Novastream Magazine #1

Interview Dylan Boaden chats with Arrow’s

Paul Blackthorne at Oz Comicon.

Dylan Boaden: So first of all, just a general question, what inspired you to become an actor? Was it a gradual love or an epiphany moment?

Paul Blackthorne: Well when I was eleven, like a lot of eleven year old boys, I auditioned for a school play and before I knew it that production was on its way to the Edinburgh Festival in 1981 and then that following Christmas it was at the Cochran Theatre on London’s West End and that really kicked off my little love affair with acting.

So it was musical theatre, a precocious little brat running around the stage singing heartily.

Do you remember the play?

The Leading of Liverpool. It was with the National Youth Music Theatre who are still going. And in that play was Tom Hollander – one of our great British actors – and Toby Jones, who pops up all over. The play I did a few years later with the National Youth Music Theatre – Jonny Lee Miller was in that play, and I think Jude Law was involved with one of the productions at one point. So it’s been quite a launching pad that group.

Would you ever go back to it?

Well I’m a bit old for it now. It is the youth theatre after all. I think my youthful days are done.

You don’t think you could play an eleven year old again?

I could, if I had to. With a lot of CGI and prosthetics.

Excellent. So being a cast member of Arrow, do you watch the show yourself? Or do you feel the table read and being part of the production is enough and you don’t need to see the show itself?

It’s not that I don’t need to see the show, it’s that I’m distracted by what I see on the screen. I don’t like seeing 4

things while I’m in the middle of shooting them. So if I’m shooting episode 11 and tonight episode 7 is being played, I don’t really want to watch that because I’m thinking about what is going on in episode 11. I like to keep my thought on what I’m reading and filming than what I’m watching.

enjoyed doing that with the Facebook community.

I asked them for a slogan and someone said “Poach Eggs Not Elephants” and then I asked for a charity and they showed me Air Shepherd which use the money to fly drones to help eliminate the poaching.

That whole Facebook thing was fantastic and the I catch the odd episode here and there. If I have a t-shirt people are great and before you know it we’ve little break and I’m at home I’m like “Oh okay, the raised $45,000 for the cause. We’re relaunching that show is on,” but I’m not a big sit down and watch it in a few weeks. You do what you can do and hope for kind of guy. I never really have been. I tend to watch the best. things a long time after I’ve done them.

Finally, with Oliver retiring as the Arrow, would You’ve done a lot of guest spots on American shows you be interested in your character Detective Quinten like CSI, Medium, Monk. Do you get starstruck or is Lance stepping into his shoes? a 9 to 5 job where you punch in, punch out again?

Middle aged Lance. The Lance-Arrow.

Well you can’t really faff around too much when you turn up on sets, you know, no matter who it is you’re I don’t think that would quite be on the books really. working with. So there is an element of it being a job That mantle has been retired and rightly so. but some people elicit greater reactions within than others.

Paul Blackthorne, thanks for your time.

Working with Jim Carey and Jeff Daniels recently on Dumb and Dumber To was a lot of fun because of who those guys are, which is hilarious. So I may have been a bit more stirred by that but one of the pleasures of this whole industry is turning up and meeting these people. Doing Deadwood and there’s Ian McShane, who’s a legend. It’s one of the perks of the job that you get to work with some really interesting people.

Do you find it difficult when fans ask you a question about a show you worked on for a week ten years ago?

Catch all of Novastream’s Arrow news, including an interview with Rila Fukushima, on our DC Domination podcast at novastream.com.au or on iTunes.

Not really. If I can remember anything about it I’ll be glad to share it. If I can remember it.

You’re an advocate for the Poach Eggs Not Elephants campaign. Tell us how you got involved with that.

The t-shirt people behind Stephen’s campaign contacted me and said “Would you like to get behind a cause?” and a number of causes bother me in my world but this elephant situation recently has been utterly shocking. The increase of killing and poaching is pretty horrifying and that’s the one I felt quite passionate about because it’s such an immediate situation. In eleven years time there will be no more wild elephants which is absurd and the rate they are being killed is quite outrageous.

So that’s the one I chose to shine a light on and I 5

Review

Jurassic World

Can the new dino flick hold a torch to the original? Alaisdair Dewar finds out!

Can you really believe it has been 22 years since the original Jurassic Park film graced our screens? Well apart from making me feel REALLY old, it also made me realise how much I have missed this universe.

Adding Chris Pratt and bringing Steven Spielberg back into the mix made me feel like this could be the right mix to bring the franchise back. After months of teasers, trailers and clips, the movie is FINALLY here and Joss Whedon’s fears about the movie being 70s sexist are laid to rest with a truly kick ass feminist hero who saves the day.

Jurassic World is now a fully functional theme park on Isla Nublar, and is gearing up to introduce the first dinosaur hybrid the Indominous Rex. When the dinosaur escapes from its isolated enclosure, the park must be evacuated with the help of park director Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) and dino expert Owen (Chris Pratt) while Claire also finds her two nephews Gray and Zach (Ty Sympkins & Nick Robinson), who are trapped inside the park.

It was difficult to assess this movie from an unbiased point of view. I have been a constant lover and ambassador of this franchise from the start and even forgave the horror of Jurassic Park 3, in hopes the franchise would flourish into something new and reminiscent of the first film. Director Colin Trevorrow delivers exactly that - glossing over The Lost World & Jurassic Park 3 to make a direct sequel worthy of the franchise.

As in the first film, the film actually holds its main two lead actors through Gray and Zach, and we get to see the park and all its attractions through their eyes. This technique reeks of Spielberg and the score soaring over the top of this over-blown and absolutely gorgeous cinematography is a visual feast that deserves to be seen on the big screen.

Being introduced to the Indominous Rex so early in the movie, I was concerned that we wouldn’t get to see the “good dinosaurs” and how they would operate in a theme park environment. The petting zoo is one of my favourite scenes of this movie and is handled so beautifully both pre- and post-catastrophe. It is one of the many highlights of the film.

6

Fans of the original film will swoon with the many references, set pieces, objects and verbal nods that are splashed unapologetically throughout Jurassic World. It is given the respect and adoration that it deserves and uses this a piece to fuel the story forward and try and show the past from the present and how much things haven’t really changed.

Secretly I was hoping for a sneaky Sam Neill or Jeff Goldblum surprise cameo, but alas none were found. Fortunately the new characters bring a sense of new world to the film and Claire’s attempt to control the uncontrollable and the lengths she will go to save lives once all hell breaks loose. There is a fantastic scene with Claire running in heels to save the day and kicking girl power butt in a feminine and strong way that is so refreshing compared to the masculine female heroes that litter blockbusters lately. Everyone assumes Owen is the hero of the piece but he’s kind of a supporting character, providing information on the dinos and basically looking after the kids while Claire kicks ass the complete opposite of what the trailer would have you believe.

Visually nothing has changed; this film is as stunning and detailed as the first, the environments are lush and inviting and the cinematography makes you feel like you are inside the park experiencing the events. One thing they managed to get right was the balance between humour and absolute terror. I found myself clinging to the bottom of my chair in a few spots and the feeling of suspense and tension that the first film prides itself on is also used effectively here.

Overall Jurassic World is the hyped-up monster that it advertises, using a fairly typical plot combined with outstanding visuals, spellbinding cinematography and actors who know the genre and bring their A-game to deliver this summer’s hottest blockbuster. Fortunately there is a lot of substance here and if anything can bring the Jurassic franchise back from extinction, this film is the perfect trigger to bring a new generation into the world of dinosaurs.

NOTE: If you are planning on taking little children/kids to see this film, I would advise to do a screening first or talk to some other parents who have seen it. The action scenes are quite intense.

5/5 7

Review

Does Ted 2 stand up the hilarious original? Daniel Clements finds out!

The foul mouth bear and his friend John are back for hopefully another laugh inducing film. This time Ted goes out to prove to the state of Massachusetts that he is in fact a person. Think that sounds silly? You’re watching a movie with a talking bear who drinks and smokes weed. You’re either in or you’re not.

Now it should be mentioned that I never saw A Million Ways to Die in the West (Seth MacFarlane’s second directorial effort), so I was coming into this movie with hopes for it to live up to the first one. To my mind I don’t think it did. But as I said before, if you buy into the premise, which I did, then you’re in for a good time.

Seth MacFarlane brings his comedic genius to once again playing a Teddy Bear name Ted who comes to life in the first movie. There are gags which will make you smile and ones which erupt out of nowhere because you never saw it coming. I won’t spoil anything, but just wait until Ted and John go to the comedy store.

John (played by Mark Wahlberg) doesn’t have as much to do in this film. He mainly spends it trying to get over the Mila Kunis’ character, Laurie, from the first movie. After a divorce John is struggling to get back into the dating game. In comes Ted’s lawyer Samantha (played by Amanda Seyfried) who becomes John’s new love interest. Seyfried does well and pulls of the naivety that the Samantha character has with pop culture references that is quite hilarious.

Some of the negatives that I have are minor but did affect my overall experience. The main one is that this movie is too long for a comedy. An overwhelming running time of 119 minutes wasn’t

8

helped by the return of Giovanni Ribsi’s character Donny from the first film. In this movie he acted a sub-plot which almost wasn’t needed. Even if they kept it in, there was no need for his involvement. One of my thoughts in regards to the first film is that the first two thirds of the film are extremely funny, but that it lost momentum towards the end. Ted 2, however, is injected with humour throughout but has times when I wanted the jokes to come back.

I had a good time with Ted 2. It isn’t the standout that the first one was but it didn’t need to be. Halfway through the film I thought to myself how great it is to sit in a theatre and watch a Teddy Bear in a live action film recreating scenes from The Breakfast Club. If you were planning on seeing this movie I would recommend it because you’ll get your money’s worth.

4/5

Review

Alana Young looks at the cute spinoff to $1.5 billion Despicable Me series

Everyone loves Minions! Those cute yellow helpers from Despicable Me stole the show with their crazy antics and gibberish language, and are so popular with fans that they were given their very own movie! But are they strong enough to carry a film without help from Gru or the girls? Minions is proof that these little guys are lovable and determined enough to delight fans all on their own.

Scarlet also has a wonderful relationship with her husband who respects her work and is proud of her achievements.

Scarlet sends the Minions to steal Queen Elizabeth’s crown, but when their crazy heist ends with Bob pulling Excalibur from the stone and being crowned King, Scarlet vows revenge, and the Minions find themselves pitted against the villain they love to serve.

Minions is a prequel to Despicable Me, and explains how they came to work for Gru: it’s a Minion’s deepest desire to serve an Every time Minions appears to be setting up a major conflict, evil master. The opening pairs them up with a T-Rex, a caveman, it quickly resolves the drama and moves onto the next. The plot Napoleon, and even Dracula, and shows how jumps around a lot, but the story is always so The yellow guys in fun that it makes up for the lack of commitment. kind and happy they are despite their evil life goal. Unfortunately for the villains, the Minions overalls are heroes Thankfully, the final showdown gets its time to are also terrible at being henchmen, and are who have proven shine – it’s a thrilling battle between superhero responsible for every one of their master’s and super-villain, complete with heart-stopping untimely deaths. They may have caused the their worth suspense and noble sacrifice. dinosaur extinction when they accidentally pushed their first master into a volcano, and the surprise birthday The yellow guys in overalls are audacious heroes who have party they threw for Dracula ended in tears when they exposed proven their worth as leading characters, and Minions explores him to the sunlight. The opening is full of laughs and sets the everything we love about them from the original movies. Minions scene for the rest of the film, which is a cute and sweet comedy puts on an action-packed show but never forgets to teach the that will satisfy newcomers and fans of Despicable Me alike. value of being smart and kind to people.

“

”

After their latest slip-up, the Minions are forced to hide away from their deceased master’s angry followers. Without an evil master to serve, they fall into a depression, until Kevin comes up with a plan: he’s going to set out on a journey to find the biggest, baddest, and most evil villain in the world.

Kevin is joined by Bob and Steve, and together they head out to Villain-Con and manage to land a job with Scarlet Overkill, the world’s first female super-villain. As soon as she steps out on stage, Scarlet steals the show. Minions gets a lot of things right, but its crowning achievement is a leading female character who achieves greatness in a man’s world. As if that wasn’t enough,

10

4/5

11

Review

Sense 8

Alaisdair Dewar binges the first four episodes of Netflix’s new sci-fi show

Sense8 follows the lives of 8 individuals who are linked to each other’s minds. After the suicide of a mysterious woman - Angel (Daryl Hannah) - they all share the same stream of consciousness and can drift in and out of each other’s lives and situations. It sounds confusing and from the makers of Cloud Atlas, I wouldn’t expect anything less. The first hour is definitely the most difficult to watch, it has a lot of characters and back stories to introduce, a lot of plot lines and, being that these characters are from different countries, cultures and ethnicities, it has a very Heroesoesque feeling (just without the super powers).

The characters in this show are Scandanavian DJ Riley (Tuppence Middleton), Hunky Chicago cop Will (Brian J.Smith), a Transvestite and Activist Nomi (Jamie Clayton), Indian pharmacist (Tina Desal), Nairobi bus driver Capheus (Aml Ameen), Korean business woman Sun (Bae Doona) and action movie star Lito (Miguel Angel Silvestre). As I said, there is a lot of back story that floods the first couple of episodes to make you care about these characters and see where they are all at in their different lives and cultures, and about the big lingering question: what or who is linking them all together? One of the other characters, played by Naveen Andrews (Lost), seems to have more answers than anyone else, but not too much is revealed in the first four episodes.

What the Wachowski team manage to deliver is a visual feast that really capitalises on the countries and areas they are filming in. The scenes in India and joyful, colourful and vibrant, London is dark, murky and uninviting, Nairobi is desolate and desperate, Korea is buzzing with business and tradition and Chicago is, well , “‘Merica YEAH!” as to be expected. The racial and sexual diversity of the cast is also something to behold, as are the most intense and graphic scenes I have seen this side of HBO. The first four episodes really start building the world and the characters are just starting to get glimpses and a sense (HA!) of each other and their connection. Consumers of fast food television won’t find much joy here, these stories and characters are well explored and thoroughly detailed, so if you are looking for a quick fix, you will definitely not find it here.

Sense8 has built a solid foundation in the first four episodes that have affirmed my love for the creative intensity of the Wachowski’s and the power of the Netflix binge that no other TV service can offer. This show is mean to be binged, and honestly after the first two episodes you won’t want to stop. What I’ve really taken away from this show so far is, regardless of race, skin tone, background or sexuality, we as human beings are connected and bound to each other, and Sense8 is a great reminder of that.

4.5/5 12

13

Review

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Alana Young slays monsters, takes trophies, and plays cards

What: The final instalment in the Polish RPG series Who: CD Projekt Red Reviewed on: Core i5-3570K, 8GB RAM, GeForce GTX 770

“The

Witcher 3 is one of the most vibrant and exciting [games] I’ve ever experienced!

”

14

Before you read any more of this review, I’d like you to take a moment to appreciate how incredibly strong-willed I am to have stopped playing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for long enough to write it. I’m proud of me.

The reason I’m so impressed with myself is because this is my dream game! I’ve been waiting for it since the minute it was announced, and waiting for the announcement for even longer.

I followed its development like a hound, and I had ridiculously high expectations.

And it exceeds my expectations!

The Witcher 3 is a tour de force that’s set new standards for the RPG genre. This game gets so many things right: it’s gameplay mechanics are smooth and intuitive (after some tweaking of the default key bindings), its narrative is gripping, its combat is challenging yet rewarding, and it puts you into the role of Geralt, the master witcher, in a way that makes it easy to totally lose yourself in the fantasy. The characters are wonderfully constructed, especially the women, and the relationships that Geralt can form with them are emotionally powerful and moving. I’m definitely in love with Geralt and Yennefer. The music is beautiful and haunting, and communicates the state of the world and its events with ease. All of this works together in The Witcher 3 to welcome you with open arms to become a part of the world.

The Witcher 3 puts you in the shoes of Geralt of Rivia, the White Wolf, a professional monster slayer for hire. War has broken out in the Northern Realms, but all Geralt wants to do is find his daughter-figure Ciri. She’s been gone a long time, living in another dimension, but now she’s back, and being chased by the Wild Hunt – a cavalcade of ghostly riders who bring death in their wake. Geralt is also on the trail of his long lost love Yennefer, who’s the closest thing Ciri has to a mother. Together, Geralt and Yennefer travel across the Northern Realms searching for Ciri. It’s a grand adventure across vast continents and against the clock.

As a long-time fan of the franchise looking for one more adventure with her favourite characters, the story is what’s most important to me in Wild Hunt. Finally, here is a game that strikes a perfect balance between story and side-quests. When I spend an entire play

session on side quests I never feel like I’m neglecting the story. Part of this is because Geralt isn’t trying to save the world. He’s not the most important or powerful person in the Northern Realms, he’s just a professional trying to save his daughter, and along the way he comes across people who need his help.

In addition to meaningful side quests, Wild Hunt gives witcher contracts a new sense of importance. Instead of sending you to kill ten wolves or collect five vampire fangs, The Witcher 3 pits you against particularly fierce monsters that have a backstory and a reason for existing. You won’t get sent to clear a harpy nest, but you will be asked to save a village from a noonwraith who happens to be the spirit of a girl who was murdered there. Witcher contracts are separate from regular side-quests and require you to conduct an investigation that may include asking witnesses, examining the surrounding areas, and hunting down a beast’s lair. The investigation is just as important as the eventual encounter with the beast, which makes you feel smarter while also driving home how intelligent Geralt is: he knows all there is to know about monsters and how to kill them, and now so do you!

Most, though not all, of these contracts result in combat. So thankfully the combat in The Witcher 3 is wonderful, having been massively improved since its predecessor. I rolled my way through The Witcher 2 and looked ridiculous, so the new dodge ability is a welcome introduction. And those of you with sign-based builds will adore the alternate form of each of Geralt’s magical abilities. Overall, the combat is challenging and will punish you if you’re impatient, but it’s easy to master and once you do, you can weave your way through fights without getting touched and look magnificent doing so. While you can get away with hacking and slashing your way through this game, it isn’t the most efficient technique, and you won’t have as much fun. The combat demands that you pay attention and learn how to fight properly, but it rewards you with a sense of mastery and power.

The Witcher games are based off a series of novels and short stories, and where the first two games created independent narratives,

Wild Hunt brings in iconic characters and plot lines from the books and knits them into the world of the previous games.

The Witcher 3 acts as a continuation of the books, but one that benefits from the new narrative and world established in the previous games. CD Projekt Red has done an amazing job adapting characters like Ciri and Yennefer and Dijkstra into the new medium. They all look and sound amazing, and there’s none of the unpleasantness that comes from an unfaithful adaptation. It’s the most loving adaptation I’ve ever seen, and also one of the most intelligent.

But the developers went above and beyond by giving Ciri her own playable sections. Being able to play as Ciri is not only a fun gameplay change, it’s an effective storytelling method. As you progress though the story you’ll meet certain individuals who met with Geralt’s adopted

daughter. Instead of simply listening to them tell their story, you take control over the events being retold. Hearing about her journey is one thing, but being in control of it empowers players and expands the world of the game beyond Geralt.

Ciri is faster and weaker than Geralt, and her dodge is replaced by a blink ability.

She can’t use signs but she can blink from one enemy to another on the battlefield in a devastatingly beautiful display. Her sections are very linear, and without a skills tree or inventory they’d get boring as a whole game, but used sparingly as they are they’re a wonderful addition to the game.

The Witcher games have always been set in large maps, but with Wild Hunt’s move to an open world came a map approximately 32 times larger than all the locations of the second game combined. With such a massive space to fill, it would have been

easy for CD Projekt Red to populate it with bland copy-pasted landmarks and repetitive events. Instead, the world of The Witcher 3 is one of the most vibrant and exciting I’ve ever experienced!

The Witcher 3 is a powerful roleplaying experience that serves up a complex and emotionally persuasive narrative. It treats its characters with respect and its players with even more respect. The world of Wild Hunt is a grim place to live, and your actions can be its salvation or its ruin. It’s impossible to be involved in these kinds of ambiguous and far-reaching decisions and not feel a connection to the world and its characters, and this is where the game shines. Above all, The Witcher 3 makes me believe that I am Geralt, I am a part of these character’s lives, and I am a part of this world.

Time to get to work

Geralt rubs shoulders with royalty

Ciri is back, and she’s amazing

Horse races are a great way to make money

5/5

Being a witcher is a lucrative business

15

Review

What: A first-person painter Who: Nintendo Platform: WiiU

Set in some sort of post apocalyptic world where everyone is basically a squid/ cat person and can swim around in ink, Splatoon is a vivid and playful world.

There’s really not that much to this game when it comes down to it. You’re a squid person, who frankly looks more like a cat, and you spend your time battling other squid people in teams of four with paintball-style weapons in various stages in the city. The team with the most ink on the course wins! There’s also a small single player campaign but I think most people could play the game quite happily without ever bothering to go down that suspicious manhole.

You start with regular battles and are thrown in at the deep end at level one with only a small tutorial to get you going. As I’m usually a PS4 gamer, initially I kept finding myself confused and staring either at the ground or the sky. Honestly I swap positions so often while gaming that it took a bit of training to realize that I had to use the motion sensor in the controller to get my view right. You feel a bit silly trying to shoot paint at someone only to miss completely but it doesn’t take long to get the hang of it – or if you’re like me just press the Y button every time you move position.

The regular battles are a special kind of frantic craziness. There are people with all sorts of weapons and specials and there’s brightly coloured paint everywhere with squids popping up out of nowhere.

16

This fact makes me seriously happy - the colours of ink used are all super bright and contrast with the other teams. It’s super easy to tell what’s yours and what’s not.

At its most basic level Splatoon recognizes that bright colours, guns and squid-ing around are super fun and capture people’s interest immediately.

When the music feels like that old Rugrats game you played as a child you know you’re onto a good thing. It didn’t take long for me to get good and pack on the levels, you can start to get cooler gear at level four and what’s available improves the fresher, sorry, better you get.

The single player campaign is marginally interesting for some of the skills it forces you to develop, but the battles stages are what this games is really about and the fact that you can play for hours over the same levels really shows you how addictive and well executed this game is. Every battle feels different - different players, different tactics equal a whole new experience. As I’ve played I’ve seen the community hit the max level (20 right now) but new courses and weapons continue to be released and assuming the new content continues players should stick around. Even if they don’t update the content I honestly can’t see myself tiring of it any time soon.

There’s also ranked battles for those sick of the regular battles or wanting to be graded against other players. Where in regular battles the aim is to cover the most area in paint as possible, and there’s a crazy energy with everyone everywhere and a map full of bright colours that are constantly changing, the ranked battles are

a fight for a rectangle space in the middle of the map. Whoever holds that square for the longest wins. That’s it. Honestly it lost some of the sheer joy of playing when it’s a small space because it encourages all the things I dislike in games: camping, higher levels with better gear dominating because of their upgrades and not skill and it all feels a bit pointless in the end because it’s hard to control the whole of that small place with 4 people on each team always hovering.

My style of play was tactical, and I liked that I could be. I was all about covering the most ground, sneaking kills only when necessary and keeping an eye on the map to mop up problem areas. I get a bit obsessive in this kind of game and like to cover the area completely in my colour.

No messy splotches for me! To that extent I like using the roller but for frantic fun and a bit of that third person shooter fun I favoured the rapid fire, lighter machine gun weapons. There are all the sorts of weapons you could ask for based on your style of play and wackier ones like the ink brush or specials like the inkzooka or ink mine.

Splatoon is a wicked game that lives up to its promise and is fun and playable for gamers of all ages. Get on it!

4.5/5

Opinion

I Just Want to Play Games Christopher Hunt faces his fears about growing out of gaming

I have been thinking for quite some time that there must be something wrong with me.

That I have invested into next gen and so far have been rather underwhelmed. I use my next gen console primarily as an entertainment hub rather than playing games on it. If you were to look at the time spent on games verses YouTube and Netflix, games fall by the way side. I began thinking that maybe I really am getting older. Am I growing out of gaming? Have I reached that point in my life that games no longer interest me? That’s a scary and confronting realization for me as gaming has be such a huge part of my life personally and socially for as long as I remember.

I then reached out to my friends and asked them if they’re having similar thoughts and feelings as myself. To my dual shock (pardon the pun) and my glee I have found I am not alone.

It’s not me. It’s you. (points at game console) Or rather the game industry as a whole. I realise that with each launch year of a new console generation that there really is a period of sub par game experiences or lack of standout titles but be damned! Both the Xbox One and PS4 have had some real corkers so far which is great.

Yet they really aren’t anything we haven’t had before. Is that just the mindset of a spoiled gamer?

In part admittedly yes. The Xbox 360 and PS3 era was probably the best era of gaming in a long while.

There were so many amazing and ground breaking titles coming out so often that looking back it’s almost overwhelming.

Our new generation of consoles started off with a very rocky start.

Games were and are still being

released broken and bug filled with the promise of Day One patches to fix issues that should not be there in the first place.

Promises of DLC in and out the door like it’s going out of fashion and alienating gamers across the world, myself included. So far, not entirely enjoying this. No wonder why I’m spending more time watching YouTubers and my favourite movies and shows on Netflix.

We know games are getting harder to produce as costs consistently increase and AAA titles are falling victim to that effect. However as a consumer I shouldn’t have to worry about that. We shouldn’t be made to bear the fallout of those production constraints. Some of you out there might feel that is insensitive but I’m inclined to disagree and challenge you to see my point of view. Just forget about pressures from investors and publishers for a moment. Say you go buy a brand new car you’ve been looking forward to all year and when you go to drive out of the lot the fan belt is making funny sounds and the gears don’t lock properly. You ask the salesmen about it and they tell you not to worry, they knew about the issue when they sold it to you but they will recommend an auto repair shop you can take it to and they give you a free coupon. You would feel ripped off and the enjoyment of your new car experience is tainted. I’m sure there are a lot of real world issues you can find in that but please just humour me.

Gamers should feel confident about putting money down to preorder that game you hold such anticipation for and know that it will perform as it should off the disc or after the install is completed.

You shouldn’t be sitting through

Day One patch updates and then find game busting bugs later on anyway. Yes, it is easy for me to sit on my nice recliner typing away like a keyboard warrior, however sometimes enough is enough.

Gaming is an expensive hobby. $499 for a console at launch and $99-$110 for each game at retail afterwards forever. For that money I expect quality. Not only that but I want more diversity in genres.

How many shooters do we need anyway? They’re like a well oiled machine at this point: take the same product with a different skin and you slap out a “new” game.

Yes, I am aware it’s not that simple but you get the gist.

Amongst this rant-filled critique I wish to express my frustration that I am not enjoying gaming as much as I used to. That is because most of the games I want to play just aren’t there at the moment on any platform. At least not enough to make me throw money down on a WiiU just to play something Mario oriented. I want to love you Nintendo, I do, I just can’t justify you for your IP’s alone. Leading up to every gamer’s Christmas, is E3. Personally, I’m very excited to watch it all unfold live via video streams and to see if the industry is going to show me a sign of better times to come. I will be watching very intently Microsoft’s press event as Xbox is my home, and I want my home to be awesome-er.

So I remain a cautiously optimistic gamer, however I will be damned if I’m forced to go outside to find interactive activities after all these years. I won’t have it. (shakes fist)

17