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Mad Max Pinball – The Original 1979 Movie

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We have featured quite a few custom re-theme homebrew pinball machines, like Doom, Kill Bill, Undertale (Underpin) and Dragon’s Lair, but this custom re-theme by Australian Kurt Savage (aka: Jakusu on Pinside), is something else!

Based on the original 1979 Mad Max movie, Kurt had a dream to re-theme a Getaway pinball machine into the iconic Australian dystopian action thriller, complete with a young Mel Gibson (playing as “Mad” Max Rockatansky) on the backbox side-art!

Fast forward 10 months and Kurt’s dream has now roared into reality like a supercharged V8 Interceptor! The attention to detail on this custom re-theme is nothing short of jaw-dropping. We are in awe of this creation, where it seems no expense was spared, from the key start (an ignition car key starts a game of pinball), gear shift, speaker panel based on the XB Ford Falcon, supercharger and blower,  the brilliant aural attack with brilliant sounds from the classic movie, to the playfield, cabinet and backbox art, and last but not least, the complete integration of the theme just oozes everything from George Miller’s brilliant 1979 movie.


source: Kurt Savage

When you check out the photos and videos of Kurt’s Mad Max Pinball (model cleverly named ‘Last of the V8 Interceptors’), you’ll no doubt be totally blown away. If Kurt decided to mass produce this machine, fully licensed of course, we guarantee he would be busy for a very long time. With the cost being around AUD$17,000 to complete his custom re-theme project, we reckon it was money very well spent. Take a bow Mr. Kurt Savage, this is an amazing accomplishment.

NOTE: Kurt was finalising the animations at the time of this post!

image source: Jakusu via 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

 

 

 

How Much Storage Would It Take To Store Every Nintendo Video Game That Can Be Emulated?

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So how much storage space would it take to store every Nintendo video game (from the stable of their major consoles) that can be emulated?

Don’t worry about trying to work out the answer, as Reddit user, RHYTHM_GMZ, has already done all the hard work for us.

You’ll need roughly 7.53TB (yep, that’s TERABYTES!) of space to be able to emulate every darn Nintendo video game! With the Wii making up 6.56TB of the 7.53TB total, you may want to know the breakdown of the rest of the Nintendo game libraries, so here you go:

  • NES – 237 MB
  • SNES – 1.7GB
  • N64 – 5.5GB
  • GB/GBC – 568MB
  • GBA – 8.4GB
  • NDS – 83.2GB
  • GameCube – 867GB
  • Wii – 6.56TB

For those of you that prefer to visualise these figures, we have you covered – see below!

NOTE: Games libraries based on the uncompressed NTSC versions

[story source: RHYTHM_GMZ  via Reddit]



2020 Reset64 4KB Craptastic Game Competition

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We’re excited to announce the 2020 Reset C64 4KB game coding competition. This year’s competition theme is once again…. Craptastic!

“What the bloom’n heck does craptastic mean?”, I hear you ask. It certainly doesn’t mean crap, although it can! Craptastic can mean ludicrous, bonkers, outrageous, funny, wacky, far out, and silly. The theme simply implies that the compo is just for a bit of fun, not a serious coding competition. You are more than welcome to make an excellent game to submit for the compo. Your game may contain some humour or silliness to fit more with the theme, but it doesn’t have to!

2018 Craptastic Comp Winner: Conga 4098 by Paul Koller

In the previous competitions (2016 and 2018), some entries were truly excellent, others excellent but silly, others truly awful but funny! It’s just a chance for people to do something a little different if they wish and explore ideas/concepts that wouldn’t normally work well in a more serious compo.

Please remember that this competition is limited to 4KB. Yes, any entry submitted can be no more than 4KB when compressed. If your game is more than 1 file, then all the files put together must not exceed the 4KB limit.

We want craptastic game entries! Remember, the key word here is fun! We want both coders and players alike to have fun and enjoy this comp!

Submit your entries to RESET64 (via email) by 30th June, 2020 (23:59 GMT).

Take a look at our page for the 2018 Craptastic Comp Winners and download the games!

RULES

Even a craptastic comp needs some basic rules, so here they are:

  • The competition deadline is 23:59 GMT on the 30th June, 2020. All entries to be submitted to [email protected]
  • All entrants must register at [email protected]
  • Entrants are free to preview screenshots and videos of their game(s) to other publications/websites.
  • The competition will only begin when there are at least 5 registered entrants.
  • All submitted games MUST be 4KB or less (when compressed or uncompressed), and executable on a stock C64 on either or each of tape, disk and cartridge. Your submission may have a separate docs file (either as a C64 executable or a txt file, which doesn’t count towards the 4KB cap).
  • The games must be previously unreleased and your own work, whether that be by yourself or as part of a collaboration.
  • PAL must be supported, with additional NTSC support optional (but encouraged).
  • Participants may submit multiple entries, either as an individual or within a team. Team entries must be registered by an individual, and any potential prizes will be sent to the registered individual only.
  • Entries should be submitted exclusively to RESET64 by the competition deadline. Please feel free to share your entry as you wish after the competition has ended (after the compo deadline has passed).
  • There will be a panel of judges (TBA), and entries will be scored on a point distribution basis across several criteria. The decision of the panel is final.
  • Games must be submitted as freeware.
  • Games will be published (not necessarily exclusively) on a future disk compilation for the whole world to enjoy, after the competition has concluded.

We reserve the right to change, add or delete rules during the competition if deemed necessary!

3rd place in the 2018 Craptastic Comp: Snake-a-Space by Jamie & Molly Fuller.

SCORING SYSTEM

The scoring rules are very simple. Depending on the number of entries, the judges will award points to each game over several criteria (as discussed below). If there are 6 entries, 6 points go to the best, then 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 to the worst.

If a panel member has entered a game themselves, then the number of points that they can award will be adjusted (in this example, to 5) and they will not score their own release.

The criteria that each game will be evaluated on are:

  • Originality – New idea or “rip off”? Off the wall ideas encouraged.
  • Concept – Quality of game design, is it fun, is it bonkers, is it craptastic?
  • Execution – Execution of design, taking into account controls, NTSC/GS compatibility.
  • Presentation – Quality of graphics, audio and overall presentation. Supremely bad can be seen as a positive in some cases!
  • Gameplay – A measure of how enjoyable the game is to play.
  • Lasting Appeal – replay value and addictiveness.
  • OMG Factor – when you see it, do you think “wtf!?” This is the true measure of craptasticness!

When the panel has scored each game accordingly, the totals for each criteria will be divided by the number of judges to produce a mean average. These averages are then added together for each game to give a final score.

PLEASE NOTE: CSDB will not be used for voting. Also, entries should not be uploaded to CSDB, or elsewhere until after the competition has closed. Feel free to post screenshots or info though.

PRIZES

A craptastic gaming comp requires craptastic prizes, right? We have some fantastic prizes lined up for this year’s comp thanks to some very generous sponsors.

A big thank-you to the following sponsors and supporters:

ausretrogamer

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Unkle K / Reset64
Official Twitter account for Reset64 Magazine – dedicated to the world’s favourite 8-bit computer!

Follow Reset64 Magazine on Twitter

 

 

 

 

Super Awesome Pinball Birthday Cake

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Once we saw this pinball shaped birthday cake, we knew we had to track down its creator to ask her some hard hitting questions about pinball, and of course, the flippin’ amazing pinball birthday cake!

So sit back, relax, grab some cake as we speak to Belles & Chimes Melbourne pinball tournament player, Katrina Pingnam (aka: Kat), about her love of pinball and also making awesome and very yummy pinball shaped birthday cakes amongst other sweet creations!

AUSRETROGAMER [ARG]: How did you get into pinball?
Kat: I always liked it as a kid, but stumbled across the pinball community after researching some unique venues for my 40th birthday party. FlipOut Melbourne 2019 popped up in my Facebook feed, which turned out to be my first pinball event I attended and am now hooked on pinball!

ARG: What do you enjoy about competitive pinball?
Kat: Although I’m not playing to win (as there’s so many skilled players), it does give you motivation and purpose to play. I enjoy two player games as well for that reason, having a reason to gain points also makes you aware of what to aim for in the games.

Most people who aren’t in the pinball community (like myself at first) wouldn’t even be aware that there are certain goals to achieve in the game. It’s so much more than just aimlessly flipping those flippers! The competition side of it is also fun as everyone shares their advice on the games.

ARG: Favourite pinball machines (& why they are your fave)?
Kat: I have so many favourites! Funny enough, it’s not ones that I thought would be my favourites (ie: based on themes). For example, I’ve never watched Guardians of the Galaxy, yet that is one of the most fun to play as it’s so easy to activate multi ball! Whereas Super Mario Bros which I’ve been a fan since the very first one, isn’t as fun as I’d hoped!

My other favourites I’ve played at the Australian Pinball Museum are Total Nuclear Annihilation (designed by Spooky Pinball), it’s a very fast playing game designed to have an 80s theme with modern technology, it even has a bass amp!

I also discovered Revenge from Mars at the museum which is a fun game and a nice smooth playfield. It looks (shape) like an old school stand-up arcade machine. It has a projection which changes for each scene you play. It also has my two favourite colours, red and green!

I’m hoping to play Stern’s Stranger Things in the near future! Other favourite pinball machines to play include:

  • Ghostbusters
  • Pirates of the Caribbean (LE)
  • Medieval Madness
  • The Simpson’s Pinball Party
  • The Walking Dead
  • Johnny Mnemonic
  • Judge Dredd (Super multi ball mode)
  • Bonsai Run
  • America’s Most Haunted (nice smooth playfield)
  • Jackbot
  • The Munsters (purely for the cute mini pinball game under the main playfield)

Favourite machines based on appearance, are JJP’s:

  • Willy Wonka; and
  • Wizard of Oz (love those ruby ‘flippers’!!)

Katrina’s brilliant creation! That playfield looks so flowy (and darn yummy)!

ARG: Tell us more about your awesome pinball birthday cake – what it’s got inside it and how long it took to make?
Kat: The cake itself is basically a Mars Bar slice, with a layer of chocolate, then fondant icing (pre-rolled from the supermarket) and the edible icing sheet with the playfield printed onto it.

The cake is complete with edible silver coated Maltesers ‘pinball’ and fairy lights for effect. The actual making of the cake and assembly/decorating only took a few hours. However, designing the playfield took about 10hrs all up, not including the backbox, which I designed separately and my husband, Luke, helped add lights to make it come alive.

As I mentioned initially, instead of traditional cake, I made a super thick Mars Bar slice (about 18 mars bars in it!) as I wanted it to be very sturdy, plus we had the petite cupcakes so then guests could have both cake and slice.

The slice itself didn’t take long to prepare, it was more designing the playfield to be printed onto an edible icing sheet. Since I’m no graphic designer and only have very basic skills in paint editing software, it took about 2 days at around 5hrs/day to design.

I found a website where you could design your own virtual pinball playfields. There were some uploaded that could be downloaded, so I took a screenshot so I had the general playfield already designed and edited the image by removing/adding images, customising to include little details about myself/things I love and changing up the colours. It took a long time as I only had Paint3D on my computer, and was basically self educating using the program as I went along. Plus, some images needed pixel by pixel filling/erasing, which took a long time.

The cupcakes were made by a cake shop, they were red velvet and I just added the edible ‘pinballs’ on top. ARG: Wow, just wow. Wish we could have a slice – Mars Bar cake is our fave!

ARG: We absolutely love your cake, I mean it looks like a playable pinball machine, and it is made out of Mars Bars! Have you made other cool cakes?
Kat: I haven’t really, as I’ve only learnt a bit of cake decorating from high school for one semester where we made and decorated a Christmas cake. For that one, I decorated mine with cartoon characters.

The other thing I’ve made isn’t a cake as such, but Choc truffle bouquets, where I customise the colour of the choc coating then match it with similar coloured edible glitter and decorations and make it into an edible bouquet.

The yummy choc truffle bouquet that was the inspiration for the pinballs!

The only other recent cake I’ve made was a ‘joke’ cake I made for my friend’s kitchen tea, which was a take on the Masterchef’s (a reality TV cooking show) lolly-bag cake complete with detailed ‘pressure test’ instructions! Except, mine had about 12 layers of all different flavoured lolly themes, such as Musk frosting, banana lolly syrup and popping candy choc spread. It was hideous and tasted horrible but it was hilarious!

Katrina’s joke cake! We actually wouldn’t mind trying this one.

Well there you have it peeps. Katrina’s natural talents and passion for pinball have culminated into one amazing birthday cake that not only looks great, but is also darn yummy (we are still drooling and waiting for our piece!).

Well done and thank you for chatting to us Kat. We wish you all the best on your special occasion and of course, in your pinball playing journey.

The pinball cake whitewood!

Playfield done!

The finished product! We can stare at it all day.
image source: used with permission from Katrina Pingnam

 

Star Wars Premium Pinball You Are Like Cinnamon!

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Following on from the Diary Of A First Time Pinball Buyer feature, Nick has put pen to paper (Ed: shouldn’t that be fingers to keys?) to give us his take on owning Stern’s Star Wars Premium pinball machine.

We have now had our Stern Star Wars Premium pinball machine for 3 and a half months and have already clocked up playing over 6,400 balls or over 2100 total plays! The whole family has loved it, from my wife to our 11 and 7 year old sons. Although I still classify myself as a novice player, I have found it a really rewarding and enjoyable pin to play. Having the four different Star Wars characters and all the different missions, means it is an incredibly deep game to really engross yourself in, or just have a bash and see what happens!

As a huge fan of Star Wars, this is a very special pin to me. The artwork, playfield, excerpts from the films and the game itself, is just a terrific homage to the original Star Wars trilogy (which are arguably the best films of them all!). Stern have done a great job of making the playfield pop out and use of the screens without detracting from the mechanical elements of the game.  I also love the ramps and the hyperdrive loop, they are so satisfying to hit again and again! While playing this machine over and over again, I find new details, scenes or features that I haven’t seen before.

I still haven’t managed to blow up the Death Star – through Death Star or Endor missions, but have been one shot away (hitting the hyperdrive loop) from doing so. I have adjusted the settings to easy, so as to encourage longer play and obviously some bigger scores. Also, playing the game at night with only the pinball lighting up is really cool – the Escape from Bobba Fett mission looks pulsating and amazing when you get to it.

Except for an occasional stuck ball, the machine has been trouble free. I have also bought a cover for the machine it doesn’t get affected by UV in our gaming shed. Since I do not have the official topper, I came up with one of my own – decorating it with Return Of The Jedi themed bobble-heads! It is an evolving collection!

Star Wars Premium Pinball, you are like cinnamon!

PS: For those that don’t get the you are like cinnamon reference, check this out 😉

 

Nintendo Switch GameCube Controller Mod

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When it comes to hacking or modding, there are certain creations that make a lot of sense. Shank Mods’ Nintendo Switch GameCube Joy-Cons are exactly the mod we would love to become a retail product for all of us to enjoy!

Shank Mods goes into detail of this creation, which wasn’t easy, by any stretch of the imagination. Us mere mortals would be incapable to follow the instructions for fear of bricking our Switch or worse, sacrificing a working GameCube controller which would no doubt end up breaking. Having said that, there are other peeps out there that are adept to following instructions and taking calculated risks, which pay off – and this one is a big pay off, as the Joy-Cons are based on one of the best controllers of all time!

As this mod was quite gruelling, Shank Mods has confirmed that these Nintendo Switch GameCube Joy-Cons are a one-off, making them super ultra rare. So if you would like a pair, you better get hacking!


source: Shank Mods

[story source: technabob]

 

Metroid: Mother Brain Is an Iconic Villain

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By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.

Metroid’s Mother Brain is considered one of the most diabolical she-villains in video game history.

When I was a kid, I was obsessed with defeating Mother Brain every time I put my Metroid cartridge into my Nintendo Entertainment System. It took me a while to finally defeat her, and when I did, I wondered if Mother Brain had a backstory. How did she get to possess such vast power?

When I would play the original Metroid, I found Mother Brain fascinating. In later Metroid games, we got a little backstory on Mother Brain, but none of it seemed that imaginative. The original design of Mother Brain was the best. All of the designs in later games, especially in Super Metroid, when Mother Brain looked like a brain with a grotesque chicken body, were slightly extreme and almost silly. In the original Metroid, Mother Brain was captivating and menacing by just sitting in a glass jar, controlling the game like a puppet master. When I would defeat Mother Brain, my imagination would run wild. Was what we saw in the jar her original or real form?

image source: Samolo via Deviantart

Metroid was not the easiest game to beat. It took me several tries before I finally completed the game. I wasn’t an expert at the game like my brother. It took him just a day or two to defeat Mother Brain. Then he would usually move on to another game and beat that before me as well.

In the video game magazines of the time, like Nintendo Power, they never really went into much depth when it came to the iconic, she-villain. But the early games didn’t tell as much about Mother Brain either. It must’ve been a boring existence, just sitting there in a protective glass jar, ruling the planet, hoping that a bounty hunter wouldn’t come along and destroy you. However, she did have an army of henchmen protecting her. Villains in other major games at the time were primarily male and mostly on the beefy side.

Mother Brain was engrossing because she was so different from all of the other heavy villains in video games. Mother Brain is one of the reasons Metroid is a classic NES game.

image source: metroid.fandom.com

 

Bushfire Benefit Gig: Songs from Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater

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All of us have been anxiously watching the bushfire devastation gripping Australia for the last couple of months, with no respite in sight. To say it has been heartbreaking would be a gross understatement.

The good folks at The Croxton Bandroom are putting on a gig for this coming weekend (Saturday, January 18) which all proceeds will be donated.

The below event information was provided by The Croxton Bandroom which we are happy to publish here for anyone that is keen to attend and know that their ticket purchase will benefit those that have been affected by the bushfires.


“There’s a place where everybody can be happy…”

This summer The Croxton Bandroom plays host to an array of Melbourne’s most menacing musicians who will join forces to play your favourite anthems from the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater video game soundtracks. An array of band members will be present from Destrends, Mesa Cosa, Defron Sugar Teeth, Electric Self, Mangelwurzel, Dick Willoughby & the Dirty Stop Outs and heaps more!

The best part of this gig is that ALL proceeds will be going directly to the Fire Relief Fund for First Nations Communities.

Oh yeah, if you’ve got the moves, a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater PlayStation competition will be run in the front bar from 6:00PM with prize giveaways for the winners.

The Croxton Bandroom doors open at 8:00PM this Saturday (January 18, 2020). Tickets $24.50 via Oztix.

 

The Fisherman: Fishing Planet – PS4 Review

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Grab your tackle box and find yourself a nice spot at the lake in The Fisherman – Fishing Planet, the latest from the team at Fishing Planet LLC.

The Fisherman is an immensely deep and detailed online multiplayer fishing simulator game where players will seek out various species of fish across multiple countries and locations. Boasting life-like fish AI, realistic aero/hydrodynamics and over 110 different fish species in game, The Fisherman is certainly a leap forward for fishing sims. Players will have the chance to customise every part of their fishing kit, including but not limited to: rods, reels, leading lines, floats, hooks and even equipment bags. With so much variety and choice it can be a bit daunting at first for new players but the tutorial system is very detailed and spread out very effectively. Fishing is affected by multiple different conditions, just like real life, including time of day, weather and bait used so players will need to plan out each expedition depending on what they wish to try and catch.

On a standard PS4, The Fisherman visually looks good but has the usual sim game rigidity in certain secondary aspects like level elements away from the waterline but the details in the fishing itself are fantastic. Fish and fishing equipment are highly detailed and branded with different stats or visual flair so you can customise your character and load-out however you prefer. Equipment is also modelled to be as close to their real world counterparts as possible, meaning that rods, reels and fishing lines can break if used incorrectly or if too much tension is applied.

Being an always online game means that players can obviously play with friends but it also means that the game is constantly being populated with other players from around the world. This can help hint towards better fishing spots and adds to the sense of community around this title, which appears to be nice and strong. Fishing challenges and competitions are available to compete in online and bring with them some nice friendly rivalry and competition for players from all over the world.

Regardless of whether you are a casual fishing enthusiast or a die hard fan of the sport, The Fisherman – Fishing Planet has a lot to offer with the added benefit of not needing to wake up early in the morning.

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Mat Panek, Chief Reporter
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: The Fisherman – Fishing Planet [PS4 PS Store code] was kindly provided by Homerun PR for this review.

 

 

Super Mario World Guitar

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Still get surprised to the lengths some talented folks go to for merging their passions, like this Cranmer Guitars built Super Mario World guitar, made from 10,000 lollipop sticks!

We just want to know, how long did it take to lick and eat all those lollipops!
Oh yeah, we love the guitar 🙂

[story and image source: Geekologie]