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It’s Going To Be An 8-Bit Christmas!

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If you think you have had enough of video games related movies, then you may want to look away. For those that lap up these types of nostalgia-inducing films, 8-Bit Christmas starting Neil Patrick Harris as a father looking back fondly at the late ’80s Christmas where he desperately did everything he possibly could to get an NES, will be right up your alley! Since we can relate to this tale (we also wanted a NES for Christmas in 1988, alas we didn’t get one then), we are definitely keen on giving this a watch and getting right into the Christmas spirit!

Check out the trailer below to see if 8-Bit Christmas will be on your viewing list his festive season.


source: Warner Bros. Pictures



 

The Rubber-Keyed Wonder: 40 Years of the ZX Spectrum

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If you are fans (like us!) of the From Bedrooms to Billions film series then you will absolutely love their latest documentary film, The Rubber-Keyed Wonder: 40 Years of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. To make Anthony and Nicola Caulfield’s film come true, go and check out their Kickstarter!

Coinciding with the ZX Speccy’s 40th anniversary next year (2022), Anthony and Nicola are aiming to release the film by Christmas 2022 – make sure you let Santa know! The Caulfield’s are aiming to make a thorough and definitive film on the ZX Spectrum, going into all the finer details of how and why the ZX Spectrum was created, what impact the computer had as well as the various versions that followed right the way through to the latest iteration of the system with the ZX Spectrum Next.

The film aims to reunite as many of the original ZX Spectrum hardware team and of course many legendary game developers, artists and musicians, and also talk to fans of the ZX Spectrum as to understand the significance of the machine with the masses.

This Kickstarter campaign once again has some stunning artwork from Oliver Frey available as well as some wonderful posters and other add-ons to get your nostagia gland pulsating!

Now, we are Commodore fans, but we are also aware of the significance of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, so we are quite excited to support Anthony and Nicola on their new project!

image source: The Rubber Keyed Wonder – 40 years of the ZX Spectrum



Reset64 Presents – Chuckie Egg (VIC20)

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This is so awesome to see – Chuckie Egg can now be played on the VIC20! Oh yeah, it can also be played on the TheC64/TheVIC20 or your fave VIC20 emulator. So those ZX Speccy, BBC Micro and Dragon 32 folks can stop gloating, us Commdore gamers can now play this classic game too! Big shout out to Reset64 Magazine and Derek for keeping us gamers entertained with brilliant (and quite nostalgic) video games!

For more information on (and instructions on how to play) Chuckie Egg (VIC20), and to download the game, go to the Reset64 Magazine itch.io page now! What are you waiting for, Hen-House Harry needs your help!!!

image source: Reset64 Magazine itch.io



Casio x Pac-Man Vintage Limited Edition Unisex Watch

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Casio sure knows how to tug on our nostalgic strings! Their vintage classic line of watches brings back the 80s, and nothing screams 80s more than a Casio Pac-Man watch!

The A100WEPC-1B Casio x Pac-Man watch is a collaboration between Casio Vintage and Bandai Namco which aims to immerse you in the nostalgia of one of the world’s first blockbuster video games. Details on the watch glass hint at the exciting chase about to unfold as Pac-Man, surrounded in the square LCD display ghost house, is poised to start running.

Laser engraving on the black ion-plated metal band lays out the game maze. The game begins above the watch face with Pac-Man eating dots as he runs away from the ghosts and continues below the face after he’s devoured a power pellet and turned back to chase them!

The Casio x Pac-Man watch is retailing for AU$299.00! We bet these go fast!

 

source: Casio Watches



‘The Last of Us’ Series First Look

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By: D.C. Cutler, U.S.A.

Recently, a production image of the HBO series “The Last of Us” was released. It’s our first look at the cable show based on the iconic video games “The Last of Us” and “The Last of Us: Part II.”

The first image has great attention to detail. It’s not much, it’s just Joel and Ellie looking out across a field at abandoned plane wreckage. It would have been nice to get a face reveal, but the image of the two main characters from behind is a smart marketing tease.

Pedro Pascal has been cast as Joel, the game, and series’ smuggler and main protagonist. I’ve been a Pascal fan since his brief stint on “Game of Thrones.” His starring role on the Netflix series “Narcos,” opposite the great Boyd Holbrook, was where the 46-year-old actor gained international fame as the cold, DEA agent who is obsessed with capturing Pablo Escobar. The pairing of Pascal and Holbrook is one of the best fictional, law enforcement pairings in recent television history. I’ve watched “Narcos” several times for the writing and characters. When I heard the news that Pascal was cast as Joel in “The Last of Us” series, I was instantly excited to see what HBO will do with the popular property.

The idea of “The Last of Us” as a television series or limited series is better than a movie. A series gives the story more chance for expansion and the ability to develop the characters. The game already has a rich world that can be expanded on with the right show runners who know the universe.

To me, like many others, “The Last of Us” franchise always had a “The Walking Dead” feel to it. Even the production image that was released looks a little like a scene from the AMC “The Walking Dead.”

Post-apocalyptic properties are hot right now. Could “The Last of Us” be the next must-see HBO show? They haven’t had a monster hit like “The Sopranos” or “Game of Thrones” in several years. The production still didn’t show much, but it was just enough of a tease to peak the interests of the megahit game’s fans.



 

Vectrex Tournament: Vector War XI 2021

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Vectrex Tournament: Vector War XI (30th Oct – 6th Nov 2021)

Eleven years ago, a well known peep in the retro scene, Rob Maerz, started the Vector War. The Vector War is an annual Vectrex game tournament where Vectrex players all over the world compete. For this year, Vector War XI (VW11) runs for one week, from October 30 till November 6 2021.

The Vector War is for all player skills levels, from beginners to super expert players. In the Vector War you participate and compete with others. This is also a great opportunity to play the Vectrex games more extensively and get to know new games (and other peeps!).

For more information on the Vector War XI games list, competition rules and prizes, head over here and get ready! Good luck Vectrexians!

Thanks to RetroTuesday and Angela for making us aware of this Vectrex tournament!



PAX Aus Online 2021 – Schedule Now Live!

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PAX Online (8th-10th October) schedule goes live and their sweet merchandise goes on sale from tomorrow (Sep 30)!

With less than 9 sleeps to go, we are very excited to let you know that the jam-packed PAX Aus Online schedule is now live.

There really is something for everyone with AAA content, the well-loved Omegathon, a virtual expo hall, legendary RPG anniversaries, dozens of amazing panels and events and a whole lot more that will blow your mind, so read on! Taking place across Twitch, Discord, Steam, and their website, you can jump in for panels, games, community events, games, and more games 😉

The three-day event will be kickstarted by Among Us developers, Innersloth, who will be delivering the keynote address at 11:30am AEDT on Friday October 8th – a talk that is bound to play witness to a bit of betrayal, sabotage and general hijinx.

RPG fans can tune in for a star-studded 40th Anniversary actual-play of Call of Cthulhu, a spicy “C” Team charity special and the return of PAX Quest, as well as a host of other dice-fuelled goodness.

Scratching a AAA itch? Don’t miss panels with developers including fireside conversations with DEATHLOOP’s Dinga Bakaba and The Elder Scrolls Online’s Matt Firor and Rich Lambert.

If that’s not enough, there’s dozens of other panels (dozens!) being shown across the three days of the show, with topics including the power of ethics in narrative choice, gaming accessibility, education, indigenous narratives, and esports.

A virtual expo hall and Discord channel provide the perfect roadmap for this virtual playing field, pulling dedicated community spaces for discussions, giveaways and a brand new PAX Explorer text adventure that will almost make you forget you are watching from home.

image source: PAX Aus

For those wondering how to literally drape themselves in PAX, they have you covered with the release of the official 2021 merchandise, available from 10am on Thursday 30 September at store-paxaus.myshopify.com. From cute camp-themed PAX tees to beanies, mugs and water bottles, PAX merch has everything you need to get that sweet, retail-driven serotonin hit!

With under 2 weeks to go until the show, it’s time to lock in that new attire, assemble the virtual crew, and buckle into that gaming chair because we can guarantee that PAX Aus Online is gonna be much more entertaining than that 1000th Zoom call you had to do. Because we’re all about achievable goals this lockdown!

Hopefully we’ll see you all in person in 2022!
image source: Ausretrogamer



Classic Xbox Games Specials!

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Checking in this morning, we noticed that Microsoft has unleashed their latest Xbox games sale, which has quite a few classic titles that piqued our interest! The beauty of the backwards compatibility of the Xbox means that no matter which console you have (after the X360), then these games will all work!

Go to the Xbox Games Specials to grab yourself a bargain. In case you were interested, these were our picks from this sale:

  • Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night ($4.97 / 50% off)
  • Castlevania Anniversary Collection ($8.03 / 75% off)
  • Contra Anniversary Collection ($8.03 / 75% off)
  • Metal Gear Solid HD Edition 2 & 3 ($7.48 / 75% off)
  • Namco Museum Archives Vol. 2 ($7.48 / 75% off)
  • Silent Hill: HD Collection ($12.61 / 75% off)
  • Final Fantasy VII ($12.07 / 50% off)
  • Resident Evil ($7.48 / 75% off)
  • Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection ($8.03 / 75 off)

 



LAVAIR X SEGA MEGA DRIVE

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Sega does what Nintendon’t? Actually, Nintendo have already done the whole ‘cross’ pollination with iconic streetwear brands (like the one with Vans). Sega have also done the same with their famous blue mascot when they crossed him with Puma. Well, now it is Sega’s 16-bit classic console, the Mega Drive, that gets the streetwear treatment with the new Lavair X Mega Drive range!

We must admit, we had never heard of Lavair till today (perhaps we are showing our age!), so at least we have learned something new! So here they are, the Lavair X Mega Drive runners (or sneakers if that is your preference), which we reckon capture the colours perfectly of Sega’s flagship Japanese Mega Drive with the Analog runner and the Mono runner which capture the PAL Mega Drive. If you are more into baseball hats, then you are in luck, as they have the Analog and Mono hats for you to choose from too. The Lavair x Mega Drive is a limited-edition themed collaboration, so we expect these products to go quite quickly, just like Sonic, boom!

image source: Sega and Lavair



Frogger – The TV Game Show! Ribbit!

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In case you missed it, there is now a TV show based on the classic Konami arcade game Frogger!

Just like the video game, contestants will require quick thinking and problem solving skills in varied challenges to be crowned Frogger champion and hop away with US$100K! If you like Wipeout (the TV show, not the video game) and enjoy the Ninja Warrior type shows, then Frogger will be right up your alley!

PS: Unfortunately, Peacock TV ain’t streaming Frogger in Australia (Ed: Boo!)


source: PeacockTV