With E3 2016 being the biggest news this week, we thought we’d rewind the clock twenty years, back to 1996 when Nintendo, Sega and the newest player on the console block, the Playstation were the headline acts.
After wowing the crowds with their hardware the previous year, Playstation ensured that the 1996 E3 event was going to be even bigger and better by announcing a price drop to get the console into more homes, sending shivers down the spines of the old guard, Nintendo and Sega. Not to be outdone in the gaming stakes, Sony Computer Entertainment introduced everyone to Crash Bandicoot, who would go on to become a PlayStation mascot (and get remastered for the the PS4 20 years later!) and Lara Croft, whose appearance in Tomb Raider was the first step towards becoming a cultural icon.
At this second ever Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Sega was showing off the latest and greatest games for their Saturn in the hope of making a dent in the Playstation’s armour. With games like Virtua Fighter 3 (which was ultimately cancelled), Fighting Vipers, Virtua Cop 2, NiGHTS into Dreams, Panzer Dragoon II Zwei and Daytona USA (among others) from their own stable, Sega was ensuring that heads would be turned towards their 32-bit beast.
Third-party Saturn games were also announced by Acclaim (Alien Trilogy, Battle Monsters, The Crow: City of Angels, Dragonheart and Space Jam), Ubisoft (Rayman 2), Capcom (Marvel Super Heroes), Crystal Dyanmics (3D Baseball, Ghost Rider and Legacy Of Kain) and Konami (ISS Deluxe and NBA Hangtime).
Sega also wanted to show that there was still (some) life left in their 16-bit Mega Drive (Genesis) by showing off Arcade Classics, Sonic 3D Blast, Vectorman 2, X-Perts and X-Women (which never saw the light of day!). Perhaps Sega should have given up on their 16-bit console (and it’s many add-ons) and concentrate their might on the 32-bit battleground. Ah hindsight, it’s always 20/20.
And then there was Nintendo. The Kyoto giant chose the 1996 E3 event to showcase their latest hardware, the Nintendo 64. Nintendo chose to up the ante in the ‘bit’ wars by leaping over their two main rivals with their 32-bit systems. Basking in the glory of their 16-bit success with the SNES and full of confidence, Nintendo chose to stick with cartridges rather then the now-accepted CD format. To ensure that the Nintendo 64 was going to pull-in the crowds at E3 that year, Nintendo had a number of launch titles available to experience – Wave Race 64, Pilotwings 64, Star Wars: Shadows Of The Empire and Super Mario 64. New hardware needs a ‘killer app’ that captures the public’s imagination and makes consumers snap up a machine – Super Mario 64, just like Super Mario Bros did for the NES, did exactly that! With Mario entering 3D for the first time, Nintendo no doubt were the best in show at E3 1996.
What product will wow us and become best in show at E3 2016?
sources: [IGN | Sega Retro | Playstation.blog]
Oz Comic-Con commanded us to ‘unleash your inner geek’ – and we were very happy to oblige. We came, we saw, we played, and we conquered 
Anthony and Nicola Caulfield, the writers and directors of the critically acclaimed crowdfunded feature length documentary 
Aaron Clement: I’m ashamed to admit it, but outside of games, my knowledge of the Amiga’s history is pretty poor. As a Commodore 64 boy growing up, my exposure to its 16-bit big brother was limited to seeing screenshots in Zzap! and C&VG, or going around to my best friend’s place to fire up his Amiga 500 whenever we could. After having watched The Amiga Years, I can say that the detail presented here far and away fills the gaps in my knowledge, as well as providing a positive and entertaining story to boot. Delivering it’s narrative through a series of interviews with a veritable “who’s who” from the Amiga’s history, creators Nicola and Anthony Caulfield have done a solid job weaving this documentary together.
Alex Boz: With The Amiga Years, Anthony and Nicola have literally picked up where they left off with their first film, From Bedroom To Billions – which is actually a really GOOD thing! Their pedigree in documentary film making is second to none, and The Amiga Years is no exception. With the subject matter at the centre of this film, Anthony and Nicola have lovingly pieced together countless hours of interviews and archival footage into a 2.5hr tour de force on the Amiga.
image source: 
Let’s face it, you either loved the three-prong N64 controller or you hated it. For the record, we LOVED it!
Forget about looking for the latest and greatest camera app for your smartphone, as you can now have a cool 8-bit retro camera suite with real time effects, pixel art editor and sprites!
Any time 
Have you always wanted to create chiptunes on old gaming systems? Do you get nostalgic at the sound of old video games? Even if you have a passing interest in computer music, you will appreciate the chiptune course that is on offer from online music school 
As we get closer to the start of Oz Comic-Con Melbourne (June 11 and 12), we are getting quite excited at all the fun we are going to have! If you missed out on getting tickets to Oz Comic-Con, then you are in luck!
image source: Oz Comic-Con