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Stern Pinball Announces New Star Wars™ Comic Art Pin™ Affordable Pinball Machine for the Home

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News provided by: Stern Pinball, Inc.

Stern Pinball announced today the availability of the Star Wars™ Comic Art Pin™, a new stylish, affordable, and fun pinball machine designed and engineered for the home.

Based upon the highly successful Star Wars™ Original Consumer Pin™, Stern’s new Star Wars™ Comic Art Pin™ celebrates the iconic comic artwork from the Star Wars galaxy.  Star Wars™ Comic Art Pin™ immerses players in the dynamic Star Wars™ universe.  The Pin™ is packed with features that provide players with an irresistible game experience including select speech and footage from the original Star Wars™ trilogy, color-changing playfield inserts, a custom sculpted Death Star, and a custom sculpted and interactive TIE fighter. 

Star Wars™ Comic Art Pin™ pinball machines feature the artwork of famed comic artist, Randy Martinez. Randy has been illustrating for over 30 years receiving countless accolades for his work.  Randy has been creating cartoons, caricatures, illustrations, paintings, and 3D art for Lucasfilm since 1999.

The easy-to-setup Star Wars™Comic Art Pin™ is reliable, built to last, and engineered with genuine Stern commercial-quality parts.  The playfield is housed in a stylish cabinet with dynamic, high definition artwork.  The all-LED playfield lighting provides optimal colour and brilliant light shows. 

“The Star Wars™ Comic Art Pin™ is designed to provide quality family entertainment and bring pinball fun to homes everywhere,” said Gary Stern, Chairman, and CEO of Stern Pinball, Inc. “We are pleased to bring these pinball machines celebrating the Star Wars™ galaxy and adventures to our fans with beautiful new comic artwork.” 

Complementing the immersive theme and exciting gameplay experience, Stern Pinball’s powerful SPIKE™ electronics hardware system enables high-definition graphics and innovative animations.  SPIKE™ reduces system complexity and energy usage, resulting in enhanced reliability and simplified servicing. 

Pricing and Availability: 

  • Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (“MSRP”)*: $US 4,499 / $AU 6,950^^

*MSRP for sales to USA end-users, before any VAT, GST, Sales Tax, Duties, or other taxes.
^^Available in February 2021 in Australia. Contact the Australian distributor for more details. 

Visit the official Star Wars™ Comic Art Pin™ game page for more details!

 

We Love Our 35th Anniversary Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros.

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It took a while for our 35th anniversary Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. to arrive, but we are so glad that it did!

Nintendo sure knows how to tug at our nostalgic strings, as we pre-ordered this as soon as it was revealed in early September. We recall how excited we were at the time and couldn’t wait for November 13th to come around! Well, November 13th come and went, with the dreaded postage notification advising us that good ole Aussie Post would deliver our Game & Watch (G&W) some time between Nov 16 – Nov 19, which was like a pixel dagger thrown right into our 8-bit heart. As it turned out (and luckily for us), Aussie Post took the median value and delivered this precious cargo today (November 17). At the time of writing, we still had a number of our friends that hadn’t received their units.

Enough with the negativity regarding pre-orders not arriving on the day of release (although, this should be fixed!), this Game & Watch has exceeded our expectations by a country mile. The see-through sleeve on the gold packaging was an indicator that this thing was going to be special. Upon opening and holding the G&W, it was like being in the playground at primary school, being wowed by this little contraption made by Nintendo and showing it off to our friends. The look, the feel – including the D-pad and buttons, has been nailed by Nintendo. We didn’t need any LR-44 cell batteries to power this unit, so that was a plus. The only niggle we had, this new G&W did not come with the little tuck-in stand that the old school ones have. But like we said, it’s a very very small niggle. Of course we compared it to a number of our original Game & Watch units, including its namesake, and we can say, this new one fits right in!

The only wish we have at this stage is for people interested in this 35th anniversary G&W game (that missed out on the pre-order) get an opportunity to get one, at a non-scalped price! Oh yeah, we also wish for a Donkey Kong Multi-Screen G&W next, with the original Donkey Kong and perhaps Donkey Kong Country – surely that’s not too much to ask for!

 

Commodore PX-64 – Reboot Concept

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There are concepts out there, either on paper or physical form that make us go WOW. Turkish Technical Designer extraordinaire, Cem Tezcan always knows how to make us go WOW with his exquisitely detailed concepts.

Cem’s latest fan concept is the Commodore PX-64, based on the portable Commodore SX-64 Executive Computer. Cem states that this concept device theoretically belongs in Commodore’s 1993-94 era, as one last reboot of the iconic 8-bit computer, the Commodore 64.

As mentioned, the style used here is based on the SX-64 metallic – turquoise colouring. However, Cem also created a version in the classic Commodore beige colours too. These concept models are about as close to real life we would ever get – and boy, do they look so real (and gobsmackingly lovely!). Using CAD modelling and PBR texturing, Cem Tezcan’s PX-64 creation is a love-letter for the Commodore community that still enjoys and loves these computers (like us!) till this day.

For now, just sit back and feast your eyes on these beauties!

PS: For more photos of Cem Tezcan’s concept creations, please visit here.
PPS: If you want to drool over Cem’s other Commodore 64 concept, the HX-64, check it out here.

image source: Cem Tezcan via ArtStation

 

Retro Inspired Covers of Modern Sega Games

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Just in case you have been visiting Mars and just came back to this planet, SEGA is celebrating their 60th Anniversary this year.

Amongst their celebrations, they have designed a heap of retro inspired alternate covers of modern Sega games, like Alien Isolation and Persona 4 on the Genesis / Mega Drive, Puyo Puyo Tetris on the Dreamcast, Valkyria Chronicles on Sega Saturn, Yakuza 0 on Game Gear, and many many more.

Check out the rest of the cool retro inspired alternate Sega game covers here.

image source: Sega 60th Anniversary

 

The World’s Largest Playable Game & Watch Octopus Is For Sale!

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This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to own the Guinness World Records’ largest playable Game & Watch device!

Back in 2018 we told you all about Dr. Tom Tilley’s massive Game & Watch Octopus creation which absolutely blew our minds! Well guess what, now is your chance to own this unique creation and be the talk (and envy) of the town.

If you are interested in this MEGA Game & Watch, head on over to Tom’s for sale page to get more details about the sale and to register your interest.


source: WithProfessorTom

 

Our Favourite Nintendo Game That We Still Play Today

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Asking a gamer to nominate their favourite Nintendo game is like asking a parent to pick their favourite child. Well, guess what, we are going to do the unthinkable!

But before we crown our favourite, let us tell you about the top 3 contenders (that we still love playing till this day!):

First contender, Wave Race 64 (N64) – yes, we did pick Wave Race 64 above Super Mario 64, Mario Kart 64 and Goldeneye 007. Don’t get us wrong, the aforementioned games are superb, but nostalgia draws us to Wave Race 64. What wasn’t there to like – realistic water physics, challenging courses and an absolutely cracking 2 player challenge – ‘Bonsai!’. We lost a lot of hours playing this game head to head. Oh yeah, the N64 controller was perfect for this game.

The second contender is none other than Super Mario Bros. (SMB) on the NES. This 2D platformer catapulted the Mario franchise into the stratosphere for good reason. The game had great level design, matched by awesome gameplay, a mesmerising Koji Kondo tune and most importantly, intuitive control – what more could you want!

Well, if it wasn’t for the next game, I guess the choice would have been easy and SMB would have walked away with the prize. Let us tell you about a 16-bit platformer that took the SMB ingredients, gave them a fair shake and then poured the contents into the SNES for a game we call (drum roll please), Super Mario World (SMW)! With SMW, the 2D platformer reached its pinnacle – sublime level design, 16-bit aesthetics that were an absolute feast for your eyes and the sound was perfectly atmospheric. This was a game that you could lose yourself in. SMW is one of those games you can either pick up and play for half an hour to get your Mario fix, or play till the wee hours of the morning. SMW walks away with the prize of our favourite Nintendo game of all time. Thank you Mr. Miyamoto for creating the definitive 2D platformer.

Phew, that was hard!

 

Commodore PET Programs To Run In Your Browser

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If you have aged like a fine wine, you’ll remember Commodore’s PET (Personal Electronic Transactor) line of home/personal computers produced in 1977 by Commodore International.

For those of you longing for some Commodore PET computer action, here’s 340 (at the time of publication) Commodore PET programs that you can run in your browser!

 

Williams Electronics: Classic Arcade Games Promo Videos

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Tony Temple needs no introduction for anyone that is into the classic arcade video games scene. Tony’s The Arcade Blogger site is a treasure-trove of arcade’s past, including finds like arcade coin-op promotional videos from long gone heavyweights of the arcade industry.

Tony’s latest feature looks at the promotional videos Williams Electronics used to tempt their distributors and operators with their then latest and greatest offerings, from Defender and Joust, to Robotron, Sinistar and beyond. Grab some pop-corn and check out the promo vids – BE WARNED, some are cheesier than others 😉

Defender promo video

Robotron:2084 promo video

Sinistar promo video

To check out the rest of the Williams Electronics promotional videos, head on over to The Arcade Blogger now!

 

[YouTube video source: duncanfbrown and Mylstar Electronics]

 

The Mandalorian Virtual Pinball is coming to Pinball FX3 – We have spoken!

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You guys know that we are huge STAR WARS fans yeah? And we hope you know by now that we are also massive PINBALL fans, be it the real or virtual kind.

With the news that Zen Studios’ Pinball FX3 will add The Mandalorian pinball machine to the platform is darn awesome news! The Mandalorian will be their 20th Star Wars themed pinball machine, featuring story-based missions following events of the first season from the hit Disney+ series.

Before you ask (or if you’ve already seen the above pic), of course cute baby Yoda will be featured! Now roll on Spring (aka: Autumn for us!) 2021!

As the great Kuiil said, “I have spoken”!


source: Zen Studios

 

Most Sold Video Games from 1989 to 2019

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We are suckers for these time lapse based graphs. Press play an be in awe as you see your favourite video games rising in the top 10 and then falling before the winner takes it all!

A word of warning, it becomes quite grim for us retro gamers once the 2010 decade hits!


source: Gamology – The Best of Gaming