Feeling the itch to play some Final Fantasy Tactics but don’t want to dig out your PlayStation 1 disc, or have lost it in the many years since its release? How about dusting off that PSP Go? Because the PlayStation Blog revealed that Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions will be released onto the PSN tomorrow.
This means that you can download the game’s PSP version and play it to your hearts content after tomorrow. The game will have new cutscenes, items and characters that weren’t in the original version. Unfortunately this news doesn’t come as a huge announcement, simply due to the fact that the game itself is already available in UMD format and can be purchased for around $10 at most stores.
Fans of the Call of Juarez series have probably had The Cartel in their sights ever since the game was announced earlier this year, but it seems at least some of these fans will be missing their mark. This is because, although the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game will be released tomorrow, the PC release of the title has slipped into September 13th.
This move went unannounced by Ubisoft so far, though Valve’s Steam service as well as Amazon.com have placed the PC version of the game’s release back nearly a month. We’ve contacted Ubisoft to see why the delay has come about and also why they have decided to withhold any announcement regarding the delay.
The second of the Nabeshin panels was held at one of the Bayside Gallery rooms which overlooks Darling Harbour with Sydney’s skyline in the backdrop. A moderately sized room with a great view, perfect for a fun panel with Nabeshin! This second panel was less structured than the first and mainly consisted of fans asking him questions. The panel should have probably been re-named to “Up close and personal: a Q&A with Shinichi Watanabe!” Why up close and personal?
Well Nabeshin basically talked about anything and everything that came to him. There were mentions of women’s panties (I think that was from the first panel actually), his constant invites to his hotel room, invitations to be your boyfriend (sorry guys, girls only!) and the maintenance of his awesome afro!
Watanabe, best known for directing anime such as Excel Saga and Puni Puni Poemy, entered the stage with “Yeahs!” to get the crowd going!
The first question was about his nickname Nabeshin coming to him from the gods. He said that he likes his nickname very much and it came from a god with no responsibilities and that he’s the only one called Nabeshin in Japan – a big thanks to, Shin, who was Nabeshin’s translator. Without him, all of us non-Japanese speakers would have been left out in the woods!
This article would be pages and pages long if I transcribe the whole 58 minute interview so here are the highlights:
*When asked if he could sing the afro song from Excel Saga, he replied with “Since I’m a voice actor, if you want to see me singing, you have to pay for it! As you know it’s pricey! But if you guys pay us $300 each, I’ll sing! Anyone?” silence in the crowd, “$100?” still silence, “How about $50 and I’ll sing? $10?” There was laughter and he sang an excerpt in the song anyway!
*A female attendee asked him if his sunglasses were Ray-Bans and that if she could have it. He answered, “Yes you’re right they’re from Ray-Bans. These sunglasses I’m wearing now I bought it with a 1000 yen, which is $10, in Tokyo, so you can buy it instead of giving it to you! Even if it’s only $10, since I’m wearing it, it’s more valuable. Even if it’s kind of precious, I’d like to auction it now! I’m gonna start with $7 000! You wanna
buy it?”
*When asked if he has a girlfriend, he responded with, “I’ve got 100 girlfriends, that’s it for now. If you want to do this you can be my girlfriend!” He then told her that he can be in a boyfriend/girlfriend triangle relationship [pertaining to her male companion]. Next he asked, “In the first place, do you really want me to be your boyfriend?” She replies with “Daijoubu desu (it’s alright).” This prompted him to ask “Do you mean you hate me? What if your boyfriend dies now, will you be my girlfriend? Does anyone here want to be my girlfriend?”
*A guy asks him, “What’s the secret behind your beautiful afro?” “It’s top secret because if I tell you guys, you will take my hairstyle… I don’t want anyone to get my hairstyle. But do you want to get afro hairstyle? You can come to my hotel tonight so I can teach you! I was just kidding, please don’t come!”
*The host of the Q&A panel, I think his name was He-chan, asked Nabeshin what he thought of Australia. Nabeshin replied, “No offence, but when I came to Australia for the first time, I didn’t know that this country is full of discrimination. Why can’t I hug koala? Why can’t I touch koala? It doesn’t make sense to me, because I’m paying for it to enter the zoo, so why can’t I take photo or touch koala or that kind of stuff? And then why is it ok for kangaroo? Besides, in the café over there yesterday, I had the meat of kangaroo, so why koala cannot be touched or eaten but kangaroos are ok? I don’t understand! So in terms of ranking it’s koala, people then kangaroo!”
*What do you think about American comics? “Even though I don’t know about American animation much but I think I American comic animation is more direct in a sense. So as for American animation the idea is pretty simple; what’s cool is cool, what’s fun is fun, and what’s scary is scary. But in terms of Japanese animation, the whole itself includes the implication of what IS cool and vice versa; so American animation has a sort of powerfulness whereas Japanese animation is more like technique.”
To wrap things up, Nabeshin, showed us his famous Nabehameha which is his version of Dragon Ball Z’s Kamehameha, and got the audience to do it with him!
Nabeshin was awesome to listen to! He’s spontaneous and has a quirky yet funny sense of humour. He tried to get what seemed like a non-responsive audience (for most of the time), involved. He did a great job entertaining us with his interesting anecdotes and funny jokes. The host did a good job too. He tried to keep the questions going; asking questions he thought of himself to give more time for the audience to think, and lastly, Shin, without you, most of us there wouldn’t have understood a thing! Before SMASH! 2011, I didn’t really know much about Shinichi “Nabeshin” Watanabe. After sitting through two of his panels, his charisma and personality won me over and now I consider myself as a budding fan!
I ended up attending his signing to get a Nabeshin artefact for myself!
So those who did go should know how it was already but if you were just wondering how others felt or maybe if you didn’t go and are wondering what is there and if it’s worth going to next year you should really read below.
I loved Smash, especially with all the new space but let’s just not take my own word for it. Here is what other people had to say:
1. What did you come to Smash for?
• To observe the anime/manga community and to reassure myself that I am not the only nerd in Sydney. – Flem
• Porking babes. – Link
• Do media stuff and meet LK. Also catch up with friends and the like. – Link
• To hang out with my friends, and check out the Gundam shows and workshops. – Spike
• The experience, work. – Matt Vella
• To see all the GREAT COS PLAY outfits – Phil
• Media shit and to meet all Capsule crew in the flesh for the first time, was good and sexy. – Luke
2. How have you liked this convention?
• Fantastic venue and well organised, but not entertaining, only because there wasn’t anything particularly interesting to purchase – Flem
• This was my favourite convention this year. OK, maybe equal to Armageddon. – Spike
• Loved it! – Matt Vella
• SMASH was probably the best convention this year !! Very well organized the staff were well trained and knew what they were doing.- Phil
• In all my years of convention going (since 2k4) this is probably the best one I’ve attended. – Link
• It was also good and sexy. – Luke
3. What was the best thing about this convention?
• The Professional Photo Booth – Aura
• Events for the fans to interact with. Limiting special guests I think worked in its favour. –Spike
• Organization. – Matt Vella
• COS PLAY !!! We had some amazing outfits this year!- Phil
• Easily my interview with LK. – Link
• I loved the organisation and the location, bloody brilliant also it was good and sexy. – Luke
4. What was the worst thing about this convention?
• Not enough time to do everything we wanted to! I wish it ran a little longer, or perhaps over 2 days. – Spike
• Lack of food stalls inside. – Matt Vella
• Probably lack of access to decent foods, or themed foods. – Link
• I’m sorry I had to say it, but the MAID CAFE was really really bad, I just go back from Japan and this Maid Cafe was nothing like the ones in Japan. – Phil
• Not enough food outlets. – Luke
5. What do you think of the price of the ticket?
• Perfectly reasonable. I liked paying for those badge passes. 🙂 – Spike
• Good. – Matt Vella
• Ahh Media Passes are great = FREE 😉 – Phil
• Pretty reasonable considering the quality. – Link
• Reasonable. – Luke
6. What do you think about the venue?
• Big and great for the number of people – Aura
• Perfect size for the number of people that attended. – Spike
• Perfect! – Matt Vella
• Excellent location easy for everyone to get to without too much hassle.- Phil
• Loved it! – Link
• It was good and sexy. – Luke
7. How was this convention compared to other conventions?
• Equal in greatness to Armageddon this year. Oddly, I found the smaller the better this year. 🙂 – Spike
• Better 🙂 – Matt Vella
• SMASH in my honest opinion was the best one this year, yes it was the smallest but it had a more personal touch and feel to it. I felt like all warm and fuzzy inside when I was walking around. I didn’t want it to end 😉 – Phil
• As stated in number 2. – Link
• It was personally the best convention I have ever attended. – Luke
8. What was your favourite stall?
• Anime at Abbotsford – Aura
• Zombster and Madman. – Spike
• The Japan Foundation.- Phil
• @Anime atAbbotsford – Link
• I personally really liked a cute little stall called Hondarake – Full of Books, I picked up some really check manga there, loved it. – Luke
9. What was your favourite moment of the convention?
• Littlekuriboh events. – Spike
• Cosplay Competition, SF comp, Panels. – Matt Vella
• The COS Play Competition. Very well Organzied- Phil
Believe it or not folks, there is actually a World Cup for Model Kit Construction. This year at Sydney’s SMASH! 2011, the model builders of Australia got to show off their skills by submitting their works to be admired and judged by a panel of model kit experts. Naturally, as they are the best known internationally, the model kits used The best efforts would be rewarded with prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd placements in an one of five categories with five 1st place prizes to be given out in total, two of which included a round trip to Hong Kong for the Bandai World Cup Finals. The categories were as follows:
Close up of Unicorn Gundam
Open Category: The “anything goes” category which allows builders to fully customise their Gundams or mobile suits, include extra scratch built parts, and diorama construction for people over 15 years of age.
Junior Category: The same as the open category, but for builders under 15 years of age.
Best BB/SD Gundam: For the out-of-proportion model kits that are famous from the Brave Battle Warriors anime series.
Best 1/144 High Grade: For best construction of a stock standard model kit of 1/144 HG quality. Colour customisation allowed.
Best 1/100 No Grade/Master Grade: For best construction of a stock standard model kit of 1/100 NG/MG quality. Colour customisation allowed.
A VERY cleverly customised Z’GOK built to look like a certain bear…
Although the model kits were being shown off to critics and fellow model kit builders, there’s no doubt that the builders would relish the opportunity to simply have their works shown off in a public forum such as the SMASH! convention. The layout of the competition display was VERY cool, and I would personally like to give all of those model builders a pat on the back for their hard work. Every single one of them that was displayed was a work of art. Kudos to you.
Ultimately, the competition was won in the Open Category by a VERY well customised 1/60 scale DOM mobile suit, from the original ‘Mobile Suit Gundam’ anime. Congradulations to the builder! Your victory was well earned.
This year, the SMASH convention clearly aimed to be bigger and better than ever. And we were not disappointed! There was plenty of anime, manga, gaming and general nerd lovin’ to go around over the entire day. However, for those amongst us who wanted to try something a little different from just watching, reading and playing, a number of events and workshops were made available to the public, free of charge! The Gundam Building Workshop, sponsored by Hobbyco offered fans of every kind the chance to dive into the world of constructing miniature model kits, direct from Japan.
Event sponsored by Hobbyco
While you had to register for a time in which to enter, this free event provided everyone who attended with a free mobile suit model kit, use of a basic modelling toolset and a mentor to assist those of all skills. The mentors provided very helpful advice to those who had never constructed a Gundam before, as well as tips for more intermediate builders looking to further their skills. Each session ran half an hour long. Not long enough to completely finish the model kits provided, but just enough to get people started. Even so, it was still fun to be able to see how Gundams come together when properly built. Building these model kits, or “Gunpla” as they are know in Japan required no glue or adhesives of any kind. The success of these models as a collectible hobby item is perpetuated by the easy assembly and accuracy to detail of the mobile suits.
Virtue Gundam, which I got to build!
As a huge follower of the Gundam anime series, as well as many popular Mech-animes in general, visiting this workshop was a must for me. Admittedly, I have built numerous Gundam and Zoids models in the past, as was in need of no instruction, although I was very helpfully advised on the proper way to apply the VERY VERY small stickers to the right places. Since I was fortunate enough to register in a morning session of building, the free model kit I received was a First Grade 1/144 scale Virtue Gundam, from the Gundam 00 series. Those who got in early definitely got away with the better mobile suit model. After we had left, I saw that the groups to follow were only going to be getting the much lower quality 1/144 Blue-Frame-Astray Gundam from Gundam SEED: ASTRAY. Truth be told, I’m much happier with the Virtue Gundam I obtained. 🙂 Regardless of whether or not you’re a fan of mech anime, if you were an anime fan that was part of this workshop, you would not regret it. Seriously, for those who have not, make sure you catch it next time!
When going to conventions, you’ll easily spot hundreds of attendees dressed up from all things fiction, whether it be characters from movies to television series, books to video games, anime to manga. Cosplay is one of the activities many convention goers love to take part in. It’s fun and cosplaying at conventions enables cosplayers to meet and be with other people who share their interest in cosplay! The first time I ever attended a convention a couple of years ago, I had no knowledge of cosplay. I didn’t even know people dressed up as characters from the fictional world for fun! I was so surprised and excited when I saw legions of people bringing my favourite anime and video game characters to life!
SMASH! 2011 was filled with vibrant colours and designs. While the convention attendees were lining up, waiting to get in, I took the opportunity to interview a couple of cosplayers to give us an insight on cosplay.
First up we have Deborah and Katie who cosplayed as Russia from Axis Powers Hetalia and Watari Yutaka from Yami no Matsuei, respectively.
When did you guys start cosplaying?
Katie: Probably four or five years ago when I started university and started going to conventions
Deborah: I think it was about three years ago but this is actually only my second costume so it’s been a big gap for me.
What got you into cosplaying?
Katie: um… I dunno, I really like dressing up, and dressing up for anime is heaps of fun coz there’s a huge community to join in with
Deborah: I like sewing, it’d fun. I didn’t actually sew this one [the costume], my friend did, but I like sewing so it’s fun to make the costumes, then I get to wear them which is also fun.
Did you make your costumes?
Katie: Mine’s sort of pieced together from what I’ve had around.
Deborah: My friend’s made the costume for me so I didn’t make this year’s one sadly.
Do you have a dream cosplay?
Deborah: Lightning from Final Fantasy 13!
Katie: Oh, that’s hard. Maybe… part of me wants to cosplay as the Dark Magician Girl from Yu-Gi-Oh! but it’s a bit revealing and I don’t have the self confidence to do it.
And lastly is there anything you’d like to say about your cosplays?
Deborah: um… I don’t know what to say. I’m looking forward to finding other Hetalia characters. It’s going to be fun.
Katie: It’s gonna be interesting… my character is from a pretty old anime. It’ll be interesting to see if anybody actually recognises the character.
–
Next we have Tricia, who was in character when I interviewed her. When I asked what her name was, she replied “Yuna from the Besaid Island!”
What can you tell us about your cosplay?
The character I’ve chosen is from a video game that I like to play. I’ve spent a lot of time with this character while I was playing this game and I really liked her. While I was playing the game I thought she was a really good main character so I picked her to dress up as.
This is the first time you’re cosplaying right? What made you decide to cosplay?
I’ve been to a couple of couple of the cosplay events before and I really love watching everybody in their costumes and I thought I’m gonna be a part of that this time so here we are all dressed up!
Can you tell us about a dream cosplay that you’d like to do?
Um… we haven’t really discussed the cosplay that we’re going to do in the future yet but there’s definitely going to be more costumes and a lot more fun and more events for us [referring to her friend Jesssica].
–
Now we have Tricia’s friend, Jessica, who cosplayed as the popular Miku Hatsune from Vocaloid!
What can you tell us about your cosplay?
I’m Miku Hatsune from Vocaloid and basically I went online trying to find an outfit and thought it looked cool so I got that one.
Is this also your first time cosplaying [referring to Tricia]?
Yes, very first to any convention and definitely the first time I got dressed up for one.
Why did you decide to dress up as Miku?
Um… I like the look of the outfit. I very much like all the sort of cute looking anime characters. It was either that or Sakura from Cardcaptors but Trish thought I looked too much like a little girl so Miku it was!
Is there a cosplay that you’d like to do in the future?
Yes, I don’t know what they are, but I’ll definitely be in another one with a slammin’ outfit for that too!
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Up next is Karla who was interview-shy but participated anyway! Thanks Karla! She dressed up as Aerith from Final Fantasy 7.
What made you choose to cosplay Aerith?
She’s one of my favourite characters of all time and I just really loved her character so much above everyone else.
Did you make your cosplay?
No I have no skill in sewing so if I was to this would have not happened!
Have you cosplayed before?
Yes, I cosplayed last year.
And what made you think of cosplaying?
I used to see it all the time over the internet and I just really wanted to do it, like so much!
And lastly is there a dream cosplay that you’d like to do someday?
One day I want to cosplay as England from Hetalia.
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And lastly, we have Gloria, cosplaying as Grell Sutcliff, from Black Butler.
And why did you pick this character?
Because he’s really eccentric and he’s really out there.
What made you think of cosplaying?
It really looks like fun and I just see a lot of photos about people cosplaying.
Did you make your own costume?
No, I had to buy and assemble em together.
And do you have a dream cosplay?
I want to cosplay as Stocking from Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt.
–
I haven’t heard of Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt so I googled it up and found that it’s about sisters called Panty and Stocking who were kicked out of heaven and have powers like being able to transform their stockings and underwear into powerful weapons! What a fascinating concept!
A shout of thanks to Deborah, Katie, Tricia, Jessica, Karla and Gloria! You guys were awesome!
SMASH! brings artists from all over Australia to exhibit their creative works. It was great to have a chat with some of them to tell us about their work and their tips for all of you aspiring artists!
First up, we have the sleepy Kurimja!
What can you tell us about your work?
I’m just an amateur freelance artist. I’m still in uni but I just do it for fun and I’ve been coming to smash pretty much since 2008 continuously so I’m quite fun of the con.
How long have you been doing this for?
Doing art?
Yep.
I’ve never actually studied it. It’s just been a hobby of mine since as long as I can remember.
What made you want to do it?
It’s fun! *laughs*
What are your influences?
It started off with mainly Japanese manga and anime and it shifted more to Korean online games and concept art – that kind of thing.
What are your tips for aspiring artists?
Always look around for influences – never stick to the how to draw manga books – they will not get you far. If possible try not to sneer at fandoms because there’s a reason why those series get popular. If you just look at the art styles and stuff the more intake you get, it doesn’t matter if it’s nouveau, art nouveau, or manga, you’re still going to get lots of influence and in the end it’s gonna help you a lot in developing as an artist.
Can you tell us about any future projects you’re working on?
Me and my friend are planning to make an artbook slash recipe book where we’re going to base concept characters on desserts and coffees and teas and the like, while including the recipes on how to make them for a little bit of fun.
And is there anything else you’d like to say?
Not in particular, no, I’ve been up since 5 in the morning so I’m a bit dead! *laughs*
I hope you had a good rest after the convention! For more info on Kurimja, visit her website on www.kurimja.deviantart.com
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Next is Elizabeth of Bloody Blue Rose
What can you tell us about your work Elizabeth?
It’s not really work. I’ve never seen it as work. It’s always been a hobby for me you know. It’s something that I enjoy doing, and something that gives me freedom to express myself so it’s not really work, it’s just enjoyment, fun, that kind of thing. I guess it is work as well.
How long have you been doing this?
I think since I was fourteen. I started like sketching at fourteen but I didn’t actually start properly CGing until 2007. That was actually funny enough the first year I actually did smash and had my first artist table and decided I need to improve and stuff. So yeah , I’ve been doing it for quite a while.
What media do you use?
I use mostly Photoshop CS5 for my digital CGing. For sketching, I sometimes sketch digitally or use my artbook.
What has inspired you to create artworks such as these?
A lot of things. I like to take inspirations from the world around me, from other artists, sometimes even from music as well. So, you get inspiration from a lot of places.
Can you give any specifics regarding influences?
A lot of deviant artists. I’m trying to think of all the ones, their names, their user names, but um… yeah usually a lot of like deviantart artists influence me like a lot of the ones that have really progressed to a certain stage where you see them and their art just really amazes you. Umm… other than that, sometimes a lot of nature areas coz I live near a park so there’s a lot of nature areas there. Sometimes I go down there and you know sit down and just look around me, you know observe the nature, see how it looks, how it’s formed in its natural surrounding and areas, yeah. Mostly from artists of deviant art and actually seeing physically with my own eyes.
And are there any future projects that you’re working on?
Future projects… doing smash next year again! Not really at the moment, I did have a big calendar project but it’s been put on hold for the moment because I’ve started school again so it’s hard to get in enough hours of time to do like 24 pictures and still be able to study for school and stuff. So yeah, at the moment no projects.
First of all Jeremy, what can you tell us about your work?
My work in general, um… it’s pretty much, we do everything. From anime to storyboards, from you know for ad agencies, more on the realistic, less stylized side. We do a lot of 3D animation. So basically what we’re at Red Ape is that we’re a media boutique. We cater to anyone. Whatever you need, we’ll be able to like manage for you. So if you guys want pictures for a storybook, we can draw it. If you want a 3D bear, we can work it off for you. If you want to do a commercial from us, so long as we get paid for it we’ll be happy to do it.
How long have you been doing this?
I’ve been doing this for all my life. I started sketching ever since I was old enough to hold a pen. I started drawing anime when I was 13, but you know when you’re in high school you don’t really take this seriously enough for like being “alright I’ll be doing this for the rest of my life”. I took it seriously when I was 18 finishing high school being “alright now what am I gonna do for the rest of my life?”. And I figured illustration is awesome. I have fun. I love doing the work that I do, might as well turn it into a career and here I am working at Red Ape.
How did you get into Red Apes?
Basically like any other job, you basically show your resume. My boss, I guess he has a keen eye for like talent. So you just basically got to be good at drawing, got a passion for it. Well I applied and here I am!
Who are your influences?
Well one of my influences is would have to be Musahashi Kishimoto, the author for Naruto. A lot of my work derives from his style. It’s so awesome. I grew up reading the manga and watching the anime. Before that would have to be Akira Toriyama, like you know from Dragon Ball Z. Again I used to watch it with my dad so those two artists, they really come to mind whenever I think about anime and manga.
Do you have any tips for aspiring artists?
I’m gonna have to like be really blunt but basically if you’re passionate about what you do, don’t make excuses by procrastinating. If you’re fully committed into like creating the best works of art, then do it, fully commit to it and don’t make any excuses not to do it. Coz talent can only get you so far, it takes a lot of commitment and dedication.
Can you tell us about any future projects?
As for commercial stuff I’m not allowed to say that, we do have a confidentiality agreement but there is a lot of work to be done in regards to the ad agency. In regards to personal work, in about a month’s time we’ll be releasing an animation based on one of my comics that I’m selling for SMASH! It’s called Battery Operated. If you go on to the site redape.com.au you can check it out in a month’s time.
And is there anything else you’d like to say?
You guys rock!
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Thanks Jeremy, we try our best to rock!
For more info on Red Ape and Jeremy’s comic Battery Operated, visit www.redape.com.au
A huge thank you shout out to Kurimja, Elizabeth, Dean and Jeremy for taking the time to speak with me!
Like the anime clubs from Genshiken, real-life anime clubs can be considered as great organizations where friends can indulge themselves in everything anime, manga, gaming and Japanese pop-culture in general. They’re a great social meeting with fellow anime fans especially when the next anime convention is months away. It’s a great relief from all the uni work where you can just come in after a long lesson and watch anime with friends. At SMASH! 2011, five anime clubs exhibited themselves to promote their organisations and creative works. I was able to talk with Sean, the president of JAUWS, the University of Western Sydney’s anime club, and Ken from the Macquarie University anime club, AnimeMQ.
First up JAUWS president, Sean.
Sean with club members Jana and Sam
Sean what can you tell us about your anime club?
We’re pretty much the oldest student club at UWS and one of the oldest anime clubs around. We’re actually 15 this year. We’ve been around for 15 years yeah. As far as the club itself, we’re mostly just a small group of friends who get together to watch anime, play games, just generally hang out and have fun.
Would you be able to give us more detail about the activities you do in the club?
We hold screenings, usually twice a week. We do games days at least once a semester, depending on availabilities of people with consoles all that sort of stuff. We have big outings to go see especially nerdy movies
What kind of movies?
Like Thor, we went and saw Thor that was good. Pirates of the Caribbean, Iron Man. We were gonna do a Harry Potter one but then everyone sort of went off on their own and saw it already.
You mention video games, we specialise in video games so what kind of games do you guys play?
Everything and anything pretty much. Except for sport sims, that’s basically the only stuff we don’t play.
How about the anime screenings you have. Is there a particular genre that you guys favour?
Not as such, but I’m a big mecha fan myself so sometimes it does lean towards more of the mecha stuff when I’m left in control to just pick the series
How do you become a member of JAWS?
Just either send us an email or go to our website and just fill in a membership form.
Do you have to be part of the University of Western Sydney?
No it’s open for everyone. Anyone’s welcome to join.
And what are the benefits for joining the club?
There used to be a membership fee, but we’ve abolished the membership fee, so basically the membership is you just basically go on our mailing list so that you’ll always like be up to date with what’s goping on and all that sort of stuff. Screenings, we’re open to just about anyone anyway, your free to come in whether you’re a member or not. Actual members get to sort of go to the conventions and work the tables and just basically get into the convention for free.
And what can you tell us about your products here?
We sell mostly sort of anime and internet related badges and stickers. We also – sometimes we get good artists in the club so some of the bigger conventions we’ll get an extra table and we’ll have them basically doing commissions on the table.
Do you get specific group of people doing the badges or anyone can do it?
Anyone can do it really. I usually get stuck doing it in the last minute. Today I’ve had most of the staff here have been rotating doing the pressing of the badges and getting that ready. As far as designing them, everyone in the club just chips in with different designs and ideas that they come up with.
With the money raised from selling the product, what do you guys use them for?
The money goes to cover room hire for games days and such. Last year we couldn’t get a room with the uni because there was some issues and we just rented a hall. The club laptop, like the funds to get that comes out of like what we make here, and to just generally continuing to get to conventions. The money from the convention goes to get us to the next convention, just basically to get our presence out there.
And what do you think of SMASH! 2011?
It’s been really good. I probably shouldn’t bad-mouth SMASH! 2010 but things went wrong. This year things have gone really right. It has just been absolutely fantastic. The venue is brilliant. I am just absolutely loving it!
And is there anything else you’d like to say?
Not really *laughs* I’ve had like an hour’s sleep so my mind’s not working too well at the moment.
Well we’re kind of situated at Macquarie University so we’re a pretty small club compared to some other ones like Sydney Uni. Because we’re not really in the city, we do other things mainly at the campus so like marathons, plan parties and all sorts of things.
Do you know when this anime club was formed?
Not too sure, but we should have at least about 10 years behind us.
Do you cover a particular genre in regards to anime or do you like cater for all?
We’re very free like, happy to show any kind of anime.
Can you tell us in more detail about the things you do in the club?
Screenings we normally just watch anime during like lunchbreaks; marathons we book a room and we watch from like 9am to 6pm; and we have LAN parties. LAN parties are dealt with other groups so we have yeah, games, all sorts of games as well. And normally we have to try organise other parties like small things; picnics, karaoke nights, bowling. And then we also have – at the moment we have – we might be organising a cruise with another society at our university, the Japanese Society. So we have very close ties with our Japanese Society in our uni so we’re organizing a big cruise and then of course at the end of the year we’ll be having a big Christmas party with all the other universities.
How do you become a member of Anime MQ?
Basically they just come during our O-Week, or the university week, and just sign up there. The membership fee is 5 dollars only but it covers all the [?] and the lunch library and screenings so just come during our university week and then you just sign up from there.
Can you tell us about the products you’re selling at the moment?
Well we’ve been working on badges. Our main attraction is the1 pokemon badges, and we did sell these little nyan cat phone straps which sold out almost instantly. We always like trying something different. So yeah at the moment, pokemon, and the badges – all kinds. We have from Shugo Chara and [The] World Ends With You which is a DS game.
And how are you enjoying SMASH 2011?
I think it’s great. I’ve been to most SMASH!es and I thinkit’s probably one of my favourites because the place is good, it’s good location and there seems to be a lot of open space for everyone. It’s quite good yeah.
And is there anything else you’d like to say?
I dunno *laughs* I hope everyone can come and support the clubs and the vendors and yeah, thank you.
In a crazy turn of events, given that only a few weeks ago I revisited the classic Jonah Lomu Rugby and said how it was overdue a reboot in our What we are playing this week segment, Home Entertainment Suppliers Ply Ltd have revealed that they are bringing Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge to Xbox 360, PS3, PS Vita and PC. It’s in development at New Zealand-based studio Sidhe and has secured the licenses of the major European rugby union leagues Aviva Premiership Rugby, TOP 14 Orange, and RaboDirect PRO12, which should make the playing experience all the sweeter.
The game will be released in Europe as Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge, All Blacks Rugby Challenge in New Zealand, and Wallabies Rugby Challenge in Australia, with a rough Q3 2011 penciled in for the game at the moment.
The features and content of Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge include:
• Play in Single Match Mode, Competition Mode, and multi year Career Mode as well as extensive help and Tutorial Mode options available for players new to the sport
• 93 teams and 31 stadia featured including official team and competition licenses for the All Blacks, the Qantas Wallabies, the USA Eagles, Tri Nations, Bledisloe Cup, Super Rugby teams, Aviva Premiership Rugby, TOP 14 Orange, RaboDirect PRO12, ITM Cup, and Ranfurly Shield
• Enjoy the game with groups of friends locally, or compete in online multiplayer with support up to 4v4 via PlayStation®Network, Xbox LIVE®, or Steam
• Create or customise players, teams, and competitions using the extensive customisation tools to shape the game to your own preferences and keep the game fresh season after season
• Dynamic presentation delivers a true on-field rugby experience with enhanced replay angles, lifelike cut-scenes, rich sound, and real-time commentary from seasoned rugby commentators Grant Nisbett and Justin Marshall
