Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch. Directed by JJ Abrams.

It looks like Paramount might have pulled a swift one on us. When JJ Abrams' 'Star Trek' was released in 2009, it seemed to signal the beginning of a new, more accessible era for the franchise. "Come on in," the studio seemed to be saying, "the water's fine. Oh, you don't like Star Trek? That's cool; this is just a fun, sexy, action flick set in space. It's a lot like Star Wars, actually. You like Star Wars, don't you? Of course you do."

This time around, though, the message is very different: "True Star Trek fans or GTFO."

Sure, there are still touches of Star Wars in Abrams' approach to the action sequences, but 'Into Darkness' goes relatively deep into Trek lore. There are stacks of references to the original series, and certain plot points and character motivations that won't make much sense to casual audiences.

More than continuity, though, it's the tone that recalls classic Trek. 'Into Darkness' shuffles along at a much slower, more deliberate pace than its immediate predecessor; it's certainly more dialogue-heavy, and weighed down with the sorts of Starfleet intrigue and moral debates that were routine in older incarnations of the franchise and largely absent in Abrams' 2009 reimagining.

Having said all that, I adored this movie. It may not be for everyone, but if you're not completely averse to classic Trek, it's an absolute treat — the plot grips, the dialogue retains a sharp wit even at the darkest of times, and the action impresses.

Benedict Cumberbatch delivers a stellar performance as the mysterious John Harrison. He's the sort of proper thesp who lends gravitas to lines that should sound ridiculous. Meanwhile, the core cast — Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, John Cho and Anton Yelchin — continues to make these roles their own.

With Abrams off to direct 'Star Wars Episode VII' — which, let's face it, probably would have been a better use of his time from the beginning — it's unlikely we'll see him in the chair for another Trek. If this is the end, it's been a worthy voyage.

4 Stars

‘Star Trek: Into Darkness’ is out now.

If Kool Herc is the father of hip hop, Afrika Bambaataa is the Godfather. And he’s going to the mattresses. 

A Bronx legend known as an originator of both breakbeat DJing and electro funk, Bambaataa has never been one to let genre stand in the way of a good tune. He believes boundaries have no place in hip hop, as evidenced by the influence of Kraftwerk, Yellow Magic Orchestra and Gary Numan on his signature track, 'Planet Rock'. But he looks around today and sees people fixated on authenticity; on what is 'real' hip hop and what is not. 

“Well, those are the people that just don't know,” he says dismissively. “Most people say 'hip hop' today and they just think of rap records. Most don't even recognise the whole cultural movement of hip hop. Most radio stations, when they play hip hop, all they're into is payola and getting money for commercial tracks; they don't care too much about the culture. Most of the people who get in there, they claim they're in it for the 'culture', but they're not. They just want a paycheck. And they're going to dictate to you what rap music is today? 

“Then you go to these parties today, and people get mad if you play the breakbeat. They say, 'oh, can I hear some hip hop?' What's wrong with you, man? The breakbeat is hip hop! If you want to hear a rap record, just say you want to hear a rap record! These people have jacked up what hip hop truly is, and was, and made it commercial. That's why you've got apartheid now in hip hop. You've got people who think, 'this is real hip hop'. It's not. 

“They don't even know that hip hop is all different categories and styles of music. You can have your R&B, you can have your hip house, you can have your trance, you can have your jungle hop, you can have your Calypso reggaeton style of hip hop... I always give credit to the people who are progressive-minded. People like Missy, Outkast, Busta Rhymes. These are great people who are not scared to play with the different sounds of hip hop and different sounds of music.”

As you can probably tell, Bambaataa's not a big fan of US radio stations. He believes they continue to wield influence, and they don't use it for good. Among other things, he blames them for hip hop's short attention span — whereas classic rock and funk acts can continue to get airplay and tour sizable venues for years, if not decades, after their commercial peak, hip hop isn't so kind to its elders. 

“I blame the stations,” he confirms. “Because if you played all that [older hip hop] music along with what's happening now, they still would get respect. Some people want to hear old funk music, some people want to hear old soul music. Those type of people will pack out a Temptations show; I mean, they might not be able to fill stadiums, but those people will pack out a club to see Ohio Players or Dr John. Whereas in hip hop, well, when was your last hip hop record? It could be Busta Rhymes today and Lil Wayne tomorrow.

“They say this is what the people want to hear, but they're liars. That's what somebody told you that you ought to be playing, but you know you could play other things. If you're gonna play a gangsta record with people cussing each other out, why can't you play a Public Enemy record? It's like, if you can play a rock record by a new group, why can't you also play The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. If you play Sean Paul, why can't you play Bob Marley? It's like a game being played on the people.” 

Whether there's a mainstream audience for it or not, Bambaataa is doing his part to ensure the history of hip hop is preserved. He's donated his immense record collection to Cornell University, curators of the largest collection of historical hip hop music in North America, and he's also been given a special role to play there. |

“I'm a visiting scholar,” he says of his three-year appointment, “teaching hip hop culture and trading knowledge with the students and the staff, working on the hip hop archive, speaking on certain things that we deal with in the hip hop culture throughout the world. A lot of people have donated to the hip hop archive at Cornell University, and it's amazing to see hip hop sitting right next to the Gettysburg Address, sitting right next to indigenous treaties, sitting right next to books dealing with witchcraft and religion and all types of things. It's amazing.”

For students with a sense of history, it must be a thrill to learn from Afrika Bambaataa. But he'd rather they didn't stand on ceremony.

“I always tell everybody to keep it humble,” he laughs. “You know, I feel strange when they say 'Professor Bambaata' or things like that. Just call me Brother Bam! When we're trading knowledge, when you hear from all these other geniuses, it's just amazing, speaking with them on different subjects and topics. People just get all up in it.”

Like Professor Henry Jones on a treasure hunt, Bambaataa will be stepping away from the podium briefly to tour Australia this month. “I'll be coming with my Serato and my MC and we're going to play our music and we want people to party and dance and act crazy,” he says. “I play the music and it's up to you to make the party happen. So let's party. Let's party on the mothership.”

Afrika Bambaataa celebrates the 30th anniversary of ‘Planet Rock’ at The Hi-Fi Friday May 17.

Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Kingsley. Directed by Shane Black.

Don't envy Shane Black. Sure, the director's got a massive budget and a great cast to work with here, but he also has the thankless task of replacing Jon Favreau at the helm of the Iron Man franchise, and the brutal task of following up Joss Whedon's ‘Avengers’.

And, at least at first, he makes a hash of it. Frankly, ‘Iron Man 3’ gets off to a rough start — for the first hour or so, it plays out like a disjointed mess, weighed down by tonal issues, awkward dialogue, broad humour, an intrusive score and a hokey, by-the-numbers, logic-optional plot that relies on smart characters doing stupid things to propel itself forward.

There seems to be nothing here we haven't seen before — anxiety attacks have replaced the Palladium poisoning of ‘Iron Man 2’ (the producers have clearly figured out Tony Stark is most interesting when he's plagued by something, but refuse to delve into the alcoholism of the comics). The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) appears to be a stock standard Bin Laden analogue, and Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) is the least impressive villain in a series that hasn't exactly been known for its impressive villains, his character arc seemingly lifted wholesale from Jim Carrey's in ‘Batman Forever’.

But the film comes alive in its second half, with the reveal of a certain character's true nature. Trust me, you'll never see them coming. It's not just that the twist is clever or funny, it's that it's only at that moment that ‘Iron Man 3’ starts to feel like a Shane Black movie in the vein of ‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’ and ‘Lethal Weapon’, as opposed to something that was made by a committee.

From there on in, the run to the finish line is filled with clever winks to the audience and plays on action movie tropes, and packed with spectacular action sequences (which were largely spoiled by the trailers, but whatever; that'll only ruin your first viewing). It's not like all the problems with the film are magically fixed; it just gets a lot easier to ignore them.

Most impressively, Black — the king of bromance — is finally able to make the relationship between Tony Stark and James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) work on screen. Which just makes it more of a shame, in hindsight, that Cheadle is largely absent for the first half of the movie.

It all builds to a stirring finale, not just for this film, but for the series as a whole. We all know Stark will be in the ‘Avengers’ sequel, but where they go from there — and whether Downey Jr is still interested in going with them — is anyone's guess. (And yes, there's a post-credits scene, and yes, it's worth waiting for.)
It's not how you start, it's how you finish. That's what they say, anyway, and ‘Iron Man 3’ certainly finishes strongly enough to make you forget the way it stumbles out of the gate. Still, I can't help but hope they give this particular character a rest for a while.

3.5/5

‘Iron Man 3’ is now showing.

With all due respect to Margaret Thatcher, Rebecca Hall is the new Iron Lady.

The Golden Globe nominee — best known for her work in 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona', 'The Town' and 'The Prestige' — stars opposite Robert Downey Jr in 'Iron Man 3' as Maya Hansen, a brilliant bio-technologist with an extremely shocking new invention.

“'Extremis' is a formula that my character has developed,” Hall explains, “that essentially reprograms your genetic code so that you can re-grow your body to be however you want it to be, essentially so you can become superhuman. But it's got some issues and problems.”

That's an understatement, but to say anything more than that would be to say too much. What Hall can talk about are the experiences she had on the set, highlighted by working with Downey Jr.

“I have loved working with Robert Downey Jr,” she enthuses. “He is a real force and he's very energising to work with because he's very unexpected. He knows this character; he knows Tony Stark inside out. He understands him so completely. I think what's particularly charming and wonderful about Tony Stark, and what Robert's done to create it, is his great wit.

“He's very funny and he shows his intellect through his wit. And that's pure Downey Jr.; that's not really anything else; that's just him, and he is quick-witted like that. So it's very thrilling to work with him because you have to give as good as you get, which is a great challenge and fun.”

Of course, the clothes make the man, and getting the chance to see the Iron Man armour on set was another highlight of the gig for Hall.

“The coolest aspect of the Iron Man suit, in my opinion, is the shoes. You don't really see them that often, but they're like these incredible, kind of full-on power shoes. But I think the most interesting part about the suit is probably the glowing hand, and seeing how they do the glowing stuff in the eye. Because I assumed, in my sort of film naiveté, that you do all that stuff in post, but it actually glows on set and that's quite exciting.”

'Iron Man 3' is in cinemas now.

Under Glen Mazzara's direction, 'The Walking Dead' has become the most watched basic cable drama telecast in history.

As his last season races towards its conclusion, we sit down for a spoiler-filled discussion with the departing showrunner about his work.

Of all the possible explanations for the show's unprecedented success, the most compelling is its unpredictable nature. It's simply impossible to guess what's going to happen from one episode to the next with any degree of accuracy, as demonstrated by the sudden death of lovable prisoner Axel a few weeks back.

Using that death as a case study - why did someone have to die at that moment, and why did it have to be Axel? - Mazzara provides us with a revealing insight into his creative process.

“When The Governor shows up,” he explains, “he's not there to invade the prison or launch a major attack, he just wants to send a message to these people. And as he's doing that, he will look ineffectual if it does not result in a death. You know, we want to have a big gun battle, but he's not invading, so he's just going to snipe at somebody, and that's going to result in a death. Otherwise he looks completely impotent.

“Now the question is, whose death? To be very honest, I didn't want to kill off any of the major characters. We obviously didn't want to kill Rick. Carol was on the chopping block, but I didn't want to kill Carol, because we have a story coming up with her. We looked at the possibility of killing Beth. I don't think that actor knows that... but I felt that would have had too big an impact on the group. It would have just devastated poor Herschel. It would have taken him down a path I didn't want for the rest of the season. And we were already dealing with Maggie's feelings about her sexual assault by The Governor, so we didn't want to complicate that with mourning for her sister.

“We talked about killing Carl in that episode! We really did... unfortunately, you know, by the process of elimination, we got to Axel. Now I like Lew Temple's performance of Axel very, very much, and we were just starting to find that character and develop him in a way that we loved. And we probably could have had more stories with him. But The Governor was the main character in that piece. We needed to make sure he was not ineffectual. Because otherwise he's not a bad guy that could possibly take out our guys.”

If The Governor doesn't “take out our guys” by the end of this season, he'll have to do it under someone else's watch. Mazzara's run is coming to a close, and 'The Walking Dead' is about to welcome its third showrunner in four seasons. There was a time when fans wouldn't have noticed, but they seem to know everything that happens behind the curtain now. Is that increased attention a good thing?

“I think so!” Mazzara laughs. “I think the showrunner deserves it! They're driving the creative vision of the show. So even though it is a collaborative medium, the showrunner is the equivalent of the director of a feature film... there's no aspect of the show that I'm not involved in, that I don't approach from a position of authority.

'The Walking Dead' Season 3 premieres every Tuesday at 7:30pm AEDT on FX, exclusively on FOXTEL, less than 33 hours after US audiences. Read the full transcript of this interview at scenestr.com.au.

Tributes have been flowing this morning for Adrian Thomas, aka DJ Ajax, arguably Australia's most influential DJ and widely considered its best.

The Age reports that Thomas ran onto a road in Melbourne's inner north and was struck by a truck in the early hours of Thursday morning. Police have confirmed a pedestrian was killed when he was struck by a truck in Parkville.

One of the founding members of the Bang Gang crew — and the founder of record label Sweat It Out!, which released 'We No Speak Americano', among other dance floor perennials — the 41-year-old has incredibly been voted one of Australia's top five DJs in the inthemix 50 poll every year since 2005, taking out top honours in 2006 and 2007.



As you'd expect, tributes from industry luminaries and fans have flooded Twitter:

RIP to Ajax, my thoughts are with all the Australian homies, I can't believe this. Such a warm and generous dude, a real leader.

— Krazee Eyez Killa (@atrak) February 28, 2013

If you're a DJ and you ever toured Australia chances are you knew Ajax, he was like the ambassador. Much love to the Banggang homies.

— Krazee Eyez Killa (@atrak) February 28, 2013

Last week we told Ajax he influenced us to get into music. We celebrated signing to Sweat it out. He was so passionate. A genuine legend.RIP

— RUFUS (@rufussounds) February 28, 2013

RIP Australia's DJ Ajax. A friend and a great guy. fb.me/2hQQpU7sy

— StantonWarriors (@StantonWarriors) February 28, 2013

Rest In Peace Ajax. we Lost One of The Best Dj On Earth. Thinking About His Family and His Friends. We Gonna Miss You Man <3

— Louis Brodinski (@Brodinski) February 28, 2013

Can't believe this has happened. So long Ajax.. Thanks for the good tunes, good times & good vibes.. Love you homie, RIP Dance Legend..

— bag raiders (@bag_raiders) February 28, 2013

Ajax. Quite a legend. The one who always kept the vibes going in Australia, both on the music scene and also as an all round good bloke. RIP

— Fake Blood (@IamFakeBlood) February 28, 2013

I can't believe it.... RIP Ajax. thank you so much for the good times. instagr.am/p/WSG7exMtke/

— Surkin (@Surkin) February 28, 2013

i can not believe the news that our good aussie friend Adrian DJ Ajax has passed away :( thank you for all the joy you gave us**RIP**

— Boys Noize(@boysnoize) February 28, 2013

Dj Ajax was the first guy who brought me down to Sydney to DJ together with him in 2006. he was an outstanding DJ, amazing skills

— Boys Noize(@boysnoize) February 28, 2013

Heart breaking news about Ajax.A genuine talent with such a warm, happy soul...You will be so greatly missed

— Jack Beats (@jackbeats) February 28, 2013

My heart just sank. RIP DJ Ajax. One of the best DJs I've ever known & an amazing human being. Love & deepest condolences to the Aussie fam.

— davenada (@davenada) February 28, 2013

RIP AJAX.vivid memory of us leaving a hotel one morning, and him not realizing he had no shoes on until we were outside

— JFK MSTRKRFT (@jfkmstrkrft) February 28, 2013

Saddened to hear about the passing of Dj Ajax. RIP

— erol alkan (@erolalkan) February 28, 2013

RIP to the dance legend AJAX... you'll be missed. You made the world a better place

— Grant Smillie (@grantsmillie) February 28, 2013

Truly saddened by the news that one of Australia's most talented DJs, Ajax, has died. My thoughts go to his friends and family #RIPajax

— Danny Clayton (@DannyjClayton) February 28, 2013

R.I.P. Ajax, you'll be missed. Stay tuned for a classic track this morning, we'll be playing one from his early work. #ajax

— FBi Radio (@fbiradio) February 28, 2013

Ajax is dead? Oh fuck this. Bang Gang for life.

— Lee Smart (@VonBayce) February 28, 2013

RIP Adrian. You were a wonderful man and a treasured part of our music scene. #ripajax

— Simon Keck (@simonkeck) February 28, 2013

Awful news from home about the tragic passing of DJ Ajax. RIP #legend #BangGang #SweatItOut

— Sgt Slick (@sgt_slick) February 28, 2013

Adrian, you will be missed… / such a huge loss / such a massive talent… in shock about this right now. #RIPajax

— Phil Jamieson (@philjamieson) February 28, 2013

I remember when I used to listen to the Bang Gang Show, few years ago. It was absolutely huge. Oz lose one of his best DJ. RIP Ajax.

— don rimini (@donrimini) February 28, 2013

Very sad news about Ajax passing. My condolences to the Bang Gang, Sweat it Out crew, and everyone else feeling bummed out right now

— Jeremiah Neoteric (@neoteric) February 28, 2013

R.I.P DJ Ajax .....was a good man and a world-class DJ...terrible news to wake up to...thinking of my Bang Gang homies on this rainy day.

— The Tongue (@TheTongueIsDead) February 28, 2013

RIP Dj Ajax, a true legend. Very glad our paths have crossed!

— Mightyfools (@Mightyfools) February 28, 2013

RIP Ajax, shocking news.

— Yacht Club Djs (@YachtClubDJs) February 28, 2013

#RIPAJAX. Not only an incredible musician, but a legendary human being. Dirty nightclub dancefloors will not be same without you.

— Camilla Mary-Rose (@CamillaMaryRose) February 28, 2013

Going through video teasers Ajax posted this month of new EP. Guy was really on the edge of something musically. What a goddamn shame.

— Rachael(@strictlyandlow) February 28, 2013

Mel Buttle has spent most of her life “being embarrassed or apologising for doing embarrassing stuff”. But it hasn’t always been this way.

“I only realised how embarrassing I was when the cool girls at primary school pointed it out to me,”  remembers the comedian, who's now so prone to embarrassment that she's called her new show 'How Embarrassment'. “I suppose I didn't really care before then. I thought it was cool to ride around on my bike with my pet chicken in the basket. Now I realise that was quite weird.

“I think it was when school started, when girls with names like Natalie and Kelly would come up and say, 'oh my god, Mel Buttle, what are you doing? That is so embarrassing!' My dad would make my lunch and wrap it up in wet newspaper to keep it cool, but everyone else had nice lunch boxes with Barbie on them. That's when I started to realise I was perhaps a little bit different.”

Buttle's dad is a constant target of her comedy, but – unlike his daughter – he's not embarrassed by the attention. If anything, he revels in it.

“See, this is his problem,” Buttle laughs. “I'll tell stories on stage about him that are clearly only funny because he's an idiot, and he just laps it up. He loves the attention. Last year at my Brisbane Comedy Festival show, he got the little flyers and posters and stood out front of the door of the show and signed them for people. He was there going, 'I'm Barry! That's me, I'm the one from the show!'

“God! It's so embarrassing! He sees himself as the star. I'm like, 'dad, I'm making fun of you, I'm mocking you'. But he doesn't care.”

You might think success – her column in The Courier Mail, her segment on Triple J, her hit podcast with Patience Hodgson – would make life easier for Buttle. You'd be wrong.

“No. No, no, no, no. First of all, let me be clear: There is no success. I still have my pyjamas on right now. But no... I'm exactly the same. That's why I can't understand when people see me and they're like, 'oh, I heard you on Triple J'... I don't know why they want to talk to me. I'm like, 'guys, didn't Natalie and Kelly tell you I'm uncool?'”

Mel Buttle appears at Brisbane Comedy Festival from March 5-9.

We've long been taught that patience is a virtue. Successful Hollywood screenwriter Todd Farmer —who'll run an intensive master class at this year's Gold Coast Film Festival — begs to differ.

“I was amazingly impatient," says Farmer (best known for scripting 'My Bloody Valentine 3D', 'Jason X' and 'Drive Angry'), when asked how he got into screenwriting. "I thought I wanted to write novels. Once I figured out the story, though, I just didn't have the patience to write four or five hundred pages. Then I saw a screenplay in a book store, it was a Quentin Tarantino screenplay, and it was a hundred pages long. I was like, 'hey, I can do that!' So it was just me being lazy, really."

Similarly, Farmer didn't have much time for creative writing instructor Robert McKee's notorious story seminar. "I found myself impatient with it," he says, "because he would tell me things and I was like, 'oh, yeah, I do that'. It wasn't like I was learning, it wasn't like he was teaching me how to do things, he was basically just saying that I was doing the right thing.

"There were things I learned while I was there that were good, but for the most part, I don't think there are any rules in Hollywood. I do think there are gatekeepers who will read a script, and if they don't see something that's a little bit familiar, structurally, they'll throw it away. They'll literally throw it in the can and you won't get a shot.

"So I think when you're trying to break into the business, you have to play by the rules. You have to do what is expected of you. It's the same thing with Picasso! Picasso started out painting fruit in bowls before he painted his masterpieces. You have to start out with the basics to get your foot in the door. Once you've done that, then you can do whatever you want."

It's that sort of pragmatism that Farmer hopes to spread to Australian writers. "Australian writers and directors always think outside the box," he says, "and that's a great thing! Their movies are often very artistic. The problem is they don't tend to be very commercial.

"The thing about Australia is that the population doesn't allow you to make a $20 million movie and get your money back in Australia. The population's just not big enough to do that. So if you're going to make movies of that size, they have to be commercially viable. You have to be able to sell to Japan! You have to be able to sell to the UK! You have to be able to sell to the States! And to do that, you have to have some commercial taste. That's a challenge, but it can also be fun."

Todd Farmer will show you how to get your scripts made at the Gold Coast Film Festival from April 22-23. For more info, head to goldcoastfilmfestival.iwannaticket.com.au. 

UK indie dance gods Friendly Fires have been receiving rapturous praise for their entry in the popular 'Late Night Tales' series. Of course, it's not the first mix they've ever compiled.

A mixtape was always an indie boy's delight," guitarist Edd Gibson laughs, "if you were trying to impress a girl. Instead of talking or actually interacting with her, you could just make a mixtape from afar... I was so painfully shy that I wouldn't actually be able to ask afterwards whether it had gone down well. Sometimes, they would volunteer that they enjoyed it. Other times it was just never spoken of, which was really quite scary."

It's a scary process Gibson won't have to go through again. Now, upon meeting a girl, he can simply hand her a copy of 'Late Night Tales 30' and claim he made it for her. "Exactly!" he laughs. "That's all I want. And hopefully other people can just rip it off and pass it off as their own, and with any luck we'll put some awkward teenagers together."

More than just impressing gullible girls and awkward teens, however, the compilation — a gloriously eclectic selection, prone to taking left turns from proto house to art pop to anthemic porn disco — has been given the nod by the critics, even landing a spot in MixMag's list of the Top 10 compilations of 2012.

"Ooh, really?" Edd asks, genuinely surprised. “I had no idea about that. That sounds pretty good. I'm flattered. It's odd, actually, because it didn't feel like we were putting a mix together, as such. We were just choosing our favourite songs, and that was difficult when there were three of us trying to put an hour's worth of music together. We were all being quite selfish and just trying to include songs that we personally enjoyed. It took a lot of pushing and pulling... [but] it never descended into physical violence."

Despite having to incorporate three visions into one mix — and despite the legal hassles involved in clearing their chosen tunes — the end result is something that Edd is happy to call his own.

"I really like putting the compilation on [at home], actually," he admits. "It's rare that I would listen to something we've made, but I suppose in many ways we haven't really done anything, we've just been given this easy task of picking other people's music and putting it together. So it's a pleasure to listen to it again and again.

"You know, it's so hard to pick 20 of your favourite songs of all time, so you just have to pick what's exciting you at the moment. 'Late Night Tales' is quite a weird brief. We just thought of it as what you might like to listen to when you come back home after a heavy night, something that is a little more warming for the soul. I mean, there are thousands and thousands of compilations that we could have made, but this is the one that happened to fall into place."

'late Night Tales 30' Is Available Now.

If a film made by Brisbanites topped the American box office, or a Brisbane band found their way onto one in three American iPods, it'd be a game changer for Queensland's culture industry. In the video game industry, it'd be old news.

Brisbane-based Halfbrick Studios' mobile game 'Fruit Ninja' can be found on one third of all US iPhones. Thanks to that achievement, and the work of other local developers like Defiant Development, Curious Bear, Disparity Games and Visual Outbreak, Queensland now accounts for 17 percent of Australia's $2.5 billion gaming sector. 

It's high time, then, for Queenslanders to find out more about this growing industry. That's the aim of Garage Gamer, the State Library of Queensland's new exhibition dedicated to locally made video and mobile games.

“It's being run by The Edge and State Library of Queensland and it features a venue that's going to be open seven days a week filled with playable games,” SLQ events coordinator Susan Kukucka explains. “They'll be refreshed as new games are created and launched. The events program features workshops, talks, films and special events such as a trivia night, concerts, album launches and our fortnightly Level Up games nights.”

The first of those Level Up games nights comes this January 11. You'll be able to grab a drink, play the latest Queensland made video games, and bear witness as two teams of designers go head to head.

“It's being hosted by the QUT Creative Precinct's Game On Program and brIGDA, which is the Brisbane Independent Games Developers Association,” Susan says. “They've come up with this idea that's basically a cross between 'Spicks and Specks', 'Iron Chef' and 'Cut n Paste' where two teams of developers will battle it out, responding to design challenges and attempting to make a game within three hours. It's game development as a bloodsport.

“The audience will be able to get involved by voting on the best game and on how the games are progressing, and by picking the design challenges. You'll get to see how a game comes together behind the scenes, the raw look of the game and how a game designer actually goes about the challenge of creating a playable experience. All that's going to be visible, because we're going to be filming and projecting it for people to see. It'll expose the inner workings of a game, at least as much as you can in three hours.

“There'll also be other challenges for the audience during the night — we've got a ‘Fruit Ninja’ Kinect tournament on a five metre tall screen, and other activities around the space. It's going to be lots of fun and a good experience you're unlikely to get anywhere else.”

Indeed, the other aim of Garage Gamer — beyond showing off Queensland's prowess in an emerging field — is to recapture the social aspect of gaming, something that's become less prominent as so much of the multiplayer experience has gone online.
“The Level Up Game Nights are designed to be fun, social events,” Susan says. “We're inviting people to come along after work or school and stay back late at the exhibition, play the games and meet their friends. We'll be launching demos and full versions of new games as they're released, and the game makers themselves will actually be there, so you can come and meet these people that are making these amazing things.

“I guess our inspiration for these nights is to recreate that fun experience you might remember from your childhood, when playing video games was about playing with your friends and trying out new games together. It's about celebrating games as a social experience. The side benefit is that you get to be one of the first people in Brisbane, or the world, really, to experience the games that are being launched out of here. So it should be good fun. “And yes, there is a cash bar.”

The State Library of Queensland hosts Garage Gamer from Jan 5 to Apr 14, including the first Level Up games night this Friday Jan 11.