The latest game by FromSoftware is out, and it’s as difficult as you’d expect. Is the juice worth the squeeze? Way back 30 years ago in 2015 I wrote a piece on The Spinoff about Bloodborne, a Lovecraftian horror game created by Japanese developers FromSoftware. Bloodborne, modelled after FromSoftware’s award-winning Dark Souls trilogy, is fiendishly … Read more
In the latest in the Frame documentary series produced for The Spinoff by Wrestler and funded by NZ on Air, we meet the wāhine behind Hikurangi Enterprises, a cannabis co-op looking to revitalise Ruatōria. In Ruatōria the dead are watching. They stare down from the walls of the Kapohanga a Rangi wharenui on Hiruharama Marae: … Read more
The Christchurch Mosque Shootings saw journalists scrambling the country over to cover the unfolding horror. New Zealand’s subreddit experienced an unprecedented rush too, swamping the volunteer moderators and exposing them to some of the worst reactions on Reddit. We speak to the moderators of r/newzealand. Almost as soon as news broke that a gunman had … Read more
Not for the first time, the bleakest corners of the internet have apparently spawned real world tragedy. What is 4chan, and how does it foment so much hate? Even as the nation was plunged into a whirlwind of shock, horror and grief, there were plenty of online communities that had an opposite, chilling reaction – … Read more
Yesterday Google went down. Today it’s Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Please call an internet plumber immediately. The shit hit the fan about 2.30 yesterday afternoon. Here at Spinoff Towers we were about to launch our webseries On the Rag. “Can anyone send an attachment?” Fucking Gmail was down. I woke up this morning bleary after … Read more
There’s a cyclone sitting off the coast and we’re already feeling its tendrils. From Six60 to Splore, Western Springs to Tapapakanga Regional Park, which shows will suffer worst this weekend? Update 11am Friday: NIWA weatherman Ben Noll has scant good news as we barrel towards the weekend, saying while for now there are only smatterings … Read more
New Zealand goes three for three at UFC Melbourne, culminating in Israel Adesanya’s win over Anderson Silva. Israel Adesanya’s victory over Anderson Silva in Melbourne was a masterclass in creativity and a coming-out party for New Zealand MMA. Facing down a near mirror-image of himself, Adesanya fought fluid and confident, switching his stance, here fighting … Read more
Only in a sport as batshit as cagefighting could the main event fall through just 11 hours before the fight, writes Don Rowe from Melbourne. Nothing matters and everything sucks, but even more so if you’re invested in the UFC. Fans awoke this morning to the news that middleweight champion and hometown hero Robert Whittaker … Read more
New Zealand martial artist Israel Adesanya will cross the threshold into legitimate worldwide superstardom this weekend when he fights the most dominant mixed martial artist in history. Israel Adesanya is near untouchable. With just two losses across more than 100 fights from Brazil to the Far East, Adesanya has captured the nation’s attention like nobody … Read more
My YouTube Party of Five is a new series in which we invite people to share their five favourite YouTube videos, the ones hold closest in their heart, the ones they’ll play at 2am while drunk at a party. This week: Spinoff staff writer Don Rowe. Being forced to sit in front of YouTube videos … Read more
A lost exotic pet lizard called Hades was found in an Auckland suburb, but instead of returning it to its owner, it was flown to an MPI vet in Wellington. What happened? Don Rowe investigates. It started with an anonymous tip: “Request all government communications regarding the theft and transportation of a bearded dragon – … Read more
Dragon tears, meteorites, or just plain shit – ambergris is an olfactory miracle of the deep. Sought after for thousands of years, and worth upwards of $10,000/kg today, ambergris washes up on beaches across New Zealand all year long. Don Rowe goes looking for it. This story originally ran in Barker’s 1972 magazine under the title … Read more
Summer reissue: For a time in the late 2000s, youth of all backgrounds in this country began to dance. Don Rowe remembers the brief flash when techno became a unifying force in New Zealand. Originally published 7 July 2018 Since the beginning of time humanity has yearned to dance. From the cha cha to the … Read more
Summer reissue: Through clever manipulation of scale and mythos, the latest iteration of God of War makes the most of Immanuel Kant’s theory of the sublime to deliver a truly beautiful game. Don Rowe travelled to Sydney to gets his hands on a preview. This post was first published March 19, 2018. German philosopher Immanuel … Read more
For a brief moment, New Zealand was home to Big Foot, a mythically potent RTD served in a giant bottle and apparently aimed squarely at teens. Don Rowe talks to the brain behind it. This post was originally published 5 January 2018. Gather round children, I’m going to speak to you of the days before … Read more
In a foreshadowing of the excruciating debate to come, FamilyFirst have gone head-to-head with an actual scientist on the issue of marijuana. But there’s an agenda on both sides, writes Don Rowe. In one of the many not at all unhinged conversations in our Twitter mentions yesterday, FamilyFirstNZ went head to head with another user over … Read more
Every day in the leadup to Christmas, open the door to reveal a Spinoff writer’s short, sizzling commentary on a weighty subject. Our arbitrary and strictly enforced word limit: 365. Today: Don Rowe on why we should call off this garbage year a few weeks early. Incessant rain, unseasonable storms and a nationwide trend towards … Read more
In a new ecology-focused Civ VI expansion, Kupe leads the Māori in an attempt to dominate the globe through kaitiakitanga. The Māori have been announced as a playable race for Civilization VI, and boy are they bringing the mana. Led by Kupe, who discovered New Zealand while out chasing an octopus, the Māori are a seafaring … Read more
From an academic suspecting foul play to the spooks blocking Huawei gear in the new broadband roll-out, China is suddenly in a lot of headlines. Don Rowe rounds it all up. “China’s covert, corrupting, and coercive political influence activities in New Zealand are now at a critical level.” So began Dr Anne-Marie Brady’s 2017 policy … Read more
In the age of advanced genetics, whakapapa is a powerful tool against hereditary illness. Don Rowe talks to Dr Karyn Paringatai, the stomach-less doctor reconnecting whānau to save lives. Dr Karyn Paringatai has lived eight years without her stomach. After the organ was completely removed in 2010, Paringatai’s oesophagus was sewn to her small intestine, creating … Read more
For a brief moment in the late 20th century, New Zealand produced some of the dopest hand-painted clothing on Earth. Don Rowe talks to the founders of Kozmik Klothing. Most everyone in the 1980s dressed like shit. That’s just a fact. But for a brief moment in the late 80s, on Auckland’s North Shore, there … Read more
The Testimatic is New Zealand’s first medicinal glory hole, providing an eye-contact-free testicular examination. Don Rowe gets his balls squeezed in public. “If you don’t do it, your story is bullshit fake news,” the man said. “That’s journalism – you have to do it or really you don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.” … Read more
Ant Timpson got a fright to discover his FlyBuys had been stolen, cameras purchased and the goods sent to a notorious Auckland address. He rejects claims he’s fallen for a phishing scam. A week or so ago Ant Timpson, an Auckland producer who has worked on films like The Greasy Strangler and The ABCs of … Read more
Tonight the NZ prime minister dines with the US vice president – a man who holds numerous views on the world that are, well, pretty much the opposite of everything she stands for. Don Rowe previews the worst working dinner imaginable. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is in Singapore today for the East Asia summit. United … Read more
One hundred years to the day from the end of WWI, Sir Peter Jackson has released They Shall Not Grow Old, a groundbreaking restoration of footage from The Great War. “The first world war is still being fought,” says Sir Peter Jackson, 100 years to the day since the closing shots on the Western Front. “It could … Read more
Yesterday corporate boxer Kain Parsons succumbed to a brain injury sustained in a charity bout on Saturday night. He won’t be the last, writes Don Rowe. Content warning: suicide In November 1982, Korean boxer Duk Koo Kim was killed in his championship bout with Ray ‘Boom Boom’ Mancini after collapsing in the 10th round. Four … Read more
Hundreds of millions of dollars are lost by punters at the TAB every year. Where does it go, asks Don Rowe. It’s the biggest day of the racing year and all around the country hopeful punters are throwing fistfuls of cash at the TAB. Here, the Melbourne Cup and New Zealand’s state-controlled gambling operator are … Read more
Yesterday saw yet another story of young home owner success splashed across the news. But this time both sides of the political divide kicked off, sledging the government and the new mortgagees alike. Don Rowe explains. Monday morning dawned like many others. It was raining in Auckland. Denise L’Estrange-Corbet was being weird on the telly. Stuff … Read more
Last night RNZ reported that a woman alleging bullying by rogue National MP Jami-Lee Ross said she had received threatening phone calls from Simon Lusk. Ross himself had earlier confirmed that he was taking advice from the shadowy political operative. But who is he, and where have we heard that name before? When private security … Read more