The Pop-Culture E-Zine
You would have all guessed it by now that we are huge fans of Namco’s timeless classic arcade and iconic vertical shoot’em up, GALAGA. The constant pew pew pewing at enemy ships as they stream down and across the screen never gets old!
It seems that we are not alone in our love of Galaga, as Etsy seller Wardingers has created these awesomely cute 1 inch Galaga Enamel Pins which we would proudly wear on our lanyard as we blast those pesky enemy ships!
source: Wardingers on Etsy
What do you get when you cross two C64 music maestros like Martin Galway and Rob Hubbard? You get this awesome Green Beret Commando Infiltration SID chiptune (remix) by t-tracker!
Play it loud!
source: t-tracker – Green Beret (Commando Infiltration)
It is always great to see the Atari Jaguar homebrew and independent developer scene going from strength to strength. With a number of awesomely talented and prolific developers, like Reboot, we always get excited when a new Jag game is about to drop, like Gravitic Mines!
In development since 2019, Gravitic Mines is best described as a love letter to iconic games like Thrust, Lunar Lander and Gravitar, with an injection of contemporary flavour like Gravity Crash plus a lot more! This new and exclusive Atari Jaguar title was painstakingly developed by the Reboot team, with the full version containing 32 campaign missions, 8 training missions, 40 minutes of music, 8 boss encounters, online scores and achievements amongst a plethora of other cool features.
source: AtariAge
According to Reboot, the game is now complete and will be available to purchase in a few months via the AtariAge store – so keep an eye out for it! In the meantime, if you have a Skunk Board (Ed: yay, we do!) or RetroHQ’s Jaguar GameDrive, then you can download the Gravitic Mines demo from here. The Demo ROM is a short teaser, featuring a few levels of the game to whet your appetite.
To say we are excited for the final Gravitic Mines game would be the greatest understatement! Our Jaguar is hungry, so we can’t wait to give it a taste of Gravitic Mines!
By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.
Before every NFL season begins, I like to play the full schedule of the reigning Super Bowl champion from the previous season. A few weeks ago, I played the Tampa Bay Buccaneers full 2021 season on Madden ’22 on my Xbox. My takeaway of how this season will go for Tom Brady and the Bucs is rather simple: They’re going to be very good. I only lost 3 games playing their ’21 schedule, but they were interesting losses.
Since I was a teenager, I’ve been playing a full season of Madden before the start of the NFL season. The teams that I lose to with the defending champions are usually the teams that the real squad end up losing to. It’s strange, but it’s the way it usually works out.
In my simulated, Xbox world, the Buccaneers lost an away game to the Washington Football Team by a field goal. Washington’s defense smothered any running attack by the Bucs, and Brady was on his back several times. They kept it close, and the Bucs failed to have the ball last; the way Brady and Bucs’ head coach Bruce Arians like it.
image source: xboxachievements.com
The Buccaneers offense is supposed to be phenomenal this season, but when I was in control of them, playing Madden, they had a ton of dropped balls and they couldn’t convert on 1st downs. My ’21 Bucs lost to the Colts, at Indianapolis, by 17 points. It was a blowout, and I couldn’t get my offense going. The short little passes that Brady is so good at were not connecting. All my receivers seemed covered on every passing play I’d select.
Playing the Buffalo Bills on Week 14 was difficult, but my Bucs won by a field goal. During that game, Brady had a last-minute drive that set up my kicker for the win. I lost to the Saints at Tampa Bay. None of my offensive players could hold on to the football in that rainy game. I like the elements in Madden, but not when they cost me a victory.
I’ll see if the Buccaneers will lose to Washington, the Colts, or the Saints this season. Some ESPN analysts are suggesting that the Bucs could go undefeated this season. My opinion: Not a chance. When you’re the defending champion, every opponent circles you on their schedule. Opposing teams will be ready.
French Street artist, In The Woup have shared their awesome pixel art mosaics of Super Mario cosplaying as different characters as part of their MARIO WORLDZ project – how darn cute are they??!!
If you are lucky to be wandering around Lyon (France), Villeurbanne (France) or Korčula (Croatia), then be on the lookout for the Italian plumber cosplaying as your fave pop culture characters!
Just in case you aren’t in France or Croatia right now, here are a few of our favourites. Check out the rest here!
image source: In The Woup
Amazing Swedish band Rymdreglage have followed up their 2009 LEGO 8-Bit Trip stop motion video (which took them 1,500 hours to make!) with an even more awesome LEGO 8-Bit Trip 2!
The Trip 2 stop motion video pays tribute to some of the most iconic video games of all time in super duper 4K resolution – it is oh sooo lovely!
source: rymdreglage
We love the NZ Mint gaming related silver coins, so their latest release, the Street Fighter – Ryu Chibi Coin is so cool (and cute)!
Made from 1oz of pure silver, this new Chibi® Coin features experienced martial artist Ryu – the main protagonist in the video game Street Fighter™. The coin has been shaped and coloured in the Chibi art style to resemble Ryu. He is shown in his most recognisable attire consisting of a tattered white karate gi, long red headband, red martial arts gloves and bare feet. The Ian Rank Broadley effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II can be found on the opposite side to confirm it as a legal tender coin.
The coin is protected inside a specially designed case, moulded to the coin’s shape. The outer box is Street Fighter-themed, incorporating images of Ryu as he appears in the game, and includes a large window so you can easily display this precious collectable.
A maximum of 2,000 coins will be produced. This is confirmed by the Certificate of Authenticity printed on the box, along with the coin’s unique serial number. Don’t miss out on this officially licensed coin for Street Fighter!
PS: We can also exclusively reveal that there will also be Ken silver coin in the very near future!
source: NZ Mint
Title: RiMS Racing
Platform: PlayStation®4, PlayStation®5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch™ and PC
Reviewed on: Xbox Series S
We have always loved racing games, be it in a car or motorbike. When it comes to motorbike racing games, we have enjoyed them all across each generation, with Super Hang-on, Super Burnout and Manx TT being some of our favourites. Fast forward to 2021 and racing games are so realistic, with the simulation being as close to lifelike as you can get without the danger and fear of breaking your bones.
Playing RiMS Racing on our Xbox Series S, we finally have a motorbike racing game where we can actually stay on two wheels to enjoy the action, thanks to its quick free play mode. We don’t mind simulations having lifelike handling, but recent racing games have been quite unforgiving in this aspect, which have turned us off them quite quickly.
RiMS Racing has the player covered with a choice of eight (8) of the fastest motorbikes in the world to choose from, one from each of the big manufacturers: Kawasaki, Aprilia, BMW, Ducati, Honda, MV Augusta, Suzuki and Yamaha. The lack of additional models may irk some players, but the attention to detail of each motorbike model is exceptionally good and realistic, right down to the scratches on your fairing when you stack your bike! The opportunity to earn credits to maintain and upgrade your motorbike from 500+ licensed parts sounds cool, but it can get quite overwhelming, where the player spends a lot of time dialling in their steed to keep it fresh and racing. We thought the mechanical aspect would be fun, and to some extent it is, but constantly working on your bike to make it handle better and go faster turned into a laborious exercise with the effort to reward ratio feeling quite low.
For players that want longevity in their racing games, RiMS Racing has you covered! The game has a career mode which comprises 70 events in each season, which is enough to keep you riding for some time yet! But wait, there is more! Racing against AI riders is fun, but there’s nothing like racing against other real peeps in multiplayer mode, adding another layer to RiMS Racing that will keep you coming back to beat your racing competition. The devil is in the detail, where RiMS Racing rewards riders that dial in their motorbike and hone in their riding skills, which almost guarantees the player being in contention for a podium finish.
There are a few gremlins in the overall RiMS Racing package, like the horrible pop-in of trees and other background elements, like the distinct lack of spectators in the stands. The game does run smoothly on the Xbox Series S, but graphically, MotoGP 21 is superior. We also got a bit frustrated in navigating its menus, which made us exit out from them more often than we would like to admit.
RiMS Racing’s saving grace is its option for free play mode which gets you on two wheels and rolling the throttle without the full-on sim fluff. While RiMS Racing has a fun and enjoyable racing mode, we can see casual players getting overwhelmed quite quickly of the motorcycle maintenance part of the game, which can lead them to give up. If this portion of the game could be tweaked and the other kinks ironed out, RiMS Racing has the potential to be a pretty decent racing game.
source: Nacon North America
Disclaimer: The Xbox Series X|S review code for RiMS Racing was provided by Homerun PR.
With Stern Pinball’s recent announcement about their new Insider Connected platform, we wanted to find out more about this new and exciting pinball innovation and player experience, so we sat down for a fireside chat with Stern’s Chief Creative Officer, George Gomez, to chat about Stern’s way of enhancing the experience of playing their pinball machines.
AUSRETROGAMER [ARG]: How long has Stern been working on the Insider Connected platform?
George Gomez [GG]: Since late 2018.
ARG: Will this new platform be open (APIs or the like) and be able to integrate with other online systems, like Scorbit?
GG: It is not an open platform. Interaction with other systems is possible only in tournament environments where the Insider Connected server would provide an API for integration of services.
ARG: Could you please tell us a bit more about the key Insider Connected features for each of the following user types;
GG: Player features like Achievements, Profile Badges and Challenge Quests are balanced across the spectrum of player skills; some things are easy, some things are harder and some are really hard. Treasure Chests are random and are not influenced by player skill. Available promotions can vary based on location and sponsors.
Tournament Players and Tournament Directors will interact with features that are scheduled for release in ’22. There is an entire suite of Tournament related tools, event features, leader boards, challenge ladders, etc.
Operators will get a very specific toolset designed to help them drive traffic to their locations, build player loyalty, analytics tools for location and game performance, service tools and notifications and other diagnostic features related to operating pinball machines and interacting with their routes.
ARG: When will the retrofit kit be available, how much will it be (retail price) and how easy will it be to install (will there be a firmware update or is it plug and play)?
GG: It is very easy to install. On PRO games; swap the bottom arch, plug the supplied RJ45 cable from the QR Node to Node 8(near the front of the playfield) and open the back box and either insert the Wi-Fi dongle into a USB port on the Spike 2 CPU or run an ethernet cable from your router into the backbox and plug it in. You will install a micro SD card supplied with the kit and then you will update the code via a USB stick for one last time. Once the game is connected, code downloads can be automatic via the network connection. Then enter the Insider Connected menu and connect to your network. The system will prompt you through each step.
On Premiums and LE machines set up is the same except you will remove the bottom arch and replace the right side corner plastic with the supplied QR module assembly.
The kits are expected to begin shipping around October 1. The price has not been released yet but the intent is to make the kits very affordable.
ARG: Could you confirm the seven titles that will be included at launch?
GG: Not at this time because we are still balancing features.
ARG: Do you have a roadmap of when the remaining 17 titles will be supported on the Insider Connected Platform?
GG: All titles will have the launch feature set by the end of December of this year. The platform is expected to get updates routinely throughout 2021 and 2022. The updates will contain both player and operator focused features.
ARG: Are there future features you can share with us now to whet our appetite a bit more?
GG: Right now we don’t want to reveal those features because we want the audience to enjoy the surprise.
ARG: Will the quests, giveaways and rewards for players be available worldwide or are they US only?
GG: It is dependent on each country’s laws.
ARG: We love trophies/achievements/rewards on our online gaming systems, so how will Insider Connected implement these (just like Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Network)?
GG: The implementation is similar but unique to pinball. It is designed specifically around the nuances of the games and yes, all of those things that you mention play a role.
ARG: Will Insider Connected always be free or will there be some / premium features that will only be available via a paid subscription?
GG: Insider Connected will remain free. Insider Connected All Access will be a subscription based service just like the existing All Access loyalty program has been. Insider Connected All Access will have specific premium features on top of everything that has been described above.
We thank George for making time to speak to us about their new Insider Connected platform. For more information and to keep up with all of their pinball machines, hit the Stern Pinball site now. It is definitely an exciting time to be playing pinball – the future has finally come to the silverball game!
As we come out of a long (southern hemisphere) winter, we look long and hard into the vastness of our retro gaming vault and come out with a number of juicy nostalgia-inducing classic gaming bits and pieces, starting with a couple of pretty cool, but useless NES peripherals!
We also have the mighty Neo Geo featured this month, with its interchangeable console and arcade memory card that we use on our AES and MVS. For the Nintendo fans, we have DK on the NES and a snippet of Super Mario World (you gotta look hard). For the really old school fans we have the Futuretronics Galaxy Invader 1000 tabletop and the cool Space Shuttle Game Watch we used to love strutting at school. The Contra lads make an appearance as well, as does the DynoVisor VR headset we use on the PC-Engine. Last but not least, our all time fave C64 compilation.
Enjoy the nostalgia and we”ll see what we find in the vault next month!
All images are copyright of ausretrogamer