ausretrogamer

A Decade Of Good Game

September 20, 2016 By ausretrogamer

On this day in 2006, the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) unleashed Good Game, the Australian made television program dedicated to video gaming. Each week Good Game is chock-a-block with a mix of the latest gaming news and events, gaming tips, reviews and interviews with game developers and people behind the scenes of our fave video games.

With hosts Steven “Bajo” O’Donnell and Stephanie “Hex” Bendixsen, plus their robot co-host D.A.R.R.E.N (Data Analysing Robot for the Ruthless Extermination of Noobs), Good Game has become a staple on Tuesday evenings. It’s popularity has spawned (no pun intended) a number of related TV shows, including Good Game Spawn Point and Good Game Pocket.

So get your party hats ready folks, as tonight we celebrate Good Game’s 10th birthday special on ABC2 at 7.30pm (with a simultaneous live-stream on ABC iView).

source: ABC media room

Reset Podcast Episode 01: The Hewson Episode

September 16, 2016 By ausretrogamer

If you have ever wondered what shenanigans go on behind the scenes in creating a retro computing magazine, then you are in luck! For those of you in the know, the Reset magazine crew got together for the inaugural podcast of the same name to chat about the making of Reset issue #9 (it was the Hewson Consultants theme issue).

If you weren’t in the know, now you know! Listen in and make sure you grab the issue for free over here!

source: Reset on Soundcloud

Varia Cube: The Portable Nintendo GameCube

September 13, 2016 By ausretrogamer

When DIY guru, Martijn Gazenbeek (aka: Akira on the bit fix gaming boards) contacted us to show us his latest creation, we had to pick up our collective jaws off the floor and wipe away the drool! In a tribute to Metroid, in particular Samus Aran’s Varia suit, Martijn has created the Varia Cube, a hot portable GameCube system!

Martijn is no stranger to creating lavish portable systems from old school gaming gear – he was also the mastermind behind the GC Lynx! For this particular project, Martijn toiled for 10 months and we can safely say, it looks like it was well worth the effort. Checking out the technical information (see further below), we are still in awe of this beast! For the full build log, you can go over here.

Oh yeah, the Varia Cube doubles up as a fully functional GameCube console (sans DVD drive) with composite and component out video interfaces to connect to any TV! The system is topped off with an impressive transport case. That Martijn Gazanbeek has thought of everything! Now get your bib on and start drooling!

image source: Bit Fix Gaming boards

* Case made out of a Nintendo GameCube ASCII Keyboard
* Painted in Samus Aran’s Varia Suit colour scheme
* GameCube PAL motherboard
* Original GameCube heatsink with custom fan
* All original Nintendo controls and sticks
* N64 joystick caps
* Nintendo DS Lite D-Pad
* Full original analog trigger (L and R buttons)
* Strong Rumble Feedback Motor
* 7 Inch LCD, VGA, 800 x 480, 16:9, Dalian Good-Display
* Original Nintendo Component video chip wired to produce VGA and Component out
* Swiss software can force any game into 480P and use a widescreen hack to force 16:9 (no stretch) for correct aspect ratio
* Wasp Fusion modchip flashed with Swiss Autoboot firmware
* 6400 mAh batteries (4 x Panasonic 3400 mAh 18650), 2.5 hours gameplay
* Battery Indicator with 4 leds to see how much power is left
* 128 MB Memory card soldered directly onto the motherboard (GameCube slot-A)
* SD Gecko adapter to run homebrew and emulators through Swiss (GameCube slot-B)
* Mini 2*3W @ 4O PAM8803 Class D Audio AMP
* Stereo sound speakers, used from ASUS ME172V MemoPad
* Switching stereo headphone jack
* VGA breakout box connector to hook up the console to a TV
* Switch to select between VGA/Component and swapping controls from console to breakout box for player one
* Audio controlled via right menu button
* Video control to access display menu – to switch between AV (composite) and VGA display
* Play ‘n charge – system can play from wall socket while being charged (comes with charger and power adaptor)
* Comes with 12V car adapter- play on the go with the high amp adapter
* Comes with 1 x 32GB SD card for GameCube games (wasp fusion slot) and 1 x 8GB for homebrew, games and emulators (GameCube Slot-B)
* Comes with breakout box
* Breakout box has 4 player ports, Component video port (Y Pr PB), composite video and stereo audio ports – compatible with Wavebird
* System comes with transport case

Madman Anime Festival: 2016 Highlights

September 10, 2016 By ausretrogamer

We hit our inaugural Madman Anime Festival in Melbourne (Sep 3 and 4) with great expectation and let’s just say, we weren’t disappointed. From being wowed by the awesome cosplay, checking out wonderful special guests like Cristina Lee (voice of Sailor Mars from Sailor Moon) and Makoto Furukawa (voice of Saitama from One-Punch Man), to the great exhibitions and the ever tempting merchandise, there was something to see, do and buy! Speaking of merchandise, we could not leave the festival empty handed, so Ripley and a few of her friends had to come home with us.

If you missed out on the Madman Anime Festival, then check out our highlight pics from this great event.

We arrive at #MadFest

We are armed with our guide

Before we enter the main floor of the festival, we meet Asuka!

Whoa!

OK, let’s do this!

Star Wars temptations

Hahahahaha!

Glamours at Banpresto

Dragon Ball Z represent

“Fire Fist” Ace

Goddamn that’s a big Gundam!

ausretrogamer Ed, Alex Boz can’t resist the urge to pose!

Play time! Final Fantasy XV (pre-release) action!

The Jedi readies his lightsabers

Stopped in our tracks

Oo’er, merchandise!

The great wall of goodness

Anime cinema!

Hey, it’s an anime festival!

Awesome cosplay

Get your weapon ready Ripley, aliens are nearby!

Aliens!

Thundercats classic

Very wicked stuff indeed

Even SBS PopAsia were getting in on the act

Oh yeah, One Punch Man!

Gundams Galore!

The heroes weapons await

A Jedi’s saber doesn’t come cheap

Outside cosplay action

Spring cosplay!

Cosplay at its best!

Hitting the Madman Cosplay Parade!

And it begins!

That is one mad weapon!

The parade gets serious!

Clever cosplay – the Madman logo

Amazing cosplay

Armed forces

Super cute Pikachu

Adorable cosplay!

Best in show!

Dead-awesome!
image source: Madman Anime Festival

We salute you
image source: Madman Anime Festival

WOW
image source: Madman Anime Festival

Gotta catch them all!
image source: Madman Anime Festival

Pioneer LaserActive: One Machine. Infinite Possibilities

September 6, 2016 By ausretrogamer

Pioneer’s CLD-A100 LaserActive player will go down in video games history as one of the most ill-conceived pieces of technology, the priciest and biggest (in size and weight) gaming device of all time. With dimensions that could fit 4 x Sega Mega Drives in the same footprint and weighing in at several kilos, this behemoth was huge to say the least. To match its hefty size, the LaserActive came in at a whopping pricetag of $1,000USD (and this was in 1993!)! Only someone with Trump’s bank balance would even contemplate splurging on this Pioneer bling.

Make sure the cart label is facing down!

The LaserActive was an attempt to converge the latest and hottest electronic technologies (at the time) into the one set-top device! The unit was a Laserdisc player primarily, enabling its owner the luxury of watching movies – laserdiscs weren’t cheap either! The device could also play audio compact discs, karaoke and video games based on Sega’s Genesis/Mega Drive/MegaCD and NEC’s PC-Engine systems via add-on expansion modules called PACs. Once you invested in the CLD-A100, you had to seek a further bank overdraft to purchase the PACs to enable you to enjoy some karaoke and play your 16-bit (Sega and/or NEC) games. These PACs were $600USD each, so all up, the machine and it’s karaoke, Sega and NEC PACs would set you back $2,800USD! Mind you, there were also PACs to allow the LaserActive player to connect to a computer (MAC / MS-DOS or NEC PC98) and 3D Glasses too. Which ever way you looked at it, the Pioneer LaserActive made the Neo Geo AES and its games seem like pocket-change!

Get your vocal chords ready! Just slot the PAC-K1 in your LaserActive player!

Ready your HuCards!

We are assuming that Pioneer wanted to join the converged device market and get a jump on their competition like the 3DO, Philips’ CD-i , Memorex VIS and Commodore’s aging Amiga-in-a-box, the CDTV. Hindsight is always 20/20 when looking at failed technologies, and we bet Pioneer wishes that it never even entertained the idea of the LaserActive!

So why were we drawn to this albatross of the video games market? Just like anything that was deemed bad (remember the Power Glove?), we were intrigued to find out for ourselves how terrible this device was. Having the Pioneer CLD-A100 LaserActive in our collection, we have found that we use it mainly to play our Sega Genesis (NTSC-A) games and a few laser-disc movies we had lying around from the early 90s. Apart from that, can we recommend the machine that promised: One Machine. Infinite Possibilities? Absolutely not! Nice try Pioneer!

3D Glasses! You better have strong neck muscles!

Turn it on!

Pioneer LaserActive Is… Too much bling!
image source: mondocoolmedia

Blow The Cartridge 6: The Retrogaming Comic Book!

September 1, 2016 By ausretrogamer

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Now I am hyperventilating! So what has got this retro gamer so excited you ask? Even if you didn’t ask, I am still going to tell you. Are you ready for it? Our awesome and very talented friend, Cameron Davis has kicked off another Kickstarter to bring us Blow The Cartridge numéro six ! Yep, the bestest retrogaming comic book can only come to life if you head to Kickstarter now and pledge for any tier that tickles your fancy! If Cam’s previous Blow The Cartridge comics are anything to go by, this one is going to be a doozy!

Having a rare opportunity to ask Cam for a memorable quote, he was nice enough to give us this gem, “I like vanilla ice-cream”. So there you have it, make what you will out of that. Now go and check out Blow The Cartridge #6 on Kickstarter!

source: Kickstarter

Shotgun: 4-Player Death Match On Your C64

August 30, 2016 By ausretrogamer

What’s better than playing a death match with a friend in the same room? Playing a 4-player death match with your closest mates in the same room on your venerable Commodore 64!

Forget Goldeneye 007 on the N64, we give you Dr Wuro Industries’ Shotgun! This fast-paced death match game is available to download for free or you can grab the awesome boxed version (€16.90 + shipping) which comes in a plastic box with a flip-cover (which can be turned around to showcase the different covers), a 5.25″ floppy disk and a printed manual! The boxed version also comes with three additional extras – everyone loves surprises!

So grab the Protovision 4-player interface, plug in four joysticks, invite three of your closest friends and load Shotgun for some death match shenanigans on your C64 – let the rage begin!

image source: Dr Wuro Industries

Neo Geo MVS & AES Flash Cart

August 25, 2016 By ausretrogamer

Neo Geo fans, start your drooling! Darksoft has done the unthinkable, he has created a Neo Geo flash cart not only for the MVS, but also for the AES – Christmas has come early!

Darksoft has indicated that the goal at the moment is to have a mix of technologies on the cartridge, like FPGA+DDR, ARM+Flash and CPLD, to ensure maximum versatility and fast load times. Oh yeh, the cart will have a microSD slot.

While older games (roms) will be supported on the flash cart, Darksoft has made it quite clear that he will not add any support for new games like the ones developed by NG:Dev.Team (that is a good thing!).

As mentioned, there will be 2 cartridges, one for the AES and the other for the MVS – the design being almost identical for each cart. Cartridges will come in plastic cases just like the original MVS/AES shockboxes. Expected cost is in the vicinity of $400.

If you want more details about this awesome creation, head on over to the Arcade-Project forum.

image source: Darksoft via Arcade-Projects

Thrill Of The Chase: Retro Buzz at Carrara

August 21, 2016 By ausretrogamer

There is nothing better than going to a weekend market and finding a stall that sells retro gaming gear, and lots of it!

That was the case when we found the Retro Buzz stall at the Carrara Markets on the sunny Gold Coast. What we found there was a treasure-trove of old school systems from Nintendo, Sega, Atari, Commodore, Sony and Microsoft. To complement these retro systems, Retro Buzz also had a vast array of game cartridges, CDs and other games media from every era – you would have been hard pressed not to have found the game you were after!

Once we were done with the retro hunt, we enjoyed a few games of Alex Kidd In Miracle World on the Master System and then dropped a few coins on the arcade machines. If you do find yourself on the Gold Coast and need your retro hunt fix, then you can’t go wrong with hitting the Retro Buzz stall at Carrara!

Welcome to Carrara Markets! Woohoo!

Aha, found what we were looking for!

Trade, Buy AND Sell! They have every system covered!

No retro stall is complete without a Mario and Luigi display!

We spy some N64 and SNES consoles over Luigi’s shoulder!

We could have a ComLynx party with these beauties!

Mario crashes the Sega party!

Pro-tip: Grab some Atari Lynx games while they are cheap!

Stacks of Sega Mega Drive games to choose from!

Not to be outdone by its bigger 16-bit Sega brother – stacks of Master System games!

The SNES games demand your attention!

Whoa, more SNES games!

Game Boy games galore!

*GULP* It was hard to resist this Pokemon N64 console!

Found the NES treasure! Don’t worry about Zela, look at that P.O.W cart!

NES games always demand premium prices

Old school computer games! VIC-20 represent!

Oo’er, Game Gear games!

After a fruitful hunt like this, an arcade session is in order!

Ludiphilia: A Podcast About Play, People, And Things

August 19, 2016 By ausretrogamer

After doing a number of podcast interviews, it was quite refreshing to have been invited on Richard Moss’ Ludiphilia podcast. Ludiphilia weaves the subject matter into a fascinating, heartwarming and a compelling story about play, the people and all other things in-between!

We have to give credit to Richard for doing an amazing job in the scripting, editing and the narrative of this podcast – we were blown away by the final result. Take a listen *smiley*

ausretrogamer

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