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Arguably one of the best titles on the Wii was Donkey Kong Country Returns, which emerged on the console in 2010, and was then rereleased on the Nintendo 3DS. Now, developer Retro Studios looks to make its debut on the Wii U with the sequel, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.

Preview by Matt S. 

Standard set of disclaimers up front: I'm not a big fan of shooters, and I have never really, truly enjoyed a Killzone game. There are certain examples of the genre that I do get along with and can certainly appreciate - such as Crysis 3 or that XCOM one, but Killzone always seemed just a little bland for my tastes.

But it's a major release for the PlayStation 4, and so I felt obligated to check it out at the recent EB Games expo. Specifically I checked it out at an evening media-only event that paired me up with some of Australia's other gaming journos (there's no way I'd line up for over an hour for any shooter), for some four-on-four multiplayer action.

Preview by Matt S.

After walking away from Super Mario 3D World a little disappointed, I was glad to see that Wii Party U more than surpassed my expectations. I'm a sucker for digital board games at the best of times. Throw in some minigames that genuinely feel fresh, and I'm in seventh heaven.

Article by Aidan B.

The EB Games Expo turned out to be a great opportunity to reflect on some things in games that we may not typically think about in our daily lives. There were a lot of great panels that gave some real insight into different issues within the gaming industry from the Iron Ribbon panel on ethics in gaming to practical application panels on games design. One I would really like to highlight was a panel on innovation in gaming.

Preview by Sam M.

I’m sure it’s clear to most that know me that I love Battlefield. I absolutely suck at it, but there is a joy that I get out of playing it that I can’t find anywhere else. After getting some hands on time with it, Battlefield 4 is no exception.

Interview by Aidan B.

One of our favourite local developers was at the EB Games 2013 expo in a big way. Nnooo, having now picked up the publisher's role for two locally developed games on console, had three games to show off at the show.

Not a bad effort for a tiny team of three.

Aidan Broadbent stole Nnooo's Creative Director, Nic Watt, away from his stand for a few moments to have a chat about how he found this year's show, as well as some of the challenges and opportunities that he sees in the local industry.

Preview by Matt S.

I've always been a bit concerned about Dark Souls 2, after I heard it was announced. My concern was always tied in to the budget of the game - Dark Souls 2 clearly has a bigger budget, and that means it needs to sell more copies to justify the investment on the management side of the business. The only way to achieve that is to make the game reach out to a broader audience, and this tends to bring up that scary "a" word... accessibility.

Preview by Matt S. 

There's no shortage of digital collectible card games (CCGs). From Magic: The Gathering and Might & Magic: Duel of Champions right through to little indie efforts like Orbs CCG, this is a genre that is remarkably good for game developers for two reasons; it keeps people playing for long periods of time and the free-to-play model works brilliantly for it.

I know I must have spent $40 on digital cards in Duel of Champions. And I'm not even close what the majority of reasonable fans will spend on their favourite digital CCG, in terms of both time and money. These games are genuine hobbies in themselves.

Article by Owen S.

Massive multiplayer online gaming can be quite a daunting experience. Especially when attempting it for the first time. More so when trying to play with strangers. The player might feel anxious, nervous and their only goal might be to come through the experience with a positive feel for the game.

Here's a scenario that is unfortunately not uncommon:

Feeling unprepared for the adventure, the perspiration starts peeling its way around their face, their heart rate quickens. Butterflies enter the stomach. An excitement builds. They have, after all, enjoyed the gaming experiences they have had, mostly local multiplayer and they have heard other talk endlessly about the fun they have online. The tribal-like communities tend to stick together and it's something special to be included in. It can be the modern to identify, socialise with, and making lifelong friends out of. Game developers are so focused on the online multiplayer experience now then surely it must be an experience worth diving into. And so, they do.

Unfortunately, the game doesn’t go well. The player might feel like they are holding up their side of the bargain. Not the best, nor are you the worst. Or perhaps they're terrible, or they might have even somehow won from the outset. Then they hear the language. If the player is female, they're told to get back into the kitchen. "Rape" is a word used without any apparent comprehension or care for what that word means to far too many people in the world. Others get death threats. Others get racial slurs hurled at them.

And so the experience is soured. Players that do want to 'play nice' end up leaving, or are forced to adopt the same toxic behaviours of the these people in order to continue to enjoy their games online. There is no accountability, no responsibility, no cause for decency, no empathy and, startlingly, despite these toxic attitudes being completely anti social, no one seems to be doing anything to curb these people's attitudes in the real world.

Online multiplayer has become a self-fulfilling cycle of hatred and ugliness that does far more harm to the games industry than it does good.

And yet people still want to play games online. Gaming is a social activity at its core and, an estimated 94 per cent of people aged 6-15 currently would be considered gamers. Something needs to be done to address this alarming lack of etiquette, of bullying, of harassment and of antisocial behaviour. It is at the forefront of a lot of great minds in the industry. So what can we do about it?

We can raise our standards. We can be an active voice in the community arguing against this kind of behaviour.

Take, for instance, the movement Iron Ribbon. We saw this group on a panel at the recent EB Games Expo 2013, and were greatly impressed with what they are trying to achieve. Directly taking from their website (www.ironribbon.org.au), they argues six major tenants.

1) Gaming is for everyone.

2) Trash talk and attacking people based on gender, race and ability is a form of verbal assault and harassment.

3) The gaming community can take a stand on this form of abuse.

4) Those who cause harm to others are accountable.

5) Gamers should not stay silent when observing abuse against fellow gamers

6) Gamers will not stay silent when observing abuse against fellow gamers.

It's the kind of philosophy that deserves to be aired, because it's something that we can all do.

Created out of a mutual disgust from the treatment of female or minority gamers, this group is aiming to provide a rallying point for changing gaming culture for the better. By promoting the thoughts that accountability, player led self-modification, engaging bystanders for good and unification in demanding a set of real values into the digital world, they are challenging current habits. Like all progressionist groups, they too are meeting some stubborn opposition in the community that seem to fear change to the extent that they fear the simple goal to make gaming a more pleasant experience for everyone.

As by the Iron Ribbon website “It is not a vigilant response that just spurs the trolls to try harder. It is a simple plan to acknowledge that majority gamers do not act like that is displayed in the media, and that most gamers agree that gaming culture could be a lot better.”

It is not arguing for the policing of games, or taking away that 'freedom of speech' idea that so many people seem to misunderstand to be 'freedom to infringe on other people's rights to live free of abuse and hate', but rather the need to remove the viciousness, nastiness and inappropriate behaviour from the games industry. Social responsibility, after all, is part of living in the world, and even with freedom of speech people still have a responsibility to act as a productive member of society. Iron Ribbon argues that it is only fair to get pulled up for friendly banter that goes over the line. It happens in the real world just like that, after all.

While it's critical that game developers and publishers take proactive steps to foster healthy communities, and in fairness the leading publishers are doing that. From Microsoft's reputation system to League of Legend's highly active and responsive community team, it is not all up to gamers to create a healthy environment. But other games need to do better - Call of Duty, for instance, has a long and hard journey ahead of it to, essentially, fix the community. The developers of fighting games also need to have a good, hard thing about how to deal with some of the people they attract to their events.

Gamers currently live in a world with minimal accountability and in communities that are increasingly being recognised for the toxic influences. Whilst this remains, movements like the Iron Ribbon are worth supporting, in the hope that they can gain some momentum.

- Owen S. 
Contributor

Preview by Matt S.

Something spectacular happened when I got some hands on time with Super Mario 3D World at the EB Games Expo 2013 show; everyone was participating as equals.

Five levels were on show at the Expo, and I got to play them all. In each case the experience was purely multiplayer, and I was paired with three other players of varying skill. Some were clearly gaming veterans. Others were clearly utter beginners. What worries me, after playing through all of these levels in multiplayer, is how great they are as levels that have something for everyone in multiplayer.

Let me explain: across all five levels it was as easy for an experienced gamer to get through to the end of the level as it was for a complete beginner. The platforming was designed in such a way that, for the most part, the only way that players would not get to the end of the level would be if every single player died within a few seconds of one another, and with regular power upgrades and a really quick respawn, that was never going to happen.

Interview by Aidan B.

At the EB Games Expo 2013, one of the more entertaining sections was the Aussie indies section. Australia has a growing collection of high quality developers operating in small teams creating innovative and creative games, largely free of the constraints of working for a larger developer.

One of the indies that we spoke to there was Dale Ward, of Evil Aliens, a Canberra-based indie currently producing Orbitor, a creative little gravity-based puzzle game that is also coming to consoles courtesy of Nnooo. This game was one of our highlights of the show, and we sat down with Ward to chat with him about the experience of attending the EB Games Expo, his ideas for this game and future releases, and his thoughts on Australian games development and Kickstarter

And Microsoft knows it. The entire Xbox One marketing strategy relies on people knowing that this single game won a record amount of awards at E3; 60 at last count including 6 critics awards. As a game to be released in the launch window (although not a launch title), it will be an important pawn in the battle for next generation supremacy.

Preview by Owen S.

The Forza series has provided us with some of the greatest racing experiences that can be had. The perfect, flawless cars felt wondrous to virtually drive as they traversed the tracks that always looked better than anything else the competition was putting up. Lauded by both fans and critics alike for the way they controlled as well as how great they looked, these games pushed the limits of graphical capabilities in the last generation of gaming consoles.

Article by Matt S. 

As you would have seen on the site, Digitally Downloaded attended the EB Games Expo that took place over the weekend. The event gave us a chance to play the upcoming games and consoles, and gave us the opportunity to mingle with other gaming fans from Sydney and the rest of Australia.

Preview by Owen S. 

One game that really stood out for me at the EB Expo 2013 was a launch title for the Xbox One; Ryse: Son of Rome

A cinematic action adventure title that Microsoft seems to be heavily relying on to sell consoles, the expectations of this remarkable tale surrounding an unwitting centurion from Ancient Rome is high. Whilst the many specifics of the story are still, understandably, being held close to the chest what I did see promises to offer juicy plotlines of revenge and patriotism.

A convention is never a good environment to trial a game that is likely to last 50 or so hours. If I had played a random 20 minutes of Final Fantasy XIII I would never have been inspired to pick up the final game, and that would have been a pity because I fall firmly in the group of people that enjoyed that game for what it was.

So I'm not judging Final Fantasy XIII-3 in any way based on what I experienced at the EB Expo 2013. Merely, I am commenting on the potential I see for the final version of the game; I reckon it's going to fall between Final Fantasy XIII and one of my favourite JRPGs of the generation, Final Fantasy XIII-2.

Ah cosplayers. No gaming, anime or movie convention would be quite the same without them. This year I must say there were fewer cosplayers hanging around the EB Games Expo than there was last year, but the Just Cos cosplay competition that is a major part of the event drew them in droves.

Naturally we were there with our camera on to take photos of the best, the most creative, the weirdest and the downright frightening. Below you'll find a gallery of 22 of our favourites from the day; just click on them for the full version.

After having a really good time with the PlayStation 4 and the spirit in which Sony has been courting original game ideas and independent developers, I was a little taken back by Microsoft's booth at the EB Games Expo 2013.

There's quite a bit riding on Drive Club. This is the game that Sony is essentially "packing in" with the PlayStation 4. When you consider that the only way to play online multiplayer is to have the PSPlus membership, and Drive Club is the first "free game" that's on offer under the PSPlus system, it's actually going to be one of the most scrutinised launch games of all, both in the media and amongst consumers, because so many people are going to have access to it by default.

So it worries me a little that the driving experience is so bland. With all due disclaimer that I didn't nearly play this game enough to get a proper feel for it, and the social features that are such a major part of Drive Club were not enabled in the demo, I have gone from being so very excited by this game, to not being interested in it in the slightest.