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Archives for February 2019

Peter Alexander Super Mario Sleepwear – Game On!

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Check out the Peter Alexander – Super Mario Game On sleepwear! Lots of Nintendo based character pyjamas, shorts, tops and slippers for boys and girls of all ages!

Thanks again to our friend, Lane Myer for bringing this to our attention and to Ms. Ausretrogamer for taking some snaps from the Peter Alexander store. We’ll now all look cool when we sleep *wink*

photo by: Ms. Ausretrogamer

image source: Peter Alexander

photo by: Ms. Ausretrogamer

image source: Peter Alexander

photo by: Ms. Ausretrogamer

 

YouTuber Enables Floppy Disk Games For Smartphones

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Whoa, this YouTuber has figured out how to play floppy disk games on his Android smartphone! If only this can be done on iOS devices……

OlliOlli Switch Stance – Nintendo Switch Review

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Kickflipping their way onto the Nintendo Switch is OlliOlli and OlliOlli 2: Welcome to Olliwood in the new collection OlliOlli Switch Stance.

Much like the multitude of skateboarding games that have come before it, OlliOlli Switch Stance is all about racking up multipliers and high scores. Unlike its predecessors though, OlliOlli Switch Stance is a 2D side-on skateboarding game with a very simplified art style. Each run has a mix of 5 specific point, or objective- based challenges to be completed. To proceed the player only has to make it to the end of the run without bailing. Along with the standard levels there is a “Daily Grind” mode in both games and other additional challenges including multiplayer in OlliOlli 2.

Both games in OlliOlli Switch Stance have similar yet different visual styles. OlliOlli has a pixel art style with levels that span a multitude of urban environments. Whereas OlliOlli 2 has an updated yet equally clean 2D style that takes place on and around movie sets. The very simplistic art style works in favour of the quick gameplay, most notably in OlliOlli 2 where jumps and grinds stand out. The soundtrack in OlliOlli Switch Stance is very much the opposite, being purposefully subdued yet still catchy and suits the games perfectly.

The controls are what will really set this series apart from other skateboarding games that most players are familiar with. Everything from jumps to flips to grinds are all accomplished using the left analogue stick. By holding, rotating and finally releasing the stick, players can carry out a multitude of tricks to build up their score. What really makes the game technical is the timing required when carrying out every action, including landing. Starting up OlliOlli Switch Stance, the player is warned that “OlliOlli is a super-fast game” and this is no understatement. Pulling off a lengthy series of chained tricks can all be rendered moot by the act of a “Sloppy” landing. Retrying stages over and
over is almost a necessity but snappy menus and instant restarts mean there is no waiting between rounds and you can get straight into the action.

OlliOlli Switch Stance plants itself perfectly on the Nintendo Switch, whether you want to knock out a quick run or chase high scores. The technical and precise nature of these controls may be a little off putting to some but others will find it incredibly enjoyable and rewarding.

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Mat Panek
Retromancer – Collector, repairer & fan of retro games & tech. Atari to Amiga, Nintendo to Sega! LD, Zip, Beta and a proud dad! One half of the TiredParents on Twitch.

Follow Mat on Twitter and Twitch

 

 

Disclosure: OlliOlli Switch Stance [Nintendo Switch] was kindly provided by POWER UP PR for this review.

 

 

Doom Pinball: A One Of A Kind Pinball Machine

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Imagine if you will, Doom, one of the best First Person Shooter (FPS) video games of all time, was somehow turned into a pinball machine.

Well, imagine no more, as Pinsider Bonnevil69 has created a custom pinball machine based on the brilliant game Doom. If there was a video game that was perfect for a pinball theme, then Doom is certainly it!
This labour of love took some time to be made, but boy oh boy, was it worth it. Using Mutlitmorphic’s P3-ROC pinball control system as the brains of the machine, Bonnevil69 also used  the pinball programming Skeleton framework to build the software and ruleset of the game.

Our only wish would be for this machine to be mass produced, but alas, that will probably never happen.

[source: Pinside]

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Pinball Press
Pinball Press is here to spread the word on everything pinball across the known universe. For business / PR email: [email protected]

Follow Pinball Press on Twitter and Facebook

 

 

Super Impulse MicroArcade Takes Tiny Retro Gaming To A New Level

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Did you enjoy playing Super Impulse’s Tiny Arcades? Want to play some classic old school games on a device this is just a tad bigger than a credit card?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then you will be gobsmacked by Super Impulses’s new MicroArcade devices! The MicroArcade is the size of a credit card, which means no one would even notice it in your pocket. These devices have a full-colour LCD screen, sound effects, physical controls and a microUSB charging port all in a cute ultra tiny form factor. They measure just over three inches long.

The MicroArcade series will feature six different versions: Space Invaders, Galaga, Pac-Man, Frogger,  Rally-X and an Atari Combo that will include Asteroids, Centipede and Pong.

To say we can’t wait to get our retro gaming fix on the Super Impulse MicroArcade would be a gross understatement. We want them all!

image source: Alternative Mindz

image source: Super Impulse

 

CONTRA: Celebrating 32 Years of the Irresistible Force

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Contra, Gryzor or Probotector. No matter what name you know this classic Konami run and gun game by, you will definitely remember it as one tough mother of a game! Konami had an instant hit on their hands when they released the arcade machine on this day [February 20] in 1987. Happy 30th anniversary Contra, you irresistible force!

For those that have been away from Earth since early 1987, here is the lowdown on Contra:

Midnight, September 12 2631. The Marines catch sight of a small-sized meteorite that is fast approaching Earth. The meteorite plummets 20km north-east of New Zealand, at the Gal Mosquito Archipelago. The command keep watch of the meteorite.

Two years later, in December 2633, an intruder known as the Red Falcon is occupying the Gal Mosquito Archipelago and is planning the fall of mankind. Command orders confidential investigations at the enemy’s front base. The marine post orders for two “Contra” soldiers, Private First Class Bill “Mad Dog” Rizer and Private First Class Lance “Scorpion” Bean on a mission. The mission being: penetrate the insides of the enemy, destroy the front base and the entire centre of operation.

 

GORF: The Great Oz Retro-Technology Festival

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Hey Retro Peeps, you can spend four days enjoying the company of other retro-technology enthusiasts at GORF: the Great Oz Retro-Technology Festival, at Urban Camp in Melbourne, from April 24th-28th 2019.

Modelled after the wildly-successful US KansasFest event, GORF is an ‘unconference’ that brings together 8 and 16-bit computer enthusiasts, classic console hackers and arcade collectors to celebrate a pivotal era in the development of modern electronics in a communal ‘stay and play’ environment where attendees sleep over at the venue.

Two keynotes will explore the history of the Australian MicroBee computer (with designer Owen Hill) and the local video-game development scene of the 1980s (with Doctor Melanie Swalwell), followed by presentations given by attendees (hopefully including you!) on a variety of subjects regarding a variety of computing and video-gaming platforms.

There’s also an event-long hackathon (coined the GORF-a-thon) where participants will compete to create the most intriguing retro-related project, a game competition night and a documentary screening. Meals will be provided, except Saturday night when attendees will go out on the town to visit Melbourne’s retro-gaming bars.

GORF: it’s a summer camp for retro-geeks. Go and join in!

Ticket sales close April 1st. For more information or to book visit GORF.

 

 

Emoji Art for Geeks

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We knew there was a good use for emojis!

Our talented co-founder, Ms. Ausretrogamer has put emojis to good use by creating iconic artwork of pop culture geekiness, from Star Wars, Dr. Who, Donkey Kong, to The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers, The Shining and Mortal Kombat to name just a few.

If you don’t want to miss Ms. Ausretrogamer’s geeky emoji artwork, follow her on Twitter.

 

First Impressions: Stern’s The Munsters Pro Pinball

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When Stern Pinball Inc. unveiled their latest machine, The Munsters on January 8 at CES 2019 in Las Vegas, it generated such a buzz in the pinball world, that the Limited Edition (LE) models sold out worldwide almost instantly!

We may not be able to experience the glory of the LE machine, but when Zax Amusements invited us to the unboxing and the offer to play The Munsters Pro pinball machine, that was definitely an offer we could not refuse.

With The Munsters, Stern promises that we will be transported to 1313 Mockingbird Lane, joining the entire Munsters family, from Herman, Lily, Raven, to Spot and Grandpa in this cool haunted pinball adventure.  Stern Pinball’s Chairman and CEO, Gary Stern succinctly put it like this, “The Munsters are iconic and timeless, and it was time to create a pinball experience around this freaky-fun family.  With beautiful artwork inspired by the supernatural family, this theme is perfect for a pinball machine” – we could not have said it better, really!


source: Ausretrogamer – Facebook

As this machine is still evolving (with its code base), we can only offer out first impressions based on the current Dwight Sullivan code. As a lot of you know, we are huge fans of John Borg designed machines, with The Walking Dead being our favourite Stern machine in recent times. The excitement for The Munsters has been brewing for a little while, and with Borg designing it and Christopher Franchi on art, we knew we were in for a treat. Our only apprehension was with Dwight Sullivan being on code, but that may have been down to us being mediocre players that don’t necessarily like playing games with deep rulesets. To our pleasant surprise, the design and ruleset (so far!) of The Munsters is pure damn fun! We love the fan layout, with each shot feeling great when hitting targets, Grandpa’s ball scoop, the Herman bash toy and of course the two ramps, especially the 180 degree high speed gravity defying right ramp! Oh yeah, the visual look of the machine speaks for itself, so Christopher Franchi should be commended for his stunning and distinctive hand-drawn art.

This is where the magic happens!

After playing The Munsters, we can safely say that on first impressions, we really really like it. The theme integration is awesome – we never get sick of the artwork, the LCD visuals and the sounds from the TV show. The game made us feel like hitting the start button immediately after we drained our last ball from our previous game, so the game did have a high replayability for us – which is good news for operators routing this machine.

We also asked PAPA 20 Division B World Pinball Champion, Jordan Tredaway to give us his first impressions from an expert player’s perspective – he was quite open and upfront stating that the game shot well and hitting the ramps felt good. That’s a big plus coming from a champion pinball player.

There will never be a pinball machine that will make everyone happy, but just like everything else in life, variety is the spice of life, and in this instance, gives us the option to try all these new pinball machines to see if we like them or not. As it currently stands, we are big fans of The Munsters Pro and cannot wait for the Premium model to land in Australia – that lower playfield and of course, that beautiful black and white artwork has us intrigued!

If you are yearning for some fun pinball action, go and play The Munsters! You never know, you may just like it.

A big thank you to Scott and Phil from Zax Amusements for inviting us to check out and play Stern’s The Munsters Pro pinball machine.

 

 

Belles & Chimes Melbourne – A Pinball Group For Women

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Pinball should be enjoyed by all, so it was awesome to find out that there is now an official Belles & Chimes Melbourne chapter up and running!

If you haven’t heard of Belles & Chimes, it is a pinball league for women that started in the US, with chapters popping up all around the world, including Melbourne – which is simply awesome news.

The Belles & Chimes Melbourne chapter is open to women (cis and trans) and non-binary pinheads of any diverse background and skill level living in this great city. The inclusiveness of this group ensures that everyone gets to experience and enjoy playing pinball.

Belles & Chimes Melbourne will have meet-ups as well as their own tournaments in the near future, so if you are keen on pinball and would like to get involved, join their Facebook group to keep up to date and follow them on Instagram.

For more information about Belles & Chimes and chapters around the world, check out their site.

Pinball enjoyed by all!