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Maud Page finds her muse, two months into leading Art Gallery of NSW

Maud Page finds her muse, two months into leading Art Gallery of NSW

Two months into one of the most prized jobs in art, Maud Page has found a muse in the world of politics.
"I really want the urgency, almost, of a politician," Ms Page told the ABC.
The state's parliament is almost in sight of the institution she has been chosen to lead, the Art Gallery of NSW (AGNSW).
While some of her predecessors have enjoyed decades-long tenures (Edmund Capon held the top job for 33 years), the gallery's new director is determined not to waste a moment.
"I really want to say, 'I've got three years to really make a difference'," she said.
"I know that the first few years, even the first couple of weeks and months are really, really crucial in setting the flavour and setting the ambition."
Ms Page is the 10th permanent director of the gallery since it was founded in the late 19th century.
She is also the first woman at the helm.
"But I am really pleased that there has been a shift."
As rare as the appointment of a woman, is the promotion of an existing employee to lead the organisation.
Ms Page joined AGNSW as deputy director in 2017, working under Michael Brand, who decided to step down late last year.
"There is a ceiling to the deputy director [role] and usually deputy directors do not get director jobs," Ms Page said.
Recruiters searched the globe for Dr Brand's replacement for a fee of up to $154,000, but ultimately his deputy was deemed the best person for the $509,000-a-year job.
"The diamond is shinier outside, so I'm really, really pleased that on this occasion the committee chose to look from within," Ms Page said.
Ms Page's political skills have been put to the test early in her tenure amid rumblings of tension at the gallery.
According to a report in the Australian Financial Review, two senior executives were believed to have resigned within a fortnight of Ms Page's promotion.
The newspaper, citing "sources close to the gallery", reported that a "rift" had emerged in the institution.
When ABC's Stateline put the claims to Ms Page, she did not deny the reports but, with the deft communication skills of a politician, explained that change was natural.
"A creative environment is one where there's strong discussions," Ms Page said.
The new director was unafraid to weigh in on a recent controversy in the art world — the dumping of artist Khaled Sabsabi as Australia's representative at the 2026 Venice Biennale.
The Coalition raised concerns in federal parliament in February that some of his old work had glorified terrorism, a representation the artist said was false.
Within hours, Sabsabi was dropped by Creative Australia, which said his selection posed an "unacceptable risk to public support for Australia's artistic community".
Ms Page wouldn't say whether she thought the decision undermined artistic freedom, but she did heap praise on the artist.
"What I can say is that Khaled Sabsabi is an extraordinary artist, and a very thoughtful one, and a very senior artist and very respected," she said.
"Everyone has an opinion about art, so there's interference with art all the time. And so I think it's up to us as institutions and as leaders to make sure we navigate that carefully."
As for the stamp Ms Page wants to leave on the gallery, she plans to increase the focus on First Nations art, which she said is Australia's "point of difference when the world looks at us".
"Unfortunately, they don't look at all our array of amazing artists, but they do look at the Indigenous because that's never been seen before."
She also plans to ramp up children's programming in a bid to make the gallery feel like a "second home" for everyone.
"I want to make sure that on every single floor there's something for families to do and that it's intergenerational and really exciting when you walk through these doors.
"I want you to feel it, that it's palpable, that you've got something for you, and that you feel absolutely welcome."
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Raise taxes to fix budget, Treasury advises Labor in accidentally published advice
Raise taxes to fix budget, Treasury advises Labor in accidentally published advice

ABC News

timean hour ago

  • ABC News

Raise taxes to fix budget, Treasury advises Labor in accidentally published advice

The Albanese government has been advised the budget cannot be fixed without raising taxes and cutting spending, and that its housing target is unachievable. The ABC can reveal the advice, written by the independent Treasury and offered after Labor's re-election, warns the government's signature pledge to build 1.2 million homes over five years to address the housing crisis "will not be met". That declaration was one of several subheadings in a table of contents accidentally included in Treasury's response to an ABC freedom of information (FOI) request. Other subheadings reveal Treasury told Treasurer Jim Chalmers he would need to find "additional revenue and spending reductions" to meet his objective of a "sustainable" budget. The materials do not elaborate on which taxes could be raised, but suggest that Treasury canvassed "indirect taxes" and superannuation tax as possible targets, and that it appeared to favour lower taxes on companies and personal incomes. The department also briefed Mr Chalmers on its assessment of the consequences for Australia if there is a global loss of confidence in the US dollar or the independence of the US Federal Reserve, along with a framework for a crisis response in such a scenario. The materials come from Treasury's "incoming government" brief to the department's ministers, including Mr Chalmers and Housing Minister Clare O'Neil. Those briefs are routinely prepared by all departments during election campaigns, with no input or visibility from the ministers, and with an alternative version drafted for the opposition. They include the department's advice about how to implement and add to each party's agenda, and its assessment of looming challenges. Journalists can request the briefing given to the winning party through the FOI process, but often receive a heavily redacted copy, as was the case in this instance. But the document emailed to the ABC mistakenly included headings and subheadings from the redacted sections, revealing sensitive elements of Treasury's briefing which the department did not want to make public. Treasury asked that the document be deleted after realising the error, but the ABC has decided to publish it because it provides a rare insight into how top advisers view the major economic and policy challenges facing the Albanese government as it begins its second term in power, and so is in the public interest. Steven Kennedy, who was Treasury secretary when the briefs were prepared, now leads the prime minister's department. Treasury advised that "improvements to the budget will need to come from economic growth, additional revenue and spending reductions" and that "tax should be raised as part of broader tax reform". Mr Chalmers has since declared an appetite for tax reform reaching beyond Labor's election platform, and will hold a roundtable in August with tax on the agenda, saying proposals should improve the budget bottom line, or at least be budget neutral. The government also plans to double the earnings tax on super balances above $3 million. The reforms were introduced to parliament last term but are yet to be legislated amid debate about indexation of the threshold and whether the tax should capture "unrealised" gains in asset value. Under the heading "opportunities to build on your agenda", Treasury gave advice about "building on" Labor's superannuation tax changes, but the heading does not reveal what was advised. Other headings suggest Treasury favours lower taxes on individual and company incomes, advising on "rebalancing" personal income tax "to increase workforce participation and give workers a fair go", and "modernising" business tax to boost investment. It suggests reform to "support budget repair", consistent with Labor's agenda, could be implemented through "the indirect tax system", a broad group of taxes including fuel excise, cigarette tax, state and territory stamp duty and land tax, and the GST. The treasurer and prime minister have both fielded questions about whether they plan to raise GST through the roundtable process, both signalling reluctance but adding they are happy for contributors, including business, unions and experts, to raise any idea. The department also advised Mr Chalmers and Ms O'Neil that the 1.2 million homes target "would not be met" and floated changing it, advising the government to "build on [its] agenda" by crafting a "coherent and well-prioritised" housing agenda. There has been substantial public commentary about the viability of the target, with housing completions so far well off track, and the ministers have described the target as "ambitious" but maintained it can be met. Ms O'Neil was presented with a range of options to support the construction of more housing, including using the migration and skills system to boost the construction workforce, and using its existing policy of grants to state and territories to better "leverage" them to boost building rates. Treasury also briefed the minister on the "dysfunctional" funding model for the infrastructure that "enables" the construction of new housing, such as pipes and sewers, which was a key Coalition election policy. It also identified "challenges" with the "responsiveness… capability… [and] speed" of key housing agency Housing Australia and suggests "steps to improve oversight and re-set the relationship with the CEO and Board" of the body. The headings did not name any specific issues with the agency or explicitly state that there were any, but suggested a "review". The materials also reveal Treasury has modelled a variety of world crises originating in the United States, appearing to suggest concern about the actions of the Trump administration. "The global economic outlook has rapidly deteriorated, with implications for Australia," the department advised Mr Chalmers. Treasury presented scenarios including a loss of confidence in the US dollar as the global reserve currency and the independence of its central bank, the Federal Reserve. The headings do not reveal the details or assessments about the likelihood of these scenarios, which range from a milder "escalating tariff scenario" to more serious "financial disruption" and "worst case" scenarios. The financial disruption scenario includes an increase in US sovereign risk — the interest charged on US government borrowing, reflecting the market's assessment of the safety of the dollar — of two percentage points, proposing a tiered Australian response in the event of a "severe downturn". US President Donald Trump has repeatedly insulted Fed chair Jerome Powell and vowed to replace him with someone who will cut interest rates when his term expires this year. Treasury officials have previously discussed their assessment of the consequences of a trade war and warned of the risks of broader financial uncertainty, and Mr Chalmers released some trade-related modelling during the election campaign. That modelling found only modest impact on the Australian economy from a trade war. Treasury's modelling of more serious scenarios was accompanied by a proposed "framework" for a stimulus response, including "direct support" (e.g. cash payments) and "liquidity support" to calm financial markets — a similar response to those used during the 2008-09 Global Financial Crisis. A spokesperson for Mr Chalmers said the government would not "go into the detail" of Treasury's briefings. "Of course Treasury provides advice for incoming governments … We've already made it clear we'll need to do more to meet our housing goals and make our economy more productive and our budget sustainable," the spokesperson said. "These issues were a focus of the treasurer's recent address to the National Press Club and we will grapple with some of them at the upcoming roundtable." Mr Chalmers has also repeatedly highlighted global volatility as an economic risk, including in the context of the Trump administration's trade restrictions. "The uncertainty, volatility and unpredictability in the global environment I think will be the biggest influence that will shape and constrain the government's choices in this term," he said in an interview on Sky News on Sunday.

Fearless and free, the Treasury isn't holding back — and that's good for everyone
Fearless and free, the Treasury isn't holding back — and that's good for everyone

ABC News

timean hour ago

  • ABC News

Fearless and free, the Treasury isn't holding back — and that's good for everyone

At first glance they don't look like much — succinct headlines prepared for Jim Chalmers by Treasury following Labor's May election win. We haven't been given access to the full text of each chapter, but the headlines alone give a rare insight into what Treasury thinks are the big economic challenges facing Australia. They are there in black and white — raising broad and important issues. You want the budget to be sustainable? Let's look at lifting taxes. There's a need to cut spending. Your key election promise, to build 1.2 million homes? "Won't be met." When I requested the incoming government brief prepared by Treasury for Jim Chalmers, I was hoping for an insight into the economic challenges and opportunities facing the nation. That's what we got. But you're only reading about it because a staffer forgot to remove a hard-to-find key section. Then, having made that mistake, requests to have the ABC delete the document helped to highlight there was something there. Freedom of Information or FOI is a system that allows anyone access to documents created by government departments and agencies. The overwhelming majority of requests are people seeking information about themselves and their interactions with government departments. At a federal level this means the Department of Home Affairs (visas) and Services Australia, which administers Centrelink. At a state level requests to the health sector and law enforcement agencies dominate because they are very "public facing" and create and store large amounts of personal information about individuals. If you search "FOI" on their websites, you'll find out how to make a claim. However, another element is that FOI is used by journalists, researchers and members of parliament to find out more about topics they are interested in. The immense restrictions of what they can seek, and the broad ability of the decision-makers to redact information has given it a joke name amongst these groups: FFI — Freedom From Information. Before every election, federal government departments create a brief for the incoming minister. Because they don't know what the result will be, they typically create a so-called "Red Book" in the event of a Labor win, and a "Blue Book" in the event of a Coalition win. (Don't bother trying to get the brief prepared for the loser of the election. A colleague took that one all the way to the High Court and lost.) Each of them sets outs the current state of the sector covered by the department, and how the election promises of the winning party could be enacted. It is routine for journalists at different outlets to submit an FOI request for the "incoming government brief". One day in May I sat down and sent off about 60 requests to different departments and agencies. My FOI application to Treasury was made on May 14. Barely two weeks later — this is lightning speed in FOI land — I received a "Notice of Decision" and a 111-page document. But there's a reason it was so fast. It was basically empty. The brief is filled with obvious information — Michele Bullock is the governor of the Reserve Bank, with a short biography and her contact details (which are redacted). There is more information about Treasury's physical offices, their locations and the staff there. A list of committees and agencies and the expiry dates of their chair's terms. Again, nothing that gives us any insight into Treasury's thinking or concerns about the economy. I file it and move on. But, on June 11 I receive an email saying Treasury sent the wrong document. "The version sent contains a limited amount of exempt and confidential information. Our sincere apologies for this oversight. A replacement version is attached," it wrote, asking me to delete copies of the original. The idea that they wanted to redact even more made me chuckle. The next day another email. "For record keeping purposes, could you please confirm by close of business today (Thursday, 12 June) that you have deleted the earlier version of the documents and won't report on or reproduce it." Treasury's request that I delete the document only served to renew my interest. Perhaps I'd missed something? So, using two computer screens, I slowly — half-page-by-half-page — compared the original document (May 30) and the "replacement" (June 11). I can find no differences in the two documents. I even tried the "cut and paste" technique that derailed last year's Victorian high school exams. In it, the department either changed the colour of the text to transparent or put a "white box" over it. Enterprising students selected the text into a new document and were able to read it. For me, nothing. Other colleagues join the search and come up blank. Eventually, a colleague in Brisbane finds what Treasury are so concerned about. The first version of the document sent to me on May 30 includes what is essentially a table of contents, for what is in the entirely redacted briefs discussing policy for Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Housing Minister Clare O'Neil. They provide fascinating insights into Treasury's thinking on some of the key economic challenges facing Australia, and it's for that reason that the ABC decided to publish them. Treasury said to achieve a sustainable budget "tax should be raised as part of broader tax reform". Currently, the government spends more money that it receives. "Reform of the tax system is necessary to strengthen economic resilience and the fiscal position." A key part of that would be the GST, described in the brief as "reforming the indirect tax system" to support "budget repair" and the sustainability of the federal and state governments. Any rise in the GST would be politically contentious because poorer people pay more as a percentage of their income, but economists and other commentators suggest ours is low compared to similar nations. Our GST is also confusing, excluding items like fresh food adds complexity to administering it. Any extension of the GST would no doubt be coupled with support for low-income earners and welfare recipients. Income tax will also need to be "rebalanced" to get more people into the workforce by lowering the barriers and to "give workers a fair go". Changes to the amount we rely on income tax would bring us closer to those of other OECD countries. It would also acknowledge our aging population — which will likely reduce the percentage of the population who are working and earning, over time. And while the current changes to superannuation tax are controversial, the bookmarks suggest options to "build upon" them. The bookmarks don't tell us how Treasury thinks Mr Chalmers can do this, but the fact they appear to be floating options in this space is substantial. Some of the brief addresses the growing issue of Australia not having — or building — enough homes to house its population. The housing minister is advised to use the migration and skills systems to boost the construction workforce, and using more "leverage" over states to build more houses. Ultimately, Treasury appears to suggest the states and territories might need to change how they do things. "Leverage existing policies and commitments to incentivise state and territory reform," it writes. The detail of what that means is not included in the documents seen by the ABC. Housing Australia is the independent national housing agency. When it was created in 2018 under the former Coalition government, it was called National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC). Treasury calls out issues with the body. Under the heading of opportunities for policy reform, it suggests a deep look at the agency. "Review Housing Australia," the heading reads, before a further note gives homework to the new housing minister, Ms O'Neil. "Take steps to improve oversight and reset the relationship with the CEO and board". The brief lists three key challenges with the agency in charge of the government's multi-billion-dollar social housing construction scheme. All three, listed below and quoted directly from the brief, are serious: It also pointed to the "dysfunctional" present arrangements for funding infrastructure to "enable" new housing. The document describes that funding — which is for works such as pipes, sewers and connecting roads — as a "barrier" before a heading about "funding enabling infrastructure more sustainably". This is potentially embarrassing because a key election platform of the Coalition was a $5 billion fund to do exactly that. The government set aside $500 million over the last two financial years to help state and local governments deliver new housing developments. Another $1 billion was already provided to state and territory governments for infrastructure to enable social housing specifically. That money was given to jurisdictions on a per-person basis. There's lots more in the documents, about global trade, about US President Donald Trump, about the future of AI and "climate-related risks". This is all stuff Treasury should be worried about. It is. The difference is now we've seen it written down. Many of the revelations in the incoming government briefs for Mr Chalmers and Ms O'Neil won't be a shock to seasoned news watchers. For example, to hit the 1.2 million new homes target we need to massively boost the number of dwellings being approved to be built and then constructed. But the most recent data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows the number of houses being approved is below the number in 2012. Not only is that the same as a time when Australia had a much smaller population, it's nowhere near the boost required. As another example, the US dollar has been falling as investors grow increasingly uncertain about the chaos and uncertainty of United States' economic policy. It's no shock that Treasury is modelling the impact of this. So are super funds, banks, traders, anyone with their eyes open to the impact on the global economy of Mr Trump's policy choices. Treasury is deeply engaged on the biggest economic issues facing Australia It's also unafraid of telling its boss hard truths: such as the fact the government's key election promise about housing will fail, or that the relationship with the body overseeing housing needs to be "reset". Treasury might not have wanted you to read these notes, but it should give taxpayers and citizens confidence it is holding fearless and tough conversations with the people making the decisions.

What is the best video game of the 21st century?
What is the best video game of the 21st century?

News.com.au

timean hour ago

  • News.com.au

What is the best video game of the 21st century?

If you cast your mind back to the turn of the century, playing video games used to involve blowing on a cartridge like a pan pipe to get the dust out, untangling the wired controllers, and then turning the TV to channel 3. The thought of downloading full games over dial-up was laughable, and the idea of watching someone else stream themselves playing video games would have required too much explanation and infrastructure. Things have gotten a bit better since then. Our 25@25 series will finally put to bed the debates you've been having at the pub and around dinner tables for years – and some that are just too much fun not to include. But 2000 was a huge time for video games. The PlayStation 2 hit stores with a whopping 32MB of RAM, and was the first console to feature a new-fangled DVD drive. Games like Deus Ex, Final Fantasy IX, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, The Sims, and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 were changing people's expectations for what video games could be. It's hard to imagine games now without Xbox, but Microsoft joined the console wars a bit later than Sony and Nintendo, with the original Xbox getting an Australian release in 2002, introducing us to games like Halo, Forza Motorsport and Gears of War. The occasion was marked with midnight launch parties at the 'Electronics Boutique' and Grace Bros, featuring ATVs, green lighting and a specially decorated Jeep to deliver the first Xbox. A few years later the, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 era began, setting new benchmarks for online multiplayer gaming and how many slurs you could hear a 13-year-old American say during one game of Call of Duty. The year after that new console generation kicked off, Nintendo released the Wii, which then introduced everyone to the joy of games with motion controls. This was later followed up with the release of the Wii U, an objectively excellent console that almost no one bought. While most people generally think of Japan and the US for video game creation and production, Australia actually punches way above its weight, with Aussie developers finding particular success in the new millennium. Some notable Aussie-made games and gaming accessories include LA Noire (Sydney, 2011), the UDraw tablet (Melbourne 2010), Fruit Ninja (Brisbane 2010), Crossy Road (Melbourne 2014), Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (Canberra 2014), Untitled Goose Game (Melbourne 2019), the AFL video games (various), Unpacking (Brisbane 2021), Hollow Knight (Adelaide 2017), Cult of the Lamb (Melbourne 2022) and heaps more. Australian studios also work on Call of Duty and EA Mobile titles. Remember when the Adelaide Crows and Essendon Bombers footy teams bought Overwatch and League of Legends esports teams? Or when the Australian Open launched a Fortnite tournament with a $500,000 prize pool? Australia might not be the esports capital of the world, but we do know how to have fun with it. Plus, who could forget when Pauline Hanson used the unacceptable prospect of foreigners beating children from the bush at multiplayer games as an argument to improve the NBN? Drawing on that 25 years of gaming history, it's now up to you to determine the order of the 10 most impactful games and game franchises of the 21st century so far. Here is the shortlist of contenders: Minecraft It's hard to say what makes Minecraft so special, spawning film adaptations, Lego sets and campaigns to use it in education. Was it in the right place at the right time? Do the children truly yearn for the mines? Or is it simply that people love to create when given the opportunity, and Minecraft perfectly blends fun gameplay with a blank canvas. Kayleen Walters, Head of Mojang Studios told what makes the game special. 'At its core, Minecraft is a canvas not just for creativity, but for possibility,' she said. 'Every player brings their own spark, their own story, their own vision. Whether it's a simple shelter under the stars or a vast redstone-powered machine that defies belief, Minecraft gives players the tools and the freedom to build whatever they can imagine.' Grand Theft Auto Grand Theft Auto first launched in 2D in 1997. However the majority of the franchise's success occurred in the last 25 years, so it still counts. Earning the title for 'most controversial video game series in history' from the Guinness Book of World Records, GTA III was originally banned in Australia until the ability to pick up sex workers in game had been removed. GTA is also one of the most successful franchises, perhaps partially because of all that free publicity the controversies garnered, proving that a good game is more than just the sum of its grossest parts taken out of context. GTA V was released all the way back in 2013, but it still routinely tops Australia's weekly video game sales charts, with the game having sold more than 215 million copies worldwide. GTA VI was originally supposed to be released this year, but the planned release date has now officially been postponed to May 2026. Many gamers are hopeful that it will be released some time before Christmas 2027. Fortnite There have been a lot of successful free-to-play games over the years, but few have scaled the heights of success that Fortnite has enjoyed. When Fortnite was released back in 2017, the focus was the Save The World mode, building was an important aspect, and so was the storm. But it wasn't until developer Epic Games took those ingredients and put them in a battle royale that the popularity of Fortnite exploded. Suddenly, kids everywhere were doing Fortnite dances on the playgrounds in numbers that had talkback radio hosts channeling the reverend from Footloose, acting as though kids copying dances they'd seen in a game was both novel and scandalous. The game has grown even more since then, with the current popular modes including Battle Royale, Lego Fortnite, Fortnite Festival, and Fortnite Creative, where anyone can make their own games that anyone else can then play. More importantly, thanks to all the collaborations on skins, it's the only game where Peter from Family Guy can hunt down Darth Vader and then dance with Batman to celebrate. But, more than all the numbers and modes and variety, it's just fun. It's the game that a generation of gamers will point to as the one that made them fall in love with video games, and it's likely that its influence will be felt for decades to come. Call of Duty In the last 25 years, there have been 22 Call of Duty games, with a further six free-to-play games. While some of its popularity has died down slightly in recent years, it's hard to articulate just how much of a cultural impact Call of Duty had in its heyday unless you were there. Matt Cox, senior vice president and general manage of Call of Duty, put it well when he told 'Call of Duty is more than a game—it's a signature piece of pop culture that continues to bring us together to create lasting memories with our friends, families and global community'. There aren't many games that can pull off conveying the seriousness of the Second World War, meditations on the nature of modern war from the perspective of a British SAS commando, and collaborations with celebrities like Nicki Minaj. And yet, somehow Call of Duty has managed to span the gamut of emotions around war and war games. While it certainly wasn't the first first-person shooter game series, it's likely the one most people think of when the genre is mentioned. Wii Sports Wii Sports is the only game on this list locked to a single, superseded console, and yet I think it's also perhaps the most universally beloved. Bundled with the Wii console, Wii Sports was designed to show off what the Wii Remote could do, introducing people to remote-based motion controls. For some people, it ended up being the only game they needed to play on Wii, becoming an instant hit for kids, university parties, family gatherings, drinking games, and old folks' homes. Even people who didn't like video games loved trying to get a strike in bowling, or absolutely destroy their friends at tennis. Other sports included boxing, golf and baseball, and the game struck the right balance of being easy enough that anyone could play, while being challenging enough that it took skill to win. Stardew Valley Stardew Valley is the most successful indie game of all time, and for many people it's their comfort game. It's cosy; all you have to do is farm, fish, mine, battle against unspeakable horrors (creatures in the mine) to please ancient spirits (Junimos), and fight against capitalism (JojaMart). Created by one man (Eric 'ConcernedApe' Barone), it's gotten steady, free updates since its release in 2016, and has never had paid DLC or ads. It's currently available as part of the Apple Arcade subscription service, as well as the Xbox Game Pass service, or it's pretty cheap on basically any console. Pokémon Sure, Pokémon's popularity might be borne out of the 1990s anime and trading card game craze. But the game series also gave rise to the most iconic in-person gaming event of the last 25 years: The Pokémon Go winter of 2016. It was one of those events you had to be a part of to truly understand why it captivated so many people. The sense of community, and joy of getting to explore our towns and cities while playing a game we loved was somewhat magical. Pokémon Go is still going strong, of course, but nothing compares to the huge groups of people running through the Melbourne CBD, stampeding towards the Yarra to catch a Dratina, at a time when everyone was sharing this same experience and adventuring together. With the growing popularity of the Pokemon TCG Pocket mobile game, and the upcoming Pokemon Legends: Z-A, Pokemon isn't going anywhere any time soon. The Sims The concept for The Sims came after developer Will Wright's house burnt down, and he wanted to create a virtual doll house so people could build their homes in game, and create characters to tell their own stories. Ever since, players from all over the world have spent thousands of hours crafting the most beautiful castles and most messed up family plot lines. The Sims is easily one of the most iconic game franchises ever. When asked why The Sims games were so popular and why people should vote for them, an unnamed member of The Sims development team told 'In The Sims, if you can dream it, you can Sim it. Whether reimagining real life or building from scratch, your creativity takes centre stage. 'You can recreate your favourite reality drama, whatever is happening in pop culture or a story purely from your imagination. Life transcends beyond the boundaries of reality. 'Every moment is an opportunity to redefine life on your own terms. You can build fantasy scenarios or explore everyday life, or an unexpected mix of both.' World of Warcraft Who among us hasn't lost a week in World of Warcraft? There had been massively multiplayer online role-playing games before World of Warcraft debuted in 2004, such as Everquest, but none quite captured people's attention or imagination like WoW did. People have met, proposed and gotten married in game. It's the kind of game where you work your regular job, and then get to go home to adventure in this massive world with friends you're closer to than anyone else, despite living on the other side of the world. Darren Williams, the Associate Technical Director of World of Warcraft (who is originally from Adelaide) said the reason why Australians should Vote One WoW is because of those connections. 'So many people have formed lifelong friendships or relationships thanks to World of Warcraft, spanning distances and other communication barriers,' he explained. 'For most of this century people have been finding like-minded folks and forming deeply important and meaningful connections through the game. 'Families who met through the game are now sharing it with their kids; the game is generational and bridges many communities. World of Warcraft is an important part of so many people's lives.' FIFA/EA Sports FC Once known as the FIFA games, now known as EA Sports FC, this soccer series really defined what serious sports games could be. Nearly every time I've interviewed an athlete about video games, no matter which code they played (NBA, AFL, tennis, soccer, hockey, etc), they all played EA Sports FC more than the games that actually featured them and the team they played for, that's how good this game is. There are people out there who own consoles only so they can play each year's iteration of the game. When asked why Australians should vote for EA Sports FC as the best game of the last 25 years, the development team told 'EA SPORTS FC sits at the intersection of sports and entertainment and continues to shape football culture in an unprecedented way. Living out your ultimate football fantasy and connecting to fans all over the world is possible because of our commitment to community and our love of football and gaming.' Honourable mentions OK, that's all 10 up for your consideration. But, because it's impossible to distill 25 years of video games into just a top ten, here are some honourable mentions which didn't make it, but still deserve a shoutout. Mario Kart All of the Mario game series are classics, but there is something extra special about blue shelling your friend metres before the finish line on Rainbow Road, or heading down to Moo Moo Meadows. The Last of Us I don't think a week has gone by since I played The Last Of Us Part 2 that I haven't thought about it. This series has been so hugely impactful in so many ways, and it spawned the best TV adaption of a video game yet. Forza Horizon This is my personal favourite game series of all time because it so perfectly balances the best of how polished and realistic a driving sim can be (the amount of detail in the cars is absurd) with the best of the freedom video games gives you (I can take that realistic car and drive it off a cliff to get points). Halo It's Halo. Guitar Hero/Rock Band These games gave a whole bunch of people a love of music and rhythm, and gave some the confidence to try picking up a real guitar. I'm one of the many people who deeply miss the days of going to a party and just having fun on the full Rock Band set up in the games room. Tony Hawk Pro-Skater This is the game that introduced a whole heap of kids to skateboarding and punk music, and for that we are all grateful. Counter Strike Counter Strike really changed the face of esports. Every single one of the thousands of people who attended the finals at the Intel Extreme Masters tournament in Melbourne this year knows how electric the energy can be at a CS:GO event.

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