Archives for June 2015

Conquering Oz Comic-Con Melbourne 2015

June 30, 2015 By ausretrogamer

Oz Comic-Con Melbourne 2015 has been conquered – and wow, what a weekend it was! The Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre was brimming with artists, cool exhibitors (including Beta Bar, Gametraders Highpoint, Little Lands, Classic Comics, Hammerspace Games, and The 501st Legion), awesome cosplay, a full program of speakers / panels / workshops (across 5 stages!) and, of course, photos and autographs with the plethora of TV and film megastars (e.g. Bruce Campbell, David Wenham, Jewel Staite, Jason Momoa, Amber Benson, David Hewlett).

Look out for the next Oz Comic-Cons in Brisbane (19-20 September 2015) and Sydney (26-27 September 2015), but in the meantime let’s re-live Melbourne’s pop-culture extravaganza in fifty photos – we hope you feel like you’re there!

The crowd gathers for Oz Comic-Con Melbourne 2015!

Got our media passes – let’s go!

Ms ausretrogamer & ausretrogamer excited to be in attendance!

Make it so Number 1

Eat your heart out, Khaleesi

Rocket! Yeah!

The merchandise was too enticing!

Jon Snow comes back to life

Comics galore at the Classic Comics stand

Shut up and take my photo!

Cosplay from all over the universe

Button mashing time!

Foxy!

Let’s get the credit card ready!

For your next cosplay event

The Gaming Zone was abuzz!

Even The Joker found time to play some games

A proud Whovian in a beautiful self-made TARDIS dress!
Join the Doctor Who Club of Victoria

Gaming merch!

The Great Wall Of Pop!

Cels for sale!

Hulk smash pins!

Arcade and pinball represent, baby!

Look Bones, it’s Batman!

I’m a Mawg. Half-man, half-dog. I’m my own best friend.
(Note: The ears moved on this awesome costume!)

Warcraft heroes taking it easy

Hey Jabba, how much do you want for that carbonite Han Solo?

Say Death Star!

Star Wars Legion: 501st Terror Australis Garrison

Rebel Pilot and Co-Pilot in training

Refuel with one of these retro energy drinks!

Let’s see how big this phone box is……

The silence is deafening at this disco!

If it bleeds, we can kill it!

Great Wall Of Mugs!

Old-school style!

We’ll take them all, thank you.

Grab this hero for hire

Hi Mr Campbell, can I have your autograph?

Release your inner lead foot

The Brits have invaded!

A LEGO Marvel Comics extravaganza!

Don’t mess with me

Na na na na na na na na Brickman!

To the Batmobile!

Lego Super Mario under Lego Abbey Road

Donkey Kong terrarium by Little Lands

Super Mario Sisters!

Get your retro on! – Quarries Of Scred by Noble Kale (Hammerspace Games)

Till next time……..

Dreamy Custom Pinball Tables

June 26, 2015 By Ms. ausretrogamer

After the Australian 2015 Timezone Supanova Pinball Championship Victorian State Final and Cramer’s Pinball Tournament, we have gone a bit pinball mad! Although we love the traditional tables, we are in awe of these amazing custom machines.

They call this table ‘The Goonies’

Mike Johnson from Orlando, FL has built a beautiful custom The Goonies pinball table for the film’s 30th anniversary (yes, 30th anniversary!). It’s really hard to believe no one has made one before.

Video source: Cinereelists on YouTube
Source: Kotaku UK

Order that pinball table a red cap and a speedo

Wes Anderson has designed a new cafe in Milan, called Bar Luce and it’s gorgeous (no surprise!). Most beautiful of all are the custom pinball machines based on The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and short film Castello Cavalcanti.

Image source: sissirossi on Instagram

The pinball machine that really ties the room together, or ‘f**k it, let’s play pinball’

The Big Lebowski custom pinball table is not only fantastic (it will feature original movie clips and movie quotes in the game), but is soon to be available to buy from manufacturer Dutch Pinball!

Backbox Translite artwork
Image source: The Big Lebowski Pinball

Video source: Dutch Pinball on YouTube

Wow, so pinball, such flippers

See our previous post about how an old Baby Doll table was saved from the scrap heap and converted into Internet Meme Ball.

Image source: Liberty Games

Bite my shiny metal balls

This one-off Futurama: Space 3000 table was made in a mere 6 months by Evan K. from Seattle using the shell of an old Superman machine and a Futurama Space Pilot movie poster – wow! Check out how he did it.

Image source: Special When Lit

Don’t cross the flippers!

Brian Stahl, or ‘Betelgeuse’ as he’s known on forums, built this amazing custom Ghostbusters table in 14 months from a worn out Flash Gordon machine. The soundboard contains over 40 quotes and music from the movie. Why has this not been made before?!

Video source: superiorcrown on YouTube
Source: Gameroom Junkies Poscast

Everything about this pinball table is awesome!

An awesome life-size LEGO pinball machine with a fully automatic reloading system made by ElectryDragonite.

Video source: ElectryDragonite

By now you should be thoroughly inspired, our dream table would be Pulp Fiction (just imagine the quotes and music alone!) – what would yours be? Let us know on Twitter using #dreampinball.

Image source: Miramax

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Ms. ausretrogamer
Co-founder, editor and writer at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

It’s On Like Oz Comic-Con

June 25, 2015 By ausretrogamer

As the excitement builds for this weekend’s Oz Comic-Con at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, the ausretrogamer crew are giddy with anticipation of the geeky awesomeness to come! Being our first Oz Comic-Con, we can’t wait to immerse ourselves in all things pop-culture – from TV and film guests, to great cosplay and cars from movies, it’s going to be huge.

For those of you that cannot be there in person, we will be keeping you up to date on social media using #OzComicCon, so make sure you tune in!

image source: Oz Comic-Con

Jammin’ at the Commodore Club

June 24, 2015 By ausretrogamer

It had been a while since we last attended the Amiga Users Group’s Commodore Club day. Going to one of these club meets is like a family reunion you look forward to – you know you will see people you know and like, and you are assured to have lots of fun. Well, it is safe to say, we had lots of fun playing games (terribly) and catching up with our great Commodore friends.

The highlight of the day was playing Throwback Games’ Jam It in four player mode on the C64. This pre-release basketball game even had our teams (Tweeters vs Slackers) and player names (I was MagicBoz) hard coded in by Leigh White, the brains behind the one-man-developer-shop at Throwback Games. We will interview Leigh in an upcoming feature to get to know him a little bit better and find out about his creation, Jam It, and its official release details. For now, I want to keep on jammin and slam-dunkin!

Welcome to Casa Commodore

A box of C64 goodies. Let’s play lucky dip!

The C64 control deck! This is the nerve centre

Meticulous organisation of the C64 5.25″ floppies

The remastered Ghosts’N Goblins – it’s an absolute beauty!

The battle of Xpiose: Dr Curlytek vs Zen Mare Retro

Gonna have some Ivan ‘Ironman’ Stewart’s Super Off Road action!

The C64 deck in 4-Player Joystick Mode!

This stik is slik!

Run for your life!

Ice Skating (Hat Trick) battle: Reset Magazine Ed (Kev) vs The Doctor!

The lads [L to R]: Rob, Stacey and Kevin getting ready to fly some taxis!

Ashton Kutcher’s* dad’s creation – Space Taxi! *may not be true

The beautiful Commodore 128D comes to life!

The A1200 – Now you are playing with power!

Na na na na na na na na… BATMAN!

Anyone for some Pooyan?

C16 power!

The 1200 can make anyone feel like a Hero!

Oh that lush screen!

Amiga 2000 represent baby!

Getting ready to Jam!

Jam It 4P battle: Tweeters vs Slackers! Who will win?

Oo’er, I love me some Jam It stats!

And the winner is……..

Leigh White playing his creation!

The aftermath!

Sonic The Hedgehog In Real Life

June 23, 2015 By Ms. ausretrogamer

Did you know that today (June 23) is the 24th anniversary of Sonic The Hedgehog? If not, consider yourself informed. To mark this momentous occasion, Elvis the Hedgehog from the San Diego Zoo shows us what Sonic might look like in real life. What he lacks in speed, he certainly makes up for with cuteness!

Video source: The Watercooler on YouTube

Source: The Watercooler via Laughing Squid

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Ms. ausretrogamer
Co-founder, editor and writer at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

Ghosts’N Goblins Arcade Remastered

June 22, 2015 By ausretrogamer

If you’ve just plugged yourself back into the matrix, the big news of the day you may have missed is that one of the toughest platform games, Ghosts’n Goblins, has been remastered by the Nostalgia team for the Commodore 64. The game was released this past weekend and is available for download from the C64 Scene Database (CSDb) site.

We had a play of the game and we reckon it is a solid conversion. The game is still tough, but it is definitely more playable than the original due to tight controls and excellent collision detection – Sir Arthur can finally get further into the game this time around. This remastered version is everything the original C64 conversion should have been! Grab it now!

For those of you that want to know why this remastered version is so good, here are a few points to whet your appetite:

* Two completely new levels added
* Existing 4 levels are twice the size
* All levels with completely new graphics
* Each level has a new unique tune
* Each boss fight has a new tune
* New Sound Effects added or changed
* New bug free sprite multiplexer
* Intro sequence added
* Game Map added
* Game Completed Animation added
* Game Over sequence added
* Two new bosses added for levels 5 & 6
* New Jumping Skeleten Enemy added
* Moving Clouds completely recoded
* Arthur can now turn around while jumping so he can shoot backwards
* Arthur can jump over obstcacles when he is touching them
* Weapon system improved
* Enemies have improved AI and a lot of them are completely recoded
* Hitting an enemy animation added
* Time Limit is much better and fairer
* Title Screen with Title Tune added
* Pause added with Quit option
* Easyflash version with High Score saver to flash and backup to disk
* Universal File version that works on any device
* PAL and NTSC supported

Music Videos: 8-Bit Style

June 20, 2015 By Ms. ausretrogamer

Blur is back, a whole 16 years after their last record as a four-piece with a new album The Magic Whip (released 27 April 2015). The album’s eleventh track, Ong Ong, has an adorable music video featuring the band members as bosses in an old-school platformer where Mr OK fights his way past the band to rescue Ms OK.

Mr OK

Bosses: Damon Albarn as Mr Cream, Graham Coxon as Mr Brown, Alex James as Mr Red, Dave Rowntree as Mr Black

Video source: Blur on YouTube

But blur is not the only band getting nostalgic with their music videos – Afro/Euro music duo The Very Best‘s gorgeous video for Let Go portrays an old-school 8-bit game with the characters and landscape made out of pixel beads.

Video source: The Very Best Vevo on YouTube

Finally, enjoy Danish pop duo Junior Senior’s Move Your Feet from 2003.

Video source: Crunchy Frog Records on YouTube

8-bit style music videos… all we can say is ‘please keep them coming’!

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Ms. ausretrogamer
Co-founder, editor and writer at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

The Thrill Of The Chase: Lost and Found Market

June 19, 2015 By ausretrogamer

What does one do when their weekend schedule is clear? Well, you can choose to lounge around at home to keep warm in this cold Melbourne winter, or you can head outdoors to a flea market to grab yourself a bargain!

As it turned out, Ms ausretrogamer and I did the latter – we hit the Lost & Found Market in Brunswick East for a spot of vintage kitsch shopping. From vinyls, old Barbie dolls, to an Apple Mac from the 80s, the market did not disappoint. Here are just a few of our favourite items from Lost & Found:

They call me Bruce!

What’s that next to the doll?

I’m Batman!

Blessed are those that play Taito’s Speed Race!

Some new AKAIs for the Walkman. Pffft, who needs an iPod….

Forget your smartphone, carry this portable phonograph for your aural pleasure

One for the Star Wars book fans – May the force be with you

Daytonaaaaaaaaa. Let’s race!

Vintage Snoopy mugs – perfect for a hot cuppa!

A Twirly Curls Barbie! And she isn’t blonde!

OH MY GAWD! It is the ARMATRON!!!

Do not feed it after midnight – the Mogwai, not the Smurfs!

Daddy and baby robot

Want to be a Jedi like Luke? You better drink from these cups!

Blast some tunes! Grab some records while you are here!

Can this Telyphone operate my telly?

The ultimate tag team!

Rowdy Roddy Piper dare you to enter Piper’s Pit.

Our podcast mic has been found!

Retro boomerangs

Scalextric – your childhood in one box!

A vintage Mac!

Looking for a Marantz unit……..

Perfect for the games room!

Pop Culture: Retrogaming Balloon Art

June 16, 2015 By Ms. ausretrogamer

Retrogaming balloon art – the ultimate in POP culture! Yep, we had to work in that pun in the story. For your next birthday party, rather than just have the boring old colour balloons, get yourself a balloon sculptor to make you some cool video gaming themed characters – just like these……

Super Mario Balloons

Awesome but terrifying Super Mario World balloon cosplay

Gotta blow up the balloons fast!

Gotta pop ’em all

Balloon Invaders

Master Chief by the Balloon Guy

Mario by the Balloon Guy

Balloon Warriors

Fire flower tutorial by Mr Nany

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Ms. ausretrogamer
Co-founder, editor and writer at ausretrogamer – The Australian Retro Gamer E-Zine. Lover of science fiction, fashion, books, movies and TV. Player of games, old and new.

Follow Ms. ausretrogamer on Twitter

Cramers Pinball Tournament: A Flippin’ Success

June 15, 2015 By ausretrogamer

The Cramers Pinball Tournament (an IFPA endorsed competition) was run and won, and boy, did we have a lot of fun!

The competition was stacked with players from all age groups and experience. The wizards all had a crack on the Cashbox Amusements supplied Metallica Premium Road Case and AC/DC Luci pinball machines to qualify for the top eight and the finals. The play was frenetic and exciting – lots of bumping, slamming and tilting going on. To ensure the crowd could enjoy watching the pinball action from the comfort of the Cramer’s Hotel lounge chairs, a camera was rigged up to the overhead projector – a stroke of genius.

The tournament generated lots of interest in the media, from local newspapers, websites, radio stations, and even national commercial TV stations! The Channel 7 morning show, Sunrise, had a cameraman videoing all of the action for a segment on the show the following morning. Watch the video (at the bottom of this article), which also features an interview with tournament director, Scott Kellett.

Like all good things, the tournament had to come to and end. Congratulations to Greg Quinn on becoming the inaugural Cramers Pinball Tournament winner. To all the other participants, well done for playing hard! We get the feeling that the pointy end of the winner’s circle is going to become crowded in upcoming competitions.

These tournaments don’t just spontaneously appear out of nowhere. There are hard working people behind the scenes that make it all happen. It’s people like Scott Kellett that should be applauded and recognised, so for that, we thank you Scott, for a job well done. A big thank you to Cashbox Amusements for the all important pinball machines, and last, but by all means not least, Cramer’s Hotel for having us at their venue. Can’t wait to participate at the next Cramers Pinball tournament – speaking of which, keep July 28 free!

The Tournament Control deck – let the registration begin!