STACK #203 Sep 2021

GAMING FEATURE

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What’s your all-time favourite game series?

My email profile picture has been Zelda (from Twilight Princess ) for years, due to the fact that The Legend of Zelda is the greatest all-time game series! Wind Waker is my favourite entry within the franchise, because it was the only one that my siblings never wanted to play, so I had the opportunity to spend some time with it. A close second is Skyward Sword , because my siblings couldn’t beat the hard temples and I had to do it for them.

AUGUST 2021

1 MARIO KART 8 DELUXE

ALESSANDRA PINAZO @ JB Hi-Fi Head Office, VIC

2 RING FIT ADVENTURE

3 MADDEN NFL 22

What have you been playing lately?

4 THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: SKYWARD SWORD HD

What’s the best thing about working in games at JB?

The perpetual answer to this is Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest . I’m always trying to speedrun and beat my previous completion time. When I’m not doing this, Pokémon Snap or Animal Crossing: New Horizons provide me with some life normality, as I can’t go outside for extended periods of time, take photos, and shop (which are some of my favourite real life pastimes!).

Mainly the bonds I’ve formed with people who have the same passion for games as I do. I love it that women in gaming are becoming increasingly present and empowered, especially as protagonists in AAA titles such as The Last of Us Part II and Horizon Zero Dawn (Thanks PlayStation!). My role in the retail/gaming setting also has a sweet balance between being extremely challenging and enjoyable. I feel incredibly privileged to be contributing to the rising gaming movement in the country.

5 ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS

6 JUST DANCE 2021

7 GHOST OF TSUSHIMA: DIRECTOR’S CUT

What would be your desert island console?

What’s your earliest video gaming memory?

8 ALIENS: FIRETEAM ELITE

While I would love to say Nintendo Switch, I can’t go past the Xbox Series X. Not only is it a console, it’s an all-in-one media device! I could use it to stream, watch streaming services, and sink many hours into games such as Bioshock and Halo , which would make me forget I was even on a desert island. However, when I do remember that I’m on a desert island, the Series X is so heavy that I could use it to smash open coconuts or throw at intruders!

Watching my dad play (and dominate) Rush’n Attack on the NES led to my love of 2D side-scrollers. In terms of playing, my cousin and I attempted to play MS-DOS games such as Hugo’s House of Horrors , but struggled to put in commands as we didn’t know how to spell then “big” and “complicated” words such as “balloon”! I also played educational games such as Word Rescue and Mixed-Up Mother Goose , which probably explains my love for education and collecting degrees like they’re Infinity Stones!

9 SUPER MARIO PARTY

10 RATCHET & CLANK: RIFT APART

1986

GAME CHANGERS! A YEAR IN GAMING As the games industry continued to crawl from the mire of the big crash of 1983, games designers were still finding new and exciting ways to entertain – highlights including Bubble Bobble and Out Run – while franchises that would endure well into the future were born…

1986 saw the arrival of SEGA’s NES rival, the Master System, in the USA. An updated version of the Japanese market SEGA Mark III console, despite being marketed as more of a home- based arcade machine than its rival, its sales disappointed. An initial Australian release fizzled, however when relaunched here in early 1988, the Master System soon became more popular than Nintendo’s machine both locally and in Europe.

Meanwhile, with the home market upper hand in both Japan and the USA, Nintendo concentrated

Speaking of quests, adventure game pioneers Sierra On-Line, now simply Sierra, were continuing their own mission to dominate their market. 1986 not only saw the release of King’s Quest III: To Heir is Human , but also introduced us to the wonders of Space Quest via first

instalment The Sarien Encounter . More would

on releasing top game titles. This year alone saw the debut of NES outings The Legend of Zelda and Metroid , franchises that are both revered and still active today. Kid Icarus was also born. In other NES milestones, Konami released the original Castlevania , while Enix unleashed the first ever Dragon Quest .

follow in both series, along with Police Quest , Hero’s Quest and, of course, the notorious Leisure Suit Larry games.

32 SEPTEMBER 2021

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