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Archives for February 2016

CRASH: The Year Video Games Died – By Ahoy

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crash featured 2Ahoy neatly explains the 1980’s (North American) video games crash in just over seven minutes in this snazzy video, and they come to some interesting conclusions!

atari bin

Source: Ahoy on YouTube via Cheezburger

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msausretrogamerMs. 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

 

 

Pinball Machines: How They Work and Troubleshooting

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There is an old adage that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If only every machine in life ran perfectly, then we would never have to service our car or have stuck flippers on our favourite pinball table. With any amusement machine, be it arcade or pinball, it is not a matter of if, but when it breaks down, will you know how to diagnose, troubleshoot and repair it yourself?

If you have always wanted to own a pinball machine but were daunted by the expense of servicing such a beast, then Norbert Snicer’s Pinball Machines – How They Work and Troubleshooting course is the training you have been looking for. Norbert’s course provides you the techniques to diagnose and troubleshoot (quickly and methodically) any pinball machine problem.

Class is in session
Pinball_course_ClassIsINSession

Having almost no experience in fixing or troubleshooting pinball machines, I attended the recent course held in Melbourne with an open mind and the hope that I would learn something, no matter how trivial. I can attest that the content presented was easily understood, even for a noob like myself. The hands-on approach and Norbert’s inclusive style of teaching made it a breeze in grasping and understanding the subject matter. Norbert’s 30-plus years of experience in the industry has given him a myriad of real life examples to draw from and pass on to his students. There was no stone left unturned when it came to discussing problems that could occur on a pinball machine.

Does this intimidate you?
Pinball_course_The_Tables

Lots of hands-on (under playfield) action!
Pinball_course_Playfield

From all of the topics covered in the course, it was the compartmentalization of the playfield and back box which simplified the sections and parts of a pinball machine which was a light-bulb moment for me. This stroke of genius coupled with the easy-to-follow troubleshooting methods, ensured that you could pin-point problems without wasting too much time – which left more time to play pinball!

With my newly acquired knowledge, I can say that I am no longer intimidated by the underside of a pinball machines’ playfield nor its back box. Through his teaching, Norbert has given me the confidence to ‘pop the hood’ on any pinball machine and know my way around it. If you want to have the same experience as I did, then I would urge you to enrol in the course – it is totally worth it!

Since I had such a postive experience doing this course, I asked my fellow classmates what they thought of the Pinball Machines – How They Work and Troubleshooting course:

Lucas Bardin – “An amazing amount of ground covered in such a short time.  Norbert Snicer is a Wizard under the playfield.  His hands-on approach to pinball troubleshooting really makes you think about what you are doing and he also gives you the understanding of why things should be done in a certain way.”

Skott Kellett – “Just completed the Melbourne course and was blown away with the wealth of knowledge that Norbert provides and shares with his students. His troubleshooting tips will save even the experienced technicians hours of diagnosing time and hassles. I recommend the course to anyone interested in working on pinball machines, either at home or in the field. From beginners to experienced technicians, this course has something for everyone.”

Stuart Thornton – “Norbert offers a fantastic opportunity to get real hands-on learning on machines that are typically overwhelming, ranging from 90’s era to current technology.  His approach is enjoyable and caters to the beginner and seasoned technicians alike.  I loved every minute of the course and I think it has really set me up to be able to service my own pinball machines with confidence.”

Martin Robbins – “Having owned pinball machines for a few years I’ve always been hesitant to troubleshoot myself and have spent a lot of money sending them away for repairs. This course has given me the knowledge and confidence to solve most electrical and mechanical pinball problems and has already paid for itself. The program that Norbert has put together is not only very informative, it’s delivered in a way that shows that seemingly complex issues can be diagnosed through a logical structured process.”

Troubleshooting the Back Box
Pinball_course_BackBox

Thumbs-up for a great course!
Pinball_course_AlexBoz_giving_Thumbs-Up

 

Fury Fingers: ‘Pac-Man: Come Out To Play’

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FF PacMan - featuredMuch to our delight, our favourite Aussie filmmakers, Fury Fingers, have gone retro with their latest offering: ‘Pac-Man: Come Out To Play‘ – a gritty Pac-Man reboot inspired by the classic movie The Warriors.

FF-PacMan1The film stars the talented fight choreographer Anthony Rinna as Pac-Man and the awesome Sweezy freerunning team as the parkour gang / ghosts. Impressively, it was filmed guerrilla-style in Adelaide over 5 nights for next to nothing.

FF-PacMan2Now enjoy Pac-Man: Come Out To Play – in Fury Fingers’ words ‘the grit has hit the fan!’

Credits:
Written and Directed by Andrew Shanks
Produced by Andrew Shanks, Anthony Rinna, Nicholas Cleary and Daniel Vink
DOP / Camera – David Gregan
2nd Unit Camera – Andrew Shanks
FX and Picture Grade – Daniel Vink
Post sound aid – Nicholas Cleary
Featuring:
Anthony Rinna as Pacman
Eddie Morrison as Blinky
Andrew Whitehead as Clyde
Henry Nash as Pinky
Thomas Berry as Inky
Ellie Duigan as the DJ
Poster design by Marina Budimir
Ghosts logo design – Mitchell Wheaton
Music by Ben Palk of Big Daddy’s Discotheque

Source: Fury Fingers on YouTube

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msausretrogamerMs. 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

 

 

Arcade Expo 2.0: Arcades From The Golden Age

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ArcadeExpo39Following on from the pinball extravaganza at Arcade Expo 2.0, Martin Robbins reflects on the other half of the expo, the arcade machines! Grab yourself a bib as you will be drooling all over yourself!

Just when I thought I had my fair share of the ‘Wow’ factor in the pinball section, I was in for an absolute treat when I made a beeline for the arcade area at Arcade Expo 2.0. The cabinet artwork, the sounds, the attract modes, people hovering around machines, Walter Day spruiking his cards and Billy Mitchell playing Donkey Kong (yep, THAT Billy Mitchell!) – It was like I was transported back to the golden age of arcade video games.

Billy Mitchell all suited up! Donkey Kong is serious business!
ArcadeExpo44_Billy

The area was littered with classic machines from the heavyweights of the arcade industry: Atari, Bally Midway, Centuri, Cinematronics, Data East. Exidy, Gottlieb, Irem, Konami, Namco, Nintendo, Sega, Stern, Taito, Universal and Williams. It was also great to see the Computer Space machine made by Nutting in 1971, regarded as the world’s first commercially sold coin-operated machine (Ed: Computer Space was designed by none other than the Atari founders, Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney)!

Oh wow, where should we start?
ArcadeExpo1

Upon entering the arcade area, I noticed that it had a different “feel” to it – there were more young people and families playing on arcade machines than what I experienced in the pinball area. The atmosphere definitely seemed a lot more relaxed, with heaps more room to move around. This was a welcome change to the hustle and bustle of the room next door. I found myself returning to the arcade area on a number of occasions to clear my head and unwind from the pinball tournament. I also found it difficult to leave as there were so many games I had not seen nor played in many many years. The problem was, once I’d finish one game, I would then see another one that would instantly transport me back to my youth at that corner Milk Bar with the urge to just have another go. The nostalgia was truly intoxicating!

Let’s see what goodness we’ll find down this aisle…
ArcadeExpo2

The arcade section also had exhibitors including Farsight Studios promoting The Pinball Arcade and in particular the Kickstarter for Dr Who, which reached its goal on February 14 – a job well done! I did have a a chat with their Community Manager, Mike Lindsay, who agreed that the resurgence in the pinball community was partly due to the success Farsight Studios had in bringing the experience to our mobile devices and PCs. Mike was particularly proud of how they had brought pinball to a new generation to experience it for the first time in digital format and then seek it out in the real world.

As mentioned earlier, I managed to see Billy Mitchell playing Donkey Kong. The set up next to Billy was quite cool – it allowed anyone to sit next to him and challenge him to a high score duel. I was not prepared for a public humiliation, so I left him to demonstrate his skills. It must be said, Billy was very friendly and was really enjoying the show.

All good things must come to end. The single regret I had about Arcade Expo 2.0 was not having enough time to play everything. Three days was just not enough. In my mind I’ve already started planning and saving up for my return trip in 2017 – hope to see you all there!

Great to see the next generation enjoying an absolute classic!
ArcadeExpo9

Landing High Japan – wanna be a pilot?
ArcadeExpo11

Test your wood chopping skills!
ArcadeExpo47

Once you are done wood chopping, hit the bar!
ArcadeExpo8

Granny and the Gators – you don’t see this (hybrid) one too often!
ArcadeExpo6

Paddle, Fire and Flip!
ArcadeExpo5

Getting the arcade fix
ArcadeExpo4

Well, well, well, what do we have down here then….
ArcadeExpo3

Buck Rogers (Planet of Zoom)! Haven’t seen one of these since the early 80s!
ArcadeExpo30

No matter your age, everyone loves a bit of Out Run
ArcadeExpo29

This was all the rage in 1976!
ArcadeExpo25

Gun control!
ArcadeExpo26

Midway were prolific in the arcade arena!
ArcadeExpo24

No queuing here – just keep playing! 
ArcadeExpo23

An old vector beauty
ArcadeExpo21

Use the Force and destroy the Death Star!
ArcadeExpo20

Families gaming together
ArcadeExpo22

Oh my gawd! Discs Of Tron! Very drool-worthy
ArcadeExpo18

Have you got the killer instinct?
ArcadeExpo17

Kickin some butt!
ArcadeExpo16

Gonna get drivin’, hard!
ArcadeExpo14

Pole position on Atari’s Pole Position II
ArcadeExpo13

Woo hoo, Walter Day!
ArcadeExpo48_Walter

More Tron goodness
ArcadeExpo46

Old school amusement machines
ArcadeExpo42

Bit of target practice
ArcadeExpo43

Contemplating what to play next…..
ArcadeExpo45

From Joust pinball, to Joust arcade!
ArcadeExpo41

Varkon – disguising a pinball table as an arcade game!
ArcadeExpo40

Comfy arcade gaming
ArcadeExpo38

Getting close to the action
ArcadeExpo37

Let’s spin on Dave Theurer’s classic
ArcadeExpo35

Passing on the retro gaming gene to the next generation
ArcadeExpo34

Ending with a shooter’s delight – Xevious!
ArcadeExpo33

PUP The Band: DVP

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PUP DVPCanadian punk rockers PUP just got a little cooler with the release of their amazing retrogaming themed music video for new song ‘DVP’ (directed and created by Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux). So many games to spot – Super Mario Bros., Mega Man, TMNT, Pokémon, Oregon Trail, NBA Jam, Mortal Kombat…

[Language warning]

Source: PUP The Band on YouTube

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msausretrogamerMs. 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

 

 

Space Invaders In Real Life

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featRooster Teeth Immersion asks the age-old question: can you play Space Invaders in real life? We’re not sure what the answer is, but it’s sure fun to watch them try to find out. This video was filmed at the recent RTX Australia convention – enjoy!

SI

Source: Rooster Teeth via Kotaku

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msausretrogamerMs. 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

 

 

Beautiful Music: Fettes Brot Feat. Geekchester

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featured1You don’t need to speak German to appreciate the awesomeness of German hip hop band Fettes Brot with the retro computer big band Geekchester.

Source: Neo Magazin Royale on YouTube via Laughing Squid

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msausretrogamerMs. 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

 

 

Super Mario Kart… With 100+ Players!

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featuredHat-Loving Gamer imagines what it would be like to play Super Mario Kart with all (and we mean ALL) of your favourite video game characters. We seriously want to play this game!

Characters featured (A-Z):

  1. Adam (Streets of Rage) 0:52
  2. Alex Kidd 1:33
  3. Ash Ketchum (Pokémon) 0:32
  4. Axel (Streets of Rage) 0:52
  5. Baby Luigi 0:38
  6. Baby Mario 0:38
  7. Banjo Kazooie 1:14
  8. Big Daddy (Bioshock) 0:59
  9. Birdo 0:20
  10. Blinky (Pac-Man) 0:19
  11. Bomberman 1:31
  12. Bowser 0:25
  13. Bowser Junior 0:25
  14. Captain Falcon (FZero) 0:57 1:19
  15. Cat Peach 0:57
  16. Charmander (Pokémon) 0:21
  17. CJ (GTA: San Andreas) 1:18
  18. Crash Bandicoot 0:33
  19. Daisy 1:18
  20. Diddy Kong 0:42
  21. DK 0:42
  22. Donkey Kong Jr 0:42
  23. Dry Bones 1:39
  24. Dry Bowser 1:38
  25. Duke Nukem 1:12
  26. Earthworm Jim 1:14
  27. Ecco the Dolphin 1:15
  28. Eggman (Sonic the Hedgehog) 1:14
  29. Fox (Lylatwars) 0:55
  30. Frogger 1:02
  31. Funky Kong 0:42
  32. Gilius Thunderhead (Golden Axe) 1:39
  33. Goku (Dragonball Z) 1:49
  34. Hammerbro 1:52
  35. Honey Queen 1:15
  36. Iggy Koopa 0:54
  37. Isabelle (Animal Crossing) 0:53
  38. Kamek 0:19
  39. King Boo 1:50
  40. Kirby 0:55
  41. Koopa 0:29
  42. Kratos (God of War) 1:36
  43. Lara Croft (Tomb Raider) 1:52
  44. Larry Koopa 0:56
  45. Lemmy Koopa 0:30
  46. Lugwig Koopa 0:38
  47. Luigi 0:36
  48. Link (Legend of Zelda) 0:56
  49. Mario 0:41
  50. Master Chief (Halo) 0:50
  51. Megaman 1:33
  52. Metal Mario 0:30
  53. Minecraft’s Steve 1:12
  54. Morton Koopa 1:17
  55. Nathan Drake (Uncharted) 1:33
  56. Ness (Earthbound) 1:38
  57. Olimar (Pikmin) 0:33
  58. Pac-Man 0:18
  59. Papa the Rappa 1:16
  60. Paratrooper 1:37
  61. Peach 0:53
  62. Petey Piranha 1:19
  63. Pikachu (Pokémon) 0:31
  64. Pink Gold Peach 1:37
  65. Pit (Kid Icarus) 0:27
  66. Pong Left Paddle 0:34
  67. Pong Right Paddle 0:34
  68. Qbert 0:51
  69. Rabbid (Rayman) 1:34
  70. Ratchet and Clank 1:50
  71. Rayman 1:14
  72. Red Yoshi 0:50
  73. R.O.B 0:58
  74. Rosalina 0:31
  75. Roy Koopa 1:17
  76. Ryu (Street Fighter) 1:41
  77. Sack Boy (Little Big Planet) 1:34
  78. Samus (Metroid) 1:32
  79. Scorpion (Mortal Kombat) 1:11
  80. Shy Guy 0:23
  81. Solid Snake (Metal Gear Solid) 0:56
  82. Sonic the Hedgehog 0:27
  83. Spyro 1:00
  84. Subzero (Mortal Kombat) 1:11
  85. Tails (Sonic the Hedgehog) 0:27
  86. Tanooki Mario 0:58
  87. Tetris Block I 1:38
  88. Tetris Block L 1:38
  89. Tetris Block T 1:38
  90. Tetris Block Z 1:38
  91. The King (Tekken) 0:55
  92. Toad 0:00
  93. Toadette 0:24
  94. Turbo (Wreck it Ralph) 1:37
  95. Tyris Flare (Golden Axe) 1:40
  96. Villager Boy (Animal Crossing) 0:53
  97. Villager Girl (Animal Crossing) 0:53
  98. Waluigi 0:29
  99. Wario 0:29
  100. Wendy Koopa 0:36
  101. Wriggler 0:48
  102. Yoshi 0:39

Source: Hat-Loving Gamer via Technabob

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msausretrogamerMs. 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

 

 

Pixel Hearts At Gallery 1988

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featured 3Gallery 1988 is a pop-culture inspired art gallery with two locations (East and West) in Los Angeles, we simply love their latest West exhibit: Pixel Hearts.

Over 100 artists created video game inspired art on 12 inch wooden pixel heart canvases. See a few below – but be sure to check out the whole gorgeous collection.

PIXEL HEART_SHAPE_TEMPLATE

PIXEL HEART_SHAPE_TEMPLATE

majora

mushroom cup

duckhunt pacman samus blow cartridge journey

Source: Gallery 1988

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msausretrogamerMs. 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

 

 

VR Duck Hunt

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featuredJoseph Delgado created this adorable VR adaptation of Duck Hunt in just 24 hours for the 2016 Global Game Jam.

Duck Hunt Life VR delves into the backstory of Duck Hunter, where the duck hunter is actually collecting ducks for his cult-like ritual. Hunt some ducks, practice skeet shooting with the lads, and destroy your house. Try to collect enough ducks by Day 10 in order to complete your ritual, but don’t fail to collect the required number of ducks on a given day, or you’ll never do the ritual. Requires a Razer Hydra and Oculus Rift DK2.

Source: Global Game Jam and Joseph Delgado on YouTube via Cheezburger

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msausretrogamerMs. 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