ausretrogamer

Press Play On Tape: Hitting The Reset Button

15/05/2016 By ausretrogamer

As the weather in the southern hemisphere gets cooler, the Press Play On Tape podcast heats things up with three hosts and one very special guest!

In this episode, we welcome Aaron Clement as our co-host and we sit down to have a chat with the C64-centric Reset magazine editor extraordinaire, Kevin Tilley (aka: Unkle K). We probe Unkle K about all things Reset – how the magazine came to be, its evolution, highlights, lowlights and any sneaky inside information on the upcoming issue.

For the publisher of choice, Unkle K chose Hewson Consultants, which had no shortage of classic video games! We hit the social media channels to read our your fave Hewson published games and we even have time for shoutouts, so you better listen in!

Oh yeh, Daz and Aaron even also get to speak to Paul Bridger the director and producer of the new documentary, The Amiga Works – Allister Brimble. Get the inside information on how he produced and self funded his first feature documentary.

Stay away from the reset button and press play on tape now!

PRESS PLAY ON TAPE podcasts are available on iTunes and Podbean

Ghostbusting At Zax Amusements

13/05/2016 By ausretrogamer

It is not every day we get an invitation to check out and play a newly released pinball game. We were lucky enough last year to experience Game Of Thrones before its official release, and it seems that we got lucky once again! This time, Zax Amusements were kind enough to open their doors and allow us to have a bump and tilt on Stern’s new pinball machine, Ghostbusters.

Before we could get to grips on the new Ghostbusters Pro pinball table, Zax’s Business Manager, Phil Boniwell gave us a grand tour of Zax Amusements – let’s just say that we were like kids in a candy store! There were 1980s and 1990s JAMMA boards carefully stacked on shelves, a myriad of gun peripherals, control panels, Neo Geo MVS carts and an amazing array of arcade machines from all eras! We honestly didn’t know where to look – it was a 360 degree visual onslaught of the amusement kind! You can take a peek at the photos further down below to see why we went all gaga.

Once we wiped our drool and returned to Zax’s business showroom, it was time to put Ghostbusters Pro through its paces. So what did we think? Having played the pinball machine a few times, our first impressions were very positive indeed. Like with any new product, it was the visual and aural beauty of the machine that captured our immediate attention. Based on the original Ghostbusters movie, the colours, set scenery and characters on the playfield were an instant trip down memory lane. Not to be outdone in the sensory game, the sound effects, Ernie Hudson’s speech guiding you through the game and Ray Parker Jr’s Ghostbusters soundtrack were literally music to our ears. Stern have really captured the feel of the original Ghostbusters movie to a T! We reckon Stern has created another winner!

Thank you to the team at Zax Amusements for their hospitality (Scott Kellett rocks!). You can read more about Zax Amusements over here.

Z marks the spot!

Zak (Zax final boss) and yours truly!

Oh wow, OutRun 2 SP and Sega Racing Classic (aka: Daytona USA Mk II)!

THIS is still our all-time fave arcade driving game!

Kick it to Homer!

Now this is a reasonable price for a twin seat Daytona USA!

The great wall of PCBs!

You need guns? Zax has you covered!

Guitar riffin’

Dayyyyyytona!

You don’t control me!

A view to a thrill!

Silverball classics waiting for some TLC

15K out! That is perfect vision!

Time to flip some balls!

Oh wow, what to play next?

Our spidey sensors are tingling!

Who you gonna call?

I ain’t afraid of no ghost

Ecto-1 in glorious colour!

Let’s play Slimer!

Busting ghosts has never been this much fun!

Aim well and true!

This machine is flippin’ magic!

Ball Saved! Lucky break!

Keep your eye on the target(s)!

What has spooked Slimer?

Mmm, marshmallows!

The outlanes can be brutal – be ready to bump!

A row of beauties! It’s very hard to leave Zax Amusements!

Top 5 Games Charts: May 1999

12/05/2016 By ausretrogamer

We roll the clock back 17 years to see what games were hot on the Playstation, N64 and the humble PC. As you peek at the games charts below, you’ll notice some very well known gaming franchises that are still going strong till this day. But what makes it great to look back at old charts like these is the more obscure and long forgotten games, like Rollcage for the Playstation, Virtual Pool 64 on the N64, and The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield on the PC.

What ever tickled your fancy back then, scour through the top 5 games from May 1999, you never know, you still may be playing some of these gems!

	1) Metal Gear Solid (Konami)
	2) Rollcage (Psygnosis)
	3) A Bug’s Life (Sony)
	4) FIFA 99 (EA)
	5) Populous: The Beginning (EA)

	1) South Park (Acclaim)
	2) Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (Nintendo)
	3) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time (Nintendo)
	4) WCW/nWO: Revenge (THQ)
	5) Virtual Pool 64 (Crave)

	1) Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri (EA)
	2) Sim City 3000 (EA)
	3) South Park (Acclaim)
	4) The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield (Fox)
	5) Premier Manager 99 (Gremlin)

2016 Reset C64 4KB Game Coding Competition

04/05/2016 By ausretrogamer

Dust off the C64 and grab that ideas pad where you scribbled down your game design all those years ago, as you now have the opportunity to enter the 2016 Reset C64 4KB game coding competition, AKA: the Reset Crap Game Compo!

This is going to be one mega CRAPTASTIC comp! Say what? Crap game comp? What gives? My game will be awesome! Relax, don’t get precious about it, the theme of the comp is craptastic, so the crappier the game, the better chance you have at being crowned the winner.

For those of you that want the lowdown on how to enter, just be aware that your game must not be greater than 4 kilobytes in size. Oh yeah, your game can (and should) be ludicrous, awful, bonkers and downright outrageous. The main aim is to have fun. So once you have your crap game done, make sure you email it to the Reset editor by no later than October 1 2016! So go on, get cracking, ahem, we mean coding!

For a complete list of the rules and regulations, go here. This Reset competition is proudly sponsored by:

There will be awesome prizes, including Reset physical issues for the top three winning entrants!

The Secret History Of Mac Gaming

02/05/2016 By ausretrogamer

Apple’s history in gaming goes a long way back. Heck, even my first computer gaming experience was on an Apple ][e playing the awesome text adventure, Transylvania way back in 1983. The Apple line of computers had its avid gaming fans and also paved the way for many a developers that cut their teeth on the trusty computers. When the Apple Macintosh computer was launched in the mid 80s, it’s built in screen, graphical user interface and the mouse pointing device were at the bleeding edge of computing. Apple may have aimed the computer at the business end of town, but the beloved Mac was also thriving in the gaming community too. Sadly, not much has been written or shared with the gaming masses about the Mac gaming communities, till now.

The Secret History of Mac Gaming, a new crowdfund book project by talented freelance writer Richard Moss, aims to tell the story of those Mac communities and the game developers who survived and thrived in an ecosystem that was serially ignored by the outside world. It’s a book about people who made games and people who played them — people who, on both counts, followed their hearts first and market trends second. How in spite of everything they had going against them, the people who carried the torch for Mac gaming in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s showed how clever, quirky, and downright wonderful videogames could be.

The work draws on archive materials as well as 60+ new interviews with key figures from Mac gaming’s past, including: Craig Fryar, who is co-authoring several chapters, Robyn and Rand Miller, Patrick Buckland, John Calhoun, Andrew Welch, Ben Spees, Matt Burch, Ian and Colin Lynch Smith, Steven Tze, Mark Stephen Pierce, Jonathan Gay, Bill Appleton, Steve Capps, Charlie Jackson, Peter Cohen, Trey Smith, Dave Marsh, Joe Williams, Brian Greenstone, Craig Erickson, Rick Holzgrafe, Chris De Salvo, Ray Dunakin, Glenda Adams, Rebecca Heineman, Eric Klein, Marc Vose and many more.

The book will be a 304 page hardback, printed on 120 gsm fine art paper, with a bookmark, head and tail bands, and a four colour jacket printed on clear plastic stock. So if you have (or had) an interest in Mac gaming or are hungry to know more about the history of Mac gaming, then pledge for Richard Moss’ The Secret History Of Mac Gaming book!

source: Unbound

Sega Arcade Game History

29/04/2016 By ausretrogamer

STOP THE PRESS! Thanks to our good friend Skott Kellett, we were made aware of Sega-Interactive’s Sega Arcade Game History site!

So what is this site all about? If you have been (and still are) a fan of Sega’s arcade games (Ed: which many, many of you are!) and love history, then this site should be bookmarked as your go to reference on anything related to Sega arcade games.

The site is great to navigate, with a plotted timeline of all Sega arcade games from 1970 to present day on the left of screen, a cross-hair to ‘target’ (choose) the arcade game in the centre of the display, and the right of screen being your search area and view type selector (cruise or list mode for the targeted decade). Now, if only Sega-Interactive could release an English version of this site!

Let’s cruise through Sega’s arcade games from the 1980s

Tiled list view of Sega’s arcade games from the 1980s

Machine list view of Sega’s arcade games from the 1980s

Checking out Yu Suzuki’s Space Harrier
source: Sega Interactive

Pinfest 5: Festival Of The Silver Ball

28/04/2016 By ausretrogamer

Ladies, kids of any age and gentlemen, listen up! Pinfest 5 has just been announced by the Newcastle Pinball Association! Mark the 24^th and 25^th September 2016 in your calendar and make sure you head to the Caves Beachside Hotel, which is 90 minutes north of Sydney.

Celebrating its 5^th consecutive year, Pinfest 5 will be bigger and better, with awesome special attractions to mark the occasion, including an exclusive Pinfest patrons raffle to win a Data East Time Machine pinball table! If that wasn’t enough of an incentive, there will be up to 70 pinball machines to flip and tilt on, ensuring that every patron experiences as many pinball machines as possible.

No matter your age or your level of interest, if you have itchy flipping fingers, you need to be at Pinfest 5! Keep an eye on the Newcastle Pinball Association Facebook page for more details.

Pinfest 2015 highlights

source: Newcastle Pinball Association

Retro Gaming Hunt: On The Road To Newcomb

26/04/2016 By ausretrogamer

What does one do on a long weekend? Well, we decided to hit the road to Newcomb for a retro games hunting expedition at the Amazing Mill Market!

The Amazing Mill Market definitely didn’t disappoint, with loads of retro gaming gear found on the ground and upper floor. Ms ausretrogamer’s keen eye found some hidden treasures, which we didn’t hesitate in snapping up.

There were some fairly pricey items, but looking hard in each stall paid dividends – we snagged the SNES Super Disk Interceptor for a very reasonable price, which turned out to be our catch of the day!

For now, sit back and enjoy a sampling of some goodies that may tickle your nostalgic fancy…

Well, well, well, what do we have in this glass cabinet

We wonder if Nintendo approved these copycat ‘Game & Watch’ devices?

Where do we even start here?

Whoa! We wouldn’t mind flippin on this pinball table *wink*

Finally, we can pirate, ahem…. we mean, backup our SNES games

The trick here is to get past the PS2 games overload!

Woot! A solitary Sega Mega Drive game among a sea of 2600 carts!

At that price, we had to walk past the boxed NES

Fishing for some GBA gaming bargains!

The Commodore 64 represent!

Is it really the ultimate entertainment pack?

Forget Nintendo’s Game & Watch, you need Q&Q’s Card Game Clock Tarzan!

Super Mario and Pac-Man in cahoots

Yes, Tetris 2 has been spotted!

This was the most popular QuickShot joystick in Australia – because it was cheap!

A bit light on with the N64 gear…

Turtle power!!

Oo’er, a 3DO controller but no 3DO system to be found!

Forget the CRT TVs and that SNES, look at that Daytona USA arcade topper!

Lucky dip!

Boxed Xbox!

Before IBM’s Deep Blue chess computer, there was Schach-Computer!

I spy with my little eye, something beginning with V!

Oh man, we have a woody!

What to play on first?

A sight for sore eyes!

All Your Fave Mega Drive Games in One Place

22/04/2016 By ausretrogamer

Put your retro party hats on peeps! SEGA Europe Ltd. is celebrating the launch of the all new SEGA Mega Drive Classics Hub on Steam with a 66% off sale on all SEGA Mega Drive games currently available on the platform. Anyone who purchases or already owns at least one SEGA Mega Drive title on Steam will be able to experience the wonder of the redesigned SEGA Mega Drive Classics Hub when it launches on the 28^th April, 2016.

The new-look system, developed by d3t, from which you can access all the SEGA Mega Drive games you own on Steam, now resembles the bedroom of an early nineties SEGA fan with dynamic time-of-day conditions, retro SEGA paraphernalia, a shelf full of Mega Drive games reflecting which ones you own on Steam, and of course, a CRT TV! It’s not just cosmetic improvements though; every single Mega Drive game available now on the platform will feature Steam Workshop support, allowing you to share modified versions of your favourite retro SEGA titles!

In addition to these new features the all new SEGA Mega Drive Collection hub also includes, spot-on emulation, local co-op for games that support it, optional graphic enhancement filters, the ability to save states at any point during gameplay and full controller and keyboard support.

For a full list of SEGA Mega Drive games available on the platform (there are 5 packs to choose from!), log on to Steam now!

source: Sega

Supanova Temptations

20/04/2016 By ausretrogamer

If checking out the wonderful roster of TV stars and the awesome cosplay wasn’t enough, Supanova Pop Culture Expo (in Melbourne) hit the trifecta this past weekend by tempting its visitors with cool gear, from comics, novels, animation cels, action figures to Game Of Thrones leggings – let’s just say that there was something for everyone!

As we walked around the main hall of Supanova, we found ourselves stopping at each stall and taking a good hard look at what wares were available for purchase. The temptation was strong to buy everything in sight, but we had to be mindful of that dreaded credit card sitting in our back pocket.

There were plenty of items we would have loved to had taken home, but for now, we’ll just reminisce about them…

We stood and stared at these for hours! Well, ok, we stared for minutes!