Archives for January 2016

Altar Furniture: Beautiful Pinball Coffee Tables

January 30, 2016 By Ms. ausretrogamer

Budapest-based furniture company Altar Furniture make beautiful (mostly interactive) coffee tables with superb attention to detail. Here are just a few of their marvellous creations, be sure to check out their website to see the whole amazing collection.

Future World
(made from 1978 ‘Future World‘ by Zaccaria)
Panthera
(made from 1980 ‘Panthera‘ by Gottlieb)
Hot Tour
(made from 1978 ‘KISS‘ by Bally)
SMASH!
(made from 1979 ‘Incredible Hulk‘ by Gottlieb)
The Beast
(made from 1987 ‘Arena‘ by Gottlieb)
The Shuttle
(made from 1991 ‘Star Trek‘ by Data East)
The Droids Series
(all made from 1992 ‘Star Wars’ by Data East)
The Droid
The Droid EVII
The Red Droid
R2PO

Source: Altar Furniture

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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 Ultimate IKEA Hack: The IKEAKÄDE

January 29, 2016 By Ms. ausretrogamer

You want an arcade cabinet, but you’re short on space. Don’t fret, IKEA hacker ‘Johnny’ has you covered. Just grab an Allen key and follow his DIY instructions, and you too can have your very own IKEAKÄDE.

He’s even added a LED marquee, awesome!

Video source: mrhwangify on YouTube

Source: IKEA Hackers via Mental_Floss

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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

Thrill Of The Chase: The Dark Amiga

January 29, 2016 By ausretrogamer

Don’t you just love when things happen unexpectedly? Well, this past week’s events were mind blowingly unexpected!

I was called by my great friend and fellow Press Play On Tape co-host, Daz (also from Retro Domination fame) to let me know that he had taken a trip up north and during his travels had found a Commodore CDTV! Not only was the CDTV complete with transmitter/mouse, remote, keyboard and a fair bit of software, Daz asked if I would be interested in the bundled deal for myself. Firstly, I was humbled that a friend thought of me when they came across something quite rare and unique, and secondly, the offer for me to buy it and for them to transport it back was an offer too good to refuse. To say I was excited would be a gross understatement – I made the offer, the seller accepted and Daz transported the CDTV bundle safely back to Melbourne.

To Daz and Pete (Console Domination), thanks heaps for thinking of me and giving me the opportunity to grab another retro gaming holy grail – you guys rock! As for what do I think of the CDTV? Well, let’s just say that the Amiga 500 has made room for it *winks*

She is a beauty!

Connections galore!

Oo’er, early 90s multimedia software!

Looking forward to do some Sherlocking!

Remote control your CDTV life!

The all-in-one control centre (transmitter)!

Now we can turn the CDTV into a full blown Amiga 500!

It’s alive!

We asked Daz to show us what else he found on his ‘retro road trip’ and without fail, Daz provided us with some mouthwatering photos, saying that they speak for themselves. We agree *wiping drool*

The beautiful C128!

Great to see a TI-99 out in the wild!

Oh wow, more TI computers!

Atari ST represent!

WANT!

The loot is in the boot!

NES Subway Maps

January 28, 2016 By Ms. ausretrogamer

We love graphic designer Matthew Stevenson’s old-school videogame subway maps. Each beautiful map depicts a detailed walkthrough of a different game and is based on a different metro system.

Metroid as DC Metro

The Legend of Zelda as the London Underground

Maniac Mansion as the Moscow Transit System

Dragon Warrior as the Lisbon Subway

Zelda II as the Tokyo Transit System

Final Fantasy as the NY Subway

Maps are available to buy at RedBubble and Etsy.

Source: Via Technabob
Image sources: Via Technabob and DCMJS

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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

By The Power Of Grayskull

January 25, 2016 By ausretrogamer

As Prince Adam once proclaimed, “Fabulous, secret powers were revealed to me the day I held aloft my magic sword and said: “By the Power of Grayskull!”, indeed, there is a Power Of Grayskull, and it is on Kickstarter right now! Don’t be like a bumbling Cringer, get on this project, as it will be the most definitive He-Man and Masters Of The Universe documentary of all time!

The Power of Grayskull Kickstarter has already blown past its modest $25,000 goal, so we all hope it will keep going and reach those lucrative stretch goals. So who is behind this awesome film you may ask? Well, it is the teams who brought you “Turtle Power” and “Nintendo Quest” – they have joined forces to bring you this highly anticipated MOTU documentary. With this kind of pedigree, POWER OF GRAYSKULL: The Definitive History of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe is bound to be the best thing since sliced bread! So let’s embark on an epic adventure into the heart of 80’s nostalgia to find out once and for all #WhoHasThePower!

Just for the record, we have backed this on Kickstarter and are now looking forward to becoming an Eternian Prince (and Princess)!

image source: Power Of Grayskull on Kickstarter

It Is Another World On The Atari Jaguar

January 24, 2016 By ausretrogamer

Finally, Atari’s 64-bit Jaguar can purr in delight as we whack in Retro-Gaming Connexion‘s Another World (aka: Out of This World) in its cartridge slot!

Yep, you read that right! Éric Chahi’s 1991 cinematic masterpiece, Another World, has been meticulously homebrewed for the Atari Jaguar by French computer scientist and member of The Removers, Sébastien Briais. What Sébastien has achieved can only be described as a miracle.

Don’t be fooled by the word homebrew that we threw in casually, Retro-Gaming Connexion (RGC) have created a complete package that would look perfectly at home on current store shelves. Sadly, the game cannot be purchased from stores, but if you were one of the lucky ones (Ed: like us!) to have pre-ordered the 2nd edition of the game on the Atari Age forum, congratulations, you have a rare item in your hands!

We know you are itching to find out the most important part: Is the game any good? Well, the Jaguar adaptation is just as good, if not better, than any other port of Another World. Now if you’ll excuse me, I got to get Lester Knight Chaykin to his Ferrari 288 GTO. *winks*

Immaculate packaging!

Always turn to the back of the box to check out the graphics

Indeed it is another world on the Jaguar!

Coming To America: Sega 3D Classics Collection

January 23, 2016 By ausretrogamer

Just like Eddie Murphy did in Coming To America, Sega is coming with its Sega 3D Classics Collection to North America on April 26, 2016 (pre-orders have already started!). We did ask Sega if there were plans on releasing this awesome retro collection in Australia, alas, we are still waiting on a response.

Taking a peek inside this collection, we find that Sega has thrown in five of their previously released 3D titles, two never released outside-of-Japan 3D titles, and a pair of rarities never before released on the 3DS! For those inquisitive types, here is the breakdown of games in the collection:

Previously released titles:

Fantasy Zone II W
Sonic The Hedgehog
Thunder Blade
Galaxy Force II
Altered Beast

Two never released outside-of-Japan titles:

Power Drift
Puyo Puyo 2

Two bonus (never released) titles:

Fantasy Zone II
Maze Walker

The Sega 3D Classics Collection will be released at a price of USD$29.99 and CA$44.99 for the Nintendo 3DS system in stores and digitally on the Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS. The superb retail packaging will feature original artwork by Pokémon art director, Ken Sugimori.

Wow! For the time being this Sega 3D Classic Collection looks like it will be exclusive for our very lucky North American friends. We all hope that Sega don’t forget the rest of us!

Image source: Sega Of America

A Huge Arcade Coin-Op Sale On Craigslist

January 23, 2016 By ausretrogamer

Last Saturday (January 16) in a storage unit in Grand Island Nebraska there was a huge one day sale on classic and vintage arcade machines, jukeboxes and various other coin-ops. These relics had not seen the light of day in over 30 years!

The seller on Craigslist stated that there was too much gear to move and everything had to go – at fantastically great prices (Ed: relatively speaking!). The array of machines that had to go included: Asteroids and Asteroids Deluxe, Galaga, Bi Plane, Head-On, Omega Race (stand up and sit down), Space Invaders and Tank II to name just a few.

So, who of you attended this once-in-a-lifetime fire sale? Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook and tell us all about it.

PS: I wish we had these kinds of storage unit sales in Australia!

A Space Invader lurks in storage

Oh wow, a sit down Omega Race!

A great view for the spiders!

Asteroids, Paddle-Ball (ahem, Pong!) and Head-On!

Oh that dust!

Oh wow, a stand-up Omega Race too!

Packed to the rafters!
image source: Craigslist

‘Boom Raider’ By Fury Fingers Films

January 22, 2016 By Ms. ausretrogamer

You already know we love Fury Fingers Films’ work, and now we have one more reason to love them because they’re back with another amazing video game parody film – this time they have set their sights on Rise of the Tomb Raider. In ‘Boom Raider’ watch Lara (played by the very talented ShiveeeJam) work hard to find just the right shot to make that red barrel go ‘BOOM!’.

Video source: Fury Fingers Films on YouTube

Photographer Steamkittens visited the two day shoot to take some behind the scenes and still shots – they are simply gorgeous. Here are just a few, visit their album on Facebook for the whole set.

Be sure to subscribe to the Fury Fingers YouTube channel, like their Facebook page, and follow them on Twitter. Also like / follow ShiveeeJam (Facebook & Instagram) and Steamkittens (Facebook & Instagram).

Source: Fury Fingers Films on YouTube
All images: Steamkittens

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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

Press Play On Tape: We Love C64

January 22, 2016 By ausretrogamer

As another year rolls around, the PRESS PLAY ON TAPE lads kick off the new year by gushing over their beloved Commodore 64.

The lads are joined by none other than Mr. Mark Cassar (from Retro Domination and +3 Geekdom fame) in their C64 love-in. Alex starts off by giving us a crash course on the history of the C64 followed up by the best C64 games, which would not be a surprise to anyone listening. The audience participation was huge on Twitter, while Facebook languished with only a solitary response! Daz dropped a bombshell by opting for US Gold as the publisher of choice for the first episode of 2016!

So, Slip on a shirt, Slop on the sunscreen, Slap on a hat and whack in the headphones and tune in for the first PRESS PLAY ON TAPE podcast for 2016!