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issue 3

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The Dark Knight Rises

Editor-in-chiefTJ Hiphop

Hello, and welcome to abelated Stream Issue 3!

AAssistant Editor TJ here again to give the opening word on this issue, which you may have noticed, is looking a little sparse. is was due to numerous setbacks to our team and has left us in not ideal shape going into Issue 4. Even so, what we do have to bring you is the same high-quality, articles sourced from the GAGAAW community. In the wake of the next issue, I won’t let adversity stand in our way, we’re all determined to let this continue.

I hope all our readers enjoyed a nice festive break and have a cracking 2013. Get ready for these next 12 months with our guide to the latest Nintendo console, a look back on the last, and plenty of film and music to discover. Get ready for one heck of a year.

**Lastly, a disclaimer of sorts, due to the delays in this issue’s release, some articles may be a touch out of date, but I assure you every word wascorrect at the time of writing.*

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Editor-in-chiefTJ Hiphop

By far the most handsome member of the Stream Team, TJ isresponsible for providing sexy imagery for your eyes tocomplement the words. Being one of the most prominent graphic artists in the GAAW section, Stream happens to be just one of his endeavours, having a RedBubble and DeviantART page *cough* buymymerch *cough*. TJ’s intersted in a bit of all media, buteespecially film and games, but Sport also (mainly the watching). He’s been a part of this project from the beginning and hopes to make some contributions in the form of articles in the future.

Want to get Involved?en scan this QR code for more info on Stream and joining the team!

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StreamEXCLUSIVE

GAMING

MUSIC

FILM

FICTION TV

GRAPHICNOVELS

Asylum of the DaleksDinosaurs on a SpaceshipRadiohead - Kid AHit Girl - Vol. 1The Dark Knight Rises

The life of a TRC...

Wii-MemberingWii Want U

Interrogation with...Noodle Link

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Doctor Who is a programme about change. It's always been critically acclaimed in some form or another, and it's also been a key part of British heritage and culture for many years. But, like the main pro-tagonist himself; the characterised glue that has constantly kept the show stuck together; the time traveler whose personality and appear-ance has taken eleven different official forms and even more unoffi-cial ones over the past near-50 years, the show constantly changes. It changes with new lead writers, it changes with the times and it most definitely changes with e Doctor himself, not to mention his count-less companions. In the midst of all this change a number of prob-lems have popped up over the years: plot-holes, continuity errors and such, which can let the self-proclaimed 'hardcore' viewer down if taken to heart. Fans of classic Doctor Who and even the Russell T. Davies era will find a fair few problems with the recently broadcasted series 7 (or 32, if you will) opener, titled Asylum of the Daleks - Errors which are most evident in the form of issues to do with the Doctor's greatest adversary themselves.

Now let's get one thing perfectly clear: I absolutely adore Doctor Who and I adore it now more than I ever did before current lead writer Steven Moffat took over, but I don't take it too seriously. A lead writer can't write a story of his own based around an adversary that has been present in a show since its second serial without creating continuity issues, and that's a fact, but so-called die-hards feel the need to point out unobvious errors and see them as episode ruiners. Fans Fans who expected SteeMo to watch every Dalek story ever broadcast before writing his Dalek debut are quite foolish, to say the least, be-cause when you look past the slightly botched continuity there is an absolutely fantastic story in Asylum of the Daleks, paired with fantas-tic production values (especially for a BBC budget) and a personal adoration of mine which comes in the form of some truly phenom-enal direction from Nick Hurran, who also worked on two stellar hitfrom last year, e Girl who Waited and e God Complex. Speaking of last year, Doctor Who's sixth revived series saw a lot more head-scratching than most with its complex plot lines and timey-wimey madness, but thankfully with series 7 Moffat has wiped the slate clean and gone back to the basics with a very sophisticated, easy to understand script that worked wonders on our TV screens.

e Doctor is back and he's made his return with a particularly explodey-wodey bang.

OOn the build-up to its broadcast, Asylum was pushed as a massive showdown between the Doctor and his greatest foes, featuring quote-on-quote "every Dalek there ever was". While insightful fans will spot the Special Weapons Dalek and the like in the background, this episode really isn't about that at all. What the episode is focused on is hard to describe without giving away a particularly gargantuan spoiler, but let's just say we're introduced to a story element that will cocover the whole of series 7, not just the current companions' last hurrah. It's also relevant to the sub-heading I typed up preceding this review (if you got that reference, when can we arrange the mar-riage?). at out of the way, let's get on with the story; Asylum of the Daleks opens up with a fast-paced pre-intro sequence, which sees the Doctor, Amy Pond and Rory Williams kidnapped by their plunger-armed adversaries through means of the mysterious Dalek 'Puppets' that the Space Nazis have sent to do their dirty work. One initially thinks that these newly introduced kidnappers have come out of no-where, but at the start of the second act they're explained in a par-ticularly fan-pleasing fashion, with a fantastic reference to one of SteeMo's series 1 storie

e Parliament of the Daleks is one of many impressive sightsto behold found within this episode. Look at all'a them Daleks!

Reviews

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Following their kidnapping, the Doctor and the Ponds are summoned to the 'Parliament of the Daleks', another supposedly new element of Dalek lore that was actually in some way referenced in classic stories but never explored. Man, it seems for every continuity error in this episode there's a bucket of fan-service. e Parliament pleases the eyes of non-fans, too, thanks to Hurran's stellar cinematography. is scene has the story of the episode set up rather swiftly, with us seeing a a new side to the Daleks. You see, they're in quite the pickle - eir Asylum, a planet that houses the most insane, uncontrollable of their kind right to the core, has been breached by an unknown vessel. Even the deadliest warriors in the universe find fear in the prospect of a "tsunami of insane Daleks" and seize the opportunity to send the Doctor and his companions to the planet to remove it's forcefield from the inside, so the Dalek ships can initiate a mass-extermination iinvolving both the cleansing of their planet and the demise of their adversary... And a couple of humans in the form of Amy and Rory as a little extra.

Speaking of Amy and Rory, the Doctor's long-running companions played by Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill, they're surprisingly my only real stand-out flaw with this episode. eir acting and dialogue are as brilliant as ever (there's one truly emotional scene later on that sees Karen and Arthur play out their characters better than ever before) but the situation they're placed in seems a little forced. You see, the Ponds' marriage isn't exactly going smoothly. Why? Well, yoyou'll have to watch the episode and find out. But even following the explanation of their rough time I still felt that this inclusion was merely to make the episode that bit more interesting and actually give Karen and Arthur something to do. e highlight of this episode isn't these characters, who are set to leave in the fifth episode of this series, nor is it the focus. And, as aforementioned, e Daleks aren't exactly the focus either (although they're still fantastic inclusions wwho help keep the story going, not to mention the fact that they're thankfully back to being deadly). No, it's Matt Smith as e Doctor and the episode's big twist that are undeniably the best thing about Asylum's plot, and they really steal the show.

... Another massive highlight is the production. Nick Hurran's cinema-tography is at times absolutely gorgeous, with one highlight being an astonishing scene that involves altered perception and another just before the closing moments of the episode. e music, which for once doesn't mainly consist of motifs of the long-running theme 'I am the Doctor', is also another brilliant set of epics conducted by the fantas-tic Murray Gold, who compliments the slow-paced mood of the episode with some brilliant new tracks, not to mention an epic new theme that plays at the 50-minute opener's thrilling conclusion. e writing is also extremely refreshing, as we're finally getting a Moffat story that doesn't feature a mass of convoluted timey-wimey mo-ments that could be too potentially confusing for the casual viewer. Instead, Asylum is a slow-paced, chilling thriller featuring some jaw-dropping, 'I want to swear at the screen' twists that are simply brliant, and that anyone could understand. Oh, and you will be shocked at the various bombshells dropped in this episode. It's completely unpredictable and stands tall as one of the Moff's finer works, for sure.

Review

Conclusion

Rating:

Looking past the slightly botched Dalek continuity and the slightly annoying fact that Amy and Rory have nothing to do in this episode but argue about a plot device that makes very little sense following their previous adventures, then Steven Moffat has truly created an absolute tour-DE-force in Asylum of the Daleks... With the help of Nick Hurran's stellar direction as well as Matt Smith and the gang's brilliant performances, of course. ey've been pushing this set of epepisodes as blockbusters, and Asylum absolutely fits the bill for that description. It's an absolute epic that does great things within its 50-minute time-frame, and there's not a whole lot else to add to all of the above. In conclusion, Asylum of the Daleks achieves a...

+NoodleLink

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before with Doctor Who, and I must admit that I set my expectations low on the run-up to this particular tale. So, does the writer manage to deliver a tale that perfectly balances the large quantity of concepts within its short time-frame, or does he completely bollix it up? As expected from the lack of negativity in this review thus far, the answer to that question is without a doubt the former. Chibnall greatly blends together practically all of the elements found in Dino-ssaurs on a Spaceship, presenting a very fun episode amongst what seems to be a collection of more serious numbers. Don't get me wrong, it is flawed in some aspects, but let's focus on the good for now. So, let's not hesitate to get into the meat of things, if you'll pardon the pun...

Story-wise, Dinosaurs is actually rather basic. Soon after saving the Egyptian race off-screen and becoming a semi-love interest for the flirtatious Queen Nefertiti, e Doctor receives a distress call from the Indian Space Agency. Don't bother asking why they specifically made it the Indian Space Agency as opposed to, say, UNIT or NASA, because I'm as clueless as anyone else is in that regard. What this reviewer isn't clueless about is the task e Doctor must overcome having been foformed by the ISA that "A spaceship the size of Canada" is hurtling towards the Earth's crust, set to crash in just over six hours. If e Doctor can't prevent this catastrophe from taking place, the Indians send up missiles to solve the problem with brute force. Knowing that he'll need more than just an Egyptian Queen to investigate, Eleven enlists the help of charming big game hunter John Riddell (fantastically portrayed by Rupert Graves) and his standardised com-panions Amy and Rory. Due to materialising around the latter two in the TARDIS in a rather rushed fashion, however, Rory's dad Brian also gets pulled into the mix.

Considering they're such a big part of the story (pleasingly, every member of the main cast in this episode has something to do) it's probably a good idea to analyse these characters in more detail, start-ing with the new face we won't have seen the last of just yet. Brian 'I'm not a Pond' Williams, played by Mark Williams (expect me to mix these two up at some point) is a brilliant new addition to the show's

Yes, as you may have guessed from the quite frankly farcical title, the second installment in Doctor Who's seventh revived series is a light-hearted one. A romp, one could refer to it as. Don't go speeding down assumption junction just yet, though, because it may surprise you to hear that Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, the fourth Doctor Who story penned by Chris Chibnall (His previous works being 42, e Hungry Earth and Cold Blood) is actually a very solid episode. One of the best of its kind, in fact. It might also surprise you to hear that the 45-minutes this episode presents also packs some pretty serious drama, fantastic direction from newcomer Saul Metzstein and a perfectly handled mix of CGI and animatronics for the titular dinosaurs. On top of this, brilliant casting choices for the vast range of characters, as well as an at times snigger-inducing script, can also be added to episode 2's list of merits. Oh, and there's a balls joke in there, too.

One thing you definitely have to keep in mind while watching Chris Chibnall's latest (at the time of writing, at least; He's also penned episode 4 of this series) is that it isn't trying to do anything ground-breaking in its 45-minute time-frame, despite the fact that a particu-larly controversial, fan-splitting decision from the Doctor takes place towards the end. More on that later, though. As aforementioned, Di-nosaurs certainly fits under the category of 'light-hearted romp', as it combines a fair few elements; a considerably larger set of companions as opposed to previous adventures, a stellar variety of locales (at least in the episode's pre-credits sequence; One that zooms by even swifter than that of Asylum of the Daleks) and most importantly, a multi-layered plotline that takes place almost alongside the kind of narra-tive one expects from the title of the episode. Yes, Chibnall has pulled the same trick showrunner Steven Moffat did with last year's divisivstory 'Let's Kill Hitler' by misguiding the viewer's expectations through means of an intentionally specified title. ankfully, though, Chibnall manages to combine the unexpected elements of this story with the dinosaur action that was to be expected judging from the title, even going so far as to give a superb, fan-pleasing explanation as to why the dinosaurs reside in such unfamiliar terrain.

Back to the 'romp' side of things, it would've been so easy for Chibnall to mess up this episode. Let's face it, it's happened a number of times

Reviews

Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs, why do they Love Brian's Balls?

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cast, and I pretty much fell for him as soon as he opened his yapper. I can't wait to see him once more in this series' fourth episode and I must admit that I'm slightly annoyed at the prospect of us not seeing any more of him after that - Both valid signs that he's a fantastic character. e slightly more one-dimensional personae found inRiddell and Neffy, while not quite as important to the story asthe rest of e Doctor's 'gang', still serve a purpose and areaacted pretty well. ere was even a clever riff on history with thelatter character - e Egyptian Queen really did disappear from the history books in 1336BC. Unfortunately, one of these characters isessentially a plot device which certainly doesn't demand thephrase 'brilliant writing', but at least there's a reasoning behindthe inclusion of this particular role.

e dinosaurs themselves are actually more of a backdrop for theeepisode's main plot, as the villain of the piece is in fact Solomon,a space pirate portrayed excellently by Rupert Graves (whoyou may know as Argus Filch from the Harry Potterfilms), aided by two rusty heaps of metal with DavidMitchell and Robert Webb's vocal chords. e less saidabout Solomon's henchmen, the better, because theepisode's main flaw is basically down to them. errobots clearly had abysmal joke chipsinstalled, because whenever they spokeI just cringed. Solomon, however, is a superbvillain who literally reeks of evil. is leads into acertain controversial action that e Doctorpartakes in near the episode's climax, and while Iwon't give anything away it is slightly divisive.PPersonally, I completely agree with it. Movingonwards before I spoil anything, I'm glad to also revealthat Amy and Rory are very well implemented intothis episode, unlike the one that preceded it. Wesee a new side to Rory thanks to the inclusion ofhis dad (which is more than welcome given hisbumbling nature in Asylum of the Daleks). 9monmonths since e Doctor last visited them, Amyquestions whether the Time Lord will leave them ng scene. "You'll be

in a particularly heart-wrenching scene. "You'll be there to the end of me" "Or vice-versa" "...Don't." Foreshadowing is lovely, isn't it?

e only real problem with Dinosaurs on a Spaceship is the ever-clashing themes it keeps switching between. ere's just as much kiddy humour as there are dark moral undercoatings, and you just get pulled out of the moment whenever those damned Mitchell and Webb robots activate their voice boxes. ankfully they don't do so that much and they only leave a dent on the episode's exterior. While the episode can indeed be funny - at balls joke in particular caught me by surprise - It's the darker confrontations between e Doctor and Solomon paired with the action sequences o of the final third that really steal the show and definitely make up up for a certain comedy duo's infuriating vocal appearance.

Review

Conclusion

Rating:

All things considered, Chris Chibnall's latest is just a fun epi-sode. It doesn't do anything particularly amazing and it does pack a few conventional flaws, but when it comes down to it watching TV programmes is about enjoyment, and the pure fun Dinosaurs on a Spaceship exhales managed to deliver spades of the stuff. Chris Chibnall's latest is just a fun episode. It doesn't do anything particularly amazing and it does pack a fewconventional flaws, but when it comes down to it watching TV programmes is about enjoyment, and the pure fun Dinosaurs on a Spaceship exhales managed to deliver spades of the stuff.

+NoodleLink

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Come the 30th of November, a chapter in Nintendo’s long history will close. e Wii will no longer be Ninty’s big home console, the Wii U will be. And, while the Wii U will use the fabled Wii remote, the Wii’s services won’t be required. So, from here and the launch of the U, I will be looking back on the history of the console that introduced gaming to casuals.

e Wii has harboured some of the best games this generation, Super Mario Galaxy (both the original and 2), Skyward Sword and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, to name a few. It has also has played host to a few unsung gems in No More Heroes, Little King’s Story and Xenoblade Chronicles. Obviously, it’s been a make-shift refugee camp to count-less terrible ‘casual’ and party games, such as *gulp* Just Dance (both 1, 2 & 3), Carnival Games, Hasbro Games Night and, whisper it, Nin-jabread Man. All these games have made the Wii the console the con-sole that’s been loved (and loathed) by millions, casual and hardcore alike.

To think, when the Wii was announced, the big N was 3rd in the con-sole wars and many thought Nintendo would ‘do a Sega’ and leave the console business.

e Wii was a big console for them in many ways, not least their ‘Final Fantasy’ card, the Wii made to be ambitious and the make or break console that would be Ninty’s saviour or swansong. ank god it did work out for them.

e Wii was made in 4 colours (white, black, a blue edition bundled with Mario & Sonic at e London Games and a special edition red one to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the debut of Mario in Super Mario Bros.) and 2 different models (the second being a fairly useless ‘Family Edition’ that is meant to be put on its side and it also couldn’t play Gamecube games).

SSo, when the Wii U takes its place on shelves come the 30th of No-vember, the Wii will no longer be needed (e U has backward com-patibility with all Wii games). So, while the Wii U will act as a big brother to the Wii, the big brother everyone likes and constantly gets asked to flex his (graphical) muscle and can do loads of different things (Gamepad), the Wii will be the little brother that everyone secretly has a place in their heart for and will nip off the odd time to say hello (play it).

+DGamer

09the gaaw magazine

ere is nice piano at the start, then some mildly recognisable beats. It gets a tad repetitive, until some very distorted vocals come along. Now, by Conorr's review, I'm sure you're at least by name aware of 'Climbing Up e Walls', which is also a good song by the way. It had slightly distorted vocals, but this is beyond recognition, not only of Yorke's high pitch, but of what he's actually saying. Fans listening to the album by now will probably already have decided they hate it.

''e National Anthem', not 'God Save e Queen', sorry Patriots. is song is pretty much led by a repetitive bass-line, which was even played by the band's bassist, Colin Greenwood, but by Yorke again.

I love virtually every release by Radiohead, including EPs and B-Sides. I'm, if you will, a textbook fanboy. Yes, I prefer OK Computer a little less than this, but that's like saying e Godfather Part 2 is better than Part 1. ey're both considered as masterpieces. But the one I'll be focusing on is, indeed, Kid A. e next album, Amnesiac, was re-corded in the same sessions, and is almost considered as good be-cause of it.

A little back-story. After the extremely succesful release of OK Com-puter, the band were considered as the world's current greatest rock band, a title they weren't too thrilled by. ey toured a great deal in the three years between the two albums and were under a lot of pres-sure to make a follow up to OK Computer. Even om Yorke, the band's lead singer, once described himself as being in a place he didn't want to be. But when Kid A came out, it shocked their fan-base and a lot of other people too. Now, almost 12 years after it's release, it has won over most of the previously unsure fans. Its electronic, techno sounds now has been heralded by Rolling Stone as the best album of this new century, as well as the 67th overall. But what is all the fuss about? I'll go track by track now.

Everything In Its Right Place, the opening track, already suggested, just by this one song, that this whole album (and the next one), would be almost polar in sounds compared to the last one. e elec-tronic beats drive this song on for the most part, as well as a little subtle piano. e lyrics are the only real problem with this song, the verses comprising of Yorke chanting the title of this song, the chorus some seemingly meaningless phrases, although they do actually ssound like different words the way he sings it. Every time he says the title, the less sure you are left of how 'right' everything is. A good opener, and definitely has alarmed the rock expecting fan enough already.

en we travel somewhat unsurplussed to the title track, Kid A. is is probably considered as one of the weaker songs on the album, albeit most fans hardly calling it a 'song'. I think it is a step forward for the album, moving more to techno genre more than anything, sounding a tad like Aphex Twin at parts.

Reviews

I won’t bother trying to caption this album cover...

Needless to say, Radiohead tend to strike out during Single’s night.

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is song tends to be another mixed bag, that while the bass is pres-ent through-out the song, it goes to background like bass usually does later on, to be replaced by some trumpets and other brass instru-ments. e vocals here are a bit more enjoyable, although what he's saying makes little sense and there's only a little of it, although I think it's nice when it comes on. It's a track pick for me, of which there are three.

I'll say right now that 'How To Disappear Completely' is not only a track pick, but it's also one of my favorite songs by Radiohead as a whole. is the first song with guitar (excluding the bass of the last song), although it's acoustic, so the album still would dissatisfy the Ok Computer nuts. e lyric 'I'm not here. is isn't happening', was actually part of the advice Michael Stipe of REM told Yorke on tour to deal with the fame, in which Yorke would pretend the fans and stuff arare not for him. Although it might appear to be an acoustic song, after a few verses something odd crops up during the song, where a string section come up. Might not sound too odd, although the way its performed makes it hard to explain, although it sounds like some-thing not of this world, like instruments of aliens. Listen to it, you'll know what I mean.

e track 'Treefingers' is a bit hard to rate. We're now in a time where most albums are now comprised of half on artists most recent singles and some filler, or at least the mainstream artists at least. Interludes are now considered pointless and old hat. Yet, the infamous 'Fitter Happier' from Ok Computer could be more liked and accepted now people consider it that. is is more fitting, as it's an extremely odd track to review. It's an ambient piece of work with no percussion, vovocals of any sort and, amazingly, it was all played on guitar and copy and pasted to a sampler, and worked on from there. It's a palette cleanser really, to prepare you for the next lot of songs.

If you had this on vinyl, this would be the last song on Side 1. You could actually have enough time between changing sides to form enough cohesive thoughts on why this album is bad, especially on first listen. But bear with it. ere's great stuff to come.

"Fi"Finally!" exclaims an Ok Computer loving fan. "Electric Guitar!" Yes, 'Optimistic' is a song that former fans might primarily latch onto on first listen, and say is their favorite song because of it sounding not too different from Radiohead's previous release. e title does hence to it being a nice, upbeat kind of song, and it's not too off the mark. e chorus's 'You can try the best you can' definitely fits that descrip-tion. It's a great song, although there is some elements to it that do mamake it feel like a Kid A song, including some odd drumming.

It really shouldn't be, but 'In Limbo' ranks among Radiohead's catchi-est songs, but for all the wrong reasons. Some swirling guitar codes which actually do sound like they're in a looped vortex of sound, play with some hard-to-hear words from Yorke, although he does pick up a little later on. It's quite a short song considering the lengths of the tracks on this album, even shorter than 'Treefingers' , but it's a nice song anyway, although it has to be one of the weaker ones, just as it's nnot as creative or epic (in the right sense of the word) as the other songs.

Review

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Conclusion

Rating:

For a band to create two completely different sound-ing masterpieces, that's enough achievement for their whole career. e sounds range from ambiance, electronica, brass, classical, techno, and there's a little bit of beat and rock thrown in. is is almost a perfect album in my opinion, and definitelysomething I'd listen to not specifically for pleasure, but for the experience.

+LaytonMario3

Idioteque has some of Yorke's best vocals of his career, in my opinion. It's not something I feel most people rating this song would praise it for, but there's something emotional and inspiring about his voice here. Of course, the most notable thing about this song is the loud and constant beats. Well, 'constant' is an understatement. e beat is far too fast to dance to, although you could have a seizure to it. e beats really drive the song on, as it's another one that doesn't feature anany guitar. e reason Yorke's vocal is so loved by me is that you can tell he has a good voice when you can hear him clearly over two loud beats a word. is another track pick, although you might not like it on first listen.

As I said before, the sessions for this album lasted about 2 years, and they got two albums out of it, this and 'Amnesiac'. Both albums have a different version of the next track, Morning Bell, although this one is considered to be the definitive version. While the other one is much more ambient in sound, this is almost like a rock song in that it has choruses, it's built like one in structure, and it has drums, which are the highlight here. e lyrics may seem odd and maybe a bit scscenic in places, but it's not as bad as it seems. If you listen to it it says 'Chop the kids in half'. At first I thought this was extremely out of place, but on researching it a little I found this song is about a divorce, and that one parent takes some of the children, and vice versa. It's a good song, but I must say that although I prefer this one, both versions are worthwhile.

e first time I heard this album, despite me initially disliking half of it, I was eager to see what the last track would be. For me, the last track on an album really should summarise it, display in one song why this album was so good (or bad). is song, 'Motion Picture Soundtrack' started off with orchestral elements, which reminded me of a B-Side to the Paranoid Android single, 'Melatonin', although that had a slight beat. is is a nice little song, with some notably good vovocals and a great attempt at recreating the style of movie music from the '50s. What shocked me most about this song was that an early version of this song was recorded on the same day as 'Creep', and we all know that song. Just that two songs so un-like and from two com-pletely different creative periods could have been sparked at the same

time boggles my mind. Overall, it's a nice enough song, although one of the least experimental by the band.

NNow, I had no idea this song had a hidden track. From first look, it seems to last 7 minutes, the same length as the aforementioned Ok Computer lead single. But the problem I first saw was that it ended after 3 minutes. Now, Nigel Godrich, the producer, wasn't so clumsy as to waste 4 minutes space on this album, right? Well, about 2 min-utes after it ends, suddenly you hear something. is hidden track, rumoured to be titled 'Genchildren' lasts about 30 seconds, and it's rreally nothing special, other than you wouldn't have known it. It sounds a lot like Treefingers , almost like an out-take of it or some-thing, as an out-take of a near classical song sounds a really odd. It's not the best surprise inclusion on an album I've come across (Nirvana have done it a lot better) but it's a nice addition.

Review

e gritty reboot of Katamari Damacy didn’t please long-time fans

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Hit Girl #1 is the beginning of the new Hit Girl mini-series which sets out to bridge the gap between Kick-Ass 1 and Kick-Ass 2. e storyfollows 12 year old Mindy McCready (Hit-Girl) as she trains Kick-Ass and learns how to fit into a normal society.

e cover was fantastic for this first issue, showing some fantastic John Romita Jr art displaying a lovely drawing of Hit-Girl, covered in blood and riding a motorcycle. is is definitely one of those ‘simple but ffffective’ covers; displaying the main image with smoke from behind. e lighting on the cover has been done beautifully; mainly displaying it in a very dark perspective which in a way sets the tone for the story to come. At the bottom of the cover it exclaims ‘THE LITTLE BITCH IS BACK!’ which shows how hotly anticipated this series has become and the ride that we are in for in this book.

e art as you open the book is just beautiful; the Kick-Ass series has always displayed fantastic artwork. Even though I dislike the majority of his work Romita has always consistently displayed fantastic artwork in the Kick-Ass line and this is no exception. Keeping the cartoony style that the series is known for it just shows how much the artwork haspprogressed since the original Kick-Ass entry. e colourists on this book have done a marvellous job with rich colours and fantastic lighting effects. e story is also of exceptional quality; Millar has always done a brilliant job and this book just shows how well he has progressed. e story focuses on Mindy (otherwise known as Hit-Girl) trying to fit into school; somewhere she has never been before, while training Kick-Ass so that they can make another move on the mafia. is book just shows hohow strong the Hit-girl and Kick-Ass characters have become Dave and Mindy are now good friends despite the age difference and fight together as a team while Mindy tries to go unnoticed from her suspectingstep-father, Marcus who knows Mindy’s secret and would do anything from stopping her mother from finding out. e book also shows the process of how Red-Mist (Otherwise known as the motherf**ker) recruits his ‘super villain’ army to take down Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl. (As shown in Kick-Ass 2).

I I would definitely recommend this book to any fan of the Kick-Ass series; displaying the best art so far and a brilliant set up. I will certainly be picking up the rest of this series; issue 2 was just as good as the first.

... ...

Review

Reviews

Conclusion

Rating:

is book has been a fantastic read and I would definitely recommend it to anyone; fans of the series or not.Everyone will be in for an incrediblyentertaining read.

+Luke(Shigeru Miyamoto)

Wind Waker changed Noodle Link’s life, the least Link could do was change out of his pyjamas. Teenagers...

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I'd say the game that made me a gamer, and indeed a Nintendo fan, was e Legend of Zelda: e Wind Waker on GameCube. at game is simply gorgeous. Ironically, I've never actually finished it; I always got stuck on that infuriating fetch quest towards the end. Morerecently, the aforementioned e World Ends with You and Persona 4 have given me something of a fresh outlook on life and various con-cepts. Yeah, that sounds kinda sad, doesn't it?

Tell us your best joke.

Pam wnaeth y dyn Saesneg groesi'r ffordd?

Oherwydd na allai ddeall y rhybudd Cymro iddo aros oddi ar y ffordd!! Mae'r dyn Saesneg marw mewn damwain car erchyll.

...In short, I don't know any decent jokes, unless I were to steal a punchline from Spaced or e Mighty Boosh or something.

Hey Noodle. How's life?

Pretty hectic, but generally enjoyable. GCSEs have practically taken over but I've been fitting in my own personal projects and the odd bit of Borderlands 2 and Kid Icarus: Uprising, too.

So, here's an obvious question: what's your favourite videogame ever?

I I consider myself quite an open person so that essentially means I'm pretty non-specific. To give away my all-time favourite game would spoil a certain article I'm slowly but surely constructing for my blog, so I'll inform you of the strongest contenders instead. Starting with the most obscure (not to mention the most recent potential favou-rite), which is Persona 4 on PS2. at game is like a second life, man. Staying on the topic of obscurity, the No More Heroes games and e WWorld Ends with You are up there, also. As for more well-known con-tenders, a good chunk of both the Legend of Zelda and Metal Gear Solid series' are obvious choices.

And not so obviously: what videogame changed your life?

Again, I can't name a single game in response to this. I'll give you my numerous answers in chronological order, shall I? My first console was an original Playstation (if you exclude the 'Boat' Game & Watch, anyway) and for me, two games on that stand out from all the rest. e first was a quirky little action-platformer by the name of Ape Escape, which everyone should track down because it's definitely one of the best, most overlooked games of its kind. Secondly is e LeLegend of Dragoon, an insanely rare RPG that can only be described as Final Fantasy VII albeit infinitely better in just about every single way. I haven't played either of these games for several years, yet I still retain fond memories of them (not to mention their amazing sound-tracks). I'm planning on reviewing both at some point in the future...

Interrogations

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Here's something many people often ask you, so let's clear this one up! What's the story behind your username?

IIt really is the least interesting thing ever. I like Gorillaz. One of the members of said band is Noodle. I also like e Legend of Zelda, a series almost constantly focused on a protagonist by the name of Link. Glue the two names together and hey-presto!! ...See, told you it wasn't interesting. Honestly, I'm surprised nobody has taken in my username as innuendo all these years, at least nobody's informed me of doing so directly.

If you had the chance, what would you If you had the chance, what would you change about the forums?

I'd make the forum members who neglected Steam in turn leading to your resignation of editorial duties stripped away of lazyness and any urge to procrastinate so we can get this project running again. en again, I'm one to talk, seeing how long I've delayed the writing of this particular article.

What's your best skill?What's your best skill?

Making cups of tea. e tea cupboard in our flat is like that of Ramona Flowers, man, our family is that obsessed.

Dream job?

I'I've always wanted to be an artist, but I highly doubt I'll succeed in that kind of vocation. People say I'm good at writing, so I guess some kind of journalism, specifically focused on either films or games. e short answer to this question is that I'm really not sure at this moment in time, in all honesty. I'll just see how my education goes for the time being!

You're stuck on a desert island with a forum member, a film, an album and a game. Given you can only pick one of each, who and what would you choose?

OOoooh, I love these things. I'll go with you, Shaun of the Dead, e Hour of Bewilderbeast by Badly Drawn Boy and e World Ends with You respectively. Longevity plays a part in all but the first of these choices, with yourself being picked simply because our interests are pretty much the same, and I wouldn't get bored of engaging in con-versations with you for a long while.

Worst mod? Best mod?

e former half of this response is an easy one: Without a doubt, Numberish Fellow. He's easily been the most stand-out mod for me since he was recruited, and he's involved with the forums on a more personal level, too, what with his various community contributions. Now for the latter half... at's a little too difficult to answer. Call me old-fashioned, but they're all pretty great.

Any hobbies, Noodle?

I think I think at this point it's become obvious that I spend a lot of my free time writing. I've written over 120 pieces of writing for my blog (some of which have been scrapped at the last minute) over the past two and a half years or so, and my stream of works shows no signs of slowing up. at's an obvious answer, though, so I'll finish up by saying that I also enjoy constructing origami models, listening to music and, naturally, playing games. Mainly writing, though.

Interrogation“

“+Conorr&NoodleLink

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After watching Bane's memorable introduction it was easy to make out what he was saying. Obviously there is the odd pitched voice that makes your ears prick up at the sound of Bane, but this is far too minute to spoil the golden Batman experience.

e film is long, but when your enjoying a movie packed with action and explosions such as TDKR, time flies past. It actually fills you with abasement when you realise that the film has finished, the trilogy has ended and you may never watch a Batman film as good as Christopher Nolan's. Even with that slight despair in mind, after the movie most of your time will be spent discussing the ending of the film and the little twists throughout.

CChristian Bale, having played Batman twice before seems to comfort-ably fit back into the character Bruce Wayne/Batman. Enclosed within TDKR is Bales' greatest performance, containing some powerful scenes that show that he can actually act and isn't the typical reticent action star. Once again he has delivered a unique, dark and enthralling Batman experience for everyone to enjoy.

Begins, falls and now Rises, Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy has made it past the one billion dollar mark only less than two months into its release. is final piece in Nolan's Batman saga is here, e Dark Knight Rises. Continuing from e Dark Knight, e Dark Knight Rises shows an old Bruce Wayne who has given up the role as the caped crusader since Harvey Dent's death eight years ago. e film shows how years of crime fighting have lead to an injured, crcrippled and mentally bruised Bruce who believes that his love Rachel paid the price for his actions.

Two new characters from the Batman Universe enter the Trilogy. Selina Kyle, also known as Catwoman (played by Anne Hatheway). and the masked terrorist Bane, portrayed by Tom Hardy, who also appeared in Inception, another piece of director Christopher Nolan's work. Bane plans on trapping the people of Gotham within their own borders while he causes chaos and havoc within.

e Dark Knight Rises plot is intense. e excitement felt only in-creases as the film progresses and there aren't any disappointing con-clusions or pitfalls either. Although the films plot isn't as dark and gothic as e Dark Knight, it still succeeds in creating an atmospheric Batman feel to it. Bane, being a completely different villain in com-parison to Heath Ledger's Joker, removes this gothic touch to Gotham City but still incorporates the same destructive touch that e Dark Knight had.

Anne Hathaway's performance was spot on and has proved all of those who doubted her part as Catwoman very wrong. She portrays Selina Kyle extremely well - her smooth feminine voice and slick leather suit add to the perfection and make everything so much more believable and... well, sexy. Catwoman has two sides: her attractive feminine side and her more feisty, vicious, heart-breaker side. Hatha-way captures both of these extremely well in the film and adds her oown personal touches to create a more authentic Catwoman.

After viewing the trailer, a few worried Batfans began to judge Tom Hardy's Bane based on his voice, saying things like it was "awkward" and "sounded silly".

Reviews

Batman was disappointed with the range of the WiiU Gamepad

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Along with Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy and the rest of the cast, they have all created something more than just another Batman film.Batfans around the world will worship the film and praise Nolan for his huge part in producing e Dark KnightTrilogy. If you're looking for a film that is like e Dark Knight, but with elements of Begins included then "e Dark Knight Rises" is the film for you. A grand end to an outstanding Trilogy.

Review

Conclusion

Rating:

+ Great Plot+ Beautiful Plot Twists+ Best soundtrack out of all 3 films- e last of Nolan’s batman films

+LaytonMario3

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Welcome to the start of our series of run-up articles to the launch of theWii U, and also the ten billionth pun based around the title Wii U. But hey, every other journalist is making one so I don’t see why I can’t. I will besumming up all the latest news in summing up all the latest news in these articles as well as reporting my own experiences of playing the console at the Play Expo on the 13th October. But first things first, and that’s this ar-ticle which is based all about the news given out on the latest Nintendo Direct which took place on Thursday 13th which took place on Thursday 13th September. Thank goodness that date didn’t happen to be a Friday; otherwise the news may have not turned out to be

quite as thrilling as it is...

Release Date

is is the big news that’s got everybody excited. Just before December, the Wii U will be launched in Europe. However, it isn’t just the Wii U, it’s the Wii U’s. You see, Nintendo have made two separate bundles, each aimed at a different market. You have your basic pack which contains a White Wii U, 8GB of memory, one White GamePad and a stylus and the obvious power cables (for the Wii U and the GamePad) as well as a HDMI cable. You’ve still got quite a lot in there.e Premium pack houses even more gadgets in its box of tricks though as you get a Black Wii U, 32GB of memory, a black GamePad and as well as all the other cables and stylus’ in the basic pack, you get a Sensor Bar (for Wii remotes), a charging cradle for the GamePad, stands for both the console and the controller and finally, and most importantly, a free copy of NNintendo Land. Of course the Premium pack is more expensive but it’s cheaper than buying all of the extra stuff separately. You also get a free membership for the Nintendo Network Premium with the conveniently named Premium pack which basically gives you 10% of your money spent back on e-Shop purchases.

s

Disclaimier: e Premium Wii U won’t actually blend into the background like a ninja.

e ZombiU pack comes with this rather fetching Wii UPro Controller. What do you mean it looks like the 360’s?

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Release Date

is is the big news that’s got everybody excited. Just before December, the Wii U will be launched in Europe. However, it isn’t just the Wii U, it’s the Wii U’s. You see, Nintendo have made two separate bundles, each aimed at a different market. You have your basic pack which contains a White Wii U, 8GB of memory, one White GamePad and a stylus and the obvious power cables (for the Wii U and the GamePad) as well as a HDMI cable. You’ve still got quite a lot in there.e Premium pack houses even more gadgets in its box of tricks though as you get a Black Wii U, 32GB of memory, a black GamePad and as well as all the other cables and stylus’ in the basic pack, you get a Sensor Bar (for Wii remotes), a charging cradle for the GamePad, stands for both the console and the controller and finally, and most importantly, a free copy of NNintendo Land. Of course the Premium pack is more expensive but it’s cheaper than buying all of the extra stuff separately. You also get a free membership for the Nintendo Network Premium with the conveniently named Premium pack which basically gives you 10% of your money spent back on e-Shop purchases.

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Launch Titles

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“ZombiU others a nicer approach to gaming for those who are too scared to face Nintendo Land and New Super Mario Bros. U”is is tis is the one for you hardcore shooter fans. New details were given on how ZombiU will be a unique new title. Most of which, are online features. First of all, all of the games modes were confirmed. Not only is there the main story mode, but there is a survival mode which tasks you with completing the whole game with just one character, one live. is is going to be a serious challenge, ever for the momost experience zombie slayers. I can already see that a few GamePads will be smashed as people lose on the final zombie boss. But onto the online stuff. You can use a spraycan to leave messages to other players playing online. I know what you’re thinking and you can’t put that. It is limited to set symbols such as stairs, zombies, guns, skulls and the such. And of course, you can read the messages that other people have left for you, but is it a trick? Do you risk it? at’s all done to how trusting you are to random people on the Mii-vverse. As you probably know, in the main story mode if your character dies he becomes a zombie. You then have to go and hunt him down with your new survivor to get all your precious guns back. But this isn’t just limited to your own disk. Oh no. Your zombie can spread itself all over the inter-net killing other survivors and contaminating the innocent. is wouldn’t be quite as fun if you couldn’t keep track of your lone warrior, but you can. You can get information on how many people they have killed and where they are now. I bet you’ve never been proud of any zombie before your own creation took out 129 noobs just as they walked out of their safehouse. But then things get even more fun when you find your own friends visit your game. Not only do you get to shoot the life out of them, but you can also steal all of their weapons and items. Sweet sweet loot. And if you’re a ZombiU launch day fan, then you can pick up a special ZombiU bundle with a copy of the game and a Pro Controller. All in one.

Launch Titles

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+CyberGW

Wii U 8GB Basic Pack £247.85Wii U 32GB Premium Pack £296.86Wii U 32GB Zombi U Premium Pack

£319.99Wii U Pro ControllerWii U Pro Controller

£32.99Wii U Remote Plus

£32.99

Current Best Deals

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Traumatized to say the least by experience and the consequences of his mistake, he moved on to see if he could find some food to appease his hunger.NNext he came across a small static pink thing. oughts came into his mind about how he had decided to eat the small static green thing and how that was a big mistake. He then did a thing that we humans do a lot also, and decided that it was best not to learn from past mistakes. So he went along and ate it up. SSensations came upon him. He decided that this pink thing tasted nice. No, not nice, but sensational. He decided that this pink thing would need a name, so he called it “Meat.”He decided that he would need more meat if he was going to evolve, grow legs, ride spaceships and set fire to stuff. As you do when you’re a small, wide eyed, inappropriate looking cell with the IQ equal to that of a small, wide eyed, inappropriate looking cell.HHe was so deep in thought about space; he didn’t notice a small, pink cell float right in front of him. When the TCR finally did notice the cell, he decided it would be a good idea to make friends with it, sit down on a nice comfy sofa and talk about hilarious we found Amelia Pond’s death in the latest episode of Doctor Who.

I was going to write something else for this issue. I was going to write a story about… well, that would be spoilers. But then last Saturday a friend of mine came round my house. is friend, who we will simply call “Enemy” because that’s what he isn’t, played a major part in the discovery of a new lifeform. is lifeform was an intelligent, strong and intricate creature, and definitely wasn’t just another screwed up creation on Spore. is lifeform was given the name Titanicus Creti-cucus, which is apparently Latin for Titanic Cretan. One family of Titanicus Creticus, or TCR for short, had a very event-ful path to sentience. A path so eventful the events had to be taken down and recorded before they were lost in the mists of time. A path so eventful, I hope you’ll find it entertaining and educational. Enter-taining as in you’ll enjoy it, and educational because it teaches you how NOT to be a blue humanoid creature with weird elbow problems, which is a lesson that all mankind should aspire to learn. So for the oother story you’ll have to wait, as we take a look into a particular family of the TITANICUS CRETICUS (or the タイタニッククレタ,should you be able to read Japanese).e Titanicus Creticus started life by crashing on to an uncharted planet in a meteorite (as you do). It emerged as a big-headed creature with wide eyes and a mouth with lots of sharp teeth. Discovering it could move by “waggin” the “inappropriate looking” “tail” on its back, it proceeded to swim around the ocean it had found itself in asking many very interesting and critically important questions. One of these very interesting and critically important questions was “Glub glub glub glob glob?” Another was “Glob Glub Globby Globby Glub Glub?” ese questions were, and still are, very interesting and critically im-portant.TCR’s pondering was stopped by the discovery of a small, floating green thing. Being an unknown material that nobody has ever heard of or seen before, he concluded in the same way we humans did that the best idea was to eat it whole in one bite. And so he did (yes it’s a he. No you can’t have any details on how I found that out. Top Secret skills and know-how that took years of painful training played a major part though). e conclusion that this green thing would be tasty proved to be in-correct. He spat it out, and hoped that he would never taste it again. He also decided to name the green thing a “Brussel Sprout.” Trauma-

Stors

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Notice: By “Make Friends”, we actually mean: “Tear to pieces and swallow various meat sprites whole.”So the TCR opened wide and with one crushing death-dealing blow, missed the cell entirely. e cell was alerted by this, and started to swim away while looking behind so he could constantly stare at the TCR because this totally makes you swim faster. e TCR gave chase to the cell, which he decided to call the Minnie. To chase another living organism, TCR was forced to do some serious “Tail-waggin.” He wagged and wagged so hard to chase the Minnie, who was also Tail-waggin like there was no day after tomorrow. TCR was Tail-waggin so hard he came so close to appearing in the Official Guiness World Book Of Screwed Up Plankton in the category “Cell Most Likely To Wag emselves To Death.” However the TCR was pipipped to the post by a cell so famous he’s now dead. And forgotten.Anyway, the Minnie was getting slowly away and the chase had been going on for what appeared to be 5 million years, also known as just under a minute. e TCR concluded that he would have to do some-thing drastic to catch the Minnie or he isn’t going to being having any dinner. In a last ditch attempt, the TCR did something so desperate, some would argue it was stupid.He switched his control method to…. THE MOUSE. D:Using the innovative and incredibly original point and click control system, TCR’s Tail-Waggin speed increased tenfold, and he was next to the Minnie in no time. e Minnie tried desperately to do the same, but Minnie’s didn’t appear to be able to access the prestigious ability to rebind their keys. e TCR opened its mouth, aiming on the screaming Minnie. e Minnie now closed its eyes, trying to lessen the pain that would occur imminently. e TCR got closer and-----We now cut to a commercial break!AAre you sick of commercials? Do you think they’re stupid and point-less, telling you stuff you already know and asking you questions that you’ve been asked 20 times before? Have you started discovering ad-verts in new places where they shouldn’t be, such as educational books, on your Microsoft word document or in the middle of a story about a blue humanoid lifeform with weird elbow problems? If so, then buy the new United-Nations-Reliable-Ad-Blocker

(Or Unreliable ad blocker for short). 100% confirmed to block alladvertisements! And now for an offer from America! You can buy the adblocker FREE if you support SOPA! Stop online piracy and stop online advertising for no good reason other than to cripple various internet busi-nesses… NOW!(Terms and conditions still apply. We do not refund any malfunction-ing products, lost products or products that didn’t do what this ad promised. All people who use this product do so entirely at owner’s risk).And now we return you to your scheduled programming.After doing the most epic thing a TCR could ever do, TCR hoped that the last emotional, thought provoking and incredibly relevant para-graph describing how he digested the Minnie against all the odds wouldn’t be overwritten by some ironic, irrelevant advertisement. He also felt… bigger after eating the Minnie. He concluded that to grow, he had to begin to eat more Minnies, or whatever cells came his way. He swam on, looking determined. He now had a mission: to take on the pool. With incredibly limited intelligence and a brain the size of a really microscopic brain he would annihilate as much life as possible, and enslave the survivors. UnUnknown to him at the time, several thousand other lifeforms across the galaxy were setting out with exactly the same plan of action. is was going to be one hard and eventful struggle to some form of meaningless and probably virtual power.And so the legend begins!

Stor

+FieryIce

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