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Rebooted: The Amiga 1200 Case Kickstarter

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A1200_reboot_7Following on from their first crack at a Kickstarter campaign to create new Amiga 1200 casings, Philippe Lang and his team have listened to all the feedback and went back to the drawing board. The A1200.net team have come back with an enhanced campaign which they are hoping will please the most ardent of Amiga 1200 fans (Ed: us included!).

So what’s new in this campaign you ask? For starters, the Amiga 1200 casings will be fully licensed and will include the official AMIGA logo! There is a raft of other improvements and additions which you can read up on their Kickstarter page. We hope this one gets funded second time around!

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A1200_reboot_6image source: A1200.Net

 

On The Road To EB Games Expo 2015

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EB_Expo_Titleimage source: techradar

This time of year is always the best! The weather starts warming up, trees start blossoming, the major sporting codes play their respective finals and the biggest gaming event hits Sydney – it is, EB Games Expo 2015 time!

For the first time ever, ausretrogamer will be attending EB Games Expo 2015, assisting the Weird and Retro (WaR) crew in the Retro Central Park area. As you may (or may not) have known, Weird and Retro have been running the Retro Central Park area (formerly known as the Retro Gamer Garden) within the Freeplay City attraction at EB Games Expo for the last two years.

After hearing about all of the fun the WaR team has had at previous EB Games Expo events, we knew we wanted to be part of the action. We begged and groveled till they relented and allowed us to hit the road with them to Sydney (Ed: Um, this may not have been how it went down!).

To say we are looking forward to EB Games Expo 2015 would be a great understatement – we can’t wait! It will be great to travel with awesome friends and experience this event first hand. If you are attending, please come by the Retro Central Park area and get a hit of nostalgia by playing some old classics, or come by to check out the Interactive History Museum – you’ll have a ball! Hope to see you there!

The essentials are packed!
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Details:
Event: EB Games Expo 2015
When: October 2 – 4, 2015
Where: Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park

 

PAXAus 2015: Classic Gaming Tournaments

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PAXAus2015_Tourny_TitleSo who here likes gaming tournaments? There are a lot of hands going up – which is great to see! Well, you are all in luck! The Classic Gaming area will be running tournaments all weekend at PAXAus 2015. You can compete for fun or for the glory.

There will be high score challenge tournaments on arcade machines, consoles, 8-bit computers and pinball tables to show off your prowess. Speaking of pinball tournaments, Saturday’s competition will be fully sanctioned by the IFPA! We suggest that you diarise the following Classic Gaming tournament schedule:

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You still have time to practice and sharpen your gaming skills. You never know, you just may end up being a Classic Gaming champion! Are you game to compete?

 

The Pinball Revolution Continues: Real Meets Virtual

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SternFarSight_Titleimage source: Stern Pinball Inc.

What do you get when two titans from the leisure entertainment industry join forces? You get excitement, that’s what! Stern Pinball, the force behind modern day real pinball machines, and FarSight Studios, the force behind virtual pinball games like The Pinball Arcade, have announced a new expanded partnership to connect the real with the virtual when it comes to pinball gaming.

This partnership will see FarSight Studios develop a new digital platform called The Stern Pinball Arcade that will feature exact virtual replicas of Stern Pinball’s hottest pinball machines. If The Pinball Arcade is anything to go by, then we are all in for a treat! The full announcement can be read here.

It’s time to get excited pinball wizards! Let the pinball revolution continue!

 

C64 Sideways SEUCK Competition 2015

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SidewaysSEUCK_TitleAs September is traditionally known as Shmuptember, we thought we would let you budding C64 coders know about the latest Shoot’Em Up Construction Kit (SEUCK) competition, but this time, your shoot’em up game must be a horizontal (sideways) scroller to be eligible for entry. So, download the free Sideways Shoot’Em Up Construction Kit and get cracking, I mean, get coding! You never know, you could be a winner just like Ant Stiller (Abyssonaut) or Alf Yngve (Forgotten Forest)!

The best part about these competitions is that you, the gamer, can play the entered games (Ed: Woo hoo!), and then cast your vote on your favourite. We must admit, we are hooked on Alf Yngve’s Edge Of Time entry, which is the sequel to his highly acclaimed game, Double Or Nothing.

This competition is once again brought to you by the great Mr. Richard Bayliss of The New Dimension!

Competition Details
Competition: Sideways Scrolling SEUCK Compo
Submission dates: Now till 30th November 2015
Voting commences: 1st December till 30th December 2015
Prizes: To be announced/given in February 2016

 

PAX Aus 2015 Primer: We’re Back, Again!

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PAXAus_2015_titleJust like Arnie famously said, “I’ll be back” – well, we’ll be back too for our third straight PAX Aus event! Since the first PAX Aus in 2013, the ausretrogamer team is once again teaming up with the Retro Domination boys and the Weird and Retro crew for 2015 to bring you an even more awesome Classic Gaming area!

All your favourite retro gaming systems from Atari, Commodore, Sega and Nintendo (to name just a few) will be back on freeplay! For this year, the old school consoles and computers will be complemented by an array of ‘other’ bigger (and badder) machines that will inject even more nostalgia into the area. We can’t say too much at this stage, but be ready to be blown away!

With a stellar lineup of systems, games and tournaments, this year’s PAX Aus is sure to be another event you cannot miss! Hope to see you guys there!

Event: PAX Aus 2015
Date: Oct 30 – Nov 1, 2015
Where: Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC)

If you want to reminisce about previous PAX Aus events, then get into your time machine and punch in 2013 and 2014 right now!

PaxAus_ClassicArea_2015image source: Blow The Cartridge

Blow The Cartridge: The RetroGaming Webcomic

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BTC_TitleWhat do you get when you mash retrogaming with a comic strip? The answer is quite simple, you get the awesome Blow The Cartridge retrogaming webcomic!

We have been fans of Cameron Davis’ Blow The Cartridge comic strips for a while now – his webcomic creations are always topical and infused with a great mix of gaming nostalgia and humour, which is exactly what the doctor ordered after a tough day in the office. With that said, it is great to see that there is currently a Kickstarter campaign to make the fifth issue of the collected Blow The Cartridge comic book series! The campaign is to get all the latest comics Cameron has made online and put them together into one mind-blowingly awesome comic!

Pledge rewards on offer for this campaign include signed and personalised copies of the comic book, digitally-delivered copies, and also guest-starring roles in new strips that will be made specifically for the comic.

This sounds all pretty awesome to us. Hit the Blow The Cartridge Kickstarter right now if you want a fun-filled 48 page, full color comic book about the video games we grew up playing and why we still love them so much today!

BTC_webcomicimage source: Blow The Cartridge

 

Reset C64 Magazine Issue 7 Out Now!

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Reset_issue7_TitleExtra! Extra! Read all about it! Get your Reset issue 7 now, it is totally free! Extra! Extra!

Just when you thought that the free C64-centric magazine couldn’t get any better. Pow! Right in the kisser! Issue 7 of Reset celebrates the 30th anniversary of Zzap!64 with an awesome front cover by Ant Stiller channeling Oli Frey, and contributions from former Zzap!64 writers and editors, you will not be disappointed. All your regular columns, news and reviews are still in there for this issue, so don’t miss out, go and download the mag now!

Reset_back_coverimage source: Reset

 

Kick That Yellowing Amiga 1200 Case To The Curb

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Amiga1200_Casing_titleForget the yellowing case adding character to your Amiga 1200, you ain’t fooling anyone with that. Now is your chance to spruce up the Commodore beast with a brand new casing! You’ll definitely be the envy of your Amiga (Ed: and ST) mates.

When Philippe Lang advised us of their ambitious project to build new casings for their 23 year old computers, we must admit, our interest was piqued. The Amiga 1200 is the crown jewel of the Commodore range, and it deserves all the love it can get. Philippe and his friends decided to share their project with the worldwide Amiga community, which is great news for all of us. As part of their Kickstarter campaign, they will be building the new molds from scratch, with all kinds of variations – from resolving original design flaws and colour variations, to cool enhancements to the casings, there is something for every Amiga 1200 fan.

Go and check out the Kickstarter campaign now, you still have a fair few days to pledge!

Some of the cool A1200 case colour variations!
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We love these limited edition colours, especially the gold!
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image source: A1200 Housing – Kickstarter

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Minicomic Collection

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As a kid growing up in the early ’80s, I spent my time playing with action figures, in particular, Mattel’s awesome Masters Of The Universe range. The MOTU figures came with pack-in minicomics (mini-story books), which I loved reading as soon as I busted them out of the packet. I loved “The King Of Castle Grayskull” mini-story book that came with my original He-Man!

Fast forward thirty plus years, and guess what, I still get giddy with excitement when I see any reference to the classic Masters Of The Universe series. To my delight, there is going to be a hardcover MOTU collection book which will feature sixty-eight U.S. story releases, including all mini books/comics from the ’80s Masters of the Universe line, the ’80s Princess of Power line, and the ’80s and ’90s He-Man line, plus an introduction to the minicomics in the current Masters of the Universe classics toy line!

With over 1000 pages of minicomics and interviews with the original comics creators, do yourself a favour, pre-order the “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Minicomic Collection” book now! It will definitely take you back so you can relive the illustrated adventures that fueled your imagination!