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Archives for October 2017

PAX Aus Panel: Blast from the Past – How Yesterday’s Heroes Became Today’s Icons

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ausretrogamer.com Editor-in-Chief, Alex Boz, had the privilege of being a panelist on GameSpot’s ‘Blast From The Past: How Yesterday’s Heroes Became Today’s Icons’ panel at PAX Aus 2017.

The panel discussed the obvious gaming icons, Nintendo’s Mario and Sega’s Sonic and what exactly makes them and other well known characters so timeless and appealing to every generation of gamers.

There is some chat about Sonic Mania by Christian Whitehead which leads to a discussion in what (forgotten) gaming characters should make a return to our consoles – watch for Alex’s choice towards the end of the video!


source: GameSpot @ PAX Aus 2017

The Panelists await their questions!

Alex The Comeback Kidd!

 

PAX Aus 2017 Classic Gaming: Atari and Sega Console Giveaway

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*** THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED ***

Thanks to our good friends at Five Star Games, we are giving away an Atari Flashback 8 Gold HD and a Sega Mega Drive Flashback HD gaming consoles to two lucky PAX Aus 2017 attendees.

To score yourself one of these gaming consoles has never been easier! Just follow these three steps:

  • Visit the Classic Gaming area at PAX Aus (on any of the three days);
  • Pick up an ausretrogamer flyer and take a photo of the flyer anywhere within the Classic Gaming area;
  • Post the photo on either Twitter or Facebook using the and hashtags (make sure you also tag ausretrogamer on Twitter or Faceook!)

See, we told you it was going to be simple!

The winners will be selected at random by our Editor-in-Chief, Alex Boz. Winners will be notified after the event and advised when to expect their prize (Prize will be sent to the winners by Five Star Games).

So if you want to stand out from the other entrants, go and say hi to Alex (he’ll have his name on the back of his t-shirt)! *wink*

image source: AtGames

 

The Age Newspaper: Retro Gaming Revival

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The ausretrogamer team was recently interviewed by Adam Turner for the Sunday Age M lift-out cover story which was all about the revival of retro gaming and the classic gaming area at PAX Australia!

If you didn’t get the chance to read the article in print, then you can read it all online right now on The Age website!

The full story can be read online on The Age website now

 

Classic Gaming Returns To PAX

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image source: PAX Australia

We are back, baby! Not much more needs to be said!

We are proud to be bringing the Classic Gaming area yet again to PAX Aus in 2017. Together with our fellow retroholics, Weird and Retro and Press Play On Tape, this will be our 5th (consecutive) year that we will be bringing you a hit of nostalgia at PAX!

But that’s not all! Bartronica, Bayside Pinball Club, Pinmem, Zax Amusements and Melbourne Silverball will also have their arcade and pinball machines for you to indulge your nostalgic senses. We hope to see you all there (and don’t be shy, come and say hi!).

If you want to get your classic gaming competitive juices flowing, then check out our tournament schedule. If you want to attend a great retro gaming panel, then diarise Saturday 5:30pm in the Gamespot theatre for a Blast from the Past!

 

Mi-Sex: Computer Games

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Watching the ABC’s Classic Countdown on the weekend, we saw a music clip that triggered a torrent of nostalgia. The music clip in question was Mi-Sex’s Computer Games.

Released in 1979, Computer Games was way ahead of its time, both in the context of the nascent computer and video gaming age, and the use of Control Data Corporation’s data centre to film their music video, which features a number of arcade games from 1979 – can you name them all? The answers are further down below – don’t you dare cheat!

For those of our vintage that remember this hit song, here it is for you to enjoy once again. And for those that haven’t heard this before, kick back and enjoy!


source: saynotonowave

Answer: Computer Games features Vectorbeam’s Speed Freak, Atari’s Basketball and Exidy’s Star Fire! Did you get them all right?

 

Meet Jersey Jack Pinball’s Newest Pinball Machine: Pirates Of The Caribbean

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Just in case you’ve been busy playing Jersey Jack Pinball’s other awesome machines (which is understandable), you may have missed the unveiling of their fourth and latest title, Pirates Of The Caribbean! The machine made its debut at the Pinball Expo in Chicago last Thursday and to say that it impressed the pinball world would be a gross understatement.

Jersey Jack’s Pirates Of the Caribbean features all the best bits of the five films and hosts a remarkable 3.25 sextillion game play variations – so you will never play the same game twice! Pinball wizards can play as one of 22 movie characters to plunder on this awesome looking machine. As per usual, JJP will release the machine in three versions: a Collector’s Edition (USD$12,500), Limited Edition (USD$9,500) and Standard Edition (USD$8,500). There will be variations between the machines, as expected, with the Collector’s Edition being the most blinged out of the lot with barnacle-covered legs and body armour, a moving ship in a bottle topper, rotating pop bumpers, extra toys and a custom hand-drawn playfield art package featuring the villainous Davy Jones.

The machines are packed with innovative and unique features including the spinning wheel that can be activated directly above the main flippers, which when lit gives extra points or even allows the player to plunder their opponent’s points or balls. There is also a secondary display showing Captain Jack’s compass, which in the film’s shows the direction of his heart’s desire, constantly shows the player the best shot they can take at that time – very clever indeed.

It is great to see Jersey Jack Pinball raising the bar yet again and with Pirates Of The Caribbean, we reckon they have another hit on their hands!

If you missed Buffalo Pinball’s live Twitch stream from the unveiling at Pinball Expo 2017, you can check it out now on YouTube.

source: Jersey Jack Pinball

 

8-Bit Adventure Anthology: Retro Horror and Thriller Adventures Just In Time For Halloween

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Set the date to 1987 and get ready to revisit the classic 8-bit adventure games that mesmerised a generation of console junkies. Now is the opportunity to play cult favourites Shadowgate™, The Uninvited™ and Déjà Vu™ the way they were supposed to be played, with controller in hand and worlds awaiting to be explored!

The 8-Bit Adventure Anthology (Volume One) will be available on Steam, PlayStation®4 and Xbox One on October 31.

The three classic ’80s thriller adventures games are being bundled into one package by Abstraction Games. Set within the realms of fantasy, horror and film noir, these three fantastic stories are a must have for those who lived in the decade of neon and those that wish that they had.

The 8-Bit Adventure Anthology (Volume One) includes these classic games:

  • Shadowgate™: The wind whistles through the silent halls as you step through the stone threshold. You’ve just entered Shadowgate, a once shining castle, now an evil, dark moldering ruin. Swallow your fear and take up your torch. You are the ‘Seed of Prophecy’ and in your hands lies the fate of the world itself.
  • The Uninvited™: The last thing you remember was a figure appearing in the middle of the road and the sound of your sister’s screams over the screeching tires. When you come to, you discover two horrifying things: your sister is missing and the mansion that now looms before you seems to be calling your name…
  • Déjà Vu™: It’s 1942 and you wake up in a seedy bathroom with no idea how you got here or, for that matter, who you are. You grab a .38 hanging on the door, stumble up the stairs and find some stiff slumped over a desk with three bullet holes in him. You check your gun. Three bullets are missing. This is gonna be a bad day.

source: GamePress

 

The UNIQLO UTGP’17 Nintendo T-Shirts Are Out Now

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The wait is over peeps! Remember how we told you back in May about the UNIQLO Nintendo T-Shirt Grand Prix (UTGP’17) competition winners? Well now you can head on in to your local UNIQLO store and snag a few (or all) of the UTGP’17 Nintendo tees!

We started with one tee because we love Donkey Kong, but we couldn’t resist grabbing the two Super Mario tees. Oh yeah, the littlest member of the ausretrogamer crew also scored herself some tees – check them out!

If you intend on going into their store, UNIQLO also have a free play area for you to enjoy some premium Nintendo video gaming! And don’t fret if there is no bricks and mortar store near you, just head to their online store and buy them all!

Remember folks, life cannot be reset!

Whoa, where to begin…

Of course there were plenty of Mario related tees. Oh yeah, Luigi gets in on the act too!

Do your eyes hurt?

Metroid and Zelda fans will be happy

Whoa, we love 8-bit Mario (which was the winning design)!

There is even a junior 8-bit Mario tees! Our little one will love this!

One of the cool Donkey Kong tees

We had to grab this DK tee!

The back of the DK tee is as cool as the front! The level of detail is just sublime.

Wish they had this in adult size *sad face*

Just some of the UTGP’17 tees we grabbed. We will be going back for more!

After you are done shopping, play some (free) Nintendo video games!

So true!

 

Pinfest 2017 Highlights

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If you were one of the lucky patrons to have attended this past weekend’s Pinfest 2017 at Caves Coastal Bar & Bungalows in Newcastle, then we envy you!

Not only were there heaps of pinball machines to play from every era, patrons also got to see and experience Homepin’s amazing new Thunderbirds machine. Homepin have done an amazing job, not just on the theme and design, but also by setting up a factory to mass produce pinball machines! We will Mike Kalinowski and the Homepin team all the best.

If that wasn’t enough, Australian Pinball League’s Norbert Snicer also caught up with Andrew Kress who built his own Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy machine! Yes, you read that right! Andrew’s creation is unique and sophisticated, featuring multiple LCD screens and an awesome playfield to boot! To say Andrew’s machine was impressive would be a gross understatement. Pinfest 2017 could claim that it was the only place on the planet where you could play the only Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy pinball machine.

If you were like us and missed out, here are a few highlights from Pinfest 2017: Festival Of The Silver Ball:

An impressive flyer for an impressive event!

Norbert Snicer chats with Homepin’s Mike Kalinowski and checks out their new Thunderbirds machine!

We are quite excited by Thunderbirds and can’t wait to play it!

The crowd lines up to play some pinball!

Stern’s new Star Wars pinball machine proved popular

The sweet sound of the silver ball!

There were pinball machines to enjoy from every era!

Every generation enjoys flippin’

Andrew Kress stands proud in front of his creation: Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy!

The impressive Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy playfield
image sources: Australian Pinball League

 

PAX Aus 2017 Tournaments

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Woohoo, the PAX Aus 2017 Tournaments have just been announced!

If your preference is to compete on old school consoles, 8-bit computers, handhelds, arcade and pinball machines, then the PAX Aus 2017 Classic Gaming Tournaments will be right up your nostalgic alley.

Check out the Classic Gaming tournament schedule below and make sure you come to the Classic Gaming Area nice and early to ensure you do not miss out. What are you waiting for? Put these times in your diary and get practising!

The PAX Aus 2017 Classic Gaming Tournaments are brought to you by these awesome community partners: Bartronica, Bayside Pinball Club, Melbourne Silverball, Pinmem, Press Play On Tape Podcast, Weird And Retro and us at Ausretrogamer.