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Midway Gaming Box: The Perfect Christmas Gift

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We reckon we have just found our Christmas present!

If you are a retro gamer or know someone that is a retro gamer / classic arcade gamer (Midway, Atari, Bally, and Williams), then this USD$29.99 Midway Gaming Box is the perfect Xmas gift. This nifty gaming box includes a Rampage journal, Defender Teeny Tin, Joust Bumper Sticker, Defender bumper sticker, Paper Boy sheet magnet, Joust Boingler vinyl figure, and a Spy Hunter pin.

Pre-orders are now open, with the Midway Gaming Box landing in November – great timing for Christmas!

 

Introducing the RepliCade Mini Centipede Arcade Machine

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When we backed New Wave Toys‘ RepliCade: Mini Centipede Arcade Machine Kickstarter, we only imagined how good it would be. Well, we have received our limited edition RepliCade Mini Centipede and let’s just say, we are totally blown away by it!

The level of detail, from the cabinet styling, artwork, light-up marquee, control panel overlay, old school P1 and P2 player select buttons to the fire button, coin slots and the beautiful trak-ball, New Wave Toys should be commended for a prefect recreation of Atari’s iconic Centipede arcade machine – it truly needs to be seen to be believed!

The Six Million Dollar Man, Steve Austin approves of the RepliCade Mini Centipede Arcade Machine

OK, we know what you are thinking, it looks great, but does it play well? In short, it plays perfectly, we cannot fault it one bit! The trak-ball feels oh so right (you can adjust its sensitivity) even though it looks small, it feels great under the index finger. The concave fire button also feels right, with no lag at all. The emulation used is as if it was yanked right off the Centipede arcade board, it plays unbelievably smooth. Just on this, New Wave Toys are using their proprietary RepliCade high-performance chipset for smooth, lag-free gameplay. It runs on a closed system that boots directly into ROM. By pressing the right coin slot, you have access to all the options that the original machine had in the arcades. Seriously, these guys have thought of everything!

The RepliCade Mini Centipede Arcade Machine comes highly recommended. The design and level of detail of this replica mini arcade machine is simply sublime. Dona Bailey and Ed Logg would be quite impressed with what New Wave Toys have achieved. We now look forward to their next creation in their RepliCade series, the Mini Tempest Arcade Machine!

PS: The Atari 25c insert coin keychain (bottom of this article) was available to Kickstarter backers only! The generic 25c insert coin keychain is available via Amazon!

 

Classic Gaming at PAX Aus 2018 – It’ll Be Intoxicating Nostalgia!

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With the imminent 6th iteration of PAX Aus, we are in the final stages of planning for our Classic Gaming area. The team is working extremely hard behind the scenes to ensure you get a nice juicy hit of nostalgia come late October! As the saying goes, the Classic Gaming area will be bigger, badder and better in 2018.

If you’ve never visited the Classic Gaming area at PAX Aus, then perhaps our trip down memory lane may motivate you to get your retro gaming on, from our humble beginnings at the inaugural PAX Aus 2013 at the Showgrounds to our 5th showing in a row at the greatest event in the southern hemisphere.

Hopefully we will see a lot of you there in a few short weeks – make sure you say hi!

PAX Aus Classic Gaming highlights from:

The PAX Aus Classic Gaming area is brought to you by: Ausretrogamer, Press Play on Tape Podcast, Weird and Retro, Bartronica, Zax Amusements, Bayside Pinball Club and Pinmem.

 

Super Mario Bros. Maze for a Rat!

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If you’ve read the headline and are thinking, “What? Why?”, then you are not alone. Nevertheless, we are always intrigued by retro gaming reference material used for other means. Actually, this one is quite cool!

The Q channel shows us how to build an awesome Super Mario Bros. style maze for a rat using cardboard and paint. Obviously the maze had to be tested, so their pet rat named Shelly goes in to show Mario how it is done! Spoiler alert, Shelly figures out how to make it through to the end. Told ya this is quite cool.


source: The Q

 

The Completely Insane Policies of Nintendo’s President

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Wow, imagine for one minute that Hiroshi Yamauchi was your boss! Actually, as much as he wasn’t a fan of video games, he did modernise Nintendo and transform the video game market, so he couldn’t not have been that bonkers, or was he?

To celebrate Nintendo’s 129th anniversary, YouTuber Larry Bundy Jr has made a fact hunt video about the former company president – highlighting some of his “completely insane” policies. The vid runs for a tad over 12 minutes and includes his public dispute with Square Enix, his dislike of Japanese Role Playing Games (JRPGs) and his ridiculous demands to be the only Yamauchi at Nintendo!


video source: Larry Bundy Jr

story source: Nintendo Life

80’s Arcade Video Games, Pinball and Mullets

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Ah the good old days of the 1980s, hanging out at our local arcade parlours with mates and our monster mullets!

Thanks heaps to We Are Diehards on Facebook for sharing this most awesome vid with us all – let the nostalgia ooze baby!


source: We Are Diehards via Facebook

 

Retro Gaming Rarity: SEGA Master System Store Demo Unit

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There are a few holy grail and rare items in the video gaming industry, and then there are those that are so rare that you probably didn’t even know they existed.

Well, it seems that this SEGA Master System Store Demo Unit on eBay falls in the category of ultra rare and an absolute holy grail! The seller has put up a considerable price tag on their auction, but we reckon it is totally justifiable, as they are being honest in their description and also opened to best offers.

This rarity is unique as there hasn’t been any precedent set before it – this is the first one we have encountered that is for sale which is in great working condition which also comes with very rare Master System demo game cartridges and cards!

It goes without saying that we would love this in our collection. How about you guys, do old gaming demo units interest you?

source: eBay Australia

 

SEGA’s House of the Dead Scarlet Dawn

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Sega sure know how to get our attention when it comes to their arcade machines. Back in the day it was Space Harrier, Super Hang-On, OutRun, After Burner, Thunder Blade and of course, Daytona USA that we would find ourselves dropping coins in. One Sega game that we loved playing both at the arcade centres and at home was House Of The Dead (HoTD) and House Of The Dead 2! To say we were excited about their latest House of The Dead instalment would be a gross understatement. If you don’t know anything about it, here we go….

Returning after twelve years, Sega Amusements’ House Of The Dead Scarlet Dawn is the most eagerly anticipated sequel in arcade game history. Considered by many as the brand that defined and popularised the horror game genre, House of The Dead has pushed the limits with every release. An impressive back catalogue of 4 blockbuster amusement games, movies and console games, it has a vast global following of core and casual players. Staying true to its reputation House of the Dead Scarlet Dawn delivers an unparalleled horror action experience that has never looked or felt this real!

“We are thrilled to be part of this historic release. House of the Dead is the crown jewel in the Sega’s licence portfolio, with such a great heritage and loyal following. We pulled out all the stops to deliver the best experience. Developed by the dedicated R&D team in Japan, this game gets a truly special edition treatment in every way possible.” Commented Paul Williams, CEO at Sega.

The House of the Dead Scarlet Dawn super deluxe cabinet will deliver a five-dimensional (Ed: yep, 5D!!!) full body experience. Players will hear bullets flying and terrifying zombies from every angle with the 5.1 channel surround sound and sub-woofer system. High spec bass shaker will produce 50 Watts of vibrations getting players on the edge of their seats when escaping zombies on a quad-bike or in a helicopter. Perfectly timed air canon blast will make players feel explosions and wind. Dedicated spot LED lights will accentuate the thrilling mood of the game. All these features will work together to produce a captivating, tense horror feeling that thrills players.

The game-changing controller will be lightweight and will use unique vibration technology to produce a realistic recoil feeling. By controlling the frequency to the vibration unit, the controller will generate just the right type of recoil that feels natural for the kind of weapon used in the game. This is indeed a game-changing controller technology!

Five epic (1 or 2 player) game missions, lots of secret items to collect and various special weapons to encourage players to keep coming back to play even more (Ed: that means load up the credit or carry lots of coins!). Oh yeah, the game will be able to be played in Normal or Master modes, based on skill level.

Get Ready For Some 5D Experience!

You definitely won’t miss the machine once it hits your local amusement centre, as the super deluxe cabinet measures 215cm deep, 145cm wide, 231cm high and weights a whopping 500kg! Now that is one seriously massive cab!

If you are anywhere near Orange County between November 13 to 16, head on to the IAAPA event at the Orange County Convention Centre to check out Sega’s House Of The Dead Scarlet Dawn. For everyone else, we will have to wait for HoTD Scarlet Dawn to hit our local arcade parlour!

source: Sega Amusements International

 

Introducing the PlayStation Classic – with 20 Classic PS1 Games

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It was inevitable! After the success of Nintendo’s NES and SNES Classic Minis, of course Sony PlayStation were going to do the same.

In case you haven’t heard, come this December 3rd, there will be a cute little PlayStation Classic you can procure for USD$99.99/AUD$149 which will be pre-loaded with 20 classic PS1 games, including fan favourites Final Fantasy VII, Jumping Flash, Ridge Racer Type 4, Tekken 3 and Wild Arms.

The new PlayStation Classic will be 45% smaller than the original PlayStation

For all Australian fans, the PlayStation Classic is available now via pre-order from JB Hi-Fi for $149.00. If you prefer EB Games, they will begin pre-orders on Thursday (September 20) from 9:00am. For more info, go here.


video source: PlayStation

image source: PlayStation

 

SEGA Mega Drive Classics Coming to Nintendo Switch

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What are you doing to us SEGA? We definitely love playing your classic SEGA games and we truly love your SEGA Mega Drive Classics on our PS4, but now hear news that your SEGA Genesis Classics is coming to the Nintendo Switch, in physical and digital format?!

If you don’t believe us, see the below tweet from SEGA. Yep, we are suckers for classic retro gaming, so we are their exact target market – definitely procuring this awesome bundle once it is out (our summer!). How about you guys, are you keen to grab this for your Switch?

PS: Sorry, SEGA Genesis will always be SEGA Mega Drive to us 😉