Niche: Treat Your Geek Issue 12

Niche Issue 12 comes out soon but here is your first look at the awesome cover and the contents:

Niche Plays: Battleborn Vs Overwatch

This week Mulukh has been sinking some time into the new strategy RPG, Grand Kingdom, keep an eye out for Niche Issue 12 for a full review. So this time Niche Plays has been taken over by Crosshire and his thoughts on Battleborn vs Overwatch. Some colourful language with some colourful words but you can always use your imagination.

Jumping between the two, they are so different. It's a time difference thing, one is rocket league and the other is 3 laps on a race track. Battleborn is an experience of growth and learning as your character gets stronger. Overwatch is fast paced, in and out. You can play like 5 different characters in the time you would play one in Battleborn. I can play Battleborn alone or with friends but I only play Overwatch with friends; it's what everyone is playing.

Overwatch was always going to overshadow Battleborn. It's frakin' Blizzard, they have a fudging World of Warcraft MOVIE currently in the cinema. This year Blizzard are swinging their "credentials" about and getting poop tonnes of muns for it.

But in all fairness, Battleborn has a frelling sweet single player with cool ass loot you can then use in battle, the characters are very stylised in keeping with the developers,Gearbox. I love that stuff. They plan on patching the game and balancing the characters, something Blizzard said they will not be doing with Overwatch. But Blizzard are getting a bad rep for taking down the Overwatch ... (let's say) "fan art"... Haha, if I was Gearbox I'd start producing official Battleborn "fan art".

But yeah, two very different experiences, two very fun games but Overwatch did steal some of Battleborn's thunder. It's a shame but I'm honestly happy to have the option of playing either. Like, you know how long I've been waiting for something with a bit of colour in the FPS format? Like seriously, why did no one pick up the ball after Team Fortress 2? Nope, we went into the CoD generation where every game had to be gritty and bleak.  

No Man's Ethics: Geek Island and its Place in the Mainstream

Today would have been the original release date for No Man’s Sky (NMS) in the UK so it’s a good opportunity for me to add my thoughts to the recent controversy. Let me take you back to the news that NMS has been delayed several weeks (August 10th) and the outrageous response from some “fans” over this apparently life destroying news… even going so far as sending death threats to the developers. I’ve seen games delayed before and you do get a few unreasonable "bottom injured" peoples complaining about how unfair it is, but I haven’t seen it on this scale. It has been suggested that maybe the hype surrounding this game has attracted those Not Of the Normal Gaming Element… or Nonges, as I will now call them.


No Man’s Sky is a niche game with mainstream marketing and an unreal level of hype. NMS isn’t designed to be the next Call of Duty or FIFA, I don’t think it was intended to be mass marketed to an audience that could be described as casual or mainstream. No Man’s Sky is being developed by a small indy team experimenting with procedural generation to create sci-fi worlds they had only read about and dreamt of from their childhood, just for people to romp about in and explore, I think there's a certain core of niche gamers that would be happy with that, without the constant demand for “moar gameplayz”.

Could this be a sign of what happens when geek culture becomes mainstream? The famed geek passion but no-longer tempered by an appreciation of the art?  Maybe this is the millennial sense of entitlement I keep hearing about? It's saddening to see this happening to a community I've always known to be supportive of those creating the things we love. I prefer to keep my faith in humanity and think perhaps the rise of the internet and social media just allows a vocal minority to shout even louder.

But then, I have seen other signs of this fusion of cultures having some undesirable side effects, fanboy wars and stories of elitism and body shaming in cosplay. For example, I can’t see why someone with a bought costume should be able to enjoy cosplay any less than those capable of sinking hundreds of hours and a fair bit of money into crafting something and I’ve never felt like cosplay means you MUST exactly replicate an existing character,  These all seem too much like the mainstream marketing concepts that push an unobtainable “perfection”. That is something I hope geek culture can avoid. With its long history of accepting the unique, quirky and outcast the geek community is well placed to resist prejudice and discrimination.

Just like gaming, cosplay is about creating something, and then sharing and enjoying it, both can be counted as an art form and a form of self-expression. It’s completely reasonable for creators to expect to be treated with respect. I’m sure you’d agree that if something or someone doesn’t meet your expectation, that doesn’t somehow make them less than human. If you bought a game and it happened to be buggy and broken or you bought a print from a cosplayer that happened to be poorly printed, perhaps you’d have a right to complain, maybe even claim your money back, but no one would deserve threats and profanity. Those examples actually deal with scenarios where the creator is obliged to fulfil a contract, but waiting for a game to be released or seeing someone enjoying a hobby shouldn't produce that kind of response and definitely shouldn't generate the kind of hatred I've read about.

Is it really "Niche vs The World"? Are these phenomena something you have witnessed? Do you have thought’s on why this kind of thing happens? Or do you disagree with me completely? Comments welcome below!

Photography by Adam Kelly Cosplay Britania

Metro Unleashed THIS WEEKEND!

This weekend the gang will be heading to Metro Unleashed.

You can get all the info on this event here

E3 Coverage: Sony Conference Overview

This year Sony can not be faulted on their presentation.  Dynamic stage setting, live orchestra and a steady stream of games to whet your appetite.

Sony started the conference with a demo of God of War.  Featuring a young boy and what appears to be an older Kratos.

Also Demo'd was Horrizon: Zero Dawn
and Days Gone which ended the presentation.

Games Previewed included

The Last Guardian,
Detroit: Become Human,
Crash Bandicoot Remastered

LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Death Stranding
Spiderman PS4
Resident Evil 7

A decent line up of games to say the least.  The Last Guardian introducing more heartbreaking snippets teasing us as they have done every E3 for years now, so much so that it was becoming a Duke Nukem 3D story.  Kojima brings the impressive Death Stranding trailer, which features a very naked Norman Reedus with outstanding graphics, although very little else was given away in the trailer.  Although I lost my head a little over Crash Bandicoot Remastered was not actually shown in stead a clip of Skylanders: Imaginators was shown and I quickly forgot about it when I saw the LEGO SW trailer.  Last but not least Resident Evil 7, setting the bar high with a fantastic trailer and setting fanboys (and girls) all over the world into a frenzy.

Resident Evil was also the first game announced for Playstation VR during the conference.

Set to be released 13th October 2016 it boasts to have 50 games set to play before the end of the year.

Titles included in the launch are:

Farpoint
Star Wars: Battflefront: X-Wing Mission
Batman Arkham VR #WearTheCowel
FF15 VR Experience
Call of Duty: Infinite Warefare
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered

And if that is not enough for you there is still much more of the E3 Conference to come!

Stay Tuned!

YouTube: Marvel Thwip! The Big Marvel Show

Anybody here watch the YouTubes? Fan of Marvel comics, movies or games?

There's a new show on the Marvel Entertainment YouTube channel that I've taken a liking to.
Marvel Thwip! is a weekly news entertainment show that covers everything Marvel with a quirky, casual presentation. I'm getting the feeling it was created with s similar "by geeks, for geeks" ethos to our own magazine (albeit funded by Marvel). Some of the humour might seem a little goofy, but you're reading one of my pieces so you might be ok with that plus it adds to the kind of unrehearsed charm. It's a friendly human face to the massive company that Marvel has become.

It could be that I have a thing for redheads and glorious moustaches...(not on the same person) but I'm really enjoying it.

The first episode is embedded below but new episodes appear each Wednesday.

Find you like the show too? Tell 'em Niche: Treat Your Geek sent you, 'nuff said.

                                                Clicky this linky to go to the playlist

Sunny Con 5 THIS WEEKEND

Sunny Con 5 is this weekend and Mashashy will be there!

You can check out their event page here

Hull Comic Con This Weekend

Luna-Chan and Dante will be in Hull this weekend for Hull Comic Con

Find out more on their event page here

Yorkshire Cosplay Con this weekend!

This weekend we shall be at Yorkshire Cosplay Con!

You can check the event out here

Niche Plays: Minecraft Story Mode Episode 6

I can hear you all exclaim “You wrote that amazing preview in Niche's Christmas edition but now you've skipped 5 episodes!” well, I'm giving "Episode 6: Portal into Mystery" this edition of Niche Plays as it can easily be played as a stand-alone episode. (Although you will need to purchase at least Episode 1 to be able to play this but I know the season passes for PlayStation are currently on sale.)

The series handles a lot like other Telltale games, an evolution of point and click adventures with a focus on making your own story, all set in the

familiar world of Minecraft.

This episode starts with our heroes entering a new dimension, to be immediately invited to a gathering at a large creepy mansion. What follows is basically Danganronpa for kids, a crazy, intense murder mystery involving major Minecraft YouTubers; Captain Sparklez, Stampy, Dan TDM, StacyPlays, and LD Shadowlady.

There's nothing quite like this. The choices this time don't seem as major or as plot altering, but if you happen to have kids that are big fans of these YouTubers then to them this is going to be like taking part in a major blockbuster movie alongside your favourite god-tier actors.

I was joined on this adventure by my 6 year old and he was on the edge of his seat the entire time, seeing some of his favourite characters put in harms way, not knowing what would happen next and possibly being responsible for their safety... It's going to be one of those gaming memories I hold on to. This episode does speak to a more specific audience but despite the odd graphical hiccup and variable voice acting skills of the YouTube guest stars, this was an enjoyable experience particularly with a young side-kick along for the ride.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue E3 2016 Trailer

A new trailer for Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue (KH2.8) has been released today, ahead of E3 next week (there's an important message at the end of the trailer that might explain that timing).






KH2.8 will be available on PS4 and will include a remaster of 3D Dream Drop Distance (originally on 3DS) another non-playable chapter for Kingdom Hearts Chi but there's also a final chapter to Birth By Sleep (an epic PSP game that was included in KH2.5HD). The thing is, this chapter is looking a lot shinier than I imagined making good use of the step up to PS4 hardware. I feel bad for those players still on PS3 as the previous remasters were on that system but as this is a transitional step to Kingdom Hearts 3 then I can see some sense in that.



Speaking of KH3, you might have seen that message in the trailer... announcements are coming in the winter. To me this sounds more like "Don't expect anything new at E3" or the even more bothersome "Don't expect Kingdom Hearts 3 this year". Disappointing news but it looks like this collection might just tide me over long enough.

Darth Vader Wakes up a 2-year old

News and Views: Skylanders Imaginators Announced

This one's more for the kids and the obsessive collectors... the next instalment in Activision's Skylander franchise has been revealed.
Core gameplay will be familiar but the big feature this year is imagination! Is that cheesy or exciting? The key is you'll be able to create your own character from a whole raft of collectible parts.
There will also be 10 Sensei characters plus 11 former villains to collect, they act as masters to the apprentice "imaginators" that players will create. They look set to unlock some nice extras and each have an assigned element and battle class, such as brawler, knight or bow slinger.

Skylanders games have generally been quality, well polished adventures with plenty of character, I think that despite being a yearly Activision franchise with an added gimmick, those gimmicks actually keep things interesting and handily give you more toys to spend (too much) money on.

I want to like the idea of creating unique characters but I'm pretty sure this is what Lego games have been doing for years with the option to make custom characters..
I'm a little apprehensive this time round, my son's interest is waning and I thought creating virtual characters would be a good time to reduce the number of needed/optional toys. However it seems you need a "creation crystal" to save a character of the same element and you can only store one character on each crystal, already the big draw of this game is massively restricted by accessories and pay walls. Infinite possibilities but you'll need to pay out for each creation you want to save. There's plenty of time for me to be proved wrong, but what do you think? Is this new twist enough to get you interested, or is it a step too far?

Scunthorpe Comic Con THIS WEEKEND

This weekend we will be at Sunthorpe Comic Con

More Info on the event here

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone | Pencilmation Cartoon #43

I stumbled across this amazing animation from Pencilmation Cartoons



Such a funny and well created piece of work.

Writers and Editors wanted!

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