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The Thrill Of The Chase: MegaZone and Double Dragon

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Sometimes it is the little things that have the greatest value. I don’t mean monetary, but sentimental value.

The MegaZone magazine was Australia’s attempt to emulate the big gaming publications from the UK. Since it was Australia’s first multi-format video gaming system publication, it holds a very dear place in my heart. I remember being excited and quite proud of knowing that this was home made. Pity I turfed issue one back in the day as it is worth a kidney nowadays. Damn you hindsight!

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Am I a Double Dragon fan? If you have known me for longer than five minutes, you would know the answer. If I find anything remotely connected to Double Dragon, I give it some serious consideration. When these Tyco action figures of Jimmy Lee (Ed: why is he blonde?) and a few of the Black Warrior henchmen were found for a few dollars, I knew I had to snap them up. Now, I am off to find Billy (not Bimmy!) Lee.

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BNIB: Brand New In Box

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As a retro gamer, or more precisely, as a collector, do you struggle to open those vintage items you have hunted down that are brand new and shrink-wrapped as if they had left the factory yesterday and not years or decades ago?

I have that dilemma right now. Being a gamer first and foremost, I cannot deny myself the pleasure of playing a classic game, even if it means I have to rip it out of its brand-new-never-seen-the-light-of-day box.

You may be asking, did it hurt to bust open the packaging? On the contrary, it was refreshing to know that I was the first to open these packages that had been considered new since the 1990s. Actually, S.T.U.N. Runner was released in 1991, so I guess that makes it a 22 year old brand new game! Who keeps these items  for that long and never open them? Obviously I would make a mediocre collector. Game on and enjoy!

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Activision Action Figures

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Imagine a time before social media. I shudder at the thought. If you are asking yourself why, it will become evident in a second.

During a conversation with my retro gaming friend from Wales, Dan Bridge, he brought to my attention some exceptionally cool custom made Atari-era Activision action figures. It would be a gross understatement to say that I was excited by Dan passing on the information. That is the power of social media.

I was so beside myself with these action figures, I was trying to devise a way to convince the creator, Dan Polydoris (aka: Chicago Toy Collector) to mass produce his masterful work (legalities aside) and sell it to us video game and action figure lovers. What do you say Dan?

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source: Chicago Toy Collector
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source: Chicago Toy Collector
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source: Chicago Toy Collector
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source: Chicago Toy Collector
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source: Chicago Toy Collector

This is not the first time Dan Polydoris has created custom action figures based on video games. This toy-making wiz also produced these awesome Mega Man and Super Mario action figures. You should stop drooling now!

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source: Dan Polydoris
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source: Dan Polydoris
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source: Dan Polydoris

What do you think of these custom made action figures? Which one is your favourite? Would you like to seem them available? Let us know.

 

Deconstructed: Video Game Controllers

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Ever wanted to perform an autopsy on your precious retro gaming controllers? With the precision of a surgeon, Brandon Allen’s Deconstructed artwork series does exactly that –  dissecting our favourite controllers to view what is inside of them. By the look of it, not much, but hey, they still did the trick.

If you like any of these photographs, head over to the Ballen Photography Print Shop and place your order. These are awesome and unique video gaming related artworks.

WARNING: Do not perform this on your working classic controllers!

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The Atari VCS/2600 joytsick
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NES controller
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Mega Drive / Genesis controller
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SNES controller
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N64 controller
Joy_DC
Dreamcast controller

All images sourced from: Brandon Allen – Ballen Photography

 

A Tale Of Wrestling In Video Games

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Wrestling is quite popular around the world. Is it a sport or is it theatre? Whatever the case may be, it was a match made in heaven when wrestling made it to the video games realm. How much fun was it when you pulled off a suplex on your unsuspecting friend and then having them down for the count? Ah wrestling, pure unadulterated entertainment.

Being a wrestling and video games fan, the Wrestling With Pixels: The World Tour Of Wrestling Games kickstarter campaign caught my eye. I knew I had to scratch the surface on this one.

Wrestling With Pixels: The World Tour of Wrestling Games (by Botched Productions), is a book and DVD project detailing the entire history of wrestling video games development in the US and Japan. It will feature interviews with wrestlers and game developers alike. What more could you ask for?

If you would like to know more about this great project, head on over to the Kickstarter campaign this instant!


source: Botched Productions

Review: Arcadie

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It is quite exciting receiving goodies in the mail. This time around, we received the cool looking Arcadie. On first impressions, the unit stands out – I love anything that looks like an arcade machine. Upon closer inspection, the packaging doesn’t give away too many details, just minimal information on the compatibility and the website of the manufacturer for more detailed specifications. I guess with finite real estate on packaging, you have to grab potential customers’ attention with colouring and buzz words.

Build Quality

The Arcadie feels quite sturdy and takes a bit of punishment. The joystick is nice and tight and centres itself, while the buttons have a nice click when depressed – no hint of sponginess. Can it withstand years of punishment? Well, having had the unit for a few weeks, that is difficult to determine. Only time will tell. Unless you wrench the stick and abuse the buttons beyond their normal use, then there should be no reason for the unit to breakdown any time soon. When playing games, we did find that we had to tilt the unit away from us so that we could get a better viewing angle of the screen.

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Arcadie Alien Invaders is a beefed up Space Invaders clone that plays quite well.

Compatibility & Games

Straight off the bat, the Arcadie is compatible with Apple’s iPod and iPhone devices up to and including the iPhone 4S and iPod Touch (3rd and 4th Generation). Unfortunately, if you have an iPhone 5 or above, you miss out. Not only is the Arcadie hampered by limited hardware compatibility, it is also limited to proprietary software. The good news is, Zeon are releasing games exclusive for the unit and the best bit is, they are totally free (via iTunes App store). Let’s hope they keep on releasing more games for the Arcadie, as it needs them. Before you ask, the games that are available are beefed up clones of well known retro classics like: arcadie Blasteroids (Asteroids), arcadie Alien Invaders (Space Invaders), arcade Ping (Pong), arcadie Tanks and arcadie Hop Along (Frogger) . The games are quite fun to play, but not for too long. The novelty of playing on an arcade stylised cabinet is still quite cool. If only the Arcadie was compatible with other retro released games on iTunes. It’s a case of, what might have been.

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Pop open the rear, insert your device, close rear and you are set to play!

Verdict

For the price of the Arcadie (sub $25 AUD for the blue unit), it is worth having it as a cool item – either to show off on your shelf or act as a stand for your iPhone or iPod. Will you use it to play games or will the novelty factor wear off? These are valid questions that can only be answered on an individual basis. I do get caught up in the nostalgia that certain items provide and I can safely say that the Arcadie certainly does this, albeit in a limited fashion. If you have an iPhone 4S or an iPod Touch, this is well worth a look.

 

Play It Again: Remembering 1980’s Gaming

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Did you know this game was developed in Australia? If not, now you do!
source: Play It Again

We should be proud of our heritage. As an Australian, I am truly proud of our video gaming pedigree. From well known development and publishing houses like Beam Software, Melbourne House and Armchair Entertainment just to name a few, to well known and much loved games like Way Of The Exploding Fist and Hungry Horace. Pioneers like Alfred Milgrom should be lauded, as he put Australia on the map when it came to video games development. Luckily for us, there is now the Play It Again project.

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I broke many a joysticks raising and lowering my yacht’s spinnaker on this game.
source: Play It Again

Play It Again is a game history and preservation project focusing on locally (Australian and New Zealand) created digital games from the 1980s. The site aims to collect documentation in order to remember early games through popular memory. The project is a collaboration between researchers at several universities in Australia and New Zealand, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, the New Zealand Film Archive and the Berlin Computerspiele Museum.

The Popular Memory Archive aims to showcase some of the significant local games of the 1980s.  It features information on a curated selection of 50 games. In November, the Popular Memory Archive is focusing on Australia’s Videogame Pioneers, looking at the stories of some of Australia’s earliest game designers – how they got started, how they went about inventing an industry and making the games they created.

You can contribute as well by sharing your memories of playing games that were created in Australia and New Zealand. What are you waiting for, go and document your own piece of gaming history.

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