The Pop-Culture E-Zine
Who doesn’t love a 10 minute promo video for a (then) new pinball machine!
Check out Bally-Midway’s promotional video for their 1993 smash hit pinball machine, Judge Dredd. The machine was based on the comic series ‘2000 AD’, not the 1995 movie starring Sylvester Stallone.
With a rotating planet and rings, magnetic robotic arm and diamond plate playfield, this ‘SuperPin’ was darn awesome in its day (and still is)!
source: JoBlo Horror Trailers
We know this is OLD news, but who doesn’t like seeing this again?
Back in late 2018, the National Videogame Museum (NVM) in Texas (USA) tracked down the much rumoured Mini Vectrex VideoSystem. Once it was found that this was a working system, the NVM secured it as part of their Vectrex archive, ensuring all could see this lost treasure on display!
GCE designed and developed the Mini Vectrex just after being purchased by Milton Bradley in 1983. The mini system was to offer a slim alternative, much like contemporary mini console revisions of video games systems from the past. Now imagine if this actually made it to retail stores……….
We definitely could never get sick of watching the Mini Vectrex in action!
source: National Videogame Museum
When we got the email from Rob McCallum about a new MOTU related doco, we sat up and took note. We had previously backed the Power Of Grayskull documentary, which was darn awesome. So when Rob’s email advised us of the new Faking Filmation Kickstarter, we knew we had to jump on it right away!
The Faking Filmation documentary delves in the history of cartoons, with lots of attention to Filmation – the pioneering animation studio that helped start ‘Saturday Morning Cartoons’ and revolutionised weekday afternoon cartoons with He-Man and She-Ra.
But wait, there is more! This new project tackles all that cartoon goodness and wraps it around the story of He-Man mega fan, James Eatock, who has spent the last 3.5 years crafting his own unofficial He-Man cartoon called, “The Return of Faker.” James was just about to release the unofficial cartoon when he was hit with a cease and desist letter preventing him from doing it. Now, he’s on a mission to overcome this obstacle and share it with the world – how awesome is that!
If you want more Masters of The Universe documentary content, or a look at cartoon history, or you just want to see James’ amazing work (and his process to pull it off), then jump on the Faking Filmation Kickstarter right now!
image source: Faking Filmation via Kickstarter
This is what we call fan dedication! Actually, French Nintendo collector, Fabrice Heilig is what we would call a dedicated SUPERFAN!
Not only does Fabrice have an extensive collection of all things Nintendo, he has gone the extra (massive) step to recreate Nintendo’s 19th century Kyoto office in his backyard. Fabrice has created what all collectors yearn for – extra space (to house his collection), which he has done in style and in keeping with his love of all things Nintendo.
We must say, the result is incredible! Fabrice has faithfully recreated the iconic Nintendo building, with a tasteful fit-out to match the traditional Japanese style. If he wanted to charge for visits, we’d be his first customer!
Read more about the process of recreating this amazing building (with a ton more pics!) at Before Mario. This is amazing stuff.
Let the planning begin!
Foundation done and now the framework!
Laying the traditional Japanese roof tiles!
The level of detail is unbelievable – bravo Fabrice!
Now, to re-home the massive Nintendo Collection!
The finished product – WOW!
image source: Before Mario
The good folks at Fusion Retro Books have announced that they have a number of their books and magazine PDF collections FREE of charge for a limited time!
Go and check out the freebies and download what you like. Be quick, as this won’t last much longer! Happy reading.
source: Fusion Retro Books
Don’t you just love April Fool’s day? Well, it depends, if you are at the end of an elaborate April Fool’s joke, then the answer is probably no. We have fallen for a few April Fool’s jokes over the years, so we know how that feels.
But, today is a day to reflect on some pretty cool and very clever April Fool’s jokes from some well known brands from around the world.
We wonder if anyone fell for any of these…………
First cab off the rank, it’s EB Games’ The Drip Limited Edition Apparel! Actually, they plan to release this apparel to raise money for charity, so it’s all in good fun!
The next few are food based, so don’t get your taste buds too excited peeps!
Oh gosh, we would love this Tim Tam Spread! Sorry Nutella.
source: Imgur
Introducing the Domino’s Bread – so yummy! Well at least you won’t have garlic breath 😉
source: Imgur
Um, would anyone like a Coriander Biscuit from Subway?
source: Imgur
Saving the best food based April Fool’s joke for last! Would you DARE to drink this?
source: Imgur
Ok, enough of the food based April Fool’s! Let’s see what else we found today!
Oh look, SBS is releasing 3 exciting features on their On-Demand service!
source: SBS
Introducing Jeep Chameleon, a new colourway with revolutionary nano-guanine molecular technology to blend seamlessly into the wilderness.
*If you find it, you can keep it.
One for gamers, match your PC RGB aesthetic with Razer’s Rapunzel Chroma Hair Dye—the world’s first RGB haircare product for a look that’s always lit!
source: Razer
And last but not least, our friends at Ikea Australia got creative with their new range, IKEA HUND COUTURE – Haute Couture Outfits for Dogs!
source: IKEA Australia
After clicking through the amazing images of pinball machines (below), you’ll be blown away by the drone videos by live streaming producer, Eddie Codel, of the mass of pinball machines at the Pacific Pinball Museum (PPM) Annex!
Eddie’s bird’s-eye view videos are mind boggling, as they show the sheer volume of machines the PPM house and preserve for all of us to enjoy. With the current health situation around the world, we truly hope that the Pacific Pinball Museum reopens safely in the not too distant future.
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Attention our fellow Atarians (fans of the old Atari),
The month of June is fast approaching and you all know what that means – it’s #AtariMonth!
To celebrate 49 years of Atari, we are asking you to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and get writing about your affinity for this iconic brand.
This is your opportunity to let your writing juices flow! To get you started, check out Matt Lacey’s Atari story from the last time we ran #AtariMonth for Atari’s 42nd anniversary.
Once you are satisfied with your written masterpiece, just submit it to us here. The most entertaining submissions will be immortalised on ausretrogamer.com!
There is no word limit, so go for your life (just keep it clean)! Article submissions are opened from now till June 25 2021. That means you have (almost) 3 months for your submission, so get cracking you awesome Atarians!
First impressions of games is always difficult. There is the initial excitement phase of playing something new and the more obvious one, you just need more time to play the new game to fully experience it’s features (and shortcomings) before you can be in any position to pen some sort of subjective review.
Well, lucky for us, our first impression of playing SNK’s NeoGeo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 1 (NGPCS Vol.1) on the Switch is an overall positive one! To set the scene, we particularly played the two NeoGeo Pocket Color games, Metal Slug 1st Mission and Metal Slug 2nd Mission on both the real hardware and via the NGPCS Vol.1 on the Nintendo Switch.
Playing the Metal Slug games on the original hardware is great, especially using the clicky control stick on the NeoGeo Pocket Color handheld. However, playing it for any length of time without the unit being backlit is a chore on your eyes. The same games on the Switch retain their original blasting charm, beefed up with a plethora of additional features, modes and ways to play and of course, the Switch screen is just so easy on the eyes. The Switch is suitable for these kinds of games, especially in handheld mode, but it’s flexibility in the way you play just makes this very compelling.
Our first impressions of the Metal Slug 1st and 2nd Missions on the NeoGeo Pocket Color Selection Vol. 1 are very positive. You could go and look for a NeoGeo Pocket Color system and then hunt the the Metal Slug carts online, or you can save yourself the time and lots of $$ by grabbing this for your Switch!
image source: SNK Corporation
It is awesome to see that The Strong (National Museum of Play) has a Women in Games Initiative and their International Center for the History of Electronic Games creating brilliant history exhibits, like A Brief History of Women in Gaming.
You can check out A Brief History of Women in Gaming: The 1980s on Google’s Arts and Culture forum, which showcases a plethora of amazing and talented women in the gaming industry, from the assembly line to the marketing department, this exhibit highlights how women have shaped the games industry through hard work, creative coding, artistic imagination, and business savvy. This exhibit tells this vital but underappreciated part of history!
source: Arts and Culture – Google
From Carol Shaw at Atari and then Activision, creating her best-selling game River Raid, Hope Neiman leading the Vectrex home game console manufacturer General Consumer Electronics’ marketing efforts in the early 1980s, to Gail Tilden creating and editing everyone’s seminal favourite magazine, Nintendo Power, this exhibit is brimming with amazing and talented women in gaming.
Check it out right now!