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May The 4th Be With You: A New Stern Star Wars Pinball?

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With the internet rumour mill running amok regarding Stern’s next pinball machine, we wonder if they will announce a new Star Wars themed pinball machine on ‘May The 4th Be With You‘ Star Wars day? We can only hope!

If you weren’t aware, there have been quite a number of Star Wars themed pinball machines over the years, from Hankin’s wide body The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Sonic’s Star Wars (1987), Data East’s Star Wars (1992) to Sega’s awesome Star Wars Trilogy (1997) and Williams’ Star Wars Episode I (1999) built on the ill-fated Pinball2000 platform.

If Stern does announce a new Star Wars pinball machine, then we cross our fingers that it will be a mix of the Data East and Sega Star Wars machines. Oh yeah, we would love some Dark Side and Light Side LE machines too – hope you are listening Stern!

What are your predictions for Stern’s new pinball machine? Let us know on Twitter or Facebook.

May the force be with you!

One of our favourite Star Wars themed pinball machine, Sega’s Star Wars Trilogy

A close second, Data East’s Star Wars

You either loved it or hated Williams’ Star Wars Episode I

The first Star Wars themed pinball machine, Hankin’s The Empire Strikes Back

Straight out of Spain, Sonic’s Star Wars
source: Internet Pinball Database

 

How the Gun on the Original Duck Hunt Worked

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‘If you’ve ever played Duck Hunt or any of the other NES games that used the NES Zapper gun, you probably at one point or another wondered how the game actually knows where on the TV you are aiming the gun when you pulled the trigger. It turns out, the method for accomplishing this is incredibly simple, as is the gun itself.’


Source: Today I Found Out

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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

 

 

Supanova Comic-Con and Gaming 2017: Melbourne

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Can you believe that Supanova is celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2017! Since it started in Sydney all those years ago as comicfest! entertainment expo, Supanova (as we lovingly know it these days) gets bigger and better every year.

This past weekend, Supanova Comic-Con & Gaming Expo came to Melbourne and it definitely did not disappoint. This year’s event at the Melbourne Showgrounds was markedly bigger than the last, which meant there was lots more to see and do, and a lot more space to move around in and meet up with fellow attendees.

We were wowed yet again by the brilliant cosplay on show and for the first time in Melbourne, we even got to play some retro games in the Epic Retro Gaming Lounge. And for those Supa-fans that wanted to check out some cool foam-based toy blasters, the Hasbro’s NerfHQ area was the place to be at to sample the Accustrike, their most accurate Nerf dart!

There were also lots of exciting screenings in the AnimeLab Theatre from hit shows like Sailor Moon Crystal, Terra Formars, Attack On Titan and Beyond the Boundary to name a few. There was also a special event screening of The Osiris Child: Science Fiction Volume One at the Film Ink Theatre on the Friday. If you preferred to check out the seminars, then you weren’t let down, with a myriad of topics from well known artists and actors.

Oh yeah, Supanova always tends to pull in the big name film and TV actors, and this year they went all out by having David Boreanaz of Bones, Angel and Buffy The Vampire Slayer fame in attendance. For us, we were quite chuffed to see our childhood hero, Lee Majors – the Six Million Dollar Man.

If you didn’t get the chance to attend Suponova in Melbourne, then check out some of the pics we took from this most awesome event!

Michael Lanzer – The Puppet Creation Lab

First time Supanovians: Phil and Kristy!

1951 Queen of Hearts by Veldrath Custom Embroidery and Cosplay (Bree Frost)

Ms and Mr Ausretrogamer – we hope to see you all back at Supanova in 2018!

Grand Theft Auto: The Complete History

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Come over to the seedy side of town as Slope’s Games Room’s Daniel Ibbertson dons his tracksuit pants and delves deep into the complete history of Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto!

If you have missed Daniel’s previous complete history videos, then do yourself a favour and hit this link!


source: Daniel Ibbertson

 


The Time Mattel Made A Pinball Machine

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What the hell – Mattel made pinball machines? Well, A pinball machine! Yeah, that’s right, Mattel dipped their toe in the pinball market with their one (and only), Las Vegas Pinball!

We only ever associated Mattel with the Intellivision and our fave childhood action figures, Masters Of The Universe, so when we stumbled upon this anomaly, we thought we’d let the rest of you know (Ed: unless you all already knew!).

Before you get excited, Mattel Electronics’ Las Vegas Pinball was never intended for commercial use, hence why you may not have seen it at your local pinball parlour. The playfield is standard fare for a pinball machine of this vintage (the late 70s) – couple of pop bumpers, slingshots and four stand-up targets to keep you flipping.

The interesting part about this Mattel pinball machine is the ability to select one of three game versions (similar to modes on modern machines), Beginner’s Luck, Cool Hand or High Roller. Coupled with selecting the game version, Mattel also included a handicap switching system, allowing players to select a choice of  3, 4, or 5 balls for their turn at play. This feature allowed competing players to give any player a handicap advantage of one or two extra balls, if desired.

Mattel had another cool feature called Double Or Nothing, which could only be used once during a game – prior to shooting a ball into play, the player presses a button on the front of the cabinet to activate this option for that ball only. Then, lighting all four targets doubles the player’s score. Failure to light all four targets penalises the player of all the points earned on that ball. Sounds pretty cool to us!

Which ever way you look at it, this Mattel Electronics Las Vegas Pinball machine was quite nifty for its time – we just hope we find one in our travels so we can have a go!

Have you played this pinball machine? If you have, tell us what you thought of it on Twitter or Facebook.

source: IPDB

€200,000 Will Get You A Complete Neo Geo AES Games Library

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Have you recently won the jackpot in the lottery? If you have and you want an instant and complete Neo Geo AES games collection, then you are in luck!

For a cool €200,000 (AUD$285,716), you get the full-set of the Neo Geo AES Japanese games library which is all 100% original! Phwoar, if only we didn’t spend the lottery money on that red Ferrari!

Now if €200,000 is a tad too much, perhaps the microwave sized Neo Geo Deck: Compact Amusement System at US$59,997 (AUD$79,912) may be a bit more palatable.

Oh yeah, you can make an offer on either one of these Neo Geo eBay auctions *winks*

source: eBay

source: eBay

 

The ZX Spectrum Is Reborn As The Next

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All you one-eyed C64 lovers licking your wounds after the cancelled Commodore 64: For the Love of a Machine Kickstarter (Ed: which we are still devastated about), please look away now!

Just when those smarmy Speccy owners were popping the champagne in celebration of the rubber key computer’s 35th anniversary, the ZX Spectrum Next makes its appearance on Kickstarter.

source: ZX Spectrum Next on Kickstarter

Not only do Speccy owners celebrate a huge milestone for one of the most enduring computers, but they also have the opportunity to grab a brand-spanking new ZX Spectrum Next! With a brains trust that reads like a who’s who, including original Sinclair computers designer Rick Dickinson, the Next is in fine hands.

A day into the £250,000 crowdfunding campaign, the Next will definitely come to fruition with the goal well within reach – the question remains, how high will the pledge amount go?!


source: Henrique Olifiers

 

Hyper Player Attack!

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Cor blimey, what a phenomenal week it has been for the ausretrogamer crew!

Not only did we feature in two articles in issue 266 of Hyper Magazine, but our very own ‘Wizard Of Aus‘, Alex Boz was also interviewed by the team at Player Attack!

Hip hip hooray for retro gaming!

Retro Gaming: A Link To The Past interview @ Player Attack

Social Hardware and Digging Up The Past, To Preserve The Future feature articles from issue 266 of Hyper Magazine

 

Better Than A SNES Mini: Special Iron Commando Edition RetroDuo Handheld

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Phwoar, just when you were feeling down in the dumps with the announcement from Nintendo that they were pulling the pin on the NES Classic Mini, Piko Interactive comes out with a one-two knockout punch full of cheeriness!

No, we aren’t talking about some new boxing game from Piko Interactive, we are referring to their new SNES beat’em up games – Iron Commando and Legend, and their collaboration with Retro-Bit to produce a limited quantity of the Special Custom Edition Iron Commando (or Legend) RetroDuo Handheld!

Having played and reviewed the RetroDuo, we can say that we are quite excited to see an updated custom edition with a fantastic new SNES pack-in game (of your choice)! As this is an IndieGoGo campaign, there is a limited quantity of these custom edition units, so you will have to get in quick to grab one at the early bird price.

For those of you that already have a SNES and are hungry for some new beat’em ups to feed your 16-bit Ninty console, then head to Piko Interactive’s IndieGoGo campaign to check out Iron Commando and Legend.

source: Piko Interactive – IndieGoGo

 

GoldenEra: The Untold Story Behind The N64’s GoldenEye 007

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Hands up those of you that haven’t played GoldenEye 007 on the Nintendo 64. If you have put your hand up, then we strongly urge you to rectify the situation and play this game at this instant – it is that damn good!

For the rest of you, we all know how awesome and revolutionary Rare’s game was on the N64. GoldenEye 007 was so good, that it created the template for all First-Person Shooter (FPS)  games that proceeded it, even till this day!

We would love to know more about the team and what went on in making this landmark game, but we all know how secretive Rare is, especially its enigmatic founding brothers, Tim and Chris Stamper. But, we are happy to report that our prayers have been answered!

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of GoldenEye 007, Melbourne based, Roller Coaster Productions is aiming to create a documentary on this influential console shooter, with the aim of exploring the untold story behind the game. The film, aptly titled GoldenEra, will examine how a young and inexperienced team were trusted to work on such a huge licence, how the game continued in spite of its cancellation, and most importantly, how they motivated each other to surpass all expectations and create a game that would shape the genre and delight players for years to come. GoldenEra will also delve into personal anecdotes from the game’s developers, critics, fans and celebrities – discussing how it shaped them and their lives. This documentary will celebrate the game that revolutionised the way we play together, in our lounge rooms and bedrooms with friends and family around the world. GoldenEra’s crowdfunding campaign and teaser trailer have already launched on IndieGoGo, so go and take a look and back it if you can!

GoldenEra – The untold story behind the game from Drew Roller on Vimeo.

We are quite confident in the pedigree of the GoldenEra filmmakers, Drew Roller and Narayan Pattison, with both having extensive content creation and film making experience, so this documentary is in very good and experienced hands. We’ll eagerly watch this IndieGoGo campaign!

source: GoldenEra Documentary