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This Is The Way: Microsoft & Lucasfilm Launch ‘The Mandalorian’ themed Xbox Gaming Gear

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This Is The Way

Celebrating the start of The Mandalorian season 3 on Disney+, Microsoft/Xbox and Lucasfilm have teamed up to launch ‘The Mandalorian’-themed gaming gear, including cool Xbox Series X|S Mando livery!

The third season of The Mandalorian follows Grogu as he reunites with Din Djarin, so what better way to celebrate this much-loved Star Wars series than to have a colour-coordinated controller, a hoodie and best of all, a human-sized armoured floating pram (Pram XL), which doesn’t really float, but would still be cool to win.

The comp/sweepstajes for The Mando-themed Xbox Series X|S is open to everyone on the planet, with the only entry requirement being a retweet of this tweet!

PS: For more news and how to enter the sweepstakes to win the Pram XL, head over to the Xbox News site right now.

image source: Microsoft Xbox News



Clever Geeky (and Sarcastic) T-Shirts

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Woohoo, gotta love the end of the working week (unless you work on weekends, which may or may not suck)!

Anyway, what’s better than hitting an online store to grab some very clever (and quite sarcastic & ironic geeky) t-shirts while the weather is still warm in the land Down Under?!

We trawled through heaps of pretty darn clever tees on GEEKSOUTFIT™ to select some of our favourites – what do you think?

image source: GEEKSOUTFIT™

 



Stern Pinball Inc. Unleashes FOO FIGHTERS Pinball

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DeadFlip’s Jack Danger designs his first Stern Pinball cornerstone title

Pinball and Rock & Roll go hand in hand, so when a music pinball machine is released in the wild, it usually garners a lot of interest. The world’s largest pinball manufacturer, Stern Pinball Inc., know where it’s at with their latest cornerstone title, Foo Fighter pinball!

Designed by Jack Danger of DeadFlip fame, his maiden cornerstone title looks pretty darn impressive! From the Pro to the Premium and Limited Edition (LE) models, Foo Fighters looks every bit darn awesome and fun! We can’t wait to flip this one!

Official Trailer

source: Stern Pinball

Foo Fighters first stepped onto the world stage in 1995 with their classic self-titled debut album. Over the course of their career, the band has released 10 studio albums, amassed over 32 million records sold worldwide, won 15 Grammy Awards, were recipients of the first-ever MTV “Global Icon” award, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2021. One of the biggest headliners on the global stadium, arena and festival circuits, their music will soon begin filling gamerooms and entertainment locations in pinball form.

Stern’s Foo Fighters machines bring the Foo Fighters concert experience home as players are immersed in an epic pinball adventure featuring 15 iconic songs spanning the band’s expansive catalog, including All My Life, Best of You, Breakout, Everlong, Holding Poison, I’ll Stick Around, Learn to Fly, Monkey Wrench, My Hero, Run, Something from Nothing, The Pretender, This is a Call, Times Like These, and Walk.

More than two years in the making and with creative input from the band’s own Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett, Rami Jaffee, and the late, great Taylor Hawkins, Stern’s Foo Fighters is a top-shelf pinball machine—and so much more. An entire new universe has been developed with jaw-dropping hand-drawn artwork and custom animations including “Foo Fighters Saturday Morning Action Time!”—a fictional TV series chronicling the band’s quest to save rock and roll… AND THE WORLD! Join Foo Fighters on this rescue mission to thwart the evil, mysterious alien Overlord and his army of bots. Search the Area 51 upper playfield to break into and unleash pinball chaos. Jump in the van for a righteous tour of duty to save humanity from extinction and let rock rule!

Foo Fighters pinball models

Foo Fighters pinball machines include Stern’s award-winning Insider Connected™ system, which enables players to interact with the game and a global network of players in a variety of ways. Through Insider Connected, players can track progress, earn new game-specific achievements, engage with the player community, and participate in promotions and Challenge Quests. Insider Connected also provides an operator-focused toolset to drive location play through Location Leaderboards, build player loyalty, analyze performance, make adjustments remotely, and maintain the machines.

Main Design Team:

Lead Game Designer: Jack Danger

Lead Software Engineer: Tanio Klyce

Technical Lead Artist: Zombie Yeti

Limited to 1,000 machines globally, the highly collectible Limited Edition includes the Expression Lighting System™. With 96 intelligent RGB LEDs, the Expression Lighting System enables full color spectrum control. Positioned in pockets cut into the cabinet sides to provide color themed full playfield illumination, this integrated playfield lighting system is synchronized to custom light shows specifically designed for every song and dynamically responsive to game events. The LE version also includes an exclusive Rock-Battle inspired full-color mirrored backglass, exclusive full color high definition reflective foil decal cabinet artwork, custom high gloss Overlord green powder-coated pinball armor, a custom designer-autographed bottom arch, exclusive inside art blades, upgraded audio system, anti-reflection pinball playfield glass, shaker motor, a sequentially numbered plaque, and a Certificate of Authenticity signed by Stern Chairman Gary Stern and President & CEO Seth Davis.

Pricing and availability (Australia):

  • PRO – Available end of May 2023: $11,950
  • PREMIUM – Available end of June: $15,500
  • LIMITED EDITION (1000 worldwide) – Available end of May: $20,500

For more information on Foo Fighters pinball, head to the Stern Pinball website here.

Foo Fighters LE playfield

image source: Stern Pinball



Media release supplied

STILL STANDING (2023) – A Must Watch Documentary!

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Just in case you have been living off the grid, welcome back! Now, hop to it and watch the Still Standing documentary film!

Still Standing is a journey back in time, a time when arcade and pinball were the hottest entertainment in town. Adelaide producer and cinematographer, Brad Gilbertson, has shot this beautifully, inducing the kind of nostalgia that is intoxicating for the generation of kids that experienced the arcade and pinball golden era. The emotive and amazing stories and histories will have you gripped like a Darth Vader choke-hold right till the end.

Be ready for some heart-wrenching stories
Jeff Grummel – The Pinball Dog House

Still Standing is a first of its kind Australian documentary film, peeling back the curtain on what it truly takes to create and run iconic arcades, past and present. We admit, we shed a few tears (of joy mainly), but we will not spoil it for you, so you can experience this authentic and beautiful documentary for yourself.

Why are you still reading this? Go on, watch Still Standing now, and remember, game over is not an option!

Still Standing is now streaming worldwide – more details here.

PS: We eagerly await the physical release of this wonderful documentary!

★★★★★


source: BGVC



Atari’s AKKA ARRH Is Finally Available

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Do The Math with Atari’s AKKA ARRH

I really really don’t like the crapola that the new Atari dishes out (or promoting anything with their name on it), however, there are a few exceptions! Their Atari 50 Anniversary compilation was vintage Atari, with great curated content. It now looks like we can add AKKA ARRH to this very small and illustrious list of titles from the new Atari.

AKKA ARRH is the latest game from legendary game designer Jeff Minter and Llamasoft! AKKA ARRH is a frenzied kaleidoscope of neon insanity with playful psychedelic landscapes, which is right up Minter’s alley, as he takes on one of the rarest arcade games of the 80s era and turned it into a tough blaster for all of us to enjoy now! .

Will you become the hero in this mind bending universe? AKKA ARRH is available on pretty much every platform for under AU$30.00: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Steam and the new Atari VCS!

 

image source: Atari Interactive



Mega Book Collection Digital Book Is Now FREE

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Yep, you read that right! The ‘Mega Book Collection – A Visual Guide to the Sega Mega Drive’ digital book – the Sega Mega Drive / Genesis visual opus is now totally gratis!

The author, Darren Doyle (Greyfox Books) explains the reason this book has now been released for free:

We attempted to bring this book physically to everyone back in 2021 via crowdfunding but alas we were unable to do so. So going forward, we decided rather than this amazing project to be left sitting on a hard drive gathering dust forever, we made the decision to offer it for free for everyone to enjoy and because we are very nice and generous people here at Greyfox Books and love to support the Sega retro gaming scene.

In case you were wondering, the great big SEGA put the kibosh on this book being published physically. So before they kill the digital one, grab it now! And while you are at it, please consider leaving a donation via the publisher’s PayPal account.

image source: Greyfox Books



Xeric NASA Voyager Automatic Watch – Review

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As a homage to the rich history & the farthest human-made object in space, the Xeric NASA Voyager Automatic 100ATM Diver, is a limited edition timepiece that reminds us of the value of exploration.

Ever since I could remember I’ve been fascinated by space and space travel. All I wanted to be was a NASA astronaut, but alas, that never eventuated.

My love of the cosmos hasn’t diminished over the years, if anything, it has gotten stronger, with streaming services making a myriad of astronomy based documentaries available on demand – which I consume with wild abandonment.

That unrestrained impulsiveness and enthusiasm for all things space related has now permeated other stuff I like, wristwatches! When I first gazed at the Xeric NASA Voyager Automatic watch on Kickstarter, I didn’t need much convincing to put in my pledge and snag one of only 1977 watches that pay homage to the rich history and the farthest human-made object in space, NASA’s Voyager 1 and 2, launched almost 46 years ago (in 1977). As Xeric offered (and still offers) nine variations of the NASA Voyager, all named after celestial bodies, my only problem was which one to choose?!

The lume is out of this solar system!

I must admit, I would have loved every singe variation of the watch, but alas, my lotto numbers never came up! I chose the ‘Ganymede’ NASA Voyager watch purely based on the fact that it represented the biggest moon in our solar system and that the metallic look reminded me of the Voyager vessel, complete with the awesome orange accents on the second, hour and minute hand – if you look closely, it does strike a resemblance to NASA’s interstellar traveler. Oh yeah, the NASA ‘worm’ logo on the dial and amazing lume (Super LumiNova) just top off a very robust diver’s watch. But wait, there is more! The caseback features an inlaid replica of “the Golden Record” cover which is found on the outside of the Voyager spacecraft, intended to communicate a story of our world to any intelligent life it could encounter in its journey – the detail is next level cool.

The watch is powered by the self-winding Seiko NH38 automatic movement. As you wear it, the rotor winds the mainspring, creating stored mechanical energy that powers the watch. The movement is housed in a robust stainless steel case complete with a tactile 120-click rotating bezel fit for divers. The watch may look hefty, but it honestly sit quite nice and comfortable on my 7″ wrist. Since this is a divers watch, it has a 1,000 metre depth rating, with an integrated helium escape valve built into the side casing, preventing a pressure differential that can occur during deep dives.

Caseback shot! The inlaid replica of “the Golden Record”, just like the one Voyager is carrying!

Wearing this watch is such a pleasure, thanks to the custom two-tone ribbed silicone strap – it just feels really good on the wrist without a sweat in sight. If you are clumsy, then rest assured that the 4mm thick sapphire glass (with anti-reflective coating) can withstand every day knocks.

The Xeric NASA Voyager Automatic is a special watch, not only due to its limited release (1977 pcs) but the fact that its unique design fuses and celebrates two things many of us love, space and watches. If you have the means and would like something different and something special, then I highly recommend you check out the Xeric NASA Voyager Automatic watch range.



Zen Studios’ Pinball FX now on Xbox and PlayStation

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Being in a future timezone, we in Australia had to wait a few extra hours for Zen Studios’ Pinball FX to hit Xbox and PlayStation consoles!

The latest in the FX series, Pinball FX has graduated from early access to full release at the Epic Games store, as well as making its debut on PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One! Nintendo Switch fans will have to wait a bit longer.

This is a new era of digital pinball from Zen Studios, including a day-one, ever-expanding lineup of 86 tables, plus an impressive suite of new features, the revolutionary pinball platform is inching ever closer to the real silverball game. If you love playing pinball video games, then jump on this right now and enjoy the Wild West Rampage table at no cost, and check out the trial modes for all other tables.

All returning tables from previous editions have been fully remastered in Unreal Engine, with ray-tracing-enhanced, 4K-HDR visuals, as well as upgraded Pro Physics. Not lacking plentiful fresh downloadable content, Pinball FX also introduces three brand new releases: Borderlands®: Vault Hunter Pinball, Brothers in Arms®: Win the War Pinball and The Addams Family (itself including a never-before-seen enhanced play, as with all Williams classics). At the same time, console players can get their hands on more than 15 tables for the first time that Pinball FX Early Access players enjoyed in 2022, such as Star Wars Pinball: The Mandalorian, World War Z Pinball, DreamWorks Pinball, five Zen Originals, plus Williams classics World Cup Soccer and The Machine: Bride of Pin-Bot. Zen will release new tables regularly, many involving exciting new licensed IPs – most immediately, Legendary Pictures’ Godzilla vs. Kong.

Go on, get flippin’ peeps!


source: Zen Studios



Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game – Official Trailer

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The official trailer for Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game premiered today on the leading entertainment site, IGN. Watch the trailer below now!


source: IGN

Written and directed by The Bragg Brothers (Austin and Meredith Bragg), Pinball is based on the true story of Roger Sharpe, the GQ journalist and real-life pinball wizard, who in 1976 helped overturn New York City’s 35-year ban on pinball. The film’s all-star cast is led by Mike Faist (Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story), Crystal Reed (Teen Wolf, Swamp Thing), and Dennis Boutsikaris (Better Call Saul, The Bourne Legacy).

The award-winning film will be released in select theaters and on your favorite streaming platforms, including Apple TV, iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, and Google Play, beginning March 17, 2023.

Get flippin’ 😉

[press release supplied by MPI Original Films]



Super Mario Bros. Plumbing TV Commercial – Let’s A Go!

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Got to admit it, the Super Bowl always features amazing ads, and considering the fortune they cost, they need to grab your attention immediately!

It was great to see the marketing of the Super Mario Bros movie in full swing at the Super Bowl! Not only do we have the movie coming, but there is also a plumbing website, https://www.smbplumbing.com/, complete with testimonials, careers, services offered and a phone number to call either Mario or Luigi! The cheesy ’90s smell is wafting through the internet here!

If you don’t want to watch almost 4 hours of this year’s Super Bowl to get a glimpse of the ad, here it is! WA-HOO!


source: Illumination