The Pop-Culture E-Zine
Those great people at PAX Aus 2014 have finalised the schedule of tournaments, panels and quiz shows. If you would like to view the entire schedule, head on over here.
For those that are keen to know when and where the retro gaming tournaments and panels will be on, look below and lock in the times and dates in your diary!
Classic Gaming Tournaments
Classic Gaming Panels
image source: PAX Aus
Hey PAX Aus peeps! Maps are now available for the 2014 event! Make sure you come around to our Classic Gaming area for a nostalgic hit.
For those of you that like panels, you can catch a few of us from Retrospekt, Retro Domination and yours truly at the Best [retro] video games you’ve [probably] never played panel on Saturday, November 1st at 11:00am in the Kookaburra Theatre. Oh yeah, Weird And Retro has a couple of awesome panels too, so be there or be a pixelated square!
PAX Aus 2014: October 31 – November 2, 2014 at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre.
Click map to enlarge
Despite the growing popularity of game music and chiptunes, there hasn’t been a comprehensive effort to chronicle their contributions to modern music and gaming culture. The Players’ Score: A Videogame Music Documentary aims to explore the relationships, developments and communities videogame music has fostered through live interviews with prominent videogame cover bands, chiptune artists, and the composers who inspire them in order to demonstrate the cultural and personal impact of videogame music.
Spanning the globe, participants have come from North America, Europe, and even Japan, with more artists being confirmed daily. Here is a brief selection of the artists who will be featured in The Players’ Score – A Videogame Music Documentary:
– Austin Wintory (Journey, The Banner Saga)
– Bit Brigade
– Danimal Cannon
– Danny Barranowsky (Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Isaac)
– Grant Kirkhope (Banjo-Kazooie, Kingdoms of Amalur)
– Grant “Stemage” Henry (Metroid Metal, LonelyRollingStars)
– Hiroki Kikuta (Secret of Mana, Koudelka, Shining Hearts)
– Jake “virt” Kaufman
– Jeremy Soule (The Elder Scrolls series, Guild Wars series)
– Manami Matsumae (Mega Man, Shovel Knight)
– Mega Ran
– Morgan “Crashfaster” Tucker
– Norihiko Hibino (Metal Gear Solid series, Bayonetta)
– Starbomb
– The Megas
– The Minibosses
– The Triforce Quartet
Many more artists have already been filmed, and more will be announced as they are confirmed.
Show your support by spreading the word and pledge towards The Players’ Score – A Videogame Music Documentary.
Let’s all start with a collective sigh of disappointment. Why the disappointment? Well, after getting quite excited over the announcement that Takara Tomy A.R.T.S. would release special console Transformers to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the robots in disguise, there has been another delay in their availability.
The Mega Drive Megatron was originally slated for a September release, but that has now been pushed out to October. Optimus Prime (featuring original Playstation) won’t see the light of day till 2015 (no exact date known). On the positive side, the delay should give you extra time to save – these Transformers won’t be cheap (~$103AUD).
For now, you can drool over the photos of these awesome console Transformers!
The sleek Megatron!
Megatron in the flesh
Mega Drive Megatron in disguise
Optimus Prime Playstation!
Where did Optimus go? All I see is a Playstation!
image sources: Takara Tomy ARTS and TFormers
With the flood of samey video gaming documentaries on the market, it is refreshing to see new and interesting video gaming film ideas hitting Kickstarter.
Beep: A History of Video Game Sound is a documentary film which will take viewers on a rich audio-visual journey through the history of game music and sound, from the minimalist sounds of 1970s arcade classics through to the surround sound orchestral soundtracks of 2014’s latest epics (Ed: oh man, chiptunes too!). We all have fond memories of gaming tunes or that special music track that has been (lovingly) stuck in our heads since childhood. Beep will unlock these memories by giving the maestros and sound designers of these awesome tunes the opportunity to tell their own stories and share in their amazing achievements.
But wait, there is more! The film will be published together with a book that will provide an in-depth perspective on the evolution of game audio, packed full of interviews with the pioneers of game sound. So whichever way you look at it, all bases are covered – on film and in literature.
There are great rewards for each pledge – from $1CAD all the way up to the dizzying $8,000CAD, there is something for everyone. With a target of $40,000CAD by September 30, let’s make sure this campaign succeeds! Every dollar counts. Show your support!
image and video via Beep
August is always a special month. Not only is it the month that my sibling was born, it is also the month that my favourite 8-bit home computer was released, the Commodore 64.
What better way to make my RESET magazine contribution debut by timing it with the 32nd anniversary of the beloved C64. Issue 4 of RESET is out now and is totally free. Get yours here!
This latest issue is bursting at the seams with all things C64 (Ed: but of course!)! So another big thank you to Kevin Tilley for putting together another great issue and for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this awesome C64-centric magazine. Till issue 5, happy reading!
Back in April of this year, we reported on the impending dig of the sacred Atari burial site in Alamogordo, New Mexico. We all waited with bated breath as photos trickled in showing what the landfill was hiding all these years.
After a few months, Fuel Entertainment Studios and Xbox Entertainment Studios have now released their first official trailer of the upcoming documentary. We are definitely looking forward to this documentary, but the focus on THAT one game that Howard Scott Warshaw created that brought down the industry is misleading at the least. We hope the finished film will have a balanced perspective of what really happened over 30 years ago.
source: Xbox
For Australian viewers, I am sure I don’t have to introduce Good Game to you. For everyone else, Good Game is a popular Australian weekly program dedicated to video gaming. The show is broadcast nationally and is packed with the latest gaming news and events, gaming tips, reviews and interviews with game developers. The hosts, Bajo (aka: Steven O’Donnell) and Hex (aka: Stephanie Bendixsen) are the dynamic duo that bring you the latest in video gaming!
Anyway, Good Game is currently seeking your vote for their upcoming ‘Good Game top 100 games of all time’ program. You can cast your vote now, but you better hurry, as voting closes at midnight this coming Sunday, 27 July 2014.
The results will be announced in their show on Tuesday 12 August 2014 at 8:30pm on ABC2 (and also on their website). So what are you waiting for, go and cast your vote now! It counts!
Here is the Good Game How To Vote video (tongue firmly in cheek!)
source: Good Game
It was a year to the day when the first international PAX event left American shores bound for Melbourne, Australia! It was a privilege to exhibit with our fellow retrohilcs, Retrospekt and Retro Domination at PAX Aus 2013. We had lots of fun, and it seems, from the feedback, you did too. Our Classic Consoles (Retro Museum) popularity did not go unnoticed – the PAX crew immediately invited us to do it again for 2014.
Being at a new venue and new event dates (Oct 31 – Nov 2), this year’s PAX Aus will be bigger, badder and better! See you at PAX Aus 2014.
Got a cool £10,000 burning a hole in your pocket? Do you want to own a piece of computing history? If you answered yes to both questions, then you could be the proud owner of the iconic Jupiter ACE brand.
Take a look at the ebay auction to find out what you get for 10K (it may end up going for more!). You better hurry, the auction ends on May 18. Good luck!