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Thrill Of The Chase: The MOTU Holy Grail

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MOTU_game_titleMy affinity for Masters Of The Universe has no limit! Just when I thought I grabbed my MOTU holy grail at the Toy Shack store in Las Vegas back in August, BAM, the MOTU Limited Edition Collector Series vinyl gets gazumped by The Power Of He-Man video game!

Yep, you read that right, the holy grail of my MOTU collection is not a board game nor a limited edition vinyl, it’s a (damn awesome) video game. MOTU: The Power Of He-Man video game (Intellivision) has been elusive to find complete (Ed: and at a reasonable price). This game, and its Atari 2600 counterpart, are the crown jewels of MOTU video games. The key motivator to obtain this game was  my absolute affection for MOTU, and secondly, it is a pretty decent video game based on the franchise. Oh yeh, the Mattel link between the console and toy line was a nice touch too. Game on!

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Press Play On Tape: Xmas Shenanigans

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PPOT_eps9Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas! It’s just Daz and Alex for the final episode of Press Play On Tape for 2015 – it’s so strange that it’s just them two! Before there is any sitting on Santa’s knee and looking into his big red sack, the lads get all misty-eyed in their reflection of the year that was and then get excited about the year that will be. Alex gets excited about a few Kickstarters coming to fruition, while Daz gets excited about the unknown!

Press play on tape one final time for 2015 to hear the lads reminisce about their favourite old Xmas magazine issues and what they wish Santa will leave under the Christmas tree for them. Oh yeh, they even ask the audience what they wish Santa will bring them this Christmas! So be merry, stay safe and enjoy!

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

 

The Atari $50,000 World Championships Fiasco

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AtariWorldChamps_titleLong before Walter Day established his Twin Galaxies scoreboard and way before eSports were created, there were video games competitions taking place all over North America, with the first tournament staged in New York City in 1980 by Atari. The First National Space Invaders Competition proved quite popular with 10,000 participants, with regional events taking place in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Fort Worth, Chicago, and New York City. The tournament had widespread print and television coverage, ensuring that the video gaming craze reached the masses.

Space Invaders competition, circa 1980–1981
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Following on from the success of the Space Invaders tournament, Atari enlisted Tournament Games Inc. (TGI was a successful foosball tournament organisation) to help it establish the Atari $50,000 World Championships to be held in Chicago at the end of 1981. To say that this tournament ended up being a total disaster for all parties, including the handful of participants, would be a gross understatement.

The event was promoted as a major sporting contest which would attract 10,000 to 15,000 of the world’s best video game players to go head-to-head on a single arcade game, Centipede. Well, the event only attracted 138 players, well under the projected participation levels expected. The low participation rate was due to contestants expected to foot the bill for their own transportation, accommodation to the event, and then pay a $60 entry fee and feed their own quarters to play the tournament Centipede arcade machines – the cost being way out of reach for the typical video game player of the day! Adding insult to injury, many of the contestants were not advised that Centipede would be the only game in the Championship, many of whom were there to compete on Asteroids and other Atari arcade games (Asteroids Deluxe, Battlezone, Warlords and Red Baron).

Sadly, there were no winners at the Atari $50,000 World Championships, not even the eventual winners, with their cheques bouncing, they left empty handed and totally jaded. The championship was an unmitigated disaster, a blight on the history of video gaming tournaments.

The Atari $50,000 World Championships farce flyer
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source: The Golden Age Arcade Historian
Space Invaders competition image source: International Journal Of Communication

 

Contra: 7″ Bill and Lance Action Figures

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Contra-1Oh my gawd! Just in time for Christmas, well, they aren’t available just as yet, but anyway, where were we? Oh yeh, those awesome people at NECA (creators of cool toys and collectibles!) have announced that they will release (April 2016) a special edition 2-pack action figure tribute set of fan favourite Contra video game characters, Bill ‘Mad Dog’ Rizer and Lance ‘Scorpion’ Bean!

For those of you that don’t know, Contra was also known as Gryzor and Probotector. Anyway, this Bill and Lance 2-pack action figure set will be the first appearance of non-movie-based characters in the NECA series, which will pay homage to Konami’s 8-bit glory days. Standing approximately 7” tall, the figures have all new head sculpts and “pixelated” paint deco. The set includes custom-designed weapons based on the classic game; detachable blast effects for the weapons; and that infamous power-up capsule with a clear support stand for “floating” effect.

For those collectors among you that will not open their packaging, a special window box package will be used to recreate the look of the classic game cartridge – which will look damn fine on your shelf!

April 2016 can not come fast enough! Here are a few more pics to whet your insatiable appetite:

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Contra-7image source: NECA

 

Casio Game and Watch Time

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If you thought that Nelsonic and Nintendo were the only ones making games on digital watches, then think again! Casio wasn’t going to sit on the sidelines and watch (Ed: pun intended!) Nintendo reap the benefit of this new gaming phenomenon.

With their pedigree in making fine time pieces, it was natural for Casio to jump in on the whole games-on-watches craze in the early 1980s. These games were mainly a left-right (two button) affair, but boy, they were so cool to have (Ed: If you were lucky enough to have one). Remember, this was all before we started killing time playing games on our smartphones. Some things never change.

If you were one of the unlucky ones (Ed: just like us!) to not have experienced Casio’s game watches, then here is a sample of their finest gaming pieces:

Aero Batics (GA-7)
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Super Slalomer (GS-2)
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Football (GS-12)
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Space Hero (GH-17)
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Space Warrior (GS-16)
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Zoomnzap (GZ-1)
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Champion Racer (GR-15)
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Super Windsurfing (GS-20)
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Egg Panic (GE-6)
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Moon Fight Robot (GR-3)
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Scramble Fighter (GF-2)
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Car Race (GD-8)
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Game-10
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Soccer (GS-11)
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Hustle Monira (GM-5)
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Golf (GG-9)
Casio_18image source: supplied

 

Pinball Heaven: A Tour Of The Stern Pinball Factory

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JohnsArcade_SternTour_TitleHey peeps, prepare to be absolutely gobsmacked! John’s Arcade together with Greg from Arcade Impossible, go on an exclusive access-all-areas tour of the new Stern Pinball Inc. factory in Elk Grove, IL.

This already awesome tour is made even more awesomer by having the famed pinball designer, George Gomez, as the personal tour guide – it doesn’t get any better than that! Whether you are a pinball fan or not, you will appreciate the behind-the-scenes of how pinball machines are made and distributed around the world. Grab the pop-corn as this great feature runs for 1:37:56 (to be exact), settle in and enjoy!


source: John’s Arcade Game Reviews & Tech

Masters Of The Universe Affinity

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MOTU_Title_altIt is no secret that I am a huge fan of Mattel’s original Masters Of The Universe (MOTU) toy series. I have been a fan since I first encountered the MOTU action figure line at my local Treasureway store (similar to Target / Kmart) in 1983. I remember being mesmerised by the He-Man figure in a big blister pack emblazoned with the MOTU logo. However, $15.99 was a lot of money in 1983 and it was going to require a big effort to convince mum I needed this toy. I got to work (in convincing my mum) and just a few weeks later I was the proud owner of my very own He-Man, but on the back of the packaging were the other figures in the series and I knew I had to have more – and just like that, I was hooked!

My ingenious (as I thought at the time) plan to expand my MOTU collection involved the argument that I needed an even split between ‘goodies’ and ‘baddies’ to be able to play out my (imaginary) battle on Eternia (a.k.a. the couch). I continued to collect more original MOTU action figures over the years, and although I never completed the set, I was very grateful for and thoroughly enjoyed playing with the figures I had.

Fast forward three decades, and my original MOTU collection is proudly displayed in the home office. I am so glad I kept the action figures all this time – they provide an important link to my childhood, a time where my imagination took me to wondrous places in the universe, thanks to Masters of The Universe.

The most powerful toy line in the universe!
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Yo DJ, spin that MOTU wheel!
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Cel shenanigans
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In the most powerful club in the universe!
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The MOTU story books (latter ones became comics) were damn awesome!
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Very hot MOTU wheels
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Show-bag full of MOTU weapons of mass fun!
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Man-At-Arms vs Skeletor!
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The most awesomest books in the universe!
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Don’t get bored playing Monopoly. Play to save He-Man!
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Laser blasting with the man with Man-E-Faces
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Evil lurks in many corners. Watch out Hulk!
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Great pants Brutus! Oh wait……
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Trouble setting up Castle Grayskull? Don’t worry, this scary looking He-Man will help!
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Oh, so that’s how the labels are applied!
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The showcasing rig
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Giddy-up Cringer! Oops, I mean Battle Cat!
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Top 5 Games Charts: December 1997

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top5gamescharts_title_Dec97Rewind the clock 18 years to December 1997 and take a gander at what the top games were on the Saturn, Playstation and PC. Surprised? Well, you shouldn’t be. The Christmas games charts were always a great barometer of the types of games that we were going to see more of in the coming new year. Suffice to say, the iterative annual sports titles (your FIFAs and Maddens), including driving games (Formula 1), were always going to play their part in the charts.

Browsing through the list of top games from 18 years ago, it is great to see that there was a mix of gaming genres, from driving formula 1 cars and flying elite helicopters, to wiping out zombies, throwing a football and to the inevitable first-person shooters. What were you playing 18 years ago?

PSX_150x150 1) Formula 1 ’97 (Psygnosis)
2) Nuclear Strike (Electronic Arts)
3) Abe’s Odyssee: Oddworld (GT)
4) Track & Field Platinum (Konami)
5) Parappa The Rapper (Sony)

 

1) Sega Worldwide Soccer ’98 (Sega)
2) Last Bronx (Sega)
3) Resident Evil (Capcom)
4) Wipeout 2097 (Psygnosis)
5) Madden NFL ’98 (Electronic Arts)

 

1) Command & Conquer: Red Alert – The Aftermath (Virgin Games)
2) Quake: Replay (GT)
3) Total Annihilation (GT)
4) Flight Sim ’98 (Microprose)
5) Hexen 2 (Activision)

 

2015 Australian Timezone Supanova Pinball Championship Grand Final

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Supanova_GF_TitleThis past weekend pinball players from all around Australia descended on Supanova Brisbane to compete in the grand final of the 2015 Australian Timezone Supanova Pinball Championship, with the winner walking away with a brand spanking new Stern WWE Wrestlemania Pro pinball machine! With all Australian state winners (and runners-up) in attendance, this wasn’t going to be an easy flip and tilt to become the national champion.

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With an impressive line-up of pinball machines (2 x WWE Wrestlemania Pro, 2 x Kiss Pro and 2 x Game Of Thrones tables) to compete on, it was game on! After winning the Supanova Melbourne state final, we interviewed Johnny Crabtree and predicted that he would be a sure bet to hoist the national trophy and truck back the brand new pinball machine. So, how did we go with our prediction? We were right on the money! With 34 points in the final, Johnny fought off some stiff competition from Greg Siegele (2nd on 33 points) and Richard Rhodes (3rd on 31 points) to win by one point to claim the national title and the big winner’s prize of a Stern WWE Wrestlemania Pro pinball machine. It just goes to show how close the competition is among the top tier pinball wizards. Congratulations Johnny, a very well-deserved win!

The crowd gathers to watch the pinball wizards do what they do best
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Let the flipping begin!
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Marty Robbins keeping a close eye on the competition
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Greg Siegele scores an impressive 126,523,740 on WWE Wrestlemania!
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And the 2015 Australian Timezone Supanova Pinball Champion is – Johnny Crabtree!
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Enjoying their spoils – winners are grinners!
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image source: Australian Pinball League

Congratulations and thank you to the organisers, volunteers and sponsors (AMD, Timezone Australia, Supanova Pop Culture Expo and Australian Pinball League) of the event – without them, this would not be at all possible.

Roll on 2016 and keep flippin’!

 

The Twelve Gifts Of Christmas

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Xmas_Gifts_HDR“On the First day of Christmas my true love sent to me”, No, no, no! There will be no ‘The Twelve Days Of Christmas’ singing here, thank you. With Christmas just around the corner, we thought we would ease the gift buying burden by giving you ‘The Twelve Gift Ideas For Christmas’ to help you get something special for your really cool geeky / nerdy partner.

Forget about going out to the local shopping centre and battling for a car park only to get frustrated when you can’t find anything suitable. We are here to make this Christmas shopping period a pleasant experience from the comfort of your own home and one where your partner will thank you for the awesome gift (Ed: don’t you mean gifts!)!

Enough chatter, as promised, here are The Twelve Gifts of Christmas!

Star Wars: The Original Topps Trading Card Series, Volume One – Just in time for the Force Awakens!
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If they are Zelda fans, then this 2.5″ 8-Bit Link Action Figure will tickle their fancy
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But if they are a Donkey Kong kinda guy or gal, then they’ll go ape over this!
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Secure their DS / 3DS with a retro NES inspired case! 
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Sega fans rejoice! Plug and play the Sega Nano on any TV (with composite connectivity)
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There should always be a Masters Of The Universe gift under the Christmas tree
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If clothing is preferred, then nothing says cool like a C64 tee
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Bookworms partners will love this Commodore book!
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Can’t afford a real Intellivision? Then the Intellivision Flashback is the next best thing!
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Or maybe they are a ColecoVision type of gamer…
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Forget forking out thousands for an arcade machine, grab them a My-Arcade mini retro machine!
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And if you really want to spoil him or her, get them the ultimate handheld emulation system, the GPD XD
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image source: supplied