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8-Bit Pinball Action

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PETACO_TitleBeing a fan of the silver ball and 8-bit micro computing, I was always craving for a pinball game to play on my trusty Commodore 64. Finally, my prayers have been answered in the form of Errazking’s Petaco’5!

This new C64 pinball game was developed by Errazking and Maniako using ‘Bill Budge’s Pinball Construction Set’, coupled with cool music by the great chiptune composer, Richard Bayliss.

What you get is 6 pinball tables to play on, with as-close-to-realistic ball physics on your C64 – which is a good thing if you are a pinball purist. The screen is divided in half, with the playfield on one side and the player score on the other. If you are a pinball fan and are in need of a silver ball fix on your C64, then Petaco’5 will go a long way to satisfy your pinball craving.

Errazking’s PETACO’5 is available for free on CSDb. Get it now!

The T-UFO Table
PETACO_TUFOimage source: CSDb and Vintage Is The New Old

 

Super Russian Roulette: The Good, the Bad, and the Zapper

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SRR_titleMove over Duck Hunt, there is gonna be a new shooting game in town! And forget Wii Sports to bring your party alive! For your next party, you should be playing Super Russian Roulette on your NES! Yep, you read that right – get your Zapper ready!

Before you rush off to your nearest gaming store, relax, Super Russian Roulette is being funded via Kickstarter and it has already blown past its goal of $20K! What is there to say about this game other than, you and up to two of your friends and the trash talking cowboy take turns passing the pistol, spinning the chamber (or not!), and drinking to your own demise (or not)! That Andrew Reitano is a genius.

If you are party gamer, gunslinger or an adrenaline junkie, you need to back Super Russian Roulette now! The game will be available in NTSC and PAL formats.

SRR_pledge


source: Super Russian Roulette on Kickstarter

 

Growing The 8-Bit Generation

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source: 8bit generation

We initially backed Growing The 8-Bit Generation Kickstarter campaign not knowing its troubled past. We were drawn to it because of it’s proposed subject matter – a documentary about the start of the home computer industry, which was right up our alley. Rather than getting bogged down in the windy road of how this documentary came to be, we thought we would concentrate on what the 8-Bit Generation / Junk Food team have delivered, and boy is it good!

Grow8Bit_Chuck

Grow8Bit_PET

Like any documentary that delves into the history of a particular industry, it is the people that were there, recounting their experiences first-hand that is paramount to the success of telling such a story. Growing The 8-Bit Generation nails this part by featuring a roster of interviewees that reads like a computing and video gaming hall of fame, from Chuck Peddle, Al Charpentier, Bil Herd, Michael Tomczyk, Dave Rolfe, Richard Garriot, Jeff Minter, Andy Finkel, Lord British, Steve Wozniak, Nigel Searle, Chris Curry, John Grant, Nolan Bushnell, Al Alcorn to Joe Decuir and Leonard Tramiel among others. However, the biggest interviewee coup for the documentary was having the late and great, Jack Tramiel recount his days as the head of Commodore and his somewhat ruthless pursuit to build computers for the masses, not the classes – which he certainly did. It is staggering to think that the production team actually interviewed 64 key industry figures, not all appearing in this film, which means there will be future documentaries with the additional footage!

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Grow8Bit_Title

The best way to describe Growing The 8-Bit Generation is that it is a visual and aural representation of Brian Bagnell’s book, Commodore: A Company on the Edge. If you have read this book, you will recognise the interviewees and know the subject matter quite well. Having said that, if you haven’t read Brain’s book, you will learn how Commodore battled it out with Atari, Sinclair, Texas Instruments, Apple and Tandy to reign supreme in the home computer hardware market.

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Grow8Bit_Vectrex

Grow8Bit_SMS

The documentary is given a sense of authority by having Bil Heard (former Commodore engineer) lending his voice as the narrator. There is also subtle chiptune background music which adds to the aural spectacle. If we were to be nitpicking (Ed: and we would hate to be!), we would have loved to have seen Bob Yannes (SID chip inventor) appear and perhaps someone from Amstrad, like Lord Sugar. Purists may argue that the documentary is too Commodore-centric, but you have to remember it was their MOS6502 microprocessor that gave birth to the home computing industry and it also had a profound impact on the video games console market.

What From Bedrooms To Billions documentary was to the history of home computer games development, Growing The 8-Bit Generation is to the history and evolution of home computer hardware – it is certainly compelling viewing!

NOTE: Retail availability of the documentary is yet to be confirmed. Keep an eye on the 8-Bit Generation site for more details.

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Grow8Bit_Michael

Grow8Bit_ZXSpecimage source: 8-Bit Generation

 

Press Play On Tape: Getting To Know You – The Tassie Jedi

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PPOT_12_title

A new year brings new ideas! The Press Play On Tape (PPOT) hosts have introduced a new segment which aims to get to know you, the awesome listeners, that little bit better. The PPOT crew aim to find out how you got into gaming, what your fave systems and games are, knowing about your collection, and anything else that is cool to know and discuss! The hope is that this becomes a regular segment.

Having said that, all new things need to start somewhere, so the first guineapig, ahem, we mean special guest on ‘Getting To Know You‘, is the Tasmanian Jedi, Aaron Clement! The crew delves deep into Aaron’s past and takes many a tangents, but we promise you, it is all compelling listening!

The regular publisher of choice segment is discussed feverishly, with Aaron opting for Palace Software – listen in, as your contributions are read out as well! So rewind the counter to 000 and press play now!

PRESS PLAY ON TAPE podcasts are available on iTunes and Podbean.

 

Flippin Out: Ghostbusters Pinball

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Ghostbusters_HDRWhen it comes to big-licenses in the pinball world, Stern definitely know how to grab you by the steel balls! Joining their stable of recent big hits like The Walking Dead and Game Of Thrones is Ghostbusters Pinball.

The timing of Ghostbusters Pinball coincides with the release of the trailer for the upcoming reboot, but don’t read too much into that, as Stern’s Ghostbusters is based on the classic pair of films from the 80s, with Bill Murray, the Ecto-1, Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and of course, Slimer all making their ghoulish way onto the playfield.

There are plenty of ramps, toys, lighting, speech and motorized effects to scare the pants off you while you rid New York City of ghostly apparitions. To get you right into the mood, Ray Parker Jr belts out the Ghostbusters theme. “If there’s something strange, in your neighborhood, who ya gonna call? GHOSTBUSTERS!”

For more deets on Stern’s Ghostbusters Pinball, go here.

Are you a Pro Ghostbuster?
Ghostbusters_Pro

Or are you a Premium Ghostbuster?
Ghostbusters_Premium

Aha, you wanna be a limited edition Ghostbuster!
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Oh la la!
Ghostbusters_Playfield_isometric

Flip those ghosts!
Ghostbusters_Flippers

Watch out for Stay Puft Marshmallow Man!
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Don’t get slimed!
Ghostbusters_Slimer

Return your library books before they are due!
Ghostbusters_Library

I ain’t afraid of no ghosts!
Ghostbusters_LE_playfieldimage source: Stern Pinball Inc.

 

The Exotic Neo Geo Console

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I am a big fan of creative (and talented) peeps that tinker and create wonderful gaming gear, especially the one-of-a-kind creations!

As you may have guessed, we are huge fans of SNK’s Neo Geo range, especially their MVS and AES systems. We had recently been stalking the Neo Geo market for something special and different. To our pleasant surprise, we stumbled upon a country that seemed to be the hotbed for exotic Neo Geo creations – Spain! Yep, Spain! Those Spaniards don’t cut corners when it comes to making their wares standout, a case in point being this sleek and shiny consolized Neo Geo MVS beauty!

Shiny and sleek!
Exotic_NeoGeoMVS_topdown

With great effort going into the presentation of the console, its metallic case and gorgeous curves ooze contemporary industrial design that even Xbox and Playstation owners would be envious of! To compliment its great looks, this consolized MVS beast has video (SCART/RGB/S-Video) and audio (stereo composite) outputs that would definitely raise the hairs on the back of your neck when playing your favourite MVS titles!

Before you ask about the controls and other internals, the console has two SNK Neo Geo AES/CD joystick ports, with credit buttons for each player to rack up the play credits (Ed: woo hoo, no more 20c coins required). Oh yeh, the rig is complimented with Universe BIOS (UniBIOS), giving you a feature-rich list of options.

When it comes to playing games on this console, the visuals are a tour-de-force on any old-school CRT and even on newer TVs (plasma/LCD), we kid you not! We can finally put away the AES and Phantom-1, as this one-of-a-kind MVS console provides us that Neo Geo gaming hit we need!

Turn me on, baby!
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Rack up the credits!
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A voluptuous rear end
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SCART me!
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Match cartridge with arrow, or else!
Exotic_NeoGeoMVS_insert_cart

Pimp My C64

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PimpedC64When it comes to hotted up C64s, surely none are better than Adrian Kurek’s [wpqrek] pimped Commodore 64 breadbin. Not only does Adrian’s C64 have a built-in SD2IEC, it also has a heap of other bells and whistles, from the self-made stereo SID and built-in stereo amplifier with attached speakers, to the switchable OS (original ROM and JiffyDOS) and a mini-LCD screen plus 12V DC input, making this C64 a totally portable 8-bit beast!

Check out the photos of this beauty and then watch the video to see it in action and hear the meaty sound from this monster!

Li-Poly battery for portable C64 fun! 
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Blue screen beauty!
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Pump up the volume!
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Popping the hood on the C64 hotrod!
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video source: Adrian Kurek & image source: wpqrek

 

Interview With Justin Hickman: Linking With The Past

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Justin_HDRAfter our recent interview with Retro Rich, we go in contact with lifetime gamer Justin Hickman to have a chat about gaming and collecting in general. Once we got a whiff of the gaming awesomeness that Justin had in his possession, we knew we had to arrange an interview and have him share his love of video games and also his very impressive room of collectibles. So brace your jaw, because it will drop to the floor. Here we go!

AUSRETROGAMER [ARG]: So Justin, tell us a bit about yourself – how did you get into gaming?
Justin Hickman [JH]: Hey! I’m 33 years old and have been in to gaming all my life. I started with a hand-me-down Atari 2600, C64 and NES system. I spent countless hours playing Mario, Mega Man, Spy vs Spy, Space Invaders and loved it! At school my friends were really into it too, so this helped fuel my passion for gaming as it was absolutely the norm for me growing up.

ARG: Are you equally into retro and modern/current gaming (or do you have a strong preference for one)?
JH: Being honest, I am a huge fan of both. Retro gaming is of course heavily peppered with nostalgia, however when I played them they weren’t retro! I was just really into gaming as a medium, This mindset has stayed with me so by proxy I am just as happy playing either The Witcher III or A Link to the Past.

The great wall of gaming!
Justin_great_wall

ARG: What is it about old school gaming that you enjoy most?
JH: The obvious one is nostalgia (simple times, happy days), However as with anyone who has a passion for film, music and gaming, I appreciate retro games as an art form. I love modern gaming too but retro gaming (specifically 2D) has more soul – I love the hand drawn sprites and animations that developers managed to squeeze out of restricted hardware with huge limitations. This all adds to the charm and experience that has not been replicated – they also, for the most part, still stand up today (as an example, Super Mario World looks and plays just as well now as it did 24 years ago!).

ARG: You have owned your collection from new (which is amazing!), what inspired you to collect? Did you have foresight or a plan to collect?
JH: I never planned to collect. In fact, I used to trade in (albeit a select few) games when I was younger in order to get other games that I wanted, as this was really the only way to get a game in between birthdays and Christmas. I did however keep certain games as they meant so much to me, especially the Mario and Zelda games. But as a whole, gaming was never a ‘flash in the pan’ for me – I was and still am passionate about it, so I held onto as much as I could! I always wanted to have the option to go back and play my old games. So there was no foresight or planning – It was by pure chance that the games I was into also became some of the most rare/sought after titles.

ARG: We are drooling over your very impressive collection – what are your most prized systems and games?
JH: I’m particularly proud of my Zelda collection, Console wise I have most of them but as a conversation starter the Virtual Boy and PC Engine get the most attention, They both look cool and have much trivia!

You’ve met with a terrible fate, haven’t you? Well, Justin certainly hasn’t!
Justin_Zelda

ARG: Are there any other specific systems and/or games you are still hunting down?
JH: Yes, very much so! Right now, I am still hunting for a boxed Neo-Geo AES, but I don’t want to pay premium for it. Having said that, I probably should, as prices have been steady for a few years now and they won’t get cheaper! Also, I’m still hunting for Zelda Four Swords big box and Earthbound. My biggest problem is that I don’t like paying top dollar – I much prefer to wait and take my time. It makes it even more special when you do pick something up at a reasonable price, even if it took a couple of years to hunt down!

ARG: What is your gaming room (and/or collection) setup like?
JH: I have an room dedicated to it,  and it needs to be as collection is huge! The rest of the house is unassuming, so keeps the missus happy *winks*

ARG: Do you have unopened systems/games? If so, will you ever open them to play?
JH: Yes to both – system and games. I did intend on playing them but as time goes by, I become more hesitant and usually just find loose copies out in the wild. I want to preserve as much gaming history as I can.

The perfect office space!
Justin_arcadecorner

ARG: We hear that the SNES is your favorite retro console – so which retro console is your second fave?
JH: Either the NES or (Japanese) Mega Drive – both were fantastic. The NES brought so many legendary (Nintendo) first party IPs to the table, genre defining with iconic characters and mascots that are still going strong to this day! The Mega Drive had some fantastic arcade conversions and was home to some great shooters. Additionally, the Japanese version (which was superior to the PAL one) had truly stunning artwork on the game cases and they look great on any shelf!

ARG: Do you have a favorite game of all time or a gaming genre you cannot go without?
JH: My favourite games of all time are Super Mario World, Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy 7. Sorry, I know you asked for one! As for a gaming genre I couldn’t live without, it would have to be RPGs. I love a story, character progression and immersion – a good RPG covers all of these quite nicely.

ARG: We cheated in this interview by adding one final question – where can folks get in touch with you?
JH: Yep, sure thing, folks can reach me on Twitter.

Whoa, that was another great chat with a great collector. As we thank Justin for sharing in his gaming past and his vast collection, we walk away thoroughly impressed and can’t wait to see what else Justin adds to his already awesome gaming collection!

 

Raid The Atari Vault At The PC Gamer Weekender

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atarivault_Title_logoThere is no hiding the fact that we are huge Atari fans – always have been, always will be. We definitely have a soft spot for Atari’s old school gaming franchises – so to our delight, the company that brought us Pong and the VCS will be attending The PC Gamer Weekender at London’s Old Truman Brewery this coming weekend, March 5-6. They will be unleashing their Atari Vault, which will be packed with 100s of classic Atari games.

The Atari Vault (slated for a Northern Hemisphere spring 2016 launch on Steam) will be stacked with classics such as Asteroids®, Centipede®, Missile Command®, Tempest® and Warlords® to name a few. To relive the gaming experience in the modern age, Atari have added online and local multiplayer options, an upgraded UI and original 70’s and 80’s soundtracks, Steam leaderboards to challenge others for arcade supremacy and most importantly, Steam controller support – giving you, the player, precision control to take out your fellow challengers.

When it comes to Atari’s seminal titles, there is no denying their timeless appeal transcend generations and provide the same fun as they did when we were knee-high to a grasshopper. Bring on the Atari Vault!

AtariVault_tempest

AtariVault_lunarlander

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AtariVault_Asteroidsimage source: Atari

 

Pinball Machines: How They Work and Troubleshooting

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There is an old adage that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If only every machine in life ran perfectly, then we would never have to service our car or have stuck flippers on our favourite pinball table. With any amusement machine, be it arcade or pinball, it is not a matter of if, but when it breaks down, will you know how to diagnose, troubleshoot and repair it yourself?

If you have always wanted to own a pinball machine but were daunted by the expense of servicing such a beast, then Norbert Snicer’s Pinball Machines – How They Work and Troubleshooting course is the training you have been looking for. Norbert’s course provides you the techniques to diagnose and troubleshoot (quickly and methodically) any pinball machine problem.

Class is in session
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Having almost no experience in fixing or troubleshooting pinball machines, I attended the recent course held in Melbourne with an open mind and the hope that I would learn something, no matter how trivial. I can attest that the content presented was easily understood, even for a noob like myself. The hands-on approach and Norbert’s inclusive style of teaching made it a breeze in grasping and understanding the subject matter. Norbert’s 30-plus years of experience in the industry has given him a myriad of real life examples to draw from and pass on to his students. There was no stone left unturned when it came to discussing problems that could occur on a pinball machine.

Does this intimidate you?
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Lots of hands-on (under playfield) action!
Pinball_course_Playfield

From all of the topics covered in the course, it was the compartmentalization of the playfield and back box which simplified the sections and parts of a pinball machine which was a light-bulb moment for me. This stroke of genius coupled with the easy-to-follow troubleshooting methods, ensured that you could pin-point problems without wasting too much time – which left more time to play pinball!

With my newly acquired knowledge, I can say that I am no longer intimidated by the underside of a pinball machines’ playfield nor its back box. Through his teaching, Norbert has given me the confidence to ‘pop the hood’ on any pinball machine and know my way around it. If you want to have the same experience as I did, then I would urge you to enrol in the course – it is totally worth it!

Since I had such a postive experience doing this course, I asked my fellow classmates what they thought of the Pinball Machines – How They Work and Troubleshooting course:

Lucas Bardin – “An amazing amount of ground covered in such a short time.  Norbert Snicer is a Wizard under the playfield.  His hands-on approach to pinball troubleshooting really makes you think about what you are doing and he also gives you the understanding of why things should be done in a certain way.”

Skott Kellett – “Just completed the Melbourne course and was blown away with the wealth of knowledge that Norbert provides and shares with his students. His troubleshooting tips will save even the experienced technicians hours of diagnosing time and hassles. I recommend the course to anyone interested in working on pinball machines, either at home or in the field. From beginners to experienced technicians, this course has something for everyone.”

Stuart Thornton – “Norbert offers a fantastic opportunity to get real hands-on learning on machines that are typically overwhelming, ranging from 90’s era to current technology.  His approach is enjoyable and caters to the beginner and seasoned technicians alike.  I loved every minute of the course and I think it has really set me up to be able to service my own pinball machines with confidence.”

Martin Robbins – “Having owned pinball machines for a few years I’ve always been hesitant to troubleshoot myself and have spent a lot of money sending them away for repairs. This course has given me the knowledge and confidence to solve most electrical and mechanical pinball problems and has already paid for itself. The program that Norbert has put together is not only very informative, it’s delivered in a way that shows that seemingly complex issues can be diagnosed through a logical structured process.”

Troubleshooting the Back Box
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Thumbs-up for a great course!
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