. It was hugely popular, so getting time on the machine was a waiting game. I wanted more though, I wanted to play this game at home. We were still a good year away from home computer ports, but I suppose I had delusions of being able to code an Amstrad version using BASIC. How very naive I was back then…

I can remember taking a book of graph paper everywhere with me and drawing pixel art. I had eventually drawn all 4 of the turtles and started to code them into the Amstrad. I ended up with a very simplified Michelangelo who would walk to the right. It was at this time that I realised I couldn’t code sprites, so that project died.

Back at school my computing teacher, Mr O’Reilly, started an unofficial computer club. Amstrad enthusiasts were encouraged to come along and discuss and share programming techniques.

In 1990 software for the Amstrad and most 8-bits was becoming scarce. Thankfully my grandparents went to the UK for a holiday, where Amstrad games were still plentiful. They came back from

1989 - 1990

their trip with ‘Double Dragon’ and a compilation called ‘Heroes’.

The ‘Heroes’ compilation included ‘Barbarian 2’ (sequel to the Palace Software title), ‘Star Wars’, ‘The Running Man’ and ‘License to Kill’. I was able to choose a title to own now and a title to have at Christmas. I decided that I wanted ‘Double Dragon’ now. There are two Amstrad versions of the game, a terrible 64k version and the much better 128k version, which was thankfully the one I got.

James ended up getting ‘Double Dragon 2’, and on some days we would play through both games, one after the other, though 2 was a much harder game.

Though software was scarce I was made aware of a computer shop at the Modbury Triangle Shopping Centre called “Mr Computer”, who were advertised as the Amstrad specialists. I walked into the shop and there was a wall of Amstrad games a few rows back. I had a difficult time deciding whether to buy ‘Jack the Nipper’, which I had played and enjoyed on the Commodore 64 or ‘Bounder’ which looked like a lot of fun on the box. I ended up choosing ‘Bounder’, which is

a decidedly average overhead bouncing ball game. I was disappointed with my choice, but I pretended that the game didn’t work and they allowed me to exchange it for another title. This time I made the right choice and chose ‘Jack the Nipper’. ‘Jack the Nipper’ is the ultimate naughty baby game. The goal is to increase your “Naughtyometer” by creating mayhem. This included things like hitting people with your pea shooter, dropping plates, and using glue in the false teeth factory.

The problem with the game was, if you dropped something you were meant to use then it was gone and could not be recovered.

While performing all of these naughty acts you had to avoid being spanked which increases your nappy rash meter. Once that hits the top you lose a life. At the end of the game Jack would walk on the screen and insult you. The insult you got would be dependant on how much of the game you had completed. In the pages of ‘The Amstrad User’ I found a complete guide to ‘Jack the Nipper’ which helped me to complete the game. I still had to use my skills to avoid getting spanked,

but the guide told me which items to use and where.

At some point I also encountered the ColecoVision console. I can remember the day well, I had just hired a ‘Sports Billy’ video and was itching to get home and watch it.

My father had other ideas though, and I found myself being dragged to another football club member’s house. Understanding I would be bored sitting around a couple of adults they suggested I play the ColecoVision. The games I remember are ‘Donkey Kong’, ‘Donkey Kong Jr’ and ‘Mouse Trap’, a game I really enjoyed. ‘Mouse Trap’ is a ‘Pacman’ clone that requires you to avoid the cats and collect the cheese. You can also collect bones that turn you into a dog and allow you to eat the cats, very much like power pellets. At that moment ‘Sports Billy’ was forgotten and I had to be dragged away from the console.

That brings us to the end of this month’s installment. Join me next month when I finish off 1990 and delve into 1991, a new school and a bunch of new gaming experiences.

1988 - 1989 WRITTEN BY paul monopoli

NINTENDO 64

COLLECTIBLES In 1996 Nintendo released the Nintendo 64 or N64 as it had a 64 bit central processor. Japan and the U.S were fortunate to get theirs in 96 while Australia had to wait until 1997. This is one of the most popular consoles made and, according to VG Chartz sold over 32 million units. Which is more the original Xbox, GameCube and the Wii U. While Nintendo were developing it, they gave it the code name Project Reality and was the follow up to the brilliant SNES and NES. One of the key hardware initiatives was the partnership with SGI (Silicon Graphics Inc) who were keen to expand into the consumer market. This ensured the N64 could run 3D graphics at a high frame rate with real time edge anti-aliasing and blending.

When released, the system had two great games - Pilotwings 64 and Super Mario 64, both amaz-

ing fun and taking full advantage of the new hardware. Critics loved the system but were negative about the lack of games at launch. Next Generation magazine called it “the world’s most powerful game machine” and Time Magazine praised its’ realistic gameplay thanks to the graphic processor.

The system is still popular today as gamers discover the joys of this now retro system that offers a very pure gaming experience.

Games that were incredible fun yet looked good and played well.

Stand out games included Golden Eye 007, Super Mario 64, Kirby 64, Conker’s Bad Fur Day and Mario Party.

If you’re wanting to explore the classic games of that era, Gametraders often have consoles and games in stock.

THE WALKING DEAD AT GAMETRADERS!

COMING SOON!

popular

CARD GAMES

card games Card games have been around for 100s and 100s of years with playing cards believed to have been invented in Imperial China as early of the 9th century. In our pop culture world card games have slowly been on the rise in popularity over the years with games such as Cards Against Humanity helping to establish them as must play games when friends and family come over.

Card Trading games such as Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh helped keep the genre popular through the 90s and in to today and with Nintendo releasing their new line of Animal Crossing Amiibo Cards there is a large range of card options for people to choose from but what is it that makes these so popular? Today we took at some of these franchises and how they have sustained their popularity.

Pokémon Trading Card – These cards have been bought, traded, sold and battled with since the initial release in October 1996 in Japan. A different way to be a Pokémon Trainer than the video games, these cards soared to popularity when they were released. People all over the world jumped on a more active way to feel like a trainer. Trading cards became the norm at lunch and recess at school and while they may not be as popular as previ-

ously they still draw in a big crowd when tournaments and competitions are held. Play consists of player shuffling their deck and drawing seven cards. From there play is taken in turns just like the Pokémon battles in the video games and anime. The popularity and success of this card game is down to the fact that it is Pokémon. One of the most successful franchises in pop culture there is no end in sight for this game and with GameFreak/Nintendo releasing regular games with new monsters there is an absolutely amazing large number of different cards to collect. Currently there has been 63 different card released. Another great way in which Pokémon will keep its popularity is with the people who grew up with it. Being released 18 years ago most people who first started playing Pokémon were around school age. Today these players are now grown adults who are starting families of their own and passing down to their children the absolute joy of participating in the world of Pokémon.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game – This set of trading cards was released in 1999 and is still popular to this day. Based on the fictional game of Duel Monsters it shares the same plot devices as the majority of the manga and an-

ime spinoff Yu-Gi-Oh! The card game was named the top selling trading card game in 2009 by the Guinness Worlds Record due to its 22 billion cards that had been sold. To keep the games popularity new rules and additions as well as regular packs have been released which have all helped grow the franchise. Just like with the Pokémon Card Trading game tournaments and challenges are held regularly. These help keep the game alive and in the forefront of people’s minds while at the same time attracting a younger generation to start playing. Another point it shares with Pokémon is the age of its original players and the children those fans can pass it down to.

Magic the Gathering – The oldest of the card games on the list Magic the Gathering was introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. The game still thrives today with an estimated six million players in over seventy countries.

Being an in-depth game in which each game represents a different battle between powerful wizards known as planswalkers who use their magical spells, items, and fantastic creatures depicted on individual Magic cards to defeat their opponents the game is very rewarding when a tense battle is won. Just like with Pokémon and

Yu-Gi-Oh! new card packs are released to incorporate new characters and game play into the game. The length this game has been out for and the dedication required for it has helped the game to have a successful following.

Cards Against Humanity – The success with Cards Against Humanity would have to come down to its shear amount of fun.

Easy to set up and learn the game gets people laughing and having a great time with family and friends. Cards Against Humanity took the world by storm when it was released and doesn’t show any sign of slowing down. The expansion parks which have been released keep the game fresh and bring in new fans with each release.

Boss Monster – Boss Monster is a great card game which throws the hero/boss tradition on its head. Playing as a Boss of a dungeon you must deploy your minions to defeat the hero before they reach you. Boss Monster was released via a successful Kickstarter campaign and has been followed up with an expansion and a second release title. The success of this game lies in its unique way of

playing as the Boss and defeating the hero. While this title is more complicated and takes longer to learn to play than Cards Against Humanity it is in no way an inferior game. Completely different in its way of play, Boss Monster still gets the players laughing and having a great time but it is more about thinking of your next move and planning your opponent’s downfall. It is a great card game and is worthy to add to any collection of games.

Animal Crossing Amiibo Cards – These latest cards would have to be the ones that I have gotten into the most. I am in no way a dedicated Animal Crossing fan with only having played a demo for New Leaf on the 3DS yet when these came out a couple of months ago I decided to grab a pack to see what all the hype was about. That was my downfall.

I was hooked. Even though I did not know who the characters were they all had a number ranging from 1 to 100 in the top right hand corner of the card and I needed to complete my collection now that I had started. The cards are compatible with the 3DS game Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer and allows the player to decorate the house of the character on the card. For fans of the games the

cards are a great little token to collect as they show all of your favourite characters and adds to the memorabilia you can collect for the game series. Series Two has also been released and expands the range from 101 to 200. The potential Nintendo has to expand on these Amiibo cards is massive and if a Pokémon Amiibo card range come out I think I will need to have my pay transferred straight to Nintendo for a shipment of the cards...

Card games are a great way to spend time with your loved ones. They are entertaining, challenging, fun and have a great amount of rivalry to keep to keep you coming back to them again and again. With the popularity of these and the legacy which is being passed onto the younger generation in the form of Pokemon and Yu-Gi-oh! they do not look to be slowing down anytime soon. Their popularity has risen lately to all these factors as well as some well polished games and I look forward to buying, collecting, trading and playing these for many years to come.

WRITTEN BY jess wilson

anime

ARIA THE SCARLET AMMO REVIEW

(Hidan no Aria) Aria the scarlet ammo. My how much this anime was enjoyed. I watched this anime initially around 2 months ago, but its just such a great anime that you want to watch it again.

This anime nailed the character development perfectly and I couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome. With amazing art to expert action, this anime has it all from Romance to comedy.

Story: Kinji Tōyama is a student at Tokyo Butei High, a universal educational facility. At this school, students with an aptitude for the work undertake special training in order to learn the path of the Butei—national qualifications permitting its holders to possess various weapons and capture criminals. The Butei were established to counter worsening crime conditions around the world, with training in various specialized fields. Shortly after Kinji decides to quit the Academy due to personal reasons, he is attacked by the Butei Killer, a criminal notorious for eliminating Butei—a case of the hunters becoming the hunted. The elite Butei Assault prodi-

gy Aria H. Kanzaki comes to his rescue and from that moment on, Kinji’s future as a Butei changes drastically.

I absolutely loved this anime and I’m sure you will as well. With the lovable Aria Holmes Kanzaki, the Busty “Butei Killer” Riko Mine Lupin IV, Kinji obsessive Shirayuki, The single bullet Reki and the calm and collective Kinji Tohyama, this anime will leave you wanting more of their love quarrels with Kinji and the fight to prove Aria’s mother’s innocence.

Art: [8/10] The art was superb from the action to the characters. The only issues I had with it was that older characters had a different artstyle to younger characters and they just didn’t seem like they were part of the same anime, but other than this, the art was amazing and I couldn’t get enough of it.

Character: [10/10] From nailing the Tsundere look of Aria and the Subtle act of Kinji,

this anime had everything a character lover would want. With great back-story and feedback on the characters as well as character development clearly shown, this character design was top notch and a bit more.

Sound: [6/10] The only problem I had with the sound was that there wasn’t that much in there. While they played it perfectly and handled the voice acting perfectly for both the Japanese and the English, there just wasn’t that much background music there.

Overall: [10/10] While in many stories it’s not a perfect anime, it was perfect to me. With an engrossing storyline and characters I just couldn’t get enough of, It made me forget about life altogether and just kept me sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for the mysteries to be solved

10/ 10

WRITTEN BY Jesse Richardson

comics

the best that was...

January, the start of a new year. A chance to take a look back at the year that was. I present an unashamedly selective look at some of my favorite comics of last year!

This comic is fantastic and is a must for any fan of Mad Max.

MAD MAX

Wytches is Scott Snyder’s horror masterpiece. It came out last year and totally blew my mind. It presents a darkly frightening version of witches... This isn’t hocus-pocus! This is blood-chilling terror. I don’t want to give anything away about this one, just please, take my word for it. If you love horror or the amazing work of Scott Snyder, you will love Wytches!

There is nothing I love more than the Australian Ozploitation classic, Mad Max. Last year was the year of Max. We got Mad Max Fury Road, the hands down best movie of the year. We also got the video game, which was a dream of vehicular carnage. But, we also got this little graphic novel.

Mad Max the comic book acts as sort of a backstory filler, filling in details of the events between Beyond Thunderdome and Fury Road. We get four short stories, each one filling us in on small details. First there was the story of Immortan Joe, it tells us who this madman was and how he became the leader of his army of half-life war boys. We also get the story of Furiosa, Charlize Theron’s warrior woman of the wasteland. Next up we get the story of Max, where has he been since Barter-Town and what he’s been doing. Finally we get the story of the creation of the War-Rig, the monster truck and arguably star of Fury Road.

WYTCHES

Star Wars Shattered Empire Yes, Star Wars! By now all of you have seen The Force Awakens.

Well, this comic book from Marvel is the official link between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. It gives us a small taste of what was going on between the two epic films. We meet Poe Dameron’s parents, we learn about more of the conflict on Endor and we get a glimpse at Luke before his exile. This comic is a must, not only for comic book fans but a must for lovers of Star Wars. It takes us back to the glo-

ry days of the force. A time when our childhoods were at their richest. A series of films that have truly changed the world. It is just a blast. Also we get Rogue One this year! A Star Wars film every year... Oh boy. I have a good feeling about this!

THE RAGE OF ULTRON The last one I wish to talk about is The Rage of Ultron. Coming out around the same time as Age of Ultron the film, the comic tells the story of the Avengers Battles against the evil robot in two separate time-lines. The comic is gorgeous, amazing art and sort of serves as a re-introduction to the spectacular character right before the release of the film.

Fans of the movie who want to know more about the titular villain should check this one out. It serves a nice intro to Ultron 101.

Without having to dig too deep into the decades old Marvel mythology.

Anyway, those were some of my favorites from last year. Can’t wait to get my hands on all the goodies coming this year!

WRITTEN BY scott f. sowter

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The 5th Wave is an adaption of the bestselling young adult novel written by Rick Yancey. Only at the movies!

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VICTORIA BACCHUS MARSH Magic the Gathering Draft - Friday 5:30pm Magic the Gathering Standard Constructed - Sunday 12pm Board Games and Magic Modern Constructed - Wednesday 5:30pm

HIGHPOINT Yu-Gi-Oh - Sunday 3pm

GAMETRADERS LIVE MILDURA Sunday January 10th Yu-Gi-Oh! Breaker of Shadows Sneak Peek.

Saturday 16th & Sunday 17th of January Pre-release MTG Oath of the Gateway: Check FB for times & format.

We also run: Pokemon 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 PokĂŠmon - 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 Yu-Gi-Oh New Years Day Tournament (1 January) - 10am - 3pm.

Sunday January 10th - Yu-Gi-Oh Breaker of Shadows Sneak Peek 2pm Saturday January 17th - Midnight Launch Magic Oath of the Gatewatch Magic the Gathering - Friday & Wednesday 7pm Yu-Gi-Oh - Sunday 2pm Pokémon - Saturday 12pm

LOGAN HYPERDOME No current tournaments.

NEW SOUTH WALES BLACKTOWN Yu-Gi-Oh Learn to Play - Every Thursday in the school holidays 1 - 4pm.

Visit www.facebook.com/gametradersblacktown for details!

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 - Thursday 6pm, Saturday 2pm Magic the Gathering - Sunday 11am Cardfight!! Vanguard - Sunday 2pm Weiss Schwarz - Saturday 10am School Holiday Additional Tournaments: Yu-Gi-Oh - Monday, Wednesday & Friday 2pm Cardfight!! Vanguard - Tuesday & Thursday 2pm

GAMETRADERS LIVE PENRITH Cardfight!! Vanguard - Saturday 5pm Yu-Gi-Oh - Sunday 11:30am Yu-Gi-Oh (Traditional Format) - Thursday 6pm Magic the Gathering - Friday 7pm Pokémon - Saturday 12pm Weiss Schwarz - Saturday 6pm My Little Pony - Saturday 6m Board Game Night - Wednesday 6pm Nintendo Fight Night - Thursday 7pm

GAMETRADERS LIVE HORNSBY Yu-Gi-Oh - Sunday 12:30pm Pokémon - Sunday 2pm Magic the Gathering - Friday 6pm Magic EDH/Commander - Sunday 2pm Board Games/Role Playing & Tabletop - Wednesday & Thursday 6pm Retro - Saturday (check FB for times) All other systems - Casual Play Saturdays

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COSPLA koyuki the photographers journey:

interview

LUFIA IRIS COSPLAY interview

corey hayes

photographer interview

charlie nicholson

new australian cosplay events in early 2016 chatty anny!

looking forward to a new year of cosplay shoots! photography tips

AY

COSPLAY Hi Koyuki - Welcome to Live Magazine - where are you based?

Hi everyone, thank you for having me! I’m Koyuki from Thailand and I live in Bangkok.

Tell us about cosplay in Thailand.

Bangkok is not really suited for cosplay shoot unless renting a studio/place with decorations that’s suited for the costume.

Some shopping/community malls allow cosplayers to shoot in their location if given permission first.

But I like to shooting in a rental room, my friends house or a studio.

KOYUKI www.FACEBOOK.COM/yukihimekoyuki

COSCOM is the biggest event held by Thai people, often bringing in overseas guest cosplayers who visit Thailand.

They also have stage performance in the event which is perform by cosplayers in Thailand (I’ve performed on that stage twice).

Are there many cons to visit?

What are your favourites?

More info: www.facebook.com/CoscomTH

Yes, there are many, many cons here in Thailand, about 2 events per month (exclude doujinshi only event and some months have events every week).

How often are you doing cosplay?

My favourite events to visit are AFA (Anime Festival Asia which is held in Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia) and COSCOM. AFA is only held once a year for each country, this con is the biggest one which also brings in many Japanese Artists to show their cosplay. (It’s literally the same as San Diego Comic-con in SEA side or come close to Comiket of Japan) More info:

www.facebook.com/animefestivalasia

Once or twice a month, both at cons or private photo shoots, since I don’t have much time due to my work and study lately.

Do you make your own costumes and how long did it take for the most recent one you did?

Yes, I sometimes make my own costumes, the difficult ones take about a month to finish while the easy ones only take a week Do you do many photo shoots?

Do you have tips for those about to do their first cosplay photo shoot?

Yes I’ve done many photoshoots, this year I’ve done 26 already.

My tip is to study the character and find some reference photos for the shoot, and always communicate with the photographer and convey your ideas.

Finally where can our readers go to find out more about you?

I’m mostly active on my facebook page: www.facebook.com/yukihimekoyuki

and my worldcosplay:

worldcosplay.net/member/-koyuki-

Thank you for following my work and click LIKE & SHARE <3

“character My tip is to study the

and find some reference photos for the shoot.

- Koyuki

Photographer: Saotome Alto | www.facebook.com/Alto.Hime

Photographer: Saotome Alto | www.facebook.com/Alto.Hime

Photographer: Saotome Alto | www.facebook.com/Alto.Hime

Photographer: Saotome Alto | www.facebook.com/Alto.Hime

COSPLAY This month Live Magazine spoke to our Board Game Writer & great Cosplayer, Jess!

First up tell us how you got into cosplay and how you came up with your cosplay name.

I’ve always loved video games as my parents bought the SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System) when I was five. Growing up I played many of the franchises that have became classics today and devolved a great love for the genre. I got into Cosplay as it allows me to show my passion for a genre which was once extremely stereotyped. Pop Culture has became much more accepted by all ages and genders today which is an absolutely amazing joy to see and I am proud to be showing my support for something that is a massive part of my life.

Cosplaying is a great way to immerse yourself into your favourite characters world and allows you to feel more connected to that character. It’s a great chance to learn new skills, meet new people and develop an amazing artistic side to yourself. My Cosplay name Lufia Iris Cosplay comes from my favourite game of all time featuring my favourite genre and on my favourite console.

Lufia: Rise of the Sinistrals is an outstanding JRPG on the SNES. I have spent many an hour crawling through the dungeons, deeply enjoying the storyline and amazing music and being entertained by the wide variety of characters.

The 100 Floor dungeon will also chew up your day if you are determined to make it to the end!

LUFIA IRIS COSPLAY www.FACEBOOK.COM/LUFIAIRISCOSPLAY

If you haven’t played the game I suggest going out and finding a copy of this game and rectifying the great injustice you have been doing to yourself!

What got you into making your own costumes and where do you see that going in the future?

My love for the genre and wanting to be involved in the culture in some way would have to be the driving force behind making my own costume. I have always wanted to be more creative and this is a great way to learn and express yourself. I’m going to continue making costume for quite a while as there are so many characters left that I wish to create that I have not had the chance to do so yet.

What about cons - do you visit them and what are your favourites?

I visit the main three in South Australia, Oz Comic Con, AVCon

and Supanova each year. I was lucky enough to attend PAX Melbourne last year with my friends from Retrospekt. I am involved in their Trivia Game Show which is like Spicks and Specks. We have performed the trivia show at Oz Comic Con, The Fringe, PAX Melbourne have the show each year at AVCon. Our most recent show was at the Pokemon Symphony Orchestra in Adelaide. The trivia shows would have to be a favourite part of the Cons for me as I get to spend time with great friends and have a lot of fun with a good bit of rivalry thrown in for good measure.

Any memories from con’s you can share that stand out for you?

There isn’t any one memory which stands out any more than others from Cons as all Con’s I have been to have all produced their own amazing times. The most instrumental Con for me I think would be Oz Comic Con in 2012. This was the first big Con

Photographer: Creed Photography | www.facebook.com/creedphotography

Photographer: Steamkittens | www.facebook.com/steamkittens

“ never

compare yourself to others or feel like your work is not as good.

Crafting takes practise and making sure you are positive...

”

- Lufia Iris Cosplay

which was held in Adelaide that my family and I attended. My sister Nat and I are massive fans of Final Fantasy and we decided to Cosplay for the first time. I was Serah and Nat was Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII and we had an absolute blast. This weekend showed how much love and support people show for Pop Culture characters. Even though the game may not be peoples favourite Final Fantasy game ( I have played through a majority of Final Fantasy games including the first six and I really enjoyed it even if it was different!) an enormous amount of people recognised the characters. This experience was a great eye opener and provided me with a new found passion in making costumes.

Your sister also cosplays and you’ve often attended cons together - is that something that you see continuing?

Nat and I share a love of video games and Pop Culture with many of our favourite franchises being the same. Being able to Cosplay together is an enormous amount of fun. Having someone by your side all day at a Con in the same characters world as yourself provides an experience you do not get when being a character without a partner. Being able to bounce off each other all day creates some amazing expe-

riences. I do see this continuing and look forward to many more Cons together.

What is your favourite costume so far?

While all of my costumes have a special meaning to me, I think my favourite so far would have to be my Magneto costume from XMen: Days of Future Past. Having the ability to control metal is a power which is extremely appealing to me. Most of the items in the world, either natural or manmade, include some type of metal which leads to an nearly an unlimited amount of options available to you. Joined with Magnetos fierceness it was a lot of fun to wear and a great character to become for a day. My Armoured Princess Daisy costume also holds special meaning to me. This was my second costume I made and the first costume I made which involved armour and I feel I learnt a lot from throwing myself in the deep end.

Do you have any tips for new cosplayers?

I think the main tip is to have fun!

Making a cosplay of a character you admire shows your dedication and wearing it to a Con shows how proud you are of both them and how you have portrayed them in costume form. To me cos-

tumes do not have to be 100% accurate. Putting your own spin on a costume, showing a bit of skin where it usually isn’t or creating your own version does not diminish your cosplay or your respect for the character in any way. I believe this can enhance the cosplay and I feel people need to remember this while making their costumes. Taking something you love and putting your own spin on it makes it more personal to yourself. Another thing to remember is to never compare yourself to others or feel like your work is not as good. Crafting takes practise and making sure you are positive even when things may not be working out correctly helps heaps more than being negative and letting it get you down. Do the best you can and be proud of what you have created and if you aren’t just keep practising. I have never been 100% happy with anything I have made as you notice things that could be done better, however, when the Con comes I have always had fun and wore my creations with pride.

Finally where can readers go to find out more about you?

I have a Facebook page under the name Lufia Iris Cosplay.

Check it out and give it a like if you like what you see!

Photographer: Angelo Beltran | www.facebook.com/gotsuperpowers

Photographer: Creed Photography | www.facebook.com/creedphotography

Photographer: Charlie Nicholson | www.facebook.com/gotsuperpowers

Photographer: Charlie Nicholson | www.facebook.com/gotsuperpowers

Photographer: Steamkittens | www.facebook.com/steamkittens

Photographer: Steamkittens | www.facebook.com/steamkittens

Photographer: Steamkittens | www.facebook.com/steamkittens

COSPLAY photography

Corey can you tell us a bit about yourself, where you’re from and how you got into photography.

I’m not much of a writer so you’ll have to probably drag some information out of me. I’m originally from Texas. Deep South Texas about 2 hours north of Mexico, and I went to college at the University of Texas at Austin and studied Graphic Design. I got into photography after working as a designer and after art directing a few photoshoots I decided I liked the photographer’s work day more than I liked my own. Being an introvert, I enjoy having intense days of collaboration, then plenty of alone time to work on the photo’s details.

What sort of photography do you do?

Almost exclusively studio portraits. Even when I shoot fashion, I’m still shooting portraits which is probably why I don’t shoot much fashion. I love photographing celebrities and musicians and try to create and image that says something about the person that is in front of the camera. At it’s most basic, photography is a way for me to explore an idea or a person that interests me.

Tell us about your Alter Ego project and what inspired you to do this?

One of the challenges about shooting portraits is trying reveal a little bit about someone’s personality. After seeing some of the cosplayers at New York Comicon I was struck by the

way that they were regarded as celebrities and it got me thinking about superheroes and their alter egos. So I set to see what I could discover in photographing cosplayers in costume, and then is the street clothes they walked in with.

Did you find your subjects responded differently before and after? As in posing and being relaxed in front of your lens?

I personally think there is a difference, but I also prefer to leave that to he viewer. That is part of what invites people into this, or really any art work.

To see what they discover for themselves.

Was this your first cosplay themed shoot? (if not please tell us about some others) This was not my first cosplay shoot, but it was my first cosplay project. I had photographed 2 of the cosplayers in this project before (Ruby and his wife Jen, who I honestly cannot think enough) but I was more fascinated with the bold color and what that would look like in a portrait. The Alter-Ego Project was much more of an exploration into the personalities of the people that cosplay. Who they are in their regular lives, and do they become someone different in costume.

How did you approach the project. Was there much planning involved?

My approach to this project started at New York ComicCon 2014. Just being there to try to

find people that would be interested in taking part a photo study was my first hurdle. Once I had 4 or 5 commitments I felt like I could move forward and I was able to network with other cosplayers once I had an idea of what the photos what look like. My photo style is very minimalist and I knew I wanted to do the same for this.

Let the subjects tell the story.

I photographed everyone full length #1 so you could see the hard work that goes into making these costumes, and #2 so that each individuals body language would also be on display. The entire project lasted about 8 months and I ended up finally photographing about 16 people. It was tough as I really had to rely on finding people in and around the New York area which is where my studio space in located.

Some of the media picked up on this, tell us about that.

Even when I started this project I knew that there would be interest in the media. Nerd culture IS pop culture these days.

And I say that fully embracing my own nerd side. I grew up as a kid wishing for a Spider-Man movie and and now it seems I can see 3 or 4 superhero films each year. So once I wrapped up the project I reached out to Buzzfeed Editor Ryan Broderick to see if they would have any interest. He had the photos up within 4 days. After that it showed up on Kotaku, Digitalrev, DesignTaxi, and a few other websites. Then Yahoo called me in for an interview and they did a piece for their Weekly Flickr site to coincide

San Diego’s ComiCon. It has been flattering that there has been so much interest, but what is made this really special for me is hearing from cosplayers how my series made them feel normal and honored.

Do you have any plans for a follow up shoot along theses lines?

No real plans to continue this project. I’ll always shoot a few cosplay photos at a convention, but as I said, photography is a way for me to explore an idea and I think I learned what I wanted to learn, or at the very least accomplished what I set out to do. As much as I enjoy photographing cosplayers and love seeing the costumes, I’m not sure what else I would have to say about it. But I’m always open to discussing it!

Corey, what tips can you give a new photographer?

Shoot what you love. Shoot often. Respect your subject. First you have to master your tools.

Once you have that, If you are passionate about a subject, you will bring a perspective that will be unique to yourself.

That is when an image become something special. When it is filtered thru the lens of your experiences.

Finally where can our readers go to see more of your work? www.coreyhayesphoto.com

www.coreyhayesphoto.tumblr.com/

Instagram: @coreyhayesphotos

www.flickr.com/photos/coreyhayesphoto/

COSPLAY photography

The Photograp Charlie Nicholson We’re pretty fortunate here as we get to talk to some of the best cosplayers and cosplay photographers around the planet. We always ask how they got started in cosplay and what drives them forward, and there’s a real mix of answers.

Mainly people are driven by their love of the art and their passion to get better at what they do. This month we talked to a cosplay photographer that’s skyrocketed in popularity among Adelaide based cosplayers. Charlie Nicholson is a wonderful cosplay photographer who takes her craft very seriously. But on top of that she’s one of those people that loves to encourage others. We sat down with her and talked about her journey as a photographer in the cosplay genre…

Over to you Charlie: People always ask me how and even why I got into cosplay photography, so I thought I would expand a little on my story and reflect on the year gone by. My cosplay story began in mid 2014, when I was invited by my dear friend and mentor Rob Jenkins to come out and photograph a lovely young lady by the name of Tiffany Dean Cosplay. I didn’t know it at

the time, but this spontaneous shoot would be the catalyst in my journey to a roller coaster ride of learning and creative discovery. It was only two short months later that I would attended my first pop culture event; AvCon (Adelaide’s own anime and gaming convention).

I stood in awe at the array of talented artisans that flooded the halls of the Convention Centre.

Initially, my senses went into some sort of visual overload - I couldn’t even raise my camera to take a shot! And that was it, I was addicted. I became so enchanted by the wonderfully creative people which I had found myself surrounded by that when the convention was over, I started attending community photography events featuring local cosplay talent as volunteer models. It was through these events that I secured an invitation to photograph the Cosplay Live launch party and in turn meet Angelo Beltran from I Got Superpowers (IGSP). Who knew that this chance meeting was going to be such a poignant part in my cosplay story. Unbeknownst to myself, Nathan Tan and Angelo Beltran, founding photographers of IGSP, had been paying close attention to local photographers, waiting for the right person to join

their team. After a meeting and some lengthy discussion I decided to take a leap of faith and accept their invitation to join the IGSP team. Now, debuting under the IGSP banner I headed to my second convention of the year; the Supanova Pop Culture Expo.

On the first day, I rocked up terrified and wondered what I had gotten myself into. My heart pounded and my hands shook with nerves.

The boys launched me full pelt into the Adelaide cosplay scene and I learnt quickly that I would need to overcome my fear of approaching strangers for photos.

With full gumption, I threw myself into it and so thus my learning curve soared upwards, at a pace that is hard for me to comprehend now as I look back, 12 months in.

Following Supanova came my first official set for IGSP. A shoot with Allana from Black Heart Cosplay as Shredder. I spent time researching her character and found a great location that complimented the picture I had in my mind. We chatted at great length to make sure we were very much on the same page creatively and as a result we went in knowing exactly what we wanted to capture. Shoot day came and went, my first set was submitted and

phers Journey www.FACEBOOK.COM/GOTSUPERPOWERS

www.facebook.com/AxeMassacreCosplay

www.facebook.com/ZalariaCosplay

“

To be part of a team at IGSP has been a

privilege.

I am supported and pushed to be the best photographer that I can be, to not be frightened of new things and to keep pushing forwards while keeping my sense of self in my work and upholding the IGSP mission of doing it for the love.

”

- Charlie Nicholson

then published on the IGSP website... and its pretty much been a steady flow of new faces, characters and photoshoots ever since.

In reflection, I attribute a great portion of my success in photographing cosplayers to my ability to connect with my subject. Building a strong rapport goes a long way in putting people at ease so you can photograph them in their most comfortable state. Portrait photography is my main love and I am blending my love of people photography with my admiration for the creative arts in my cosplay photography.

Building my knowledge in most areas of pop culture has been imperative and I’m still learning about the diverse subject matter thats out there. I’m not frightened to say ‘Hey, I don’t know much about that so tell me about it’ -

speed lessons in anime are now a specialty! I’ve had the pleasure of meeting some pretty amazing people that have supported me in all that I have done, many of which have become friends.

To be part of a team at IGSP has been a privilege. I am supported and pushed to be the best photographer that I can be, to not be frightened of new things and to keep pushing forwards while keeping my sense of self in my work and upholding the IGSP mission of doing it for the love. So what’s next? 2016 is looking like it’s shaping up to be pretty good.

IGSP have a new member, Elle from Ellen Lily Photo, which is fantastic news and we have exciting plans for the coming new year so watch this space! Personally, I am looking to push myself creatively in my post production. To

date, I have strongly depended on my photographic skills, but I know once I open the door to digital art that I can then reach higher levels of creativity. As I look back on the whirlwind that has been cosplay photography; I’ve had highs, I’ve had lows, I’ve had successes and I’ve had failures too. All of which have been huge in my creative growth. Have I peaked yet? No way! I’ve got heaps yet to learn and I shall continue to do so with grace and care to those around me. Any success is due to a collaboration of skill from both the cosplayer and photographer and I applaud my subjects for their dedication and skill which continues to inspire me. Where will my story end? Who knows, all I know is for now theres no room for regrets. Peace out...

www.facebook.com/JusZcosplay

www.facebook.com/TiggasCreativeConcoctions

www.facebook.com/TiggasCreativeConcoctions

www.facebook.com/FloksyLocksyCosplay

www.facebook.com/blackheartadelaide

www.facebook.com/starfirephoenixcostumes

CHATTY ANNY: COSPLAY EDITOR This month I took a look at some of the upcoming NEW Cosplay events in Australia in 2016 - keep an eye out for these in early 2016!

RTXAU

Rooster Teeth Expo Australia Date: January 23rd - 24th Venue: Australian Technology Park in Sydney; Locomotive St, Eveleigh NSW 2015 This year will be the first time creative production studio Rooster Teeth will be holding an event outside its home town of Austin, Texas. Responsible for awardwinning online videos and web series such as Red vs. Blue, Achievement Hunter, Funhaus, RWBY, and Immersion, with a worldwide dedicated fan community, this year Rooster Teeth decided to move its gaze from its internationally to Sydney where its first international convention will be held in January.

Panels, games, parties, live streams, demonstrations and more are waiting for you in this action packed weekend. With 13 internationally recognised guests such as Stephanie “Hex” Bendixsen from Good Game; Freddie Wong, CEO and co-creator of RocketJump; Rooster Teeth employees and internet sensations such as Burnie Burns, Barbara Dunkelman and Geoff Ramsey already announced, RTXAU is looking to be a celebration of internet personalities and gaming comedy that cannot be missed in its first year. Tickets and further information can be found at http:// rtxau.com/ or on Facebook.

NEW AUSTRALIAN COSPLAY EVENTS IN EARLY 2016!

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/ ferretcosplay

Andrometa

Date: Saturday 6th February Venue: Albert Hall in Canberra; Yarralumla ACT 2601 To call Andrometa a convention would be a misleading label – Andrometa is an exciting unique event aimed at connecting the cosplayer and gaming community with the general public in a free, fun and supportive environment.

Partnered with charity ReachOut Australia (Australia’s leading youth mental health service) this exceptional event will be hosting cash-prize cosplay competitions, a cosplay showcase, and a gaming tournament as well as activities such as face painting, jumping castles, and dance performances.

The cosplay competition will be separated into sections for individuals, duos, teams and kids, which will be judged separately in categories of bought and made costumes. Cosplay ambassadors Kayla Erin and Gemgemcosplay will be assisting in the events and lending a hand to make the event as fantastic an experience

for cosplayers and the community as it can be. This positive and free to enter event is set in my own home town of Canberra, and is set to be a very interesting take on the classic convention scene. To enter any of the events or to find more information, you can check out their website http:// www.andrometa.me/ or on Facebook.

GX Australia

Gaymer Expo Australia Date: February 27th - 28th Venue: Australian Technology Park in Sydney; Locomotive St, Eveleigh NSW 2015 GX (formerly known as GaymerX) was the first and largest convention internationally focused on celebrating LGBTQ+ and diverse gamers – and this year, its expanding to Australia. GX Australia will be creating a unique, inclusive space to talk about issues of diversity and queer content in games and pop culture and has already lined up a variety of Australian and international guests such as Rae Johnston, avid cosplayer and technology, social me-

dia and video game expert; Tim Cain, lead programmer of the hit series Fallout; Manveer Heir, diversity advocate and Senior Designer at Bioware Montreal; and Alex Greenwich, Independent Member for Sydney and fierce advocate for marriage equality, representation and diversity as well as the first member of any Australian Parliament to be in a same-sex marriage. A kickstarted event by the community, GX Australia is also conveniently timed for the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade, meaning less travel for those hoping to attend both events.

While not as cosplay-focused as other events in 2016, GX Australia is a cosplay-friendly and inclusive space for all interested in the diversity within pop culture. The event is 15+ unless you come with a guardian, in support of queer teens. For more information about tickets and events at the convention, go to Facebook or http://www.gxaustralia.com/.

WRITTEN BY anny sims

Rooster Teeth Productions is recognized as one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading innovators in the field of entertainment production. Over the past 12 years, we have built a global community of highly engaged and dedicated viewers. From podcasts and gameplay videos to one of the fastest growing consumer shows in the U.S., Rooster Teeth continues to become a main hub for community, gaming & entertainment.

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PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS

LOOKING FORWARD TO A NEW YEAR OF COSPLAY SHOOTS!

It’s around this time of year people think about New Years Resolutions. We plan on becoming better at our photography by practising more or buying that new bit of gear we hope will inspire us to produce better photos.

With resolutions in mind here’s a few ideas to get you heading toward better photos in 2016.

Gear or not to gear?

Firstly it’s often said “gear doesn’t matter”. To a point that is correct but… and this is my opinion, if you want to create a certain look you might need the right gear.

What I mean is let’s say you want those beautiful soft backgrounds (bokeh) in your shots. Well, you’re going to need the right lens and know how to use them to create bokeh. Yeah I know you can use just about any lens to get some blur, but to get that really good looking bokeh, get a fast lens (aperture around 2.8 or less) and learn to use it to create good bokeh. A good lens is the 85mm and you can get them for just about all systems including Canon and Nikon and for crop sensors like my Fuji XT1 the 56mm 1.2 scales out to around 85mm.

Tripods.

Ok, I don’t often use them because most cameras now amazing low light capabilities now and so you can shoot hand held in dim conditions by raising your

ISO. But there’s times you must use a tripod. It might be you want maximum sharpness, or maybe it’s night shooting or maybe you want to combine two images together and to do that you might need to have both images lined up perfectly and a tripod helps with that.

Plan personal projects.

This is a big one. Planning shoots and thinking them through can help you grow as a photographer.

Sure, turning up to a con is great, you can get awesome shots. But planning a shoot with a cosplayer and scouting locations, time of day to shoot and all the other things needed for a successful shoot will get you thinking. It will also get you trying new ideas. So plan some shoots this year.

Collaborate with cosplay friends and really try and get an authentic shot. What I mean is if you’re shooting Batman, you might want a gritty location. If you’re shooting an elf you might want a beautiful forest-like location.

Post processing.

Some photographers and artists just love to process photos in something like Lightroom or Photoshop. For those difficult composite photos, you need to know how to use Photoshop (or similar) so that you get the photo looking amazing not tacked together.

Take some courses and if you’re into online learning consider Kelby Training or Lynda. Spend time really learning your software and you’ll find your photos will look better. Remember your camera is not as good as your eye so what you see might not be what you capture. You may need to do some tweaking.

Make 2016 a great year for your photography. Learn, grow and tell stories… share them with us. If you’re a photographer, and would like to be featured contact us via our contact form at the bottom of our site - in the subject put “for Live Editor”

www.gametraders.com.au

BRISBANE SUPANOVA 11 - 13 NOVEMBER 2015

Photography by Blake Robertson: The Blake Image www.theblakeimage.com.au www.facebook.com/theblakeimage

Click here!

BRISBANE SUPANOVA 11 - 13 NOVEMBER 2015

Photography by Blake Robertson: The Blake Image www.theblakeimage.com.au www.facebook.com/theblakeimage

Click here!

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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