STACK #181 Nov 2019

GAMES FEATURE

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We’re definitely a Nintendo store, all different age groups love it whether it be 30-somethings like myself or kids starting on consoles.”

I

STACK ROVING REPORTER

and the rest is history, I was hooked! A couple of years later I had a Super Nintendo

supermarket and not really be that invested in the product, and

best sellers at

turn up and do your nine to five, but it’s a lot more fun if you can talk to your colleagues and customers about something that you genuinely care about.” So, how did Brendan get the gaming bug originally? “One of my neighbours came home with a Nintendo one Christmas – like 1989, I think. It was plugged in then we spent an afternoon jumping away as Mario –

and just never stopped playing games.” That his all-time favourite game is Super Mario World on the Super Nintendo comes as no surprise. Brendan still loves his Nintendo gaming, but his allegiance is split nowadays. “Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 – it’d be a 50/50 split between the two now, but I’ve always had a soft spot for Nintendo. There’s the charm of the Nintendo library, and the maturity of the PS4. I’m happy to bounce around and play Mario or Zelda, but I’m not going to get Borderlands 3 or Death Stranding on the Switch.” Currently, a PS4 title is winning the battle for Brendan’s game time. “At the moment I’m still absolutely tragically addicted to Borderlands 3 . It’s something that I waited a long time for, and I’m happy to be playing it with friends and by myself.” player thingummies, and also offered backwards compatibility with its predecessor – no need to turf all those PS1 classics. The PS2 went on to become the world’s best-selling console, only going out of production in 2013 – the very same year that saw the November release of the PlayStation 4. Billed as being “For the players”, the PS4 provided a solid leap in tech over the non-November released PS3, although anybody broaching the words “backwards” and “compatibility” were shot down quick smart. Still, the machine went on to win the generation from Microsoft’s Xbox One after their 360 had trounced the PS3,

Date ending: 29/05/19

SHOP TALK

1 CALL OF DUTY: MW (PS4/xbo/pc) 2 LUIGI’S MANSION 3 (SWITCH) 3 FIFA 20 (PS4/xbo/pc/SWITCH) 4 MEDIEVIL (PS4) 5 NBA 2K20 (PS4/xbo/pc/SWITCH) 6 THE OUTER WORLDS (PS4/xbo/pc/SWITCH) 7 BORDERLANDS 3 (PS4/xbo/pc) 8 The legend of zelda: LA (switch) 9 GHOST RECON: BREAKPOINT (PS4/xbo/pc) 10 THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT (switch) so obviously the ability to use old games wasn’t key to hooking most gamers. Anyway, diehards keep all their old machines, right? Games Released In NOVEMBER Alex Kidd in Miracle World (1986) Mega Man 3 (1990) Donkey Kong Country (1994) Warcraft (1994) Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell (2002) Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010) Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag (2013) Darksiders III (2018)

S o, what’s big in gaming at JB Doncaster, Victoria? Their games coordinator Brendan Moro tells us, “We’re definitely a Nintendo store. All different age groups love it, whether it be 30-somethings like myself, or kids starting on consoles.” Brendan has worked at JB for six years now, and told us how he got his start. “I was looking for a change of pace, and I’ve always had a passion for video games. Once a store opened up at Chirnside Park I jumped at the opportunity and started full time there, then 12 months later I was the games coordinator. I moved to Donnie at the start of 2014.” Brendan loves being able to bring his passion for games to his work life. “It’s always fun sharing your 1995: Blur beat Oasis in the great Britpop war, Melbourne pinched the GP from Adelaide and Pixar stunned the world with the first computer animated movie in Toy Story . Meanwhile, three syllables would finally enter the world of Australian gamers, and they remain with us today – Play- Sta-tion. Yes, November 1995 finally saw the Aussie release of Sony’s new mega-console (initially co-developed with Nintendo until they, unwisely in retrospect, pulled out of the deal), which arguably delivered the biggest leap in technology in the home gaming world ever as we were transported from the realm of pixels to that of NOVEMBER hobbies and your interests. You could easily work at a

Brendan Moro Switch-ing things up at JB Hi-Fi Doncaster,VIC

A little slice of gaming history…

polygons. Launch title Ridge Racer , a conversion of Namco’s smash arcade racing game, blew minds – and sold consoles. The month of November, perhaps due to its proximity to a certain major gift-giving time of year, would prove to be integral to PlayStation in the future, too. In the eleventh month of 2000, Australians got their hands on the PlayStation 2. As well as offering all manner of wow-inducing games, the machine doubled as one of those newfangled DVD

37 years since the first licensed Star Wars game, The Empire Strikes Back on Atari 2600, was released

5 years that Jedi: Fallen

22 Need for Speed console titles released since 1994

4.5 million views following the Death Stranding E3 2018 trailer

50,000 frames of animation produced for 1983’s Dragon’s Lair

Order has been in development for

4

NOVEMBER 2019

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