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The Worst DOOM Copycat

January 15, 2021 By ausretrogamer

By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.

There were a lot of “Doom” copycats after the game’s enormous success; “Bloodwings: Pumpkinhead’s Revenge” is probably the most unusual rip-off. There are moments while playing it where I’m not sure what my objective is or if there even is an objective.

Clips from the “Pumpkinhead” sequel are spliced into the game. The movie is bad, so the clips are jarring and clunky. The movie might be slightly better than the game, but neither are worth a second glance in a bargain bin at a store. The game doesn’t seem to have any purpose than to collect “Tantanik Crystals” that allow you to play the movie and then the player can grab items from the clips. Sound exciting? It’s not. The first-person view is like seeing through the Predator’s eyes, the visuals are so murky and dark red.

Doom Clonesource: old-games.com

The game is as twisted as the terrible film. “Bloodwings” doesn’t make a lot of sense and it’s hard to follow, like so many cheap horror films. I enjoyed the first “Pumpkinhead” film, which was released in 1988. The first film, starring Lance Henriksen, is predictable at times and the plot is rather basic. Stan Winston directed “Pumpkinhead”; I always thought the evil creature in Winston’s film looked like the “Alien” franchise Xenomorph. Winston did win an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for James Cameron’s masterpiece “Aliens” two years before he directed “Pumpkinhead.”

The “Pumpkinhead” film is corny, but it’s a fun, watchable corny. Henriksen slightly overacts when he is connected to the killer beast, but he makes it as believable as possible. Henriksen is one of those actors that you believe in every role. He brings a dramatic weight to “Pumpkinhead.” He’s a big reason why I liked Winston’s movie. The film has a great first act that pulls you in. There is nothing about the sequel or the “Bloodwings” game that is engaging.

 

Filed Under: Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Adrian Carmack, Bloodwings: Pumpkinhead's Revenge, David Cutler, DC Cutler, Doom, DOOM wad, id software, John Carmack, John Romero, Kevin Cloud, Old School, PC gaming, Pumpkinhead, Quake, retrogaming, Tom Hall, Video Games, ZeniMax Media

Stern Pinball Showcasing Led Zeppelin Game at ShowStoppers CES 2021

January 14, 2021 By ausretrogamer

If you are in Australia and are not a night owl, you may have missed Stern Pinball’s live virtual press conference (Ed: it was at 3am local time), showcasing their new Led Zeppelin pinball machine at ShowStoppers @ CES 2021.

Luckily for you, there is now a video on-demand from all of the virtual conferences from January 12 (US time), including the Stern Pinball showcase!

So, kick back and enjoy! Oh yeah, if you would like to skip straight to the Stern Pinball presentation, just go to 37:55.

PS: Jack Danger (aka: DeadFlip) rocks!!

ShowStoppers Press Conference – 12-Jan-2021 11 AM Eastern from Event Resources on Vimeo.

Filed Under: Pinball Tagged With: CES, CES 2021, Dead Flip, DeadFlip, Jack Danger, Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin pinball, pinball, Pinball Press, pinball wizard, pinballpress, press conference, Showstoppers, Stern, Stern Pinball, Stern Pinball Led Zeppelin

Castlevania: The Complete History

January 12, 2021 By ausretrogamer

We are huge fans of Daniel Ibbertson’s (aka: Slope’s Game Room) history vids, just like his recent full-length documentary based on the history of one of the biggest game franchises of all time, CASTLEVANIA.

The Castlevania games series is one of the most expensive and well-loved retro gaming collections ever released. In this doco, Daniel not only talks about its history, but also showcases some of the rarest games in the series.

So chuck your headphones on, put your feet up and immerse yourself all things Castlevania.


source: Slope’s Game Room

Filed Under: History, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Castlevania, Castlevania the complete history, Classic Games, Daniel Ibbertson, gaming history, Konami, old school gaming, Retro, Retro Game, Retro Gamer, Retro Gaming, retrogame, retrogaming, Slope's Game Room, Video Games

The Mystery of the Lego Game Boy Advance SP

January 11, 2021 By ausretrogamer

image source: Sleepy Ursaring

When our Twitter friend, Brad, informed us of a mysterious find in our hometown of Melbourne, we thought we’d let you all know!

The mysterious find by YouTuber, Sleepy Ursaring, is a huge 10 kilogram Lego Game Boy Advance SP replica that looks absolutely awesome with a level of detail that is simply amazing. Could it be a retail store display or was it made for a Lego Ideas project? Who knows? All we know is that the inscription on the back of the replica states that it was ‘Made in Windsor’ by ‘KT+IW ’04’.

We wish we had the answer, but we don’t! We had a chat with Sleep Ursaring on Twitter, and were advised that this find was part of a retro gaming haul, with all contents at the property up for the taking – now that is darn awesome! If anyone knows more about this Lego Game Boy Advance SP creation, please hit us up via Twitter or Facebook (or email, if you are that way inclined).


source: Sleep Ursaring

Filed Under: Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Advance SP, GBA, GBA SP, Lego, Lego Game Boy Advance SP, Lego GBA SP, Nintendo Australia, Nintendo Game Boy, oldschool, Retro Gaming, retrogaming

Things Are Afoot At The Ausretrogamer Fun Factory in 2021

January 5, 2021 By ausretrogamer

With having a lot of time at home in 2020, we had been thinking about changing things up in the Ausretrogamer Fun Factory!

Things are afoot with designing the new space, which will see new additions, things being moved around and unfortunately, stuff that will go to a new home. We are quite excited with the next chapter of our games room, so we’ll be sure to share our journey throughout 2021 of the new and improved Ausretrogamer Fun Factory.

For now, you can have a read how the Ausretrogamer Fun Factory has evolved over the years.

Taking one last look at the current Ausretrogamer Fun Factory (click to enlarge)

 

Filed Under: Announcements, Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Amiga, ausretrogamer fun factory, ausretrogamer games room, ausretrogamer pinball, Bally Astrocade, C64, classic gaming, Commodore CDTV, Dreamcast kiosk, Fun Factory, Games Room, Mega Drive, N64, Neo Geo, Neo Geo MVS, NES, oldschool, Retro Gamer, retrogaming, SNES, tbt, throwback, Vintage

Happy Holidays and All The Very Best for 2021

December 24, 2020 By ausretrogamer

Wow, it has been a year that most of us would probably rather forget. Here’s hoping that 2021 is a better, safer and healthier year for everyone!

From the ausretrogamer team, we wish you all an awesome Festive Season, which we hope is filled with fun, laughter and lots of gaming, be it video games, pinball, boardgames or otherwise!

Be merry and we’ll see you all in 2021!

 

Filed Under: Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Arcade, arcade xmas, Christmas, Dreamcast, Dreamcast Xmas Tree, Happy New Year, Kirby Xmas Tree, pinball, Pinball Christmas, pinball xmas, Retro Gaming, Retro Gaming Xmas, retrogaming, retrogaming xmas, Santa, Santa Pinball, Star Wars, Wishing You All An Awesome Xmas, Xmas

The New Yorker Interview with Shigeru Miyamoto

December 22, 2020 By ausretrogamer

Simon Parkin’s The New Yorker interview with Nintendo’s legendary Shigeru Miyamoto is an interesting, insightful and wide-ranging, reflective conversation. Seldom do we hear or read anything so candid or beyond Shigeru’s amazing creations in his four decade long career with the Big N.

So kick back and read Simon’s refreshing interview with Miyamoto-san, as he speaks openly about his video games design philosophy, being the boss, guns in video games, his kids love of Sega (Ed: what?!) and the new Super Nintendo World theme park at Universal Studios in Japan.

image source: The New Yorker

 

Filed Under: Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Link, nintendo, Retro, Retro Gaming, Retrogamer, retrogaming, Shigeru Miyamoto, Shigeru Miyamoto interview, Simon Parkin, SNES, super mario, Super Mario Bros, Super Nintendo World, The New Yorker, Zelda

Mini Star Wars Arcade Cab – The Force Is Strong With This One

December 21, 2020 By ausretrogamer

Stop the press! What the heck is this dark side of the force creation? We LOVE it!

This mini arcade based on Atari’s seminal Star Wars arcade game was faithfully recreated by Astrodob, using a Raspberry Pi and MAME. Well Astrodob, where do we send our Jedi Bank cheque to?


source: Astrodob

 

Filed Under: Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Arcade, Astrodob, Atari Star Wars, awesome creation, diy, homebrew, Mini Atari Star Wars arcade, Mini Star Wars Arcade, Mini Star Wars Arcade Cab, oldschool, Retro, Retro Gamer, Retro Gaming, Star Wars Arcade, tbt, throwback

The Star Wars Lego Christmas Special

December 17, 2020 By ausretrogamer

Now this is the kind of Star Wars Christmas Special we can get behind and actually enjoy – no cheesiness added 😉

Here are some of our favourites from the ‘Celebrate the holidays in a galaxy far far away‘ Lego Ideas contest – there’s heaps more if you click on the link.

May the X-mas Force be with you!

source: Lego Ideas – Celebrate the Holidays in a Galaxy Far Far Away

 

Filed Under: Retro Gaming Culture Tagged With: Arcade, arcade xmas, Christmas, darth vader, Dreamcast Xmas Tree, Happy New Year, Kirby Xmas Tree, Lego, LEGO Ideas, Lego Star Wars, pinball, Pinball Christmas, pinball xmas, Retro Gaming, Retro Gaming Xmas, retrogaming, retrogaming xmas, Santa, Santa Pinball, Star Wars, Star Wars Lego, TIE Fighter, Wishing You All An Awesome Xmas, Xmas, Xwing

Stern Pinball Rock and Rolls in 2020 with Led Zeppelin Pinball!

December 16, 2020 By ausretrogamer

If there is one certainty in the world of pinball, it’s that Stern Pinball keeps producing pinball machines like clockwork, year in, year out. Even with the kind of year we have had, Stern Pinball forges ahead with their releases so that the pinball playing public can enjoy the latest and greatest silverball titles!

The latest pinball machine from Stern is Led Zeppelin, which now joins the illustrious stable of music themed pins from Stern, like Aerosmith, Kiss, The Beatles and Metallica to name just a few. As it is quite apparent, rock & roll and pinball go together hand in hand – it is a perfect fit!

Stern says that in this high energy rock and roll pinball concert experience, players will be transported back to Led Zeppelin’s early days and tour the world from 1968-1980. Pinball and music fuse together, changing features with the start of each verse in ten iconic Led Zeppelin songs including:

· Good Times Bad Times
· Whole Lotta Love
· The Song Remains the Same
· Rock and Roll
· Trampled Underfoot
· Ramble On
· Kashmir
· Immigrant Song
· Black Dog
· Communication Breakdown

The Pro, Premium, and Limited Edition models all feature a custom-molded Hindenburg Zeppelin toy based on the iconic imagery from the Led Zeppelin I album artwork. When lit, the Hindenburg Zeppelin toy scores speed locks on the player’s musical journey to Zeppelin multiball. A custom Swan Song Records trademark Icarus sculpted leaper toy magically takes flight when smashed by a chaotic pinball in addition to 3 custom steel ramps, a 3-bank of drop targets, and 3 full size flippers that keep the pinball action rolling.

The three Led Zeppelin models – Pro, Premium and Limited Edition (LE)

The Premium and Limited Edition (LE) models feature an innovative interactive toy called the Electric Magic device. The Electric Magic device is a unique motorized toy that syncs with the pinball action, rising from below the playfield to create different magical pinball experiences. An optical spinner charges the Electric Magic Magnet, capturing and making balls disappear. The Electric Magic device can also convert into a physical pinball bash toy capable of locking a ball or launching a ball up and down the playfield. In true pinball rock concert fashion, an expression lighting system with 96 intelligent RGB LEDs enables the full colour spectrum control. Positioned to provide colour themed full playfield illumination, this integrated playfield lighting system synchronizes custom light shows specifically designed for every song. As an encore, these models have an additional custom metal Hot Shot reversing combo ramp, allowing players to keep the hits coming with constant adrenalized pinball action.

The LE model is limited to 500 units globally. The limited version includes an exclusive Icarus themed full colour mirrored backglass, exclusive custom themed cabinet artwork, custom high gloss Paradise Shimmer Blue powder-coated armour, a custom autographed bottom arch, exclusive custom art blades, upgraded audio system, anti-reflection pinball glass, a shaker motor, and a sequentially numbered plaque.

Pricing (inc. GST) and Availability:

  • Pro Model: $AU 9,450
  • Premium Model: $AU 12,250
  • Limited Edition Model: $AU 14,500

Led Zeppelin pinball machines are available through authorised Stern Pinball distributors and dealers around the world. For Australian LZ fans wanting this pinball machine, get in touch with Amusement Machine Distributors (NSW) or Zax Amusements (Vic) right now!

Led Zeppelin – PRO

Led Zeppelin – PREMIUM

Led Zeppelin – LIMITED EDITION

image source: Stern Pinball Inc.

 

Filed Under: Announcements, Pinball Tagged With: 333399, Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin pinball, music themed pinball, pinball, Pinball Life, Pinball Press, pinball rock, pinballpress, rock pinball, Stern, Stern Led Zeppelin, Stern Pinball, Stern Pinball Inc, Stern Pinball Inc. Led Zeppelin, Stern Pinball Led Zeppelin, Steve Ritchie, Tim Sexton

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