STACK #190 Aug 2020

FEATURE GAMING

I’m a huge Pokémon fan, I grew up with it – Pokémon all the way!

I

STACK ROVING REPORTER

about what people love

Simulator is another one that

BEST SELLERS at

in games, and what they like and getting their

I have trouble keeping on the

shelf.” Personally, Nathan is right up with the latest gear,

feedback. Obviously, I can’t play everything,

Date ending: 24/07/20

SHOP TALK

so just hearing people’s thoughts on games is pretty cool. Sharing what I’m passionate about, too, and maybe suggesting something they may have missed.” There’s no pause for thought when we ask Nathan what his best- selling games are. “Definitely Rugby League! We’re in a very rural area and we have lots of people who love their Rugby League Live 4 – I’m forever transferring that in. Farming

owning every system and looking forward to the next generation. He does admit to having a current favourite, though. “I mostly play my Switch, as I love how portable it is – it’s really handy.” Having started his gaming life on a diet of Super Nintendo and Game Boy, it’s no huge surprise to hear what Nathan’s all-time fave game series is. “I’m a huge Pokémon fan, I grew up with it – Pokémon all the way! I’ve played every version since Red and Blue , when I played my brother back in the day.” At the moment Nathan’s PS4 is getting a run, playing Horizon Zero Dawn , “Just because they’re releasing the number two game, Horizon Forbidden West , so I thought, ‘I’ve got to go back and finish that’. I’ve started diving into Ghost of Tsushima as well; the atmosphere is absolutely beautiful in that game.” official figure, but many believe millions more were sold) and was the introduction to gaming for more Aussie kids than have likely ever tasted Weet-Bix, not being discontinued until 1994 when Commodore went bankrupt... Meanwhile, game consoles had been eating away space reserved for home computers, as most parents realised that kids just played games on the computers anyway. A true milestone in console gaming history arrived in August of 1992, in Super Nintendo game Super Mario Kart . Both technologically incredible for the time and, more importantly, infinitely playable solo or with friends, it birthed an entire genre –

W e’re passionate about our games at STACK , and love the passion that we hear from those to whom we chat with when we roam. If JB Green Hills, NSW, was closer to where we live, we’re sure that we’d spend a whole lot of time yapping with their games coordinator Nathan Wethered, whose enthusiasm is wonderfully infectious. When we spoke, he’d literally just clocked up his first decade at JB, having worked at a few stores before settling at Green Hills for the past few years. “I started in DVDs, I was there for about a year or so, and then went over to games and it grew from that.” Nathan doesn’t see his job as simply selling, but to help his customers perhaps find something new that they might enjoy as well. “I definitely enjoy talking 1982: The first CD player is sold in Japan, Moving Pictures plead What About Me , E.T. phones home, the smiley emoticon - :-) - is “discovered” and Time Magazine ’s ‘Man of the Year’ is the computer. Speaking of computers, August saw the release of the 8-bit Commodore 64 home computer. It looked the same as its forebear, the VIC-20, save for having more of a tan, however the Commodore 64 packed several features that made it ideal for games, most notably 64K of RAM, sprite graphics and the killer SID (Sound Interface Device) audio chip. It didn’t take long for programmers to push the machine beyond limits that even surprised its creators, AUGUST

1 GHOST OF TSUSHIMA PS4 2 ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS SWITCH 3 MARIO KART 8 SWITCH 4 PAPER MARIO: THE ORIGAMI KING SWITCH 5 THE LAST OF US PART II PS4 6 SKATER XL PS4/XB1 7 DESTROY ALL HUMANS! PS4/XB1 8 THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD SWITCH 9 SUPER SMASH BROS. ULTIMATE SWITCH 10 F1 2020 PS4/XB1

Poké-fan Nathan ‘Smiley’ Wethered at JB Green Hills

A little slice of gaming history…

at one time every second cartoon character seemed to have a karting game – and remains one of Nintendo’s top money-spinning franchises to this day.

and in Australia in particular it got to

the point where it sold quicker than Commodore could make it, helped immeasurably by the cleverly marketed Family Pack, and a killer jingle in “Are you keeping up with the Commodore? ‘Cos the Commodore is keeping up with you.” Nobody seemed to mind the stalker-like quality as hey, it was catchy! The C64 went on to become the biggest selling computer model ever, with some 12.5 million units shifted worldwide (that’s the

GAMES RELEASED IN AUGUST

Donkey Kong Jr. (1982) Super Mario World (1991)

GoldenEye 007 (1997) Soul Calibur II (2003) Dead Rising (2006) Deus Ex: Human Revolution (2011) Prey (2017)

7 years since GTA V first released

201 the number of years that TES V: Skyrim is set after TES IV: Oblivion

1 million units sold of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves in the first month

110 musicians that worked on music for Red Dead Redemption 2

3 the number of devs that initially started work on GoldenEye 007

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