STACK #216 October 2022

THIS MONTH at

GAMING FEATURE

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STACK’s ROVING REPORTER

What’s your all-time favourite game series?

BEST SELLERS at

Final Fantasy, hands down. Especially IX on PS1. To give you an idea of how much I love this game, I first got it when it was released in Japan on July 7, 2000, which happens to be the month of my birthday, which is why I remember an older game’s exact release date!

SEPTEMBER 2022

PERRYVUONG @ JB Hi-Fi Robina, QLD

1 NBA 2K23

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

2 FIFA 23

What have you been playing most lately?

Meeting all the different gamers out there. Hearing about the different games people play and their experiences with them. Nothing’s better than feedback from other gamers. If you’re playing the same game or something similar you may hear or discover something new about it that you were never aware off.

3 SPLATOON 3

I recently platinumed Horizon Forbidden West on PS5. I’m currently starting Final Fantasy VII Remake again on PS5 since the PS4 trophies didn’t carry over, but I’m happy as that gives me a reason to play the game again.

4 THE LAST OF US PART I

5 MARIO KART 8 DELUXE

What’s your earliest video gaming memory?

The true king of consoles in my opinion, the PlayStation 2! I had so many games and it really opened my eyes to gaming during this amazing console’s run. You can only have one games console from any era – what would it be and why?

6 NINTENDO SWITCH SPORTS

My earliest memory would be of the mid-1990s, when my parents got me the original NES as a present from our local video store. My first games were Super Mario Bros., ShadowWarriors and The Bugs Bunny Birthday Blowout .

7 SAINTS ROW

8 MINECRAFT

9 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: THE COWABUNGA COLLECTION

Animal Crossing WHOT!

Super Mario WHOT!

Super Mario Guess Who?

Animal Crossing Guess Who?

MERCH MONTH of the

10 ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS

1999

GAME CHANGERS! A YEAR IN GAMING The sequels continued to come thick and fast, but amongst that vast sea were several games that introduced new play styles, or reinvented existing concepts to offer up something just a little bit new to gamers worldwide…

While taking characters from different franchises

Following hot on the heels of their BeatMania DJ mixing arcade games came Dance Dance Revolution , a more elaborate rhythmic affair that came with an arrow-covered platform that also hit arcades outside of Japan. Featuring an eclectic mix of tracks to dance to by following onscreen prompts – try The Specials bumping up against KC and the Sunshine Band for starters – the series not only spawned several arcade machines (and new ones are

Then Japanese giant Konami unleashed the survival horror game Silent Hill , and while the genre wasn’t necessarily

and banging them together in a new

game wasn’t unheard of, Nintendo perfected

cutting edge, where they took it certainly was. The game went the everyman route for its protagonist, took more of a psychological direction over out-and-out action and, when it came to atmosphere, it simply oozed it. Admittedly all the fog and darkness was there as a way to cover hardware limitations, but intentional or not it worked a treat. Add a preparedness to go for more cinematic views, a killer soundtrack from Akira Yamaoka, and phenomenal monster design and there’s a reason why Silent Hill remains a highly regarded and incredibly influential title.

the art with Super Smash Bros . for their N64 console. Uniting gaming stars from the Mushroom Kingdom, Donkey Kong, F-Zero, Kirby, Metroid, Mother, Star Fox, The Legend of Zelda and Pokémon games, it then let players loose going the biff with each other on various themed screens. The franchise continues to this day, with a much greater roster thanks to the wonders of downloading. A special crossover mention also goes to the many Marvel vs Capcom games, which really hit home in 1999 with Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter .

still coming), but so many home releases (at least in Japan) that it’s a challenge to collect them all. In 2009, Ubisoft took inspiration

from DDR, successfully removing the need for a mat with Just Dance for Nintendo’s Wii console.

OCTOBER 2022

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