st211-DigitalProof

GAMING FEATURE

visit stack.com.au

STACK’s ROVING REPORTER

BEST SELLERS at

What’s your all-time favourite game series?

Diablo - Diablo II was the game that got me into PC gaming. Also, Counter-Strike 1.6 for the ungodly amount of time I spent playing throughout high school instead of studying!

APRIL 2021

MARTY MEYNELL @ JB Hi-Fi Queen Adelaide Building, Brisbane QLD

1 LEGO STAR WARS:

THE SKYWALKER SAGA

What have you been playing lately?

2 NINTENDO SWITCH SPORTS

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

I’m still jamming Overwatch and Rainbow Six Siege with mates almost every night. Aside from those, I’ve been enjoying the Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart on PS5 and Mario Golf Super Rush on the Switch.

Getting to talk to all the interesting people that come wandering in through our doors about something that’s a shared passion among so many people from all walks of life.

3 KIRBY AND THE

FORGOTTEN LAND

4 ELDEN RING

5 MARIO KART 8 DELUXE

What’s your earliest video gaming memory?

What would be your desert island console?

6 POKÉMON LEGENDS: ARCEUS

Waking up Christmas morning in 1993 to unwrap a Super Nintendo and losing my mind with excitement! It even came with the Super Scope!

I would have to say my Switch, since it’s the only thing with a battery in it! But if there’s electricity then it would be my PC.

7 GRAN TURISMO 7

8 ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS

Minecraft Torch Light

9 HORIZON FORBIDDEN WEST

Pac-Man Icons Light

PlayStation Icons Light

Minecraft Icons Metal

10 MARIO PARTY SUPERSTARS

Water Bottle

Xbox Logo Light

GAME CHANGERS! A YEAR IN GAMING Nintendo set up shop properly in Australia, unleashing a killer platformer while they were at it, Japan got new hardware from SEGA and Sony, and a franchise that would become an enduring gaming ode to car culture hit the starting line… 1994

Before 1994 ended, Japan saw the release of two hot new “fifth-gen” consoles – console masters SEGA’s Saturn, and Sony’s first entry in the space, the PlayStation. Both had red hot launch arcade conversions, Virtua Fighter and Ridge Racer , respectively, and both companies were up for a ding-dong battle. However, while sales of the Saturn went gangbusters in Japan – it remains SEGA’s best-selling console ever there – the same couldn’t be said for its later overseas launch, where PlayStation basically kicked it to the kerb with slicker marketing, and more in-demand games.

By 1994, the world had played a lot of platform games, and not much had changed in them save for slight improvements in their still very 2D graphics. British developers Rare had a plan to bring new life to the genre, and their Super Nintendo exclusive Donkey Kong Country was the conduit. While still essentially a 2D platformer, it was Rare’s use of pre-rendered 3D graphics that prompted reviewers and gamers to stumble for descriptive superlatives. That the game was supremely playable beyond how good it looked also helped quite a bit.

Eight years after the movie Top Gun , Electronic Arts felt the need, The Need for Speed , as a

title that might help the struggling 3DO console move more

units. Complete with a Road &Track magazine license, the game showed respect to car addicts everywhere, with as much emphasis on realistic sound and handling, plus TV magazine-styled video presentation, as there was on allowing petrolheads to race the eight included automotive dream machines on three courses. Many in the series followed, the last (so far) being the 24th iteration, 2019’s Need for Speed Heat .

26 MAY 2022

jbhifi.com.au