Geek of Oz

It's not long now until Ubisoft's next big release and just in case you wanted to know, I'm excited. Watch Dogs promises to be an expansive, open-world adventure the scale of which has never been seen. Making full use of the graphics capabilities of  Xbox One and PS4 hardware, the Ubisoft team recently released imagery of their version of Chicago and believe it or not, it looks even better than the real thing! For those looking to fully immerse themselves in the world of Watch Dogs, Ubisoft have just detailed the contents of their "Season Pass" which is not only cost effective, but chock a block full of additional content. SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – April 30, 2014 – Ubisoft has revealed details of the Season Pass for the open-world, action-adventure game, Watch Dogs. The Watch Dogs Season Pass will give you access to a unique single-player story featuring T-Bone, a brilliant but eccentric hacker; a new Digital Trip game mode, Conspiracy; plus new missions, weap...

Opening worldwide on 18 December 2015, Star Wars Episode VII is shaping up to be everything we could possibly hope for. The latest news from the Star Wars camp confirms the core cast, however, does not detail any of the cast members characters.  John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson and Max Von Sydow are all confirmed to have roles in the upcoming film directed by JJ Abrams and written by Lawrence Kasdan and Abrams. Old favourites Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker will be back to reprise their legendary roles. Also confirmed is that John Williams will be back as composer. JJ Abrams is quoted as saying "We are so excited to finally share the cast of  Star Wars : Episode VII. It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again. We start shooting in a couple of weeks...

Case Closed really shouldn't be as good as it is. The episodic nature of the series is formulaic, the animation is showing its age and the music is completely underwhelming but against all odds, this series is fantastic. Jimmy Kudo is a brilliant teenage detective who has the world at his feet. His ability to crack cases that even hardened police officers can't solve is legendary but unfortunately for Jimmy, he's closed his last case. When he stumbles upon a major case he finds himself on the wrong side of some very bad people who capture poor Jimmy and feed him a drug which turns him back into a kid! So as not to give away his secret, Jimmy changes his name to Conan Edogawa and needless to say, hijnks ensue. The animation quality has seriously dated which is completely understandable given its 18 year vintage. However, TMS have done a fantastic job in realising the overall aesthetic of the source material, the long-running manga series by Gosho Aoyama. Not only ...

After watching the trailers for Zetman, and perusing some of the art from the manga source material by Masakazu Katsura, I was seriously excited to check out a series that looked to be a throw back to titles like Guyver, Devilman and Casshern. Not only did the characters look suitably moody and monstrous (except for the angelic Alphas), but the overall theme seemed to be inline with these legendary series. Unfortunately what we get is a pale intimation which suffers from serious pacing issues and a serious lack of substance.  Rich-kid Kouga and street-rat Jin are best of friends and partners in crime, well, the prevention of crime. Accompanied by Kouga's tag-along little sister, Konoha, they scour the streets, purging the city of n'er-do-wells. Fate draws them apart until the cross paths again as fully fledged fighting machines, the monstrous Zet and scientifically enhanced Alphas. The pair combine forces to do what they do best - bash stuff. This series sometimes ...

Welcome to the first installment in our all new column, "ASK MADMAN!". This column give YOU the opportunity to, well, ASK MADMAN the kind of things that you usually only get the chance to ask at conventions. Think of us as your proxy- Madman convention panel and ask away instead of waiting 12 months to get your question answered. In this volume YOU asked questions and Madman have responded. Follow on for news on Kill la Kill, J-Drama, Ghibli releases, merchandise and more! Madman's own Sylvester Ip, Daniel Chlebowczyk and Christian Were are on hand to answer your questions. Olly : Is there any chance of seeing a Madman Screening Room app for PS3, or something similar? Its great that Madman is streaming new shows, but it would be even better on a TV. Sly: We have considered apps for a number of platforms, but no plans currently to develop anything. You can actually already access the Screening Room via the PS3 browser, although we are aware that ...

Right off the bat you can tell that Home Brew Vampire Bullets (HBVB) is a labour of love from all of the home-grown Australian contributors involved. HBVB is a quarterly anthology pulp book inspired by the likes of Tales from the Crypt, 2000AD, Métal Hurtlant and Ozploitation Movies. It’s a beautifully created piece of material that tantalises and leaves you wanting more. The second issue gets quite an increase in size from the first issue at 162 pages, and is chock full of amazingly written prose from a massive line up of highly accredited writers and creators. It features a superbly in your face cover by Sacha Brying , and a foreword by none other than Australian comedic legend Tony Martin . The material inside is not for the faint of heart with the books own website giving it a "75% R" rating, but if you're a fan of this type of genre you'd know this already. It’s available both digitally and in print form. As much as I'm trying to embrace the digi...

EB Expo is back and promises to be better than ever!  With only a week until tickets go on sale, EB has confirmed that not only will the Expo be bigger than previous years, physically, but also that the legendary UK TV show Robot Wars will be there in all of there steel shredding glory. Follow on after the jump for the official press release.  EB Expo 2014: Major Publishers + Legendary UK TV Show “Robot Wars” Confirm Attendance The EB Expo is back bigger than ever in 2014 with today’s announcement that all the major Australian gaming publishers have confirmed their attendance. The event will be held October 3-5 at the Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park. Tickets go on sale next Thursday 24 April at 10am AEST – only 1 week to go. The EB Expo continues to be the premiere event for all leading and emerging publishers to showcase and introduce unreleased blockbuster games to the Australian public. Attendees can play, watch, connect and experience gami...

Darkest Night: Act Three is the latest chapter in Hayden Fryer's dark and brooding comic book drama series. Concluding the first story arc, 'Love', the issue is both written and illustrated by Fryer. While reading this latest installment I almost had to pinch myself: could this series really be from the same guy that brought us Billy Demon Slayer, a story that featured a teen's chainsaw-handed rampage through heaven? Don't get me wrong I love Billy for what it is, but Darkest Night represents something much more sophisticated. It's single minded in both visual and narrative tone, intricately paced and dialogue is used sparsely for the most part, but to great effect. This series has proven to be a real master-class in effective visual storytelling with this latest installment being no different. Act Three opens with protagonist Caleb Marcus catching up with his mates for some beers, the culmination of the positive note that Act Two left u...

You can guarantee that every convention blessed by Madman's attendance will receive news regarding their recent acquisitions and Supanova Melbourne is no different. In fact, it seems a though they went out of their way to announce a bumper crop to their homeground audience! While details are scant (but not as scant as the clothes in Maken-ki), we'll keep you up to date when further information comes to hand. Noucome - My Mental Choices are Completely Interfering with my School Romantic Comedy What would you do if every one of your actions was dependant on a limited set of parameters, like multiple choice for instance. Furthermore, what if those choices were perverse, sadistic and downright weird?  Kanade Amakusa – a boy cursed with the mental power who will turn any multiple-choice quiz he thinks about into a reality.  However, one day in school, he is given another choice: a beautiful girl will fall before him or he will fall from the rooftop in fema...

There seems to be an increasingly frequent trend in anime of late with series taking place in a time which is so interconnected with the internet that the human psyche, personal connectivity and gaming are inextricably linked. The latest of which to hit Aussie shores, thanks to Hanabee, is Accel World. Comparisons to Sword Art Online aren't completely unwarranted after all the same writer, Reki Kawahara, is responsible for the manage and light novels for both series. Haruyuki, poor short, shy Haruyuki. Completely unremarkable to the naked eye, Haruyuki's real-world exterior hides an incredible online presence wherein the young man is an incredibly talented gamer with an untapped potential. Untapped until he meets Kuroyukihime, Black Lotus.  Haruyuki is a really sweet kid with some serious self-confidence issues. At time it's almost painful to what how crippled he is by his own insecurities. That said, every cringe-worthy moment that he's put through helps t...

After watching, and blubbering through, 2011's eagerly anticipated return of Jim Henson's THE MUPPETS  I was excited to hear that they would be returning to the screen accompanied by the razor tongued yet surprisingly emotive (see Derek) Ricky Gervais. Sadly, this sequel is just as the opening song suggests, a sequel and not as good as the original.  Still filled with laughs, jovial musical numbers and more than a handful of cameos, Muppets Most Wanted lacks one thing that the original had in spades: heart. I remember feeling moved by the first film, the feeling of reminiscing with old friends and the sadness that we don't have Jim Henson here to enjoy it with us. This film however contains little in the way of emotion and while it's a fun movie, that's where the connection ends. Sure, younger audiences will still love the film which is bright, funny and filled with wacky characters, but adults may find themselves yearning for more than just giggles and cameo...

There are two kinds of people in this world: those who recognise the genius of Wes Anderson and everyone else. I tumbled down the Anderson rabbit-hole after seeing Rushmore (1998), my first taste of that special blend of the peculiar which Anderson is renowned for. Not without a few niggling problems, his latest offering The Grand Budapest Hotel is an ambitious project, reinforcing that he is a master of ‘dolls house’ style film making, but more on that later. For pure escapism it’s hard to resist a bundle of quirky characters, exquisitely wrapped in absurdity and tied together by a string of ridiculous circumstances … in other words it’s a Wes Anderson film. Perched high in the alps of Zubrowka sits the shining jewel of European hotels, The Grand Budapest Hotel. Under the watchful-eye and velvet-glove-encased iron fist of the world’s greatest concierge Monsieur Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes), the hotel proudly hosts the upper crust of European society. Many come for the views but...