For the past few years, Israel Adesanya has been on an unstoppable tear through combat sports, racking up titles across Australasia and the stadiums of China. Don Rowe sits down for breakfast with the Stylebender ahead of his third King in the Ring elimination tournament next weekend. With more than 40 professional kickboxing wins, two King in … Read more
How would you survive in your favorite game? Peter Haynes’ new webseries AFK attempts to answer that very question. He speaks to Don Rowe ahead of the show’s launch. Like many of us, Peter Haynes has at one time been completely addicted to World of Warcraft. Haynes has known the sweet seduction of journeying across … Read more
Xena: Warrior Princess showed 90’s kids that girls could kick ass just like boys. An alternative reading implies they could do much more than that besides. If you were to design a feminist superhero, you could do a lot worse than just copying Xena. Righteous, strong and ready to kick a pervert right in his Ancient … Read more
Hearthstone is what happens when World of Warcraft meets Magic: The Gathering. It’s like Yu-Gi-Oh cards for the smartphone generation, except this year at Armageddon the stakes are higher than just your mate’s holographic Blue-Eyes White Dragon (it’s fake, by the way; he picked it up at the Frankton Markets in Hamilton for like three bucks). The Heroes of … Read more
Suspended above the sun I witnessed the creation and destruction of the stars. An astral dust condensed and formed a molten core, pulling smaller fragments of space rock into its enhanced and growing gravitational field. From behind a distant moon, an asteroid streaked through deep space, hurtling into the burgeoning planet and smashing it into … Read more
At the height of survey season, Jono and Ben made an attempt to cross Lake Taupo in an inflatable castle. Don Rowe watches from the sky. Some time around the year 180 AD an explosion in the Pacific turned the sky over eastern China red. The violent upheaval threw over a thousand cubic kilometres of … Read more
The newly released Journey Collector’s Edition features thatgamecompany’s flagship title, Journey, as well as two earlier indie titles, Flower and flOw, for the PS4. Don Rowe reviews a company changing the rules by which games are played. Journey The setting sun turned the sand to brilliant gold. Through the arches of an ancient balcony was … Read more
The icon sits in a folder on my computer like a smoker’s last cigarette. It’s out of sight, but you can bet your balls I know exactly where it is and how long it’d take to fish out. At this stage, it’s basically a big red ‘begin-spiral-into-entropy’ button. A few quick clicks and the small … Read more
Traditionally, video games have been announced like major construction projects. “Coming, three years from now, something you need to know about!” Developers thrust their stake into the market sands and proclaim that at some distant date, providing everything stays on schedule, a next-generation experience awaits the faithful. Queue aching months of sweaty anticipation, masturbatory fawning over leaked concept … Read more
Picture an animated cityscape surrounded by water. In the centre, a distinctive tower thrusts into the sky, each side an elongated isosceles. A shadow moves across the city. It’s a spaceship, possibly the one from Independence Day. From beneath the mighty ship we see a portal open. A swarm of robots spills forth, descending into the city. They … Read more
I’ve caught exactly 0 minutes of this years ITM Cup. Blame it on oversaturation/the world cup/a lack of Sky or whatever, but the point is, I’m totally incapable of making an informed pick in either the premiership or championship division. But if an octopus can call the soccer world cup with only it’s cephalopodan appetite to guide … Read more
Just an hour after his side’s 1-1 draw with Everton, Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers was given the sack, effective immediately. The decision was apparently made before the game kicked off, however the club’s American owners would have felt particularly confident in their decision after another underwhelming performance was turned in by the Reds. “Ambition and … Read more
Don Rowe travels to Auckland’s Flea Bottom to hear Game of Thrones‘ Hodor – aka touring DJ Kristian Nairn – drop some beats. I was dropped at a carpark on Liverpool Street in Auckland, our version of the seedier part of King’s Landing. A forlorn prostitute leaned against the wall, smoking and waiting and staring up at … Read more
Mark Hunt fought his way from the streets of South Auckland to the top of the world stage in a career spanning almost 20 years. Don Rowe speaks to co-author Ben Mckelvey about writing a book with the Super Samoan. Are fighters born or made? In Mark Hunt’s case the answer appears to be both. Perhaps the hardest puncher to … Read more
Don Rowe interviews one of New Zealand’s most familiar voices in his central Auckland Bed and Breakfast about breathing life into The Abdomenizer and the intricacies of John Key’s accent. There is only one house left on Parliament Street. It’s been there since 1901. Behind a low cast iron fence the grey walls rise two stories above the … Read more
Amongst the Rugby World Cup fever, Don Rowe finds a gem of New Zealand sporting culture which risks going unnoticed. At the time of writing, we’re 19 hours from the opening of the Rugby World Cup and already a growing sentiment of rugby-fatigue is finding sympathetic ears across the internet (parts of twitter and r/newzealand, … Read more
The press release read like the front page of a newspaper in wartime. DUNCAN GARNER CONVINCES VIOLENT OFFENDER TO RETURN TO POLICE CUSTODY. Of course we were going to tune in. I imagined a bus rigged with explosives. The passengers trapped inside, subject to the whims of a criminal with nothing to lose. Then Duncan Garner … Read more
The Ultimate Fighter is basically like Big Brother if the weekly evictions were decided by cage fight rather than public consensus. Sixteen contestants under two coaches compete in an elimination tournament for the chance to win a contract with the UFC, and sometimes a Harley Davidson too. It’s a gruelling experience, with all the … Read more
With Shaun Johnson in recovery from a severe leg injury, Don Rowe thought he might be able to take him down – on PlayStation, at least. Wrong. Seated in a bright yellow bucket-seat, wearing one shoe and a moon boot, Shaun Johnson was still the best league player in the room. Hayley Holt from The … Read more
Don Rowe celebrates the unexpected triumphs of Lady Hoggers, the redneck reality show that follows two women with a thirst for hog blood. At this moment, approximately six million wild hogs are trotting across the southern USA, leaving a $1.5 billion trail of carnage in their wake. Despite a $20 million Department of Agriculture effort and … Read more
I was leaving Countdown Whangaparaoa with a bag of bananas and some chocolate milk when I saw the poster. “Gary McCormick and Mayor Tim Shadbolt,” it read. “Stand-up comedy at it’s best!” And there they stood, suited and grinning, framed in yellow hibiscus flowers. The poster raised more questions than it answered, like: what the … Read more
The Spinoff received word that Natalia Kills and Willy Moon would be leaving the country last night, so dispatched Don Rowe to watch their final moments on our soil. // Like great dark bats they swooped through Auckland International Airport. He wore leather and she sheltered beneath a wide-brimmed hat. Both wore sunglasses. They walked … Read more
Friday Night Lights examined the side effects of a small town’s obsession with high school sports. Don Rowe reflects on the show’s realism through comparison to his own rugby career at Hamilton Boys High. “Do you think God loves football?” “I think everyone loves football.” – Jason Street and a young fan, Friday Night Lights For an … Read more