What’s On: September 2016
Neko Nation
If you’ve been looking to partake in something outside of the abundance of gaming conventions then we might just have the perfect solution for you. Taking place at Manning Bar on Saturday October 1, Neko Nation is Australia’s leading anime party, inspired by the nightclubs of Akihabara in Japan. As a result, the event will be home to anime, gaming, Japanese DJs, as well as chiptunes Bubblegum pop and a whole lot more. Should you wish to cosplay for the party, it’s wholeheartedly encouraged, with prizes for the best outfits. There will even be ‘catboys’ and ‘catgirls’ serving various food items throughout the night. For more information on this wonderfully quirky event and to track down tickets, head to nekonation.com
Oz Comic-Con Sydney
Before you spend all your hard earned money on both PAX Australia and EB Expo tickets, make sure you give Oz Comic-Con a look as well. While not as large or high-profile as the event in San Diego, there’s still plenty on offer for fans of games, movies, television and general pop-culture. Hours can be spent at the anime station, gaming zone and cosplay shows, or alternatively you could catch a glimpse at some of the stars in this year’s huge lineup. In attendance will be Battlestar Galactica’s Katee Sackhoff, Hollywood superstar Karl Urban and the voice of Mario himself, Charles Martinet. It all takes place from Saturday September 10 – Sunday September 11 at Sydney Exhibition Centre at Glebe Island. Tickets can be found online at www.ozcomiccon.com
News
A Helping Hand
In a bit of warm-yer-heart Aussie news, around 500 young cancer patients will now have the ability to access a youth-focused high-tech haven each year at Melbourne’s Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. It’s all thanks to the new You Can Centre, brought to life via a generous $1.5million donation from the Sony Foundation Australia, the charitable arm of the company.
Sony Foundation Chief Executive Officer Sophie Ryan believes the long-term aim of the Foundation’s program is to ensure that Australian adolescent and young adult patients are given the best chance in life following their diagnosis and treatment.
“This age group are too often lost in the gap in healthcare. They’re too old for children’s hospitals yet too young for adult wards, and research demonstrates that age-appropriate care for this age group is urgently needed.”
Clock’s Ticking
After managing to reach an impressive number eight spot worldwide on Steam Greenlight, the locally-developed indie puzzler Clockwork has just launched its official Steam Store page. From here, fans of the game will be able to stay up to date on its latest trailers, gain release information and be the first to purchase the final product once it goes on sale.
For the uninitiated, Clockwork is a time-bending puzzle-platformer that tells the story of Atto, a lonely mechanical boy in the great city of Watchtower. Your goal is to discover the city’s past while taking on multiple bosses throughout more than 60 steam-punk inspired levels. Clockwork will launch in Q3 2016 for both PC and Mac, retailing at US$19.95.
Review: No Man’s Sky (PS4, PC)
No matter which side of the fence you lean on after spending some time with No Man’s Sky, you have to admit one thing: it’s incredibly ambitious – perhaps even detrimentally so to some. It’s a game that wants to promise you the world, wow you with its spectacle and lose you in its universe.
There’s a story for you to interact with in attempt to tie things together, but it’s actually fairly light on details, so don’t expect a narrative tour de force. Things kick off the moment you are placed on a random planet (every single player will begin their journey in a different location) with a broken spaceship and what could be best described as a space pickaxe. Essentially, it’s a laser beam that sucks up planetary resources for you to put towards various crafting recipes.
As you explore, you’ll work to build up your technology that in turn will allow you to travel greater distances and make more substantial discoveries. However, with little in the way of explanation in the early stages, things can get a little confusing for some players, leading to a trial and error style approach. Once you do eventually have things down pat, there’s a definite wonder about being able to effortlessly blast off from one planet, clear its atmosphere, find a nearby world and land on it, especially considering it all occurs without a single loading screen. No Man’s Sky’s greatest achievement is its ability to nail that feeling of escapism in a way we only ever dreamed of as children, even though the experience does possess a few problems.
Combat, for example, is sadly disappointing, failing to capitalise on the space warfare dogfighting many hoped for. Instead, the mechanics lack depth, excitement and can feel incredibly finicky to initiate and navigate. Ground combat meets a similar fate, as you often struggle to line up shots upon drones.
There was an incredible amount of hype and scrutiny surrounding No Man’s Sky’s pre-release, and although Hello Games arguably failed to live up to a bit of the marvel and mystery surrounding the project, that by no means classifies it as a ‘bad experience’. It’s a game that shoots for the sky, and hopefully with a little more refinement might just make it there.
★★★☆
