March 2019 LIVE Magazine

APRIL ISSUE 2019
IVE
INTERVIEW: MORGAN GARRETT - INTERVIEW: JOSH GRELLE - BRIGHTBURN GIVE AWAY

Go to page 10 for more details on Brightburn and find out how you could boost your chances of winning tickets!

From the Editor
Hello and welcome to the April edition of Gametraders Live and the
first edition of this year!
We have a smaller issue for you this time but don’t worry we still have
great content! Yoshi’s Crafted World Review, a look back at Disney
games on Playstation and two great interviews. One with voice actress
Morgan Garrett and one with voice actor Josh Gerelle.
Also we have an exclusive preview of our next compeition Brightburn,
you are the first to know about it and if you mention it on our
Facebook page you will get a double entry!
We hope you enjoy the magazine and as always if you are interested in
writing for our magazine please email live@gametraders.com.au
Emily Langford
Emily Langford,
EDITOR

What’s inside
A LOOK BACK AT DISNEY GAMES ON PLAYSTATION pg. 40
CAPTAIN
MARVEL
FACTS
&
TRIVIA
PG. 8

THE LIVE TEAM
EDITOR & DESIGNER: Emily Langford
WRITERS:
Paul Monopoli, Interviews / Retro Editor
INTERVIEW WITH JOSH
GRELLE
Pg. 20
Paul Broussard, Stephen LaGioia & Adam
Cartwright, VGChartz
INTERVIEW WITH MORGAN
GARRETT
Pg. 12
SILK, KICKSTARTER
Pg. 54
BRIGHTBURN GIVEAWAY
PG. 10

MOVIES
BRIGHTBURN
INTERVIEW WITH
MORGAN GARRETT
INTERVIEW WITH JOSH
GRELLE

,tv&
ANIME

• Goose the cat was
originally called chewie
after chewbaca from star
wars but was renamed
goose after goose
bradshaw from top gun
• Goose was played by
five different cats called
Reggie, Rizzo, Gonzo, and
Archie
• Skrull makeup took 2hrs to
apply
• Furys clearence level was
only level 3
• The film takes place in
1995
• Brie larson is allergic
to cats, so her scenes
involving goose were
filmed with a puppet or
computer-generated vfx.
• The name “captain marvel”
is not used in the film until
the closing credits.
• In the movie Carol refers
to Monica as “Lieutenant
Trouble”. In the comics,
Lieutenant Trouble (a
young girl named Kit
Renner) was Captain
Marvel’s biggest fan and
later on became her
friend.

DOUBLE PASS GIVEAWAY
What if a child from another world crashlanded
on Earth, but instead of becoming a
hero to mankind, he proved to be something
far more sinister?
With Brightburn, the visionary filmmaker of
Guardians of the Galaxy and Slither presents
a startling, subversive take on a radical new
genre: superhero horror!
IN CINEMAS MAY 23
#BRIGHTBURN

WIN A DOUBLE PASS
Watch the Gametraders
Facebook Page in MAY
for your chance to win a
double pass to Brightburn
--
Mention this magazine in
your comment for a double
entry!
©2019 CTMG. All Rights Reserved.

INTERVIEW WITH
MORGAN GARRETT
For my next interview at Supanova I
Morgan takes it all in her stride, asking:
approached the smiley Morgan Garrett.
The Supanova media manager introduced
“Isn’t that fun?!”
me to her, and I followed by introducing
my wife:
What ended up being more fun was
finding out she had won the award on
Me: Nice to meet you. This is my wife Mel.
Twitter without even realising she had
been nominated for it. Though excited to
Morgan: Hello wife Mel!
be have been granted such an accolade,
Morgan is still aware that she hasn’t been
At this point it struck me that this was
in the voice over game for that long.
going to be a fun interview. You see,
underneath Morgan’s wavy hair and big
smile lies a quick wit and a more than a
touch of cheekiness. With characteristics
like that it’s no surprise that she won voice
the “Breakthrough voice actress of the
Year” award in 2012. This was followed up
with another similar accolade 6 years later.
“It’s cool because most of the people in
this business that work as much as I do
have been doing it for fifteen, plus, years.
So I’m still in that stage where I’ve been
doing it for along time, but still not even
close to as long as Colleen Clinkenbeard
and Jamie Marchi and Monica Rial.”
Bleach - Hanataro Yamada

“You have to improvise. So if you’re running
or something you have to put your hands
together and shake to make yourself sound
like you’re running because you can’t move.
Tricks of the booth! I got all of them!”

We briefly discuss Monica, who I have
interviewed previously. A veteran voice
was like, ‘uh, so you’re gonna play a 13
year old boy today.’”
actor, Monica has been acting since the
90s, and is someone Morgan admires.
With that said, Morgan has a lower vocal
range than Rial, who is best known for
Bulma in Dragon Ball Super and Sakura in
Card Captor Sakura Clear Card.
A statement that surprised Morgan at
the time, as she had not been aware of
this and had not rehearsed for the role.
Regardless, she soldiered on and the role
has become one of her favourites:
From here we move into her favourite
roles, a staple question of any interview
that an actor has to endure. It can get
a bit old and I have been in a position
“Because, as an older woman who walks
around like me being a 13 year old boy
is a little bit freeing, cos you get to be all
scrappy.”
to see eyes glaze over at the thought of
having to answer that question for the
umpteenth time. However, Morgan is
still full of enthusiasm and tells me it was
actually a great question without a hint of
sarcasm in her voice.
With that question out of the way, I
show off my research to Morgan by
mentioning that she has a Masters degree
and is a classically trained actor. Suitably
impressed with my digging into her past,
Morgan explains how she transitioned
“So I’m young Sabo in One Piece, and that
from the stage to behind the microphone:
has to be one of my favourite characters
cos I’m always put into these very low,
sexy, sultry voice, and, or these very
powerful generals. When I came into the
booth for One Piece I just thought it was
going to be another role like that, and
Joel McDonald, the director at the time,
“Well, I haven’t been on stage in a couple
of years because I really looked at voice
overs after I graduated with my Masters
and went ‘I should really put all of my time
into this. I love it, it’s fun, it’s right here.
Comic Cons are one of my favourite things

to do, like… I should do this! So I stopped
being on stage but the transition was, I’d
brings it back to the transition between
stage and voice over:
been at Funimation, because it’s in Dallas,
so I’d been working there for 6 years as
a side gig. Just a couple of hours here or
there or whatever.”
“It’s so easily transitionable, because when
you’re on stage you start to learn how
things feel when you’re punched or kicked
or thrown around, and that transitions into
From there, Morgan employed the services
the booth very well.”
of an agent, which was when the next
phase of her voice over career started. As
well as voice over roles she started to get
commercial roles. After going off topic she
Other voice actors have told me that the
expression of emotions can be one of the
hardest things to do when you have never
Tokyo Ghoul:re: Akira Mado
Boogiepop and Others: Nagi Kirima

experienced something that the scene calls
for the actor to react to. Having started her
career on stage, Morgan was able to bring
the skill of conveying these emotions into
the recording studio. She mentions that
together and shake to make yourself sound
like you’re running because you can’t move.
Tricks of the booth! I got all of them! That’s
what I should do as a panel: Tricks of the
booth.”
working in the booth can be restrictive due
to a lack of movement available to you, but
I suggested writing a book instead…
she lets me in on one of the tricks she uses
when behind the microphone:
While stage acting remains Morgan’s first
love, she admits to being hard on herself
“You have to improvise. So if you’re running
or something you have to put your hands
when it comes to a live production. On the
flip side, she finds voice over work to be a
lot of fun:
“You get to be in a dark room, in your
pyjamas, with a cup of tea, pretending like
you’re a cat. Like… that is the pinnacle. I’ve
made it!”
Many voice actors have told me about
recording in their pyjamas, to which I query
whether they have sleep overs at Okatron
5000 (where many Funimation series are
dubbed). Morgan jokingly insists that this
only happens on New Years, and that it’s a
big party.
Heavy Object: Frolaytia Capistrano

Morgan is one of those voice actors who
has replaced others in roles, such as in Card
Captor Sakura. I queried whether she likes to
I finished off by asking whether she wants to
turn her attention to other aspects of voice
acting, such as directing or script writing:
listen to the previous actor and attempt to
mimic them, or whether she is guided by the
director.
“Yes and no. I have a background in
journalism. Broadcast journalism was my
undergrad, so I had plans on doing this, but
“I go in cold, then I ask for their reads on
certain things just so I can kind of voice
match a little bit. That doesn’t happen often,
but when it does it’s a great challenge. One
so far no, because like I said, I made the
decision to go from stage into voice acting
so I’m still kinda getting my feet wet when it
comes to this world full force.”
of the highest paid things I ever did was a
commercial where I was voice acting a girl
from LA. Just voice matching her.”
Of the various roles she might want to
explore next, directing seems to be what
Morgan is gravitating towards. She wants
Morgan enjoys the challenge and is aware
that the natural raspiness in her voice is
something she might need to turn off to
to keep establishing herself as a voice over
artist first, but when the time is right you
can expect her in the directors seat.
meet the needs of the role she is employed
for.
By Paul Monopoli

INTERVIEW WITH
JOSH GRELLE
Attending Supanova as media is a lot of
fun, though you do often have to wait a
while for your opportunity to put your
microphone in front of a celebrity and have
a chat. I was told by Supanova’s ever helpful
media manager to wait by Josh Grelle’s line
and when he had finished signing we could
do an interview.
silly little line. You had to be there I guess…
After that we jumped into discussing his
career and his travels around the world.
He had been quite busy in the “English
speaking parts of the southern hemisphere”
recently, including New Zealand and
Australia. The travel has been life changing
for Josh, who had been to a total of six
countries that year.
As soon as the line cleared I placed my
rather chunky condenser microphone in
front of Josh who, in his best town crier
voice, declared that:
“Once there was a microphone, it dreamed
it could be the greatest microphone in all
the land!”
From there we jumped into discussing his
short, yet expansive career. In 15 years he
has amassed many roles, including the
Grand Minister in Dragon Ball Super and
Hughes in Fairy Tale. Josh is proud to have
Anime News Network’s number 3 position
of the “most anime roles for a voice actor”
One of the most difficult parts of an
list. He says that:
interview can be breaking the ice with
someone, though with Josh it was as easy
as bursting into laughter with him over this
“For 15 years of work I’ve been insanely
fortunate… incredibly fortunate!”

We discussed how Josh got his break in
voice acting, to which a smile crept across
his face as he said:
made a huge impression on him as he
realised that they were not mere cartoons.
Real people voiced these pieces of
animation, and with a bit of work he could
“I wanted to go from nerd to pro basically.
become one of them.
I got into theatre when I was 5 years old.
I did children’s theatre, then adult theatre
when I was old enough. I did that all the
way through high school… When I was
about 8 years old I decided I wanted to
do voice work. I’d been a huge fan of
animation my whole life and anime started
to get really huge in the States.”
“I found out, as I got closer to my high
school graduation, that Funimation and
ADV Films, who were 2 of the biggest
producers in the States at the time, were
both in my home state, 2 hours away from
me. So I did whatever research I could, tried
to find out ways to get in. Then a friend
of mine went to school with a girl that
The big anime boom of the late 90s, with
shows such as Dragon Ball Z and Pokemon
had done voices for ADV and got me their
phone number.”

Josh started to call the studio once a
month, throughout his senior year, just to
keep in touch and let them know he was
impossible ones that I thought would never
be reachable and now I’m here trying to
figure out what I want to do next”.
interested in working with them at some
point in the future. After about 4 months of
calls, ADV gave Josh his first, life changing
role.
During our talk I determined that Josh has
an eager mind that just wants to absorb as
much knowledge as it can. As well as voice
acting he has also delved into script writing,
“And here I am 15 years later… in Australia!
Yeah, I never would have imagined it would
turn out as successful as this, and that I
hit every goal that I set myself, even the
occasionally performing these dual roles
on the same show. His creative endeavours
have even led him to work in the comic
industry.

‘I haven’t worked in comics for a very long
time, but I worked in comics for a while,
not as an artist. I did colouring for a few
North American and some Australian comics
actually, when I was first starting out, and
then anime took off for me and I didn’t need
to dabble in both anymore”.
“I would much rather have a director
directing me as opposed to directing
myself… I’m probably going to misquote this
horribly but one of my best friends when I
first became a voice actor, Chris Ayers (the
voice of Freeza in Dragon Ball), used to say
‘If you have an actor directing themselves
then you have an idiot for an actor and a
Working a dual career is hard for anyone,
so Josh had to decide whether to devote his
career to comics or anime. I’m pretty sure
that his fans are convinced that he made the
right decision, as is the man himself:
“Acting was what I wanted to do anyway, so
fool for a director’… I have had to direct
myself before but it wasn’t as comfortable
as I always second guess and third guess,
twelfth guess every take. It’s just much more
streamlined if I have another creative voice
directing me when I’m in the booth”.
the choice was pretty much made for me”.
While his career has been a huge success,
Josh is looking to sink his teeth into
something new and exciting.
A “Jack of all trades”, Josh blames his active
mind on Hyper ADD and claims that he
cannot just stick to one thing. As a child
he taught himself to use the digital tools
“I do want to do more that is my artwork
and something that I create as opposed to
spending all of my creative energy doing
characters and stories for other people. So
I’m getting back into comics right now”.
that he could use to express his artistic
creativity. Learning to edit photos, audio
and film allowed him to become involved in
the world of entertainment years before his
career took him there.
I queried whether he would prefer to direct
the scripts that he writes, giving himself full
creative control over his work. With a serious
“I wanted do do it all, and it pays off, and
yeah, I’m doing it all!”
expression Josh explains why he doesn’t feel
this is a good idea:
By Paul Monopoli

gameS
YOSHI’S CRAFT
WORLD
SILK, KICKSTARTER
A LOOK BACK AT DISNEY GAMES ON
PLAYSTATION HANDHELDS

ED
REVIEWS

Paul Broussard
REVIEW PS4:
DARKSIDERS III
Darksiders III is in something of an odd
position. After the studio behind the first
two titles was closed, it seemed as if the
series was done for. Despite this, however,
occurs before it was supposed to, the
seven deadly sins have now obtained
physical forms and are roaming an Earth
now overrun by angels and demons.
a new studio with many of the same
staff has defied the odds and produced
the third game in the series. Is it worth
playing, though? Unfortunately, the
answer is probably not.
In keeping with Vigil/Gunfire’s rather
loose adaptation of Christian theology,
Fury, the surprisingly insecure third
horseman of the apocalypse (Pestilence
and Famine apparently not having
It becomes pretty clear early on that if
you haven’t played the previous two
Darksiders games then you’re going to be
in for a tough time trying to keep up with
the story in this one. After the apocalypse
marketable enough names to make
the cut), is sent to hunt them down. Of
course, this being a Darksiders game,
there will inevitably be a bunch of late
twists and at least one conspiracy theory

thrown in to complicate matters more.
But story is perhaps not why we’re here;
with utterly incomprehensible stories so
long as the gameplay is entertaining.
Darksiders III has by and large embraced
its role solely as an action game this time
around, having ditched most of the puzzle
solving from the original Darksiders and
the RPG/loot elements from Darksiders II.
And, if Bayonetta has shown us anything,
it’s that action games can often get by
When you’re not fighting something,
Darksiders III’s gameplay mostly consists
of traversing the landscape, solving some
very basic puzzles, and searching for
bosses to kill. The game has taken a few
pointers from Dark Souls in that much of

the layout revolves around finding save
points from where you can level up with
in-game currency obtained from killing
enemies. Dying means respawning at the
last save point you reached, losing all of
the currency you’re currently holding,
and having to travel back to the point
where you died to get it back. It’s a rather
questionable inclusion, and I’m not sure
it really benefits an action game much to
encourage a slower paced, more cautious
playstyle after death, but it’s not a major
problem.
there’s a Bayonetta-esque system where
the player is rewarded for dodging at the
last possible moment before an attack
lands. The game’s dodge is both fast and
lacks many invincibility frames, which
puts a heavy emphasis on quick reactions
and timing. It’s not exactly complex, but
dashing quickly in and out of enemy reach
is certainly fun, and bosses are challenging
enough to make the relatively shallow
system feel rewarding. There’s a pure,
almost child-like sense of fun to be had
from darting between enemies, racking up
big combos and avoiding attacks perfectly.
The actual combat of Darksiders III is
relatively simplistic, operating on a two
button system; one button for each of
the two weapons you can have selected
at any given time. It’s not particularly
complicated, but it’s still fun enough, and
there are a variety of interesting weapons
and moves to play around with. Much of
the skill revolves around reacting to enemy
attacks and dodging at the right time;
I do feel that the game missed an
opportunity to add some depth to its
combat by not implementing directional
attacks similar to those you can find in
the Devil May Cry series. Darksiders III
operates with a hard lock-on system,
which would have allowed for the
developers to expand the number of
moves Fury had available relatively easily.

Unfortunately, as it stands, the
combat isn’t much more complex
than a Warriors game, which does
mean that once you’ve mastered
Fury’s movement and dodging, there
isn’t a lot left for you to get good at.
The difficulty curve tapers off and
you’re just left to steamroll through
the rest of the game.
From a technical standpoint, this is
one of the least impressive games
you’ll find on current generation
hardware. It looks like a late PS2 title,
with some truly bad textures and low
res environments. Even the previous
Darksiders games, which were by no
means graphical powerhouses, were
more impressive than this. There’s
no kind way to say it: this game does
not look good.

I’m usually not one to make much of a
fuss about graphical fidelity in an action
title, as performance is usually more
important in a title that’s focused on
fast movement and quick reflexes, but
Darksiders III barely manages to touch
30 FPS consistently, with plenty of frame
rate drops whenever things get hectic
on screen. 60 FPS is the benchmark that
games focused on quick movement
and fast-paced melee combat should
strive to reach, and 30 FPS is something
I grudgingly accept as a bare minimum.
This is completely unacceptable: there is
simply no justification for an action game
Despite these problems, I keep coming
back to the fact that the game is just fun
to play, which is something that cannot be
said for far too many recent mainstream
releases. If you’re a fan of the series, or
you’re just looking for the opportunity
to beat people into the ground, you
may be able to overlook the myriad of
technical problems and the relative lack
of complexity. For anyone else, it’s hard to
recommend dropping $60 on this. If you
don’t already like hack and slash titles,
and the Darksiders series specifically, this
third installment certainly won’t make you
a fan.
failing to even reach a locked 30 FPS on
eighth gen hardware, let alone one which
has its core mechanics focused around
By Paul Broussard
quick reactions and inputs on the player’s
part.

Stephen LaGioia
REVIEW NS:
yoshis crafted
world
Nintendo has built a tremendous
track record when it comes to quality
platformers in its long gaming history.
Developer Good-Feel, which has taken the
reins for Yoshi-specific games in recent
years, comes with a less certain history.
Good-Feel has created a handful of
charming and enjoyable titles for Nintendo
platforms over the years and its most
notable efforts include the well-crafted
but rather basic Kirby’s Epic Yarn, Yoshi’s
Woolly World, and Wario Land: Shake
It. I’m happy to say, however, that the
developer’s latest effort on the Nintendo
Switch - Yoshi’s Crafted World - just might
be Good-Feel’s best game yet.

Crafted World utilizes a mechanic of aiming
and firing eggs in a pseudo-3D space to
hit cardboard pieces. This is a simple yet
effective and satisfying hook, and continues
the trend of boundary-pushing Yoshi
platformers. While Woolly World’s yarn
gimmick tended to be in your face and a bit
much at times, the cardboard themes in this
title reside more in the background - both
in a literal and figurative sense. This allows
for a tighter, more enjoyable experience;
and one that’s a touch more fast-paced. It
comes off as distinct, while feeling closer to
Yoshi’s Island/Story in spirit. It truly felt to
me like a nostalgic trip back to the mid 90s
when playing around with the egg-firing
mechanic, especially after seeing the return
of baddies like Spear Guys, Goonies, and
the main villains - Baby Bowser and Kamek.
Yet Crafted World has completely ditched
its predecessor’s “hook” of its often
cumbersome yarn-yanking mechanic. In
its place we get the more straightforward
approach of shooting cardboard cut-outs
scattered throughout 2.5D planes. These
The artistic vibe of Yoshi’s Crafted World
maintains that predominant level of
colorful cuteness that Woolly World pulled
off so well. Much like Woolly World, it
really feels like you’re playing through
a rich, kid-friendly animated piece here.
cutouts take on a variety of images that are
often meant to blend into the background,
providing a certain scavenger hunt feel.
Nailing them can yield various goodies,
such as hearts that replenish heath, as well
as coins and flowers.

Crafted World nicely interweaves the
collectables into the gameplay itself, as
scramble to earn the plethora of goodies in
each stage, some of which are well hidden.
you can use earned coins to buy a variety
of cute cardboard costumes that give
you extra protection depending on their
rarity. These range from common items
like a bottle cap, to a more coveted Labo
keyboard and Monty Mole shell. The other
collectables mainly revolve around flowers,
which are needed to pass certain blockades
on the world map, including a colorful
secret area that opens upon completion
of the game. Crafted World keeps things
rather light and easy-going for the most
part. But make no mistake - completionists
will have their work cut out for them as they
While the mechanics as a whole feel more
traditional compared to Woolly World, the
game mixes in a vast array of courses that
differ thematically and mechanically. The
biomes number well over a dozen, and each
one comes with a handful of stages, which
themselves usually offer distinct qualities.
The sporadic nature of environments and
themes is reminiscent of Super Mario
Galaxy. It can feel a tad inconsistent at
times, but on the plus side any feeling of
repetition is certainly kept to a minimum
with this approach.

Stages range from train
stations, to ninja dojos which
obscure your view behind a
screen, to a haunted house
in which you’re hunted by
creepy axe-wielding clowns.
You’re even dropped into
a handful of more actionbased
vehicular stages. This
includes a course where you
control a large mechanical
version of Yoshi who plows
and punches through all
in his wake, and a solarpowered
racing stage where
you’re forced to avoid
shadows. I enjoyed the both
the ingenuity of the concepts
and richness of each stage’s
unique atmosphere, and was
happy to see a refreshing
lack of typical environmental
tropes.
converted into additional flowers following
completion. Flipped Mode also doubles as a
sort of time trial, as gathering all 3 Poochies
and reaching the goal in a certain amount of
An additional “Flipped Mode”
allows you to run through
variants of each stage in
which 3 Poochie dogs are
hiding. These scurrying
pups can be nabbed and
time nets you another flower. You’re also tasked
with the option of revisiting stages and seeking
out specific items to bring to robot-like allies
at various spots on the map. These are neat
inclusions, as they not only add yet another
dimension to Crafted World but drastically

On top of this, there’s the return of a 2 player
dying, especially when donning a costume.
co-op mode, which allows a player to jump in
as a different colored Yoshi of their choice and
provide assistance. While this usually proved
amusing, it’s quite easy to get in the way of
eachother, sometimes impeding or disrupting
progress more than helping towards it. Since
you’re on a limited 2D plane, accidentally
lapping up your partner, clocking them with
an egg/turtle shell, or hopping on their back
will likely be a common occurrence. In a
wise NSMB-esque inclusion, though, a Yoshi
You’re sometimes given a lack of eggs, which
can make things a bit hairy, though being
smart about egg use usually mitigates any
issues here. The bosses, while granting some
exciting and amusing moments, usually go
down in 3 well-placed hits with little sweat.
Then you’ve got the return of “Mellow Mode”,
which allows you to quite literally drift across
a stage, and grants a drastic increase in hits
before dying.
dropping out of frame will morph into an
egg, which will simply float towards the other
player and drop back into the action.
Aside from its relative simplicity and
occasionally touchy co-op bits, the latest Yoshi
installment really is a well-crafted platformer -
Collect-a-thons notwithstanding, most of
Yoshi’s Crafted World is a breeze to get
through. The main game can ideally be
finished in a handful of hours and with few
deaths, for those looking to get right to
business. This might be off-putting to some,
though there certainly is a place for the “sit
back and relax” style Good-Feel’s become
notorious for. Most of the various enemies
creeping about don’t pose too much of a
challenge, as you can gobble them up and
if you’ll excuse the pun. It offers an impressive
variety of innovative concepts that keep things
feeling fresh. At the same time, it adheres to
the crisp and familiar mechanics - along with
other cool nostalgic nods - found in the classic
Yoshi’s Island. It’s quite the artistic marvel
too, with its imaginative atmosphere and fine
detail, making it one of the prettier games to
grace a Nintendo platform. Yoshi’s Crafted
World is a pleasant, enduring experience that
platforming fans on the Switch shouldn’t miss.
convert them to egg ammo rather simply.
You’re also typically granted several hits before
By Stephen LaGioia

Adam Cartwright
A LOOK BACK AT DISNEY
GAMES ON PLAYSTATION
HANDHELDS
There are few brands out there that have
anything like the appeal and recognition
of Disney. Thanks to decades of beautiful
and critically acclaimed animated films, the
company is a household name that has
expanded beyond just movies to include
a variety of other ventures, including
videogames. Disney has also grown its
lineup considerably in recent years by
acquiring Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars
(although for the purposes of this article,
I’ll only be covering Disney/Pixar output).
Thanks to their broad audience, Disney
games usually show up on every viable
platform out there, meaning that despite
the brand’s affinity with Nintendo’s

YOUR SAY
younger-skewing audience, both the
PSP and Vita received a number of titles
throughout their lives. Some of this
was through Disney’s own developer/
publisher (Disney Interactive Studios), but
the firm also licensed out its IPs for other
companies to try their hand at – with
somewhat mixed results.
franchise – a collection of licensed tieins
often using platformer gameplay
and quirky references to appeal to both
younger and older audiences. So it felt
right to return to a comparable series
here, because even if the titles aren’t all
necessarily related in story or setting,
many utilise the same sense of Disney
wonderment that make the company’s
animated films such a success.
The very first time I wrote about a series
of games on the Vita, it was for the LEGO

P
Probably the best place to start
Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue! was
this article is to go back to the
seen as one of the better entries in
O
beginning of Disney games on
the genre (sadly the TV show tie-in
PlayStation hardware, with the
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command
R
release of the very first PlayStation,
when a number of different
didn’t receive the same acclaim),
while the others were a bit more
publishers were trying their hands
forgettable, although they could
T
C
at making tie-ins to classic Disney
generally be fun if you were a fan
films. Many of the titles which
of the source material.
A
L
landed on that console came to
the PSP (and by extension Vita)
Just as common were 2D
with the launch of the PS1 classics
platformers designed around older
B
A
program in 2006, which allowed
sensibilities, such as the beautifully
them to be downloaded and taken
animated Hercules: Action Game
L
S
on the go.
or Tarzan, both based on the
moderately popular films, as well
Among the titles offered through
as Mickey’s Wild Adventure, which
E
S
the program were things like 102
was an original platformer starring
Dalmations, A Bug’s Life, Atlantis,
the firm’s mascot. There was also
I
Toy Story 2, and Lilo & Stitch – early
outings into the 3D platformer
a further game based on Pixar’s
biggest IP in Toy Story Racer, which
genre (which had flourished on the
aped Mario Kart‘s design for a
C
PS1), which usually had you running
fairly enjoyable time. All of the
around finding dozens of collectible
aforementioned titles are available
S
items and jumping on the heads
of bad guys. Of them, Toy Story 2:
on Vita through backwardscompatibility.

My personal favourite of the bunch
is Monsters Inc: Scare Island, a game
which has you running around as Mike
and Sulley practicing their intimidation
skills in a training course designed
for monsters. It was a first foray into
the Disney licensed arena for Sony –
something the company would revisit
many years later for its handhelds.

Throughout much of the seventh
generation (which is when Sony
introduced its handheld PSP
console), one publisher seemed to
have a monopoly on family-friendly
software, including Disney/Pixar
games. That was THQ, whose titles
remain on the PlayStation Store
despite the company itself going
bankrupt in 2012.
THQ’s debut effort on Sony
portables was a tie-in game for
Pixar’s Cars. In contrast to the 3D
platformers Disney games were
known for up until that point, this
was a racing title that had you
playing as Lightning McQueen and
friends. It was actually fairly solid,
capturing the feel of the film while
still being enjoyable to play. It
proved to be a successful formula
that THQ would attempt to emulate
years later with Cars Race-O-Rama,
but sadly this wasn’t quite as well
received.
T
H
E
T
H
Q
E
R
A
Following this, THQ went in a more
familiar direction. Ratatouille was a
very traditional 3D platformer that
had you playing as Remy, following
the events of the film, in a game
that was far from essential but was
nonetheless a decent amount of
fun. Then there was Wall-E, which
was based on a PS2 version of a
multi-platform release spanning
generations.
A further tie-in to Up was released
in 2009 and it included some
interesting character-switching
mechanics. Sadly, THQ’s license
quickly ran out after this and it
would be the last of its Disney
titles. The company bowed to
financial pressures and exited
gaming altogether soon thereafter.

D
I
S
N
While Disney would continue to license out its Pixar films to
publishers such as THQ during most of the seventh generation,
it also continued to produce content through its own subsidiary
- Disney Interactive Games - providing an even broader range of
content for Sony’s handhelds.
E
Y
S
For example, there were multiple games based on the popular
Pirates of the Caribbean film series (which itself was based on a
ride at Disneyland, amusingly). Dead Man’s Chest was an actionadventure
title that released in 2006, quickly followed by another
tie-in to At World’s End in 2007. Both are available on PSN as a
double pack, and although neither is particularly memorable,
they can provide a good swashbuckling distraction. Disney
also worked with Warner Bros. to create LEGO: Pirates of the
Caribbean in 2011, which was a tonne of fun, even if the PSP port
was merely an up-ressed DS game.
O
W
N

Disney continued to work in partnership with other publishers beyond this, such as
with Square-Enix on the-then latest entry in its long-running crossover RPG series
Kingdom Hearts, entitled Birth by Sleep. It was seen by many as the best handheld
entry in the franchise to-date, as well as being a return to form following a number of
questionable releases. Sadly, due to licensing issues, Birth by Sleep was never made
available on PSN, meaning you’re unable to play it on Vita without hacking it.
E
F
F
O
R
T
S
Elsewhere, in 2010 the company worked on Toy Story 3 (a 3D
platformer) and Tron: Evolution (a bizarre combat/platformer/racing
hybrid), neither of which were particularly well received on Sony’s
handheld thanks to their stripped-down content (for example on
consoles, Toy Story 3 included a toy box mode that allowed you
to create your own levels, something that would be a template for
their later series Disney Infinity). This low effort was a precursor to
what would follow which was dropping support completely, but an
unexpected source stepped in to continue bringing Disney games to
Sony handhelds.

S
O
N
An odd partnership was struck in 2011 between Disney
and Sony, where the Spanish developer Virtual Toys was
commissioned to make games based on a variety of Disney’s
IP’s for Sony’s handheld lines, likely as part of a broader
attempt to engage younger gamers with Sony’s platforms
(this also included things like the new IP Invizimals).
Y
This first happened for Cars 2, based on the Pixar sequel
from 2011. Rather bizarrely, instead of being a port of any
S
pre-existing version, Cars 2 was a bespoke experience built
specifically for the PSP, shifting the racing mechanics to an
isometric perspective reminiscent of Micro Machines.
T
E
P
S
This was followed in 2012 by a direct port of Phineas & Ferb:
I
N
Across the 2nd Dimension, again for the PSP, although by this
point it was clear that the initiative would have to shift over
to a newer platform, not least because Phineas had some
major performance problems.

This happened a couple of years later in 2014 when Muppets Movie
Adventures released on PlayStation Vita, Sony’s handheld replacement for
the PSP. Another bespoke experience, and one that attempted to make
use of the console’s unique inputs, it unfortunately was a bit of a boring
mess that isn’t really worth playing. That was a shame, given previous
Muppets titles had proved in the past that they could be pretty fun.
Virtual Toys worked on one last Disney game on Vita in 2015, which was
Phineas & Ferb: Day of Doofenshmirtz. An expansion of the gameplay
basis that had been developed in Across the 2nd Dimension, it offered
some enjoyable if uninspired 3D platforming action that thankfully was a
big improvement over Muppets.

A
Between 2008 and 2012,
Disney Interactive Studios
It spawned a sequel in 2012
(Epic Mickey 2: The Power of
H
reportedly lost over $200m
per year, causing some deep
Two), which Sony paid to be
ported to Vita a year later.
restructuring of the company
It was a bizarre decision,
L
A
and shifting priorities. This
and the game itself received
is undoubtedly one of
a very lukewarm critical
A
N
the reasons the company
never really pledged any
reception, but it did at least
provide a nice bit of variety
support for Vita. However,
for the console’s library.
S
D
beyond its work with Virtual
Toys, Sony also engaged
Sony also got involved
T
H
other developers to bring
this missing content to its
in bringing Disney’s even
bigger gamble to the
handheld.
handheld - Disney Infinity.
E
Disney Infinity was an
For example, one of Disney’s
ambitious entry in the
F
L
biggest titles of the seventh
generation was Epic Mickey,
toys-to-life genre which
allowed gamers to play in
a sweeping 3D platformer
the fantastical worlds of
E
D
which aimed to tell the tale
Marvel, Pixar, and eventually
of Disney’s mascot and his
Star Wars, as well as build
W
history throughout the years.
their own levels using in-

D
I
S
N
E
Y
depth creation tools. The
second entry, Disney Infinity
2.0: Marvel Super Heroes,
received a belated port in
2015 which included an
exclusive Black Suit Spider
Man figure, but it failed to
set the sales charts alight
due to its tardy appearance
and the toys-to-life concept
not fitting all that well with a
portable platform.
This led to the third entry –
G
A
M
Disney Infinity 3.0 – skipping
Vita altogether, although by
this point it was becoming
clear that the franchise was
failing to hit its sales targets
and support would soon be
pulled altogether.
E
S

F
U
G
T
A
U
M
R
E
I’ve already written extensively
tie-ins to Monsters University
E
S
about Vita now ending
production worldwide and,
and Mickey’s Haunted
Mansion were announced by
O
unsurprisingly, youngergamer-friendly
titles like
Sony’s Spanish division.
those based on Disney IPs are
In fact, Disney games on
D
N
among the first to go when a
console is reaching the end
consoles in general seem
much less prevalent these
I
V
of its life. Virtual Toys (the
developer of numerous Disney
days – instead they’ve shifted
over to mobile as the AA
games from 2011 onwards)
market has somewhat fallen
S
I
moved on to a PS4 MOBA
after Phineas & Ferb launched
through. The odd title to slip
through the cracks here and
N
T
and since then appears to
have shut down, while Sony
there, such as Cars 3: Driven
to Win, haven’t release on
itself rapidly withdrew support
Vita, which is unsurprising but
E
A
for its own handheld. The
latter in particular was a
a little disappointing all the
same.
shame because at one point
Y

C O N C L U S I O N
Despite often being aimed at
younger gamers, there’s a lot
of fun to be had with some
Disney titles, making them a
nice addition to any console’s
library. While this meant they’ve
naturally gravitated more towards
Nintendo machines over the
years, due to a better audience
match, there’s still a nice selection
of games available on both PS1
& PSP, including some solid 3D
platformers such as Monsters Inc:
representation, but for whatever
reason Sony stepped in and
decided to start paying for
ports of these titles by itself;
a bizarre move given Sony’s
lack of support elsewhere in
the handheld’s library. While
Disney Infinity 2.0, Epic Mickey
2, and Phineas & Ferb: Day of
Doofenshmirtz may not go down
as among the best games ever
made, they nonetheless helped
broaden the platform’s library.
Scare Island and Wall-E.
By Adam Cartwright
As for the Vita, the bankruptcy
of THQ and heavy restructurings
at Disney Interactive Studios
left the handheld without much

SILK, Inspired by The Lords of Midnight, Hits Kickstarter
New sandbox RPG adventure, inspired by the late Mike Singleton’s ZX Spectrum
classic, brought to Kickstarter by the designer of Discworld Noir
Manchester, 28th February 2019: International Hobo is pleased to announce
that Silk, a Sandbox RPG Adventure Game, has launched on Kickstarter. If funded,
the game is targeting release on Steam, PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.
Kickstarter video: https://youtu.be/Eulngufz-iQ
Silk is a tribute to the late Mike Singleton, especially his ground-breaking 1984
game The Lords of Midnight, and development is being directed by Chris
Bateman, designer of Discworld Noir and Ghost Master.
The engine used to produce the world of Silk has an identical design to the original
‘landscaping engine’ that Mike Singleton designed for The Lords of Midnight,
although it uses 2D assets rendered in Unity to create a more vibrant feeling
wilderness with retro roots and a contemporary lo-fi vibe. All the exploration and
warfare of the original is here, along with trading and recruiting Advisors who
make up an RPG party inspired by the Clan Ring of King of Dragon Pass.

WRITTEN BY PAUL MONOPOLI
With a lo-fi visual aesthetic and a lightweight interface that delivers endless engaging
decisions, Silk is an innovative role-playing adventure like no other. Rise
into glory by running your caravan from the Roman Empire to war-torn Three
Kingdoms China. Defend yourself from bandits, sandstorms, and rebellions by
hiring Advisors skilled in everything from battle to wayfinding. Fall in love with
your own unique party of Advisors and the enchanting world of the Ancient Silk
Road in 200 AD.
Gameplay trailer: https://youtu.be/cFyvMgstQug

“This is a game I’ve wanted to make for some time, but it never felt like the right
time.” said award-winning game designer Chris Bateman, Creative Director, International
Hobo Ltd. “But there might never be a good time to honour the influence
Mike’s work as a game developer had on me, and now is a great time to be trusting
fans of indie games to support something innovative and unusual, that’s not
like anything else out there, and that pays tribute to a pioneer who sadly passed
away in 2012 at the age of 61. I can think of no better way I can memorialise his
achievements than to make a game inspired by what I loved in his classics.”
Playable Demo: https://bit.ly/2StpLrD
Press Assets: https://bit.ly/2GQjwgp
Kickstarter Page: http://kck.st/2EmVMwr
---
About International Hobo Ltd
International Hobo combines award-winning creative services with a new game
development studio. The core company is one of the world’s most successful
game design, narrative design and scriptwriting consultancies, and games the
company has worked upon have collectively sold more than 10 million units while
franchises its staff have worked on have sold in excess of 80 million units. They
are currently expanding operations to include development teams working on
innovative ‘heirloom’ console game projects for niche markets, of which _Silk_ is
the first title in development.

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