The Pop-Culture E-Zine
Wow, it has been a year that most of us would probably rather forget. Here’s hoping that 2021 is a better, safer and healthier year for everyone!
From the ausretrogamer team, we wish you all an awesome Festive Season, which we hope is filled with fun, laughter and lots of gaming, be it video games, pinball, boardgames or otherwise!
Be merry and we’ll see you all in 2021!
Simon Parkin’s The New Yorker interview with Nintendo’s legendary Shigeru Miyamoto is an interesting, insightful and wide-ranging, reflective conversation. Seldom do we hear or read anything so candid or beyond Shigeru’s amazing creations in his four decade long career with the Big N.
So kick back and read Simon’s refreshing interview with Miyamoto-san, as he speaks openly about his video games design philosophy, being the boss, guns in video games, his kids love of Sega (Ed: what?!) and the new Super Nintendo World theme park at Universal Studios in Japan.
image source: The New Yorker
Now this is the kind of Star Wars Christmas Special we can get behind and actually enjoy – no cheesiness added 😉
Here are some of our favourites from the ‘Celebrate the holidays in a galaxy far far away‘ Lego Ideas contest – there’s heaps more if you click on the link.
May the X-mas Force be with you!
source: Lego Ideas – Celebrate the Holidays in a Galaxy Far Far Away
If there is one certainty in the world of pinball, it’s that Stern Pinball keeps producing pinball machines like clockwork, year in, year out. Even with the kind of year we have had, Stern Pinball forges ahead with their releases so that the pinball playing public can enjoy the latest and greatest silverball titles!
The latest pinball machine from Stern is Led Zeppelin, which now joins the illustrious stable of music themed pins from Stern, like Aerosmith, Kiss, The Beatles and Metallica to name just a few. As it is quite apparent, rock & roll and pinball go together hand in hand – it is a perfect fit!
Stern says that in this high energy rock and roll pinball concert experience, players will be transported back to Led Zeppelin’s early days and tour the world from 1968-1980. Pinball and music fuse together, changing features with the start of each verse in ten iconic Led Zeppelin songs including:
· Good Times Bad Times
· Whole Lotta Love
· The Song Remains the Same
· Rock and Roll
· Trampled Underfoot
· Ramble On
· Kashmir
· Immigrant Song
· Black Dog
· Communication Breakdown
The Pro, Premium, and Limited Edition models all feature a custom-molded Hindenburg Zeppelin toy based on the iconic imagery from the Led Zeppelin I album artwork. When lit, the Hindenburg Zeppelin toy scores speed locks on the player’s musical journey to Zeppelin multiball. A custom Swan Song Records trademark Icarus sculpted leaper toy magically takes flight when smashed by a chaotic pinball in addition to 3 custom steel ramps, a 3-bank of drop targets, and 3 full size flippers that keep the pinball action rolling.
The three Led Zeppelin models – Pro, Premium and Limited Edition (LE)
The Premium and Limited Edition (LE) models feature an innovative interactive toy called the Electric Magic device. The Electric Magic device is a unique motorized toy that syncs with the pinball action, rising from below the playfield to create different magical pinball experiences. An optical spinner charges the Electric Magic Magnet, capturing and making balls disappear. The Electric Magic device can also convert into a physical pinball bash toy capable of locking a ball or launching a ball up and down the playfield. In true pinball rock concert fashion, an expression lighting system with 96 intelligent RGB LEDs enables the full colour spectrum control. Positioned to provide colour themed full playfield illumination, this integrated playfield lighting system synchronizes custom light shows specifically designed for every song. As an encore, these models have an additional custom metal Hot Shot reversing combo ramp, allowing players to keep the hits coming with constant adrenalized pinball action.
The LE model is limited to 500 units globally. The limited version includes an exclusive Icarus themed full colour mirrored backglass, exclusive custom themed cabinet artwork, custom high gloss Paradise Shimmer Blue powder-coated armour, a custom autographed bottom arch, exclusive custom art blades, upgraded audio system, anti-reflection pinball glass, a shaker motor, and a sequentially numbered plaque.
Pricing (inc. GST) and Availability:
Led Zeppelin pinball machines are available through authorised Stern Pinball distributors and dealers around the world. For Australian LZ fans wanting this pinball machine, get in touch with Amusement Machine Distributors (NSW) or Zax Amusements (Vic) right now!
image source: Stern Pinball Inc.
Last week we published our Christmas Gift Guide, which we hope that it helped finding that special pressie for that special someone, including yourself.
Well, since then, we have found even more cool retro gaming inspired gifts that are currently on special (30% OFF!), which means it’s a win, win for everyone! So if you need some last minute gifts for your geeky friends or family (or for yourself), then check out these:
We have clearly been under a rock and missed the news that Nintendo had developed their theme park, Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios in Japan.
As massive fans of theme parks, and yeah, Nintendo, this news was obviously right up our alley! With what has transpired this year, the opening of this cool ‘World’ has now been pushed out to Spring (our Autumn) in 2021! Oh yeah, not to be outdone, there will be a Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios in Hollywood too!
With a lot of travel restrictions around (rightfully so!), for now we’ll just sit here and admire Super Nintendo World from afar (and drool over our keyboard).
Who else is putting Super Nintendo World on their bucket list? Hit us up on Twitter or Facebook to let us know.
source: Mainichi newspaper
With Christmas just around the corner, you know it’s time to start hunting for gifts for your family, friends and of course, yourself. With the kind of year we’ve all had, you’d be forgiven for splashing your cash on those dearest to you (or on yourself).
This year’s Christmas Gift Guide has something for every kind of geek, no matter your budget. We have action figures, books, movies, toys, retro gaming stuff (of course!), video games, watches headphones, t-shirts, Star Wars stuff, flip clocks, pinball related gifts and magnets to whet your Xmas Gift ideas appetite.
Get your pen and paper ready and let’s go! 🎅
LEGO Star Wars TIE Fighter Pilot Helmet via Amazon: $75.00
STAR WARS Rebel Classic Graphic T-Shirt (medium size): $29.99
Game & Watch Super Mario Bros. via Ozgameshop: $114.15
PC-Engine Mini via Play-Asia: $253.00
Portable LCD Monitor for PC-Engine: $203.25
NBA Jam Book via Amazon: $30.76 (paperback) or $7.23 (Kindle)
Best Hit Chronical 2/5 Scale SEGA SATURN (HST-3200) Plastic Model Kit via Catch: $47.99
Star Trek: Stardate Collection (10 movie collection) via Amazon: $59.41 (Blu-ray) or $29.96 (DVD)
World of Nintendo Action Figures via Amazon: prices start from $20.00
Timex Pac-Man watches via Amazon: prices start at $88.50
Space Invaders Tiny Arcade Table Top Edition Electronic Game via Catch: $29.99
Magnets of classic arcade games and pinball machines from the 70s, 80s and 90s by Magnetism via Etsy: prices start at $4.00
Just Pinball – The Zine: A Photojournalist’s Journey through Modern Pinball via Etsy: $42.25
Atari Pong Mini Arcade with 12 games: $61.14
Flip Clock – Vintage TV Auto Flip Down Clock in Retro Red by MIDCLOCK: $57.73
Seiko 5 Sports Street Fighter Limited Edition Watches: Blanka $620.00 / Guile $720.00 / Ryu $720.00
Retro Gaming / Video Game Controller Poster via Etsy: $47.51
Super Nintendo (SNES) Controller keyring via Etsy: $10.00
Arcade1up 4-in-1 Pac-Man 40th Anniversary Counter-Cade Console: $299.00
Commodore 64 Xmas Bundle (of games!) via itch.io: $5.00 or above
8BitDo NES30 Gamepad via Play-Asia: $35.52
Atari Micro Arcade Electronic Game – includes Missile Command, Centipede & Pong: $24.99
Mini Arcade Asteroids via Catch: $37.60
PinSwitch – the ultimate pinball peripheral for the Nintendo Switch via Etsy: $325.00
Last but not least, we can’t recommend the EPOS Sennheiser GSP 600 ESports headset ($319.00) enough for your aural gaming pleasure. We always thought all headsets are the same, but we were very very wrong. If you want to treat your ears with some awesome sound, be it gaming, podcasts or music, then you should treat yourself this Christmas with a pair, it’s been a tough year!
Hope you all have a safe and awesome Festive Season and may you all receive awesome gifts from Santa!
NOTE: Prices are in AU$ and correct and all items in stock as at the time of publishing.
The highly anticipated Doom clone, Poom, is finally released on Pico-8!
This amazing conversion by Frederic Souchu and Paranoid Cactus is available for play right now, so go get blastin’! This is an absolute blast (Ed: pun fully intended) to play. Thank you to the developers for their meticulous work on this game, as they have transported us back to the 90s playing one of the greatest FPS games of all time, we love it!
If you like the game, and we assure you, you will, please support the creators so that they can continue making awesome games for us to enjoy!
We got to say, we love the creativity and genius behind these two augmented reality (AR) videos of classic Commodore 64 games, International Karate + (IK+) and Bruce Lee!
Absolute awesome work by Retrohead! If you don’t follow or subscribe to Retrohead’s net presence, we implore you to do so.
IK+ AR
source: Retrohead
Bruce Lee AR
source: Retrohead
Stop the press! What the heck is this dark side of the force creation? We LOVE it!